Penthouse Prince Page 15

  “We don’t. We’d just have to have faith and figure things out along the way.”

  I know it’s probably not the assurance she was hoping for, but I’m not sure what to say, and there’s no way I can allow this chance to pass by. I can’t let her just walk away again.

  Her chuckle is uncertain, but her gaze on mine is steady. “Lex . . . we can’t just jump straight in. This is a huge decision.”

  I nod once, solemnly. “It is, but it also feels like the easiest decision in the world. For me, anyway. I want a future with you, Corrigan. And I’m asking if you want to see where this goes as much as I do.”

  Her eyes lift to mine again, seeming to weigh whatever expression I’m wearing. But she’s so quiet, I barely breathe. When she finally speaks, her voice is tiny, heavy with emotion.

  “I’m afraid, Lex.”

  I let out a deep sigh. “Me too. I’m . . . terrified.” Mostly of losing this shot with her. A weird little chuckle escapes me. “But I still want to try. Do you?” I wet my lips. “Please, just answer me this one question. Do you love me?”

  “It’s not that simple . . .”

  “Yes, it is. Everything else is just details, and we can work them out together. Tell me, and if you don’t share my feelings, I’ll drive back home right now and never bother you again. Do you want to be with me—with Grier?”

  Corrigan’s eyes brim with unshed tears, and she lets out a small, wet sniff. “That’s playing dirty.”

  But she’s laughing through her tears and stepping into my arms, and I finally understand what people mean when they talk about their heart singing.

  This must be a dream, I think, squeezing her tight.

  Then her lips meet mine, and I know it’s not. We kiss deeply, locked together in her doorway, pouring into it all our joy and fear and cautious hope, and the love that will get us through it all.

  The dance of our tongues quickly grows hotter and needier until she grabs my hand and pulls me inside. It strikes me that I’ve never seen her apartment before. What little I glimpse of it is snug furniture, cheerful bright colors, and cozy pastels, so very Corrigan. But then we’re in her bedroom, her scent surrounding me, and when she pulls me down on top of her, everything else vanishes.

  “Touch me,” she says urgently.

  I couldn’t say no, even if I wanted to.

  We undress each other, hurried and hungry, but at the same time like we’re revealing something sacred. Our clothes fall away, and our hands roam each other with eager, tender caresses.

  “I need you,” she whispers, or maybe the words are mine.

  I can feel my heart beating everywhere she touches me. Her own heartbeat flutters in her neck against my lips, through her breast under my fingers, and the tender flesh between her legs trembles when I lave my tongue over it. I gorge myself on her until her body trembles and she’s moaning helplessly, and she suddenly pushes me away.

  “I want to come with you. Please, Lex,” she says, gasping.

  I rush to pull on a condom—my hands are shaking too, just as much as she was—but finally I manage and then I’m sinking into her. She welcomes me, draws me deep, and I mold my body against hers, wrapping my arms around her, needing every inch of us to be connected. Something inside me cracks, and everything I’ve been holding back for the past ten years comes flooding out.

  “Oh God, Corrigan,” I say on a groan. “I love you. I’ve always loved you.”

  A sob escapes her, but I can feel her wide grin against my neck as she murmurs, “I love you too, Lex.”

  With those words, I’m hers forever. My heart feels as full as the day Grier was born.

  Corrigan’s legs tighten around me, and her fingers tangle in my hair. “Ever since you came back, I’ve been telling myself I hated you, but that was bullshit. I was just scared. Scared to trust you, let you back in, and scared to admit how desperately I wanted to.”

  “There’s nothing I regret more than leaving you behind. I promise I won’t make that mistake ever again. This time I’ll do right by you and never hurt you again. We’ll be together for real.”

  “I know. I can’t wait.” She kisses me, gulping for breath between tears and giggles.

  I kiss her back, deep and possessive, and too bursting with relief and elation for words. I’ve won back what I thought I’d lost forever. What I’ve always longed for, but dismissed as an impossible dream. Here, enfolded by Corrigan’s body and heart, time ceases to pass, and I suddenly know with crystal-clear certainty that my first love will be my last.

  We move together like we were made for each other—and I’m certain we were. Together we ride the growing waves of ecstasy until they crest and overwhelm us, and we drown together in joy. And when they carry us to the warm, radiant shore and we’re basking in the afterglow, sweat cooling on our skin, I feel like I’m finally home.

  She snuggles closer, nuzzling into my chest. I hold her with one hand and stroke her hair with the other, inhaling her scent. We stay like that for a long time until she says, muffled, “So, who wants to break the news to Dak?”

  It startles a laugh out of me, and she laughs too, quaking against me, and we crack up together.

  Corrigan lifts on one elbow and meets my eyes. “Gimme a couple of days. I’ll figure out how to bring him around to the idea.”

  “He’ll get over it,” I say. “We’re all adults now—we can do whatever we want.”

  And it feels absolutely true, like something I know deep in my soul—certain and unwavering.

  Earlier, I said I wanted to have it all, yet I was still unsure of the details, anxious about just how we’d fit all the moving pieces together. But now, any difficulties seem so far away and easily conquered. Everything is possible so long as Corrigan and I can face it together. I have no worries anymore, only happy anticipation of what the future will bring us.

  She rests our foreheads together. “When you talk like that, I can’t help but believe you.”

  I sigh, smiling. “The real question is how to tell Mom she was right all along. She’ll never let me hear the end of it.”

  “Why am I not surprised to hear Bonnie tried to pair us off?” she says with a chuckle.

  We stay entwined for a little while longer, savoring the peace of her bed. But the moment can’t go on forever.

  Telling myself we’ll have plenty more to come, I murmur, “I hate to cut this short, but I have to go pick up Grier soon. Do you want to come home with us? We can eat leftover lasagna for dinner, and have a real sleepover this time.”

  Corrigan’s mouth lifts in a contented smile I want to see every day for the rest of my life. “I’d love to.”

  20

  * * *

  CORRIGAN

  It’s Friday night at the Dane household, and in many ways, things are business as usual. The dishwasher is humming, washing the dinner dishes while I wipe down the counters. Meanwhile, Lex and Grier are settled into their usual spot on the living room carpet, surrounded by her favorite selection of G.I. Joes. The same as every other Friday that’s come and gone this summer.

  But there’s one little detail about tonight that’s not so ordinary—tonight, I’m not here as the nanny. I’m here as Lex’s girlfriend, and we have a date planned for this evening. Meaning, unlike every other Friday this summer, there’s a brand-new babysitter sitting on the floor across from Lexington, getting the full rundown on bedtime routines and house rules.

  “Are you sure you can handle this?” Lex asks for what has to be the hundredth time. “Do you need me to run through emergency contacts again?”

  Dak rolls his eyes, resituating Grier in his lap. “Which part don’t you think I can handle? The part where I’m put solely in charge of a two-year-old, or the part where my best friend is dating my sister?” There’s a smirk on his lips, and I have to suppress my own laugh.

  He’s right, though. We snagged the best babysitter in the greater Wilmington area, second only to me, of course. My brother is no professional nanny, bu
t any man who can swiftly handle a crowd of drunks at last call can certainly handle watching a toddler for an hour or two.

  “Both, I guess,” Lex says, lifting a shoulder. “But I was referring to Grier.”

  “She’ll be fine, honey,” I whisper, stepping carefully through the minefield of G.I. Joes to give Lex’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “Besides, these two have a ton in common. They’re both stubborn, and they’re both experts at giving us a hard time.”

  “Exactly!” Dak gives us a huge grin. “This babysitting thing is kid stuff. Literally. Play with some G.I. Joes, make sure she gets her teeth brushed. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.”

  “Sure,” I say, trying to restrain my sarcasm. “We’ll see if you’re still saying that after your fourth read of Dragons Play Dodgeball.”

  At the mention of her favorite story, Grier perks up, her wide eyes flickering with excitement. “Dwagons?”

  Lex and I exchange a quick, knowing look and an equally knowing laugh. I think we both could recite that book forward and backward at this point.

  “No dragons yet, love bug.” Lex scoops Grier up from Dak’s lap, planting a good-bye kiss on her plump cheek. “It’s not quite bedtime. You’ve got to drive Uncle Dak crazy for another hour first.”

  He sets her back down on the carpet, and as if totally understanding the drive Dak crazy suggestion, she immediately grabs Flapflap and lobs him straight at Dak’s head.

  “Holy sh—shoelaces.” Dak barely catches himself, rubbing the point of impact above his ear. “What the heck was that for?”

  “Flapflap flies!” Grier shrieks, reaching for the plush bat again, and whips it his way a second time. This time, Dak has the foresight to duck.

  A chuckle rumbles low in Lex’s chest as he pushes to his feet. “If you hadn’t noticed, my daughter may have a future as a pitcher.”

  “Yeah, yeah. You’re lucky you’re cute,” Dak grumbles, ruffling Grier’s hair, then gestures to the two of us. “And you two are lucky you’re so cute together, or else this would be a whole lot weirder.”

  A relieved smile pulls at my lips. Coming from my brother, that’s a glowing endorsement. “Thanks, Dak.” I reach for Lex’s hand, and he pulls our interlaced fingers to his lips, brushing a soft kiss against my knuckles.

  “Yeah, yeah.” Dak cringes, waving the two of us off toward the door. “Just because I approve of it doesn’t mean I’m ready to see you two being all couple-y yet. Go do that somewhere else, all right?”

  With one last round of good-bye kisses for Grier and final instructions for Dak, we’re out the door, and date night has officially begun. I can hardly believe it.

  Lex presses his key fob twice, unlocking his car in the driveway, but still insists on opening the door for me.

  I slide into the warm leather interior, and instantly, everything feels right with the world. It only took ten years, but I’ve finally ended up back where I’m supposed to be—windows down, fiddling with the radio as Lexington Dane’s designated shotgun rider. He has a much nicer car than he had back then, and we’re older now, but the way my heart squeezes in my chest with one look at him hasn’t changed a bit.

  With one hand draped over the steering wheel, Lex slides on his sunglasses and speeds out of the driveway toward the beach, racing the sun that’s sinking lower in the sky.

  “We’re going to make it just in time for sunset,” he says over the sound of wind whipping past our open windows, his smile reaching all the way up to his aviators.

  “Let’s make sure we don’t get pulled over for speeding first,” I say, teasing.

  He reaches across the console to give my thigh a squeeze, but instead of pulling away, he leaves his hand resting on my thigh, his thumb brushing against the hem of my sundress and tracing slow easy circles on my skin. “If we get pulled over, I’ll just tell them the truth.”

  “Which is?”

  “Officer, I’m rushing so my girlfriend and I can see the sunset.”

  A laugh bubbles out of me at his dumb excuse for speeding, but it doesn’t slow the blush spreading across my cheeks. I can’t help it. Every time he uses the g-word around me, I’m as giddy as the first time he asked me out, all those years ago on my parents’ couch.

  Lex slows to the speed limit as we approach our destination—the ice cream shop on Wilmington Beach. He ran a dozen date ideas past me this week, but it only felt right to come back to the place where it all began. The line curves out the door, which isn’t out of the ordinary for a slightly cooler summer night like tonight, but I don’t mind the wait. It gives Lex and me plenty of time to reminisce on the nights we used to spend here way back when.

  “Remember that time you dropped your ice cream in the sand the second we stepped out of here?” He gives my side a playful squeeze, and my mouth quirks up in an easy smile at the memory.

  “I sure do. You turned around, went right back up to the counter, and bought me another one. Like the gentleman you are.”

  He pauses for a moment, his brow furrowed, then snaps his fingers. “One scoop double-chocolate fudge, one scoop of cookies and cream. Right?”

  “No way. You remember my exact order?”

  A proud, wide smile breaks across his face. “Of course I do. I don’t forget the important stuff.”

  “I’m not sure my ice cream order qualifies as important,” I say with an eye roll, but he just shakes his head in protest.

  “I strongly disagree. I think everything about you is important.”

  When it’s our turn at the counter, Lex repeats my order to the teenage girl wielding the ice cream scoop, adding on a double scoop of strawberry ice cream for himself. The same as Grier’s order when I brought her here, if my memory serves me. Like father, like daughter.

  In exchange for our two sugar cones, Lex pulls a crisp fifty-dollar bill from his wallet and hands it to the girl behind the counter, insisting she keep the change. She’s just as wide-eyed with disbelief as I am, but Lex laces his fingers with mine and tugs us out of line before any of us can get another word in.

  “That was quite the tip,” I murmur as we stroll out the door and toward the beach. It’s a gorgeous night, the gentlest breeze barely stirring the sand beneath our feet. Nights like this only come around once or twice a summer here in Wilmington. I guess even Mother Nature is on our side tonight.

  “I always feel bad for teenagers working those kinds of jobs,” Lex says. “We were young, broke high schoolers once too, you know?”

  I nod. “I remember all too well.”

  “I spent so many years working those minimum-wage jobs, and now that I’m lucky enough to be doing as well as I am, I might as well spread the love around a bit.” He pauses to take a generous lick of his ice cream. “Who knows? Maybe that ice-cream scooper girl will be the next big thing in real estate.”

  “The penthouse princess,” I say, grinning.

  Lex chuckles, weaving one arm around my waist and pulling me in for a soft strawberry-flavored kiss. “Actually, that role is filled, thank you very much.”

  As the sun inches toward the horizon, we wander down the beach, our fingers intertwined, laughing and kissing until both the daylight and the ice cream are gone. It’s the epitome of a perfect night, the kind of night I’d like to relive for the rest of the summer.

  And I just might.

  In fact, I might spend the rest of my summers like this from here on out. I may have let Lexington Dane slip away from me when he was just a boy, but he’s a man now, and I don’t plan to ever let him go.

  We find our way back to the car, placing bets the whole ride home as to whether Dak will be passed out on the couch. Lex insists that he’ll be wide awake and raiding the fridge for sloppy joe leftovers, but I’m not so sure.

  Turns out, we’re both right—when we get home, we find him snoozing on the living room sectional, a cold, half-eaten sloppy joe on the coffee table.

  I gently shake him, and he startles awake, muttering something about Dinky the Dragon catching th
e ball. Yep, somebody has been introduced to Grier’s favorite board book.

  “Toddlers, man,” he grumbles, rubbing the sleep from his eyes with one hand while digging his keys from his pocket with the other.

  Once we’ve shooed Dak out the door, we tiptoe up the stairs and peer through Grier’s cracked door to check on our Sleeping Beauty. Despite his bemoaning how tough tonight was, Dak seems to have done a pretty good job. Grier is sleeping soundly in her favorite ladybug pajamas, her little chest rising and falling with easy breaths.

  “God,” Lex says softly, shaking his head in disbelief. “I can’t believe I’m related to that angel.”

  “And I can’t believe I get to be her mom.”

  I press up on my toes, brushing my lips against his cheek. Lex holds me there, steadying one firm hand against the small of my back as he captures my lips in a longer, deeper kiss, the kind that sends quick pulses of heat shooting through my veins. It’s the kind of kiss that maybe we shouldn’t engage in with his daughter ten feet away, even if she is asleep.

  Lex must be thinking the same thing, because the next thing I know, he’s scooping me into his arms, swallowing my surprised gasp with his lips as he carries me into his bedroom and drapes me delicately across the end of his bed.

  “God, you’re beautiful.” He stares down at me with wonder as his fingers work open the buttons of his shirt, exposing his tanned, chiseled chest to me one inch at a time. “But I think I lied to you before.”

  I freeze, my eyes narrowing to slits as I assess the wicked smile settling on his lips. “What do you mean?”

  “You’re not the penthouse princess,” he says with a growl, tossing his shirt aside and pinning me against the bed. His breath is hot and hungry against my neck as he trails his lips along my collarbone, leaving little chill bumps in his wake. “You, my dear, are the penthouse queen.”