All Stars Fall (Seaside Pictures #3.5)(36)



“Yeah, Dad, you’re funny.” He sprinted past me and into his brother’s room. “Eric! I get to sleep on the bottom bunk!”

I leaned against the doorframe and stared at Eric’s thunderous expression and then almost laughed when he tossed a pillow toward Malcom’s face and said in an authoritative voice, “You better not fart.”

Ah, boys.

“Bed.” I tried my most commanding voice and pointed at both of them. As if a parent’s pointer finger was the one thing they couldn’t look away from, they both gave me wide eyes and nods, with unison “Yes, Dad’s.”

Finally.

I closed their door and slowly walked toward the master suite. One of the reasons I’d blindly chosen the beach house was because the master suite had a beautiful view of the ocean, was close to the studio, and had a fireplace in the bathroom with heated tile floors. It wasn’t as nice as my place in Malibu, but it felt more like home than that mansion ever had.

I opened the door to the master and shut it quietly behind me as the sound of the bath water running filled the air almost like an electrical charge.

The fireplace was running.

The curtains were pulled back, and HGTV was on in the background, though the flat screen TV hanging over the fireplace was at least turned down to almost silent.

I would have hated for anything to drown out the water.

Or the fact that she was either in it or about to get in it.

The smell of Bella’s bubble bath assaulted me as I made my way into the large marble bathroom with its custom crown molding and large bay windows and was stunned stupid.

Penny was lounging in the bathtub, her toes up on the edges. Her nails were pink, and I fixated on them like a man who’d never seen feet before.

But they were so feminine, so…normal.

Penny had the ability to make me feel both normal and like I could do anything in the world.

It was addicting, the way she smiled at me, the way she silently encouraged me even when she didn’t realize she was doing it. Damn, the woman communicated with her eyes just as well as she did with her words.

I wanted her story.

I needed it.

“Champagne?” I asked with a tilt of my head.

“Please.” She sucked on her bottom lip and then tugged it up with her teeth while I moved to the opposite end of the bathroom where the wet bar was located. I pulled a chilled bottle and two glasses and brought everything to the edge of the marble tub.

She was still staring at me.

And I was trying like hell not to burn a hole through all the bubbles that hid what I knew would be my favorite parts of her.

“So…” I grabbed a nearby towel and covered the cork, then quickly popped it off the champagne. “Are you feeling relaxed?”

“Relaxed and guilty.” She sighed as I handed her the champagne. “Aren’t you the sick one?”

“I’m feeling—” A bubble floated by her right breast, exposing more skin. “—fantastic suddenly.”

“Maybe you just needed the sleep?” She lifted the flute to her lips.

“Or maybe I just needed you,” I said honestly.

We locked eyes.

“You have to mean it,” she said in a quiet but stern voice. “I’m not…” She sighed. “I’m not like other women. I’m not from LA, I don’t do one night stands, and I truly don’t think my heart could take it if you said yes only to whisper no the very next day.”

“I wouldn’t do that to you.” I wanted to tell her that it was almost offensive she would think so, but I knew what my past looked like when I was a teen, I knew what people thought of celebrities with too much fame and money. “You don’t have to be afraid that I’m going to see you naked, kiss my way down your skin, then suddenly decide I don’t want more.”

Her lips parted. “I came here for a fresh start, you know.”

I pulled my shirt over my head. “Oh yeah? So far so good, then?”

She smirked. “Stop trying to distract me.”

I dipped my fingers into the tub, flicking bubbles in her direction. “I bet this isn’t what you had in mind when you moved here, hmm?”

She laughed. “More like…new scenery.”

I dropped my jeans just as she took a sip of champagne and choked.

“You all right?” I grinned.

“Yeah,” she croaked. “Perfect. Great scenery.”

I barked out a laugh. “Yeah, that’s what I was going for.”

Her eyes raked over me like she was giddy to get to know every inch of my body better.

I was done waiting.

I still tasted her.

I still felt her even though she was all wet and about to get wetter.

I pulled my boxer briefs down and then very slowly crawled into the huge tub.

She gaped like she’d never seen an aroused man before and then blushed like she was afraid I was going to pounce on her.

Not far from the truth.

Our legs slid against one another’s.

I let out a little moan when she reached for my foot and started massaging. “So you like baths?”

“If they all start like this and end with you in my bed, yeah, I fucking love baths.”

She dropped my foot. “Now I feel like you were faking your sickness.”

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