deliciously, trying to find her balance, and every muscle in Dylan’s body went taut and throbbing with expectation. When Penny got her knees under her, straddling his waist, and moved to prop herself up on her hands, Dylan’s arms tightened around her automatically, holding her in place.
“What?” she breathed, staring down at him all pink cheeks and tousled hair. Her mouth was so pink, the bottom lip so delectably plump, it looked as if he’d already kissed her.
Unable to bear it another moment, Dylan reared up to capture that tempting lip between his. He breathed Penny’s gasp into his mouth, and Dylan’s shocked brain finally caught up to his body. He was still for a frozen moment, the hardness of the linoleum at his back and the soft weight of Penny’s body all that kept him tethered in place.
Then she kissed him back. Hesitant, at first, as if she wasn’t sure she ought to be doing this, but when he released that succulent lip and opened his mouth to the tentative sweep of her tongue, Penny caught fire.
Clasping his head between her hands, her fingers tightened so that he felt all ten points of pressure, tilting his face to the best possible angle. He groaned deep in his chest at the clean, freshwater taste of her, with a hint of spearmint, as if she’d brushed her teeth before coming back downstairs.
Dylan shifted his hips to cradle her body between his legs, the resultant squeeze and friction good enough to make his eyes cross. The little breaths Penny hitched against his chest dazzled him. He was pretty sure no one had ever breathed so perfectly, with so much unconscious seduction, in the whole history of the world before.
A door closed somewhere in the house, jarring them apart. Penny stared down at Dylan for a long heartbeat, and the way she looked at him cut him off at the knees.
Eyes wide, cheeks flushed, chest heaving—Penny looked stunned, as if she couldn’t believe this was happening.
Dylan swallowed, throat clicking loudly in the heated silence between them, and she pushed up off his chest. For a guy who didn’t believe in guilt or regret, Dylan found himself taking a dive right into it.
What was he doing, making out with this woman in her kitchen, with her kid right upstairs, and this huge lie between them? This was not a woman to be toyed with and cast aside, Dylan knew.
“Penny,” he said hoarsely, “there’s something I have to tell you.”
The sound of a throat being cleared had them leaping to their feet instead, untangling their arms and legs in a disheveled flurry. Matthew stood in the doorway, angular face dark with anger.
“I knew it,” he said, pointing an accusing finger at Dylan, who could only be grateful that the close shave with spilling the truth about his identity had killed his erection.
“Mom, what are you doing with this guy? Tell him to get lost!”
Shooting Dylan an apologetic glance, Penny hurried forward. “Now, honey. I know this is probably weird for you, but Dylan and I … it was only a kiss. Not anything for you to worry about.”
Matt twitched away from her, sidestepping so he could keep his glare focused on Dylan, who stood there feeling helpless and crappy. “I never meant to cause any trouble here.”
“Well, you are, so why don’t you fuck off!” Matt shouted.
“Matthew!” Penny looked as if she ached to grab the kid by the scruff of the neck and shake him. “There’s no call for that kind of language! Apologize to Mr. Workman, right this minute.”
“I’m not apologizing,” Matt sneered, though his lips trembled. “And if he’s staying, I’m leaving.”
He turned to go, and a note of iron entered his mother’s voice. “If you walk out of this kitchen right now, you’re grounded for the next month. End of discussion. No second chances, Matthew.”
Dylan winced, reading Matt’s answer to that in the defiant set of his rigid shoulders.
“So what,” the kid snarled, eyes unnaturally bright with unshed tears of