Nash Brothers Box Set - Carrie Aarons Page 0,211

chances before coming to my senses too late.

“You look pretty,” I tell her, the words feeling strange in my mouth. I hand over the flowers, and she bends her head to smell them.

And not because she doesn’t look like a knockout … Penelope always does. But because I don’t how to flatter a female. This is a whole new arena for me, and I find that I’m on the losing end of this competition.

“Thank you. You look quite handsome yourself.” Penelope smiles shyly.

That’s when I realize she might be nervous, too.

A little face pops up behind her back and I notice Ames standing there, smiling at me. “Doesn’t Mommy look like a princess?” he asks.

I kneel down so that I’m on his level, something I read to do when you’re around children. Yes, I have been reading textbooks about child rearing. No, that doesn’t make me pussy whipped.

“Yes, she does,” I say, tossing his hair in an unconscious motion that shocks me.

“Are you taking her to the castle, just like the prince in Cinderella?” His innocent voice inquires about one of the most romantic fairy tales of all time.

“Well, I don’t know about a castle, but we are going to eat sushi,” I tell him honestly. “Maybe I’ll get her a glass slipper later, though.”

I wink up at Penelope, whose eyes shine with something very close to hope as she watches me interact with her child.

I’m aware what dating her comes with. I’ve gotten the lecture from Fletcher, and I know my mom observed me like a hawk when we all had dinner at her house. Starting a relationship with Penelope doesn’t just mean the honeymoon stages of dating. We won’t go to dinner or dancing every night, I won’t be able to spontaneously take her out of town or pick her up at a random time on the weekend to go swimming at the lake.

She comes with her boys and although wrapping my head around just even dating is hard … I’m going to respect that as best I can. I’m going to nurture a friendship with them, as well as court their mother. Court, what a funny, old-fashioned word.

But if Penelope is going to realize I am serious about this, I have to do just that.

I’m not sure when the shift occurred … of me wanting to date Penelope rather than just fuck her. We all know I’ve always had a thing for her, that it’s been unrequited, that it hasn’t gone away over the years.

And, at first, I was okay being just her side piece. Being the man she visited in the middle of the night.

Maybe, it was because all my brothers had to go and get married, sad saps they are. Seeing them happy, seeing how relationships didn’t weigh them down but lifted them up? My logical brain connected the thread between happiness and dedicating your life to one woman.

But it wasn’t just them. As I got to spend more time with Penelope, and really talk to her on a one-on-one level, it became clear as day that my crush on her was never unfounded. She’s spectacular. Funny, sexy, goofy … the loudness and brazenness I’d once faulted her for are the things that addicted me most. When we talk after sex, when I look into her eyes as she lies on my other pillow … something in me shifted. My heart started to get involved, and that was something I had never experienced before with any other woman.

Of course, it wasn’t. My heart had always been reserved for Penelope. And admitting that didn’t make me a fool.

I am a man who goes after whatever his brain or heart tells him to. So, I’m not going to second-guess my own emotions or decisions. If I want to date her, I am going to date her. If Penelope suddenly makes me change my thinking on marriage and kids, so be it.

Marriage and kids, where the hell did that come from? Get it together, Forrest. You’re not trying to completely freak her out.

My hands are so slippery on the steering wheel, I’m afraid I might drive us into a ditch on the way to Lancaster.

“I’ve never eaten sushi.” Penelope speaks up, her voice timid.

I chance a glance at her, my eyes flitting nervously. “Oh, I didn’t realize …”

“It’s okay. I’m sure I’ll find something. It’s … raw fish, right?” The way she says it makes the whole thing sound horribly unappetizing.

“Yeah. This is the best sushi restaurant for