"What?" she asked.
But those innocent eyes weren't working on him this time. "You've got a hot fudge fantasy. Don't deny it."
She gasped. "I … " She shook her head helplessly. "How did you … " Then she gave it all up. "Oh, darn it, all right, I do. So sue me."
Ryan smiled in triumph. "And you can't even blame this one on Patti."
Penny's blue eyes went wide. "She did buy me those things. I swear it."
He laughed, realizing he loved teasing her way too much, then stepped up close to her in the aisle, which was desolate except for them. "You should quit being so defensive. It just so happens … "
"What?"
She peered up at him as he cast his most suggestive grin. "That I have a hot fudge fantasy, too." Or at least he did now.
He enjoyed seeing the shock on her face melt into something a little more lurid as he reached past her, tossing two jars of the microwavable hot fudge into the cart.
She glanced down at where they lay atop a bunch of canned goods. "But, uh, don't you think that's a lot?"
He shrugged, then dropped a playful kiss on her cheek. "Anything left over can go on the ice cream."
* * *
Back at Ryan's, they filled his refrigerator and pantry with groceries, then Penny showed him how she'd arranged his cabinets. After unloading some glasses, pots and pans, and a few dish towels, the kitchen was quite livable. "See how fast that went with your guidance?" he said. Then he placed his hand on the back of her neck and pulled her in for a kiss. "Thank you for helping me."
After that, they worked in the living room. When Penny had arrived, only basic furniture and the big screen TV had been in place, and a pile of boxes had waited in one corner. Within half an hour, lamps dotted the room, pillows and a throw made the couch cozier, and she had found some candles that added character to the coffee table. Next, she put Ryan to work hooking up his VCR and stereo while she started filling the built-in, mirrored shelves with books and bric-a-brac, including a couple of framed photos she'd unpacked.
One of the photos captured four guys with backpacks and sleeping bags standing in front of an SUV. When she held it up, Ryan explained that he and his college buddies always got together for a hiking trip every fall. They were scattered across the country now, but that was the one time they all got together each year.
The other picture was a family photo, although she didn't call this one to Ryan's attention. In it, the Pierces and their two grown boys stood next to a Christmas tree, Ryan's father spreading his arms around each of his sons. They looked like very nice people, although she had to admit Ryan was right-he stood out in the crowd. He was taller and broader than his father or brother, somehow appeared more rugged and masculine. She couldn't believe he didn't know what an amazing man he was.
She turned to watch him fiddling with wires and cables on the carpet not far away, and thought about his belief that his parents didn't care much about him. As her heart filled with emotion for him, she almost said I love you, because she really thought it might be true-it felt that way more and more all the time-and she wanted him to know.
Thank God she realized it was the move of a lunatic before she actually did it.
"What's up?" he asked, catching her look.
"Just wondering how it's coming over there."
He laughed. "I know it seems like a mess right now, but five minutes, and I'll have it up and running."
"What's next?" she asked, done with the shelves.
"You wanna order a pizza or something? I don't know the good places around here yet."
"One LaRosa's pizza, coming up." Penny tossed her empty boxes in a pile next to the wall-spanning window en route to the phone, but the view stopped her progress. Outside, darkness hovered and the sunset glowed magnificently over the river. Streaks of electric pink blazed across the horizon to the west, and tiny dots of light sprinkled the hills below that led down to the Ohio. "Oh, Ryan, come look at this. Is it like this every night from up here?"
He joined her, sliding his arms around her waist from behind. "I don't really know. I'm usually working or having fun with you this time of night," he said, sounding playful. "But it's pretty great, isn't it?" He leaned forward, dropping one delicate kiss on her neck as they took in the spectacular colors, streaks of plum now twining their way through the pink splash of sky.
"So what do you wanna do after we eat pizza?" she whispered up to him.
"Easy," he growled. "Break into the hot fudge and have you for dessert."
* * *
"We're a mess," Penny sighed as she kissed him.
"I know." He reached to wipe off the remnants of chocolate that had somehow ended up on her cheek.
"I'm exhausted." She reached to kiss him once more.
"You wore me out, too."
They lay in Ryan's bed on sheets he'd promised were old, and thank goodness, because they'd never be the same again. Penny didn't think hot fudge would ever taste quite the same to her again, either.
"I should shower," she suggested.
"Afraid you'll have to wash your hair while you're at it." He ran his fingers down a long lock now caked with partially dried fudge.
Suddenly amused almost beyond her comprehension, Penny rolled over on her back and started laughing.
He smiled down on her in the lamplight. "What?"
"I can't believe we just did that." It had been so freeing, so sensual, and so incredibly easy.
"Oh, come on," he teased. "Considering some of the other stuff we've done over the past week, what's a little hot fudge?"
She smiled up at him, then used her thumbnail to chip away a tiny blot of dry chocolate from his chin. "It was fun, wasn't it?"
"The hot fudge? Or everything else, too?"
"The hot fudge," she said. The warm sensation of having it dribbled over her and then watching him lick it off had been nothing less than exquisite. "But everything else, too."
"Starting a week ago tonight," he said, and Penny shook her head in disbelief. She couldn't believe they'd gotten together only a week ago! But then again, given how they'd gotten together, maybe what'd followed had been somehow inevitable, meant to be. "It's been one hell of a week," he added, nuzzling her ear, then softly biting her neck.
"I was just thinking the same thing."
I love you.
The words had struck her in an undeniable way as she and Ryan had made love and, suddenly, not a shred of doubt remained. When she'd heard his deep moan and felt his body collapsing against her, she'd realized how profoundly she cherished bringing him pleasure and she'd known, just known beyond question, that it was indeed love.
She couldn't tell him, of course, since nothing had really changed between them except for what rested in her heart. But it was real and solid and surrounded Penny like a warm cocoon she could never escape from, could never want to escape from.
She wasn't afraid anymore, or nervous about anything they did together. She had moaned and laughed and relished every moment of living out her hot fudge fantasy with Ryan. Not one scrap of guilt or "goodgirlness" had snuck in. She'd simply been having decadent fun with the man she loved, nothing more, nothing less. It was as if realizing she truly loved him had cleared her head in other ways, too, freed her from the chains she'd locked herself in somewhere along the way.
And best of all, none of this was startling. She knew they hadn't known each other very long, yet it seemed as if they had, as if all the feelings had been growing in her from the moment they'd met. Now love was blooming inside her, and she just wanted to bask in it, like a spring flower in the sun.
A few minutes later, she watched Ryan drag himself up from the chocolate-stained sheets to make his way to the shower, both of them laughing again at what a mess they were. He soon returned from the bathroom with a large navy blue bath sheet hooked at his waist. "Shower's free if you're recovered enough," he said with a wink.
"I'm getting there," she sighed happily.
"While you're getting cleaned up," he said with a laugh, "I'll get these sheets off the bed and into the washing machine before I end up tracking chocolate footprints through the condo."
Soon after, they lay back down together, both wrapped in navy towels, on Ryan's leather couch, laughing still more because he hadn't had any luck locating clean sheets. Penny wanted to spend all night in his arms, and she hardly cared if it was in a bed or on the couch or on the floor.