I knew why I always let him have what he wanted. Because I could never resist him. Not when he looked at me like that. Who was I kidding? I could never resist him.
He started to unbutton his shirt.
My chest rose and fell as I tried to catch my breath. I stood up and pointed my finger at him. "You can't just buy a new apartment and not tell me about it. We're getting married. We need to make these kind of decisions together. And we had already discussed this. It's too much change, too fast."
He stood up too.
"I'm really mad at you," I added, when he didn't say anything.
Ignoring me, he slowly removed his belt and unzipped his pants, letting his erection spring free.
I quickly looked back up at his face. "What are you doing? James, we need to talk about this."
His eyes were ablaze. "I like when you're mad at me."
Fuck it.I grabbed the back of his head and pulled his mouth to mine. He was always right. When I was mad at him, it just made me want him even more.
***
James propped his head up on his hand and looked down at me. "I think I know what you like, Penny."
I tried to suppress my smile and shook my head. After everything he had just done to me, I didn't have any energy left to talk about this right now. I winced slightly as I turned to face him. The odds that I didn't have rug burn on my ass were slim to none. "It still would have been nice to be part of the decision."
"I'm sorry."
I smiled up at him.
"But it was a present and I..."
I put my finger against his lips. "Don't ruin your apology."
He grabbed my hand and kissed each of my knuckles. "You're going to love it. I promise."
"As long as you're in it, I will." I ran my fingers through the contours of his six pack. "So where is it?"
"Closer to where we'll both be working."
"You're impossible. You do realize that, right?"
He shrugged and smiled down at me. "We can walk to work together every day. And we can walk to our new home together every night. We can make detours through Central Park whenever you're missing the suburbs. It's going to be wonderful."
"Thank you, James."
He tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. "Why does it feel like you aren't thanking me for the new place?"
"I am. But it's not just that. Thank you for not getting annoyed when I stayed up late studying so many nights. And for waiting to get married until after I graduated. For putting your life onhold here while I finished school. And for not getting mad at me when I'm stubborn for no reason. And for just being you."
"You're awfully sentimental tonight." He pulled me into his chest.
I'd never get enough of the sweet scent of his skin. "You've given up so much to be with me."
He ran his fingers through my hair. "That's not the way I see it."
I knew it wasn't how he saw it, but that's how it was. The past few years I had been a burden. "There is no other way to see it, James. I just want you to know how much I appreciate everything you've done. Everything you've given me and everything you've given up."
"Penny, it goes both ways. What's mine is yours. And what's yours is mine."
"But I don't have anything."
