What Happens in Italy

Chapter 5

Ethan's first thought the following morning was that he had no desire to move. Penny felt perfect in his arms, her body snuggled tight to his from shoulder to thigh, their legs intertwined. He tightened his hold on her, brushing his lips across her ear. His hand rested under her breasts and he wanted to turn his palm up to cup the warm weight but figured second base would have to wait until she was at least conscious. She let out a sigh and he hardened to the point of pain, unable to stifle a groan as she brushed against him. He kissed her shoulder, inhaling her scent.

And then she stiffened.

She rolled to face him. Her lush green eyes locked on his, a combination of shock, embarrassment, and possibly horror, looked back at him, before she masked it.

That wasn't promising.

"Good morning," he murmured. "How's your head?"

"You're still here. Why are you still here?" Her voice was foggy from sleep, and she tried to pull away from him, clearly ignoring his question.

"Of course, I'm still here."

After they'd consumed another bottle of wine, and had possibly the hottest make out session he'd ever participated in, she'd climbed into his lap, and asked him to stay. He'd agreed, not wanting the night to end, and then she'd promptly passed out in his arms. He'd carried her to bed and crawled under the covers with her. Yes, it'd been pure torture being pressed against her body all night, and he should have left her to sleep alone, but he'd stayed. He'd been unable to stop himself.

"My head hurts," she grumbled.

"I bet it does. And, I have the best cure." He leaned in, kissing the spot behind her ear. She shivered beneath him before pulling back.

Her brow furrowed as she eyed him. "Why don't you have a headache?"

"I have a small one. Not too bad, considering the amount of wine we had last night."

She dropped her head down onto the bed and groaned.

This was not how he'd anticipated the morning going. Did she regret asking him to stay?

He grabbed a bottle of water from the nightstand and handed it to her. "Here." He tucked one of her curls behind her ear, needing to touch her, before she told him to get lost.

She grasped the bottle and scooted up, pressing her back against the headboard and holding on to the sheet like a lifeline. She eyed him as she took a sip. "I seem to be missing my pants."

He lifted his side of the sheet, and chuckled. "Me too."

She pulled the linen tighter. "Oh, God. This is not funny. Did we, um, do anything?"

Well, this wasn't awkward at all. He shifted closer to her, wanting to wrap his arm around her shoulders but she had that don't-touch-me vibe going on. "We had a lot to drink and fell asleep. I would never take advantage of you like that. When I finally get you completely naked, we'll both be sober."

She sucked in a breath, her mouth parted in a soft oh.

He wanted to lean in and kiss her, but he held back. Her no touching vibe was slowly diminishing, but he wasn't going to push his luck.

"I think you should go," she murmured.

She was freaking out, and he knew if he just walked out now, that would be it, and he didn't want that. "Penny, nothing happened," he said.

"I just don't think this is a good idea." She waved her hand in a circle over their laps.

He copied her gesture with his own hand. "This doesn't need to happen. It's not just about me getting you into bed. You can't tell me that you haven't enjoyed everything we've done outside of this room."