quick, closer visual inspection made me realize she wasn’t wearing a bra. It looked as though she’d just rolled out of bed. I frowned and looked around to make sure no one else was seeing my girl in a way that should be for me alone. When my eyes landed on her face, my frown deepened. She looked...uneasy...and the smile on her lips was forced.
She spotted Tucker sleeping in the crook of my arm and sighed. “Oh good, I didn’t wake him. I’m so sorry to bother you. Especially this late.”
“You’re never a bother, angel,” I declared, and her smile became slightly more genuine.
“Hey, Penny!” A male voice had my head whipping to the side. “Where’d you go, babe? I found a bottle of wine.”
The owner of the voice was standing on the porch of Mallory’s brownstone, looking around until he spotted Penelope. I didn’t know what the fuck was going on, but from the expression on Penelope’s face, it was clear that this asshole made her uncomfortable. If it hadn’t been for Tucker and Penelope, I’d have marched over there and broken his nose, but my son and my love would always come first. “Inside,” I commanded as I stepped away from the door.
“Penny…”
I almost slammed the door but caught it at the last second and shut it quietly, cutting off whatever else that son of a bitch was going to say. Penelope shifted from foot to foot, chewing on her plump bottom lip. I both hated and loved when she did that. Loved it because she looked so fucking adorable. Hated it because I was ridiculously jealous of that lip. “Wait for me in the den,” I ordered. “I’m going to lay Tucker down, and then we’ll talk.”
Assuming she would do as she was told, I didn’t wait for an affirmation and jogged up the stairs. Tucker could sleep through a freight train in his room most of the time, so he didn’t stir in the slightest on the trip up or when I gently lowered him into his crib. I flipped on his noise machine on my way out the door and logged into the monitoring app on my phone as I descended the stairs.
As expected, Penelope was in the den waiting, curled up on one of the recliners. Forgoing any small talk, I began pacing in front of the fireplace and jumped right to the point. “Who was that?” I grumbled.
Penelope shrugged delicately and grimaced. “Some guy my sister was with once.”
I stopped wearing a path into my carpet and raised a brow as I faced her. “With once?”
She nodded and waved a hand carelessly in the direction of the wall shared between our townhomes. “You know Mallory. She doesn’t see guys often, but when she does, repeats are usually avoided.” Penelope dropped her hand, and her face twisted with disgust. “I don’t know what she saw in that guy. I think he’s kinda creepy.” My fists clenched at my sides, pissed as fuck that this motherfucker had made my girl uncomfortable. “He’s been trying to get back with Mallory, and tonight, he showed up just as I was about to go to bed, refusing to leave until he talked to her.”
Where the fuck was Layne? She was supposed to be watching over Penelope and reporting back to me. The sound of my phone vibrating broke through the haze of anger and reminded me that I’d been ignoring it. Shit. I stalked over to the table and snatched my phone. Yup. Layne had been trying to call, and I had about twenty missed texts from her.
“I…”
I stopped staring at my phone and looked up when I heard the timid note in her voice. She bit her lip, her blue eyes shifting nervously.
“I know it’s a huge imposition, but would you mind if I hung out here? Just until Mallory comes home?” I should’ve said no. I should have pawned her off on one of my married friends or had Layne remove the fucker from Mallory’s place and stay with Penelope until morning. Or I could have simply let her wait in the den until Mallory returned.
Instead, I shook my head and closed the space between us. “You’re not going back there tonight.” Holding out one hand, palm up, I waited for her to place hers in mine. Without hesitation—which made me extremely happy—she accepted my assistance and got to her feet. The sparks that emanated from where our skin touched induced tingling in my balls and