Mile High Madness: Six Colorado Contemporary Romances

by Annabelle Anders

  “And I told you age didn’t matter, didn’t I?” he countered.

  “Doesn’t matter for what?” she dared to ask.

  “All sorts of things. If my touch makes you shiver, does it matter if I’m twenty-five or fifty? If you get butterflies when I kiss you, does it matter what year I was born? If I can make you want me, does anything else really matter at all?”

  He shouldn’t say this stuff to her. He should be scared to death that she might jump across the space between the windows and attack him. “Shouldn’t it?” She barely managed to get the words out.

  “Life’s short, Penny.” His voice sounded sad and serious and wise… like that look she’d thought she’d seen in his eyes earlier that day.

  “Don’t you have a girlfriend somewhere?” Probably a pretty college girl.

  “Not right now.” And then, “Is that your bedroom?”

  “My office,” she admitted. “My bedroom’s on the other side of the house.”

  “What are you wearing?”

  Since she’d turned the light off earlier, she was sitting in total darkness. She knew he couldn’t see her. Glancing down at her nearly transparent old T-shirt, the lie rolled from her tongue ironically. “A lacy silk camisole and matching shorts.”

  He didn’t have a shirt on. But when he’d entered the room, he’d been wearing low-slung sweats. The man had problems keeping pants above his hip bones. She’d been able to make out that spot where his abs ended and his groin began… almost.

  “You’ve got great legs.” At those words, her heart dropped.

  Now she knew he was playing with her.

  She’d always considered her legs too short. They were white as a ghost and her thighs were softer than she’d like them to be.

  Reflecting on the perfection of his own physique, she determined to get this conversation away from her legs.

  “Do you work out every day? I mean, when you aren’t laid up.” She’d felt like less than a woman for so long, it just didn’t seem right, that such an amazing-looking guy would find her legs worth looking at.

  “And an incredible ass.” He seemed to be watching her intently. “Am I making you uncomfortable?”

  “A little,” she confessed. When it came to this sort of thing, she surprisingly felt much younger than him. In experience, she was likely light years behind him.

  “You shouldn’t be. Didn’t your husband compliment you? Before things fell apart?”

  Kent had treated her like… one of the guys. They’d had an active sex life at first but it had become… mundane and predictable.

  The two of them hadn’t ever actually talked about sex. Their routine had been to turn the light off and climb on top of one another.

  She’d tried talking dirty a few times and he’d ignored it at the time. And then later, he’d told her he didn’t like to hear words like that on his wife’s lips.

  He’d told her it was a turn off.

  She’d not attempted anything new after that.

  Sometimes in the morning, he’d wake up hard and pull her on top of him. He’d push her underwear to the side and she’d slide on. Then, he’d close his eyes and maneuver her where he wanted her. Sometimes he’d grip her hips tightly to keep her from getting too excited.

  They’d never kissed during these encounters.

  Morning breath.

  She’d done her best to try to come quickly because if he finished before her, she was out of luck.

  “Sometimes,” she said half-heartedly. It seemed disloyal to admit that he hadn’t ever told her she was sexy. Or ever said anything about her legs or any other particular part of her body.

  He’d said she was pretty. He’d told her she looked “fine.”

  “I wanted to slide my hand all the way into your panties in the car today.”

  Penny could hardly breathe. She stared at his silhouette in a daze. “And then what?”

  “I wanted to squeeze whatever I could grab and then slide my fingers between your legs.”

  She swallowed hard. She’d wanted him to do just that. She’d wanted lots of things. That didn’t mean she ever got any of them.

  “I wanted to pull you on top of me. I wanted you straddling me, grinding against me.”

  She still couldn’t talk.

  “I wanted to pull your shirt off and taste you. I wouldn’t even bother unhooking your bra.

  She reached up and touched her breast for the second time that day. Thank God she was in total darkness!

  And then it hit her. “You feel sorry for me,” she dropped her hand.

  “That’s bullshit.” He sounded gruff, a little angry. “I don’t say things I don’t mean.”

  How had they gotten to this?

  But she couldn’t help but summon a mental picture from his words. Would she have done it? Parked in front of his mother’s house. Parked on the street for all to see. She didn’t even have tinted windows.

  “Where’s the craziest place you’ve ever had sex?” His voice interrupted her musings.

  The first thought that came to mind was this afternoon, in front of a window, watching her neighbor’s son.

  But that hadn’t been sex. Well, not actually.

  Hm… It hadn’t been with Kent. It had been at a party, in the bathroom. The guy, what was his name? Wow, she couldn’t even remember his name. He’d been a foreign exchange student from Germany. Sexy accent, incredibly good looking… and not integrated enough to have realized that Penny wasn’t one of the “in” girls.

  “A bathroom, at a party.” They’d both had way too much to drink, and he’d dragged her into the small room downstairs. She’d been wearing a very short skirt, daring for her. He’d hiked it up and pulled her panties down before she’d even considered saying no. In fact, she’d reached for his fly and assisted him with his jeans. He’d pushed them down and grabbed her thighs.

  She could still remember the feel of the cold granite beneath her. He’d pulled her to the edge and then placed himself at her opening.

  That was how she’d lost her virginity.

  At the ripe old age of nineteen.

  “The sink?”

  Suddenly, she was picturing Chaz lifting her onto the vanity in her own bathroom. She imagined wrapping her legs around his waist. “Yeah.” And then, “How about you?”

  Maybe she didn’t want to know. She didn’t want to think of him having crazy, casual, romantic sex with some girl who wouldn’t be self-conscious about how mushy her thighs had become.

  “That’s a tough one.” He seemed to be thinking very hard.

  “Can’t pin it down to just one?” she taunted him.

  He laughed softly. “Well, I am a pilot.”

  “In the cockpit?” she asked.

  He laughed a little louder. “Obviously, you’ve never been in the cockpit of a fighter jet. There’s barely enough room for me.”

  “Hmm…” This was okay. Playing a guessing game. “A car?”

  “Of course. Try again.”

  “A commercial airplane? I can’t imagine you not being a member of the mile-high club.”

  He pounded a fist to his chest. “Alas, I disappoint you again. I rarely fly commercial.”

  “A locker room?” She remembered he’d played football.

  “With the head cheerleader, of course.”

  Of course.

  “I give up. Tell me. Where’s the most unusual place you’ve ever had sex?”

  “An elevator. A haunted house ride at Disney World. And… the stall in a restroom at a Linkin Park concert. Satisfied?”

  She didn’t know what to say. She wasn’t satisfied, nor was she shocked. It was just that his admissions somehow taunted her own limited experience.

  “But for the record, I prefer a bed. And privacy. That way I can take my time… not be rushed.”

  Her breathing hitched.

  “Kent and I had this really sturdy antique dining room table that his grandma gave him. I always wanted to have sex on top of it.” Where
had that come from?

  “But you never did?”

  Penny sighed.

  “People ate there, Kent said.”

  “There’s time yet, Penny – what’s your last name?”

  He would have to ask her that. “Um, it’s complicated.”

  “I think maybe everything about you is complicated.” That soft chuckle again. “How can a name be complicated?”

  “Legally, I still have Kent’s name, and as much as I want to change it, I can’t bear the thought of going back to my maiden name.”

  “Okay, so what’s the ex’s name?”

  “Butts. It’s horrid.”

  “Penny Butts, Penny Butts…” He paused. “Pretty horrid. How bad is your maiden name?”

  “My stepdad’s name was John Pyncher. He adopted me when I was three.”

  Chaz laughed outright at that. “Penny Pyncher? That’s not so bad.” Except that he was still chuckling.

  “Not until you’ve lived with it. But I don’t want to keep Kent’s name either. I want the clean break… I just can’t bring myself to go back to Pyncher.”

  Chaz managed to sober himself up enough to look slightly sympathetic.

  “So, you see my quandary. A name can be complicated… What’s your last name?”

  “Wright.”

  Penny giggled a little at that. “Mr. Wright?”

  “Lieutenant Charles Ezekiel Wright, ma’am.”

  “Of course, Lieutenant.” They sat silently for almost a full minute. “Are you really not going back? You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.” He’d seemed to flinch when she asked.

  Maybe he wouldn’t answer her. Who was she anyway? The neighbor.

  “My commander mentioned a teaching post. But I don’t know… They’ve invested a lot in me. Even if I don’t fly, I imagine they’ll find a way to get me back to work.”

  “How long did it take?” She really was interested…

  “After I got my engineering degree from the University of Colorado, I entered officer training in Pensacola. From there, I got jets and that’s an automatic eight-year commitment. So, unless they medically discharge me, I’m theirs for three more years.”

  “Flight school? Like in the movie?” She could easily imagine him in the white uniform, girls swooning. What girl hadn’t seen An Officer and a Gentlemen and dreamed of being carried off?

  “Like in the movie.”

  “That was a great movie. Have you see it?”

  “You kidding?” He laughed again. Good grief, his laughter curled her toes.

  Focus, Penny. There had been some very sad moments in that movie. “Was Officer Candidate School really that grueling?”

  Chaz ran his good hand through his hair. “For some.” He shrugged. “It was a challenge, but I love a good challenge. Others seemed to struggle. A handful dropped out.” His words ought to have made him seem overly cocky, and yet he didn’t sound like he was bragging.

  “Pine Springs must seem awfully tame after all the places you’ve been.”

  Again, that little lift of his shoulder, the good one. “It’s home. And I gotta admit…” His voice dropped an octave… a very sexy octave. “Things around here are looking better every day.”

  Penny squirmed. She wished she could see his face.

  She wasn’t used to this. A young, good-looking guy, Chaz probably flirted with every female he encountered.

  She’d be a fool to take him seriously.

  She was a fool to be talking this way with him tonight.

  What would his mother think if she knew her son was being ogled by their perverted nut job of a neighbor?

  Penny dropped her feet to the floor and stood up. “Well, you probably need to rest… Chaz.” She needed to keep him in perspective. There was no way he could be interested in her.

  “Night,” she added. “I hope you feel better soon.”

  “I will…” She could just barely make out his slow smile in the moonlight. “Penny Pyncher.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Bad Penny

  Ever since discovering Kent rutting on top of butt-pillow girl, Penny had struggled to get out of bed first thing in the mornings. Typically, when consciousness struck her, the awareness of what her life had become was enough to rob any enthusiasm she might have had for getting up. It was easier to simply pull the covers up and go back to sleep.

  This morning, though, when she opened her eyes, her first thoughts were not of the emptiness in her life, but of a certain blue-eyed sculpted package of scrumptiousness next door. Her normal lethargy must have taken a hiatus, for she was surprisingly motivated to get up and brew a pot of coffee. She felt the tiniest bit lighter. It was as though she actually… anticipated the day? She’d not anticipated anything in what seemed like forever.

  Was this change in mood due to the long cry she’d allowed herself in the shower yesterday? The release she’d given herself after the shower? Or did it have something to do with sitting in the darkness flirting?

  Despite chastising herself repeatedly, she could no longer think of him as a kid. He’d accomplished more than most men ever would. He was intelligent, educated, a member of an elite unit of the US military, and he had been wounded for his efforts.

  As far as life experience went, he’d seen far more than she ever would.

  To have accomplished all of this, he had cause to be a little cocky.

  Just as she finished adding the rich grounds of coffee to the filter, a chime sounded.

  She jumped. The doorbell!

  She’d yet to have heard it ring since moving in. Which made sense, since she hadn’t made friends with a single person in town.

  And of course, these older homes were not equipped with peepholes.

  She could either pretend nobody was home or take her chances on being caught peeping through the drapes in her front room.

  Curiosity got the better of her and she pulled the curtain outside.

  Chaz’s mother.

  Mrs. Wright caught her eye, smiling and waving enthusiastically.

  Gulp.

  She was feeling, um, perkier today but she hadn’t prepared herself for… this.

  After fumbling with the deadbolt, she pulled the door open.

  Smile, Penny. Smile. “Good morning,” she managed to say.

  “Good morning, dear!” Mrs. Wright’s smile looked so much more natural than Penny’s felt.

  At that thought, she began to wonder when she’d become so socially inept.

  “It’s so nice to meet you, Penny.” Chaz’s mother knew her name? “It was so neighborly of you to fetch milk for me yesterday. Chaz told me how incredibly helpful you were.” The older woman then stuck her hand out in introduction. “I’m Cindy Wright. My husband Bob and I live next door and of course, you’ve already met Chaz.”

  Penny took Mrs. Wright’s hand. She wasn’t quite so old after all. Definitely not a little old lady as Penny had come to think of her. No, she had a firm handshake and something of an athletic build. Now that Penny considered it, Chaz’ father had looked relatively fit as well.

  Apparently, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.

  “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Wright.” Realizing she’d been hiding behind the large oak door, Penny pulled it all open further and stepped out. “I was happy to help.” There she was. Social Penny. Nice of her to make an appearance.

  “Oh, dear, I wouldn’t bother you but since you’ve been so nice to Chaz, I thought you might be the best person to impose upon.” No! She wanted a favor? Hopefully, it involved little more than running to the store for her again.

  “My husband’s mother has suffered a stroke. We just got the call this morning, and we’re going to have to drive up to Denver today. Bob’s brother says she’s stabilized but at her age… well, as much as I hate leaving Chaz right now, we really need to get up there.”

  “Oh, of course!” Penny made a sympathetic face. “She’s all right though?”

  Mrs. Wright clucked her
tongue. “For now. But I don’t want Bob driving alone. He has a tendency to nod off sometimes… scares the hell out of me.”

  Penny thought she could possibly like this woman.

  “I can imagine.”

  “Would it be too much trouble for you to check in on Chaz? He’s mending and all but still pretty helpless when it comes to certain things. I’d feel so much better if I knew there was help nearby if he needed it. If I had more time, I know one of his old girlfriends from high school would come watch over him but we need to get on the road.”

  Penny had little doubt Mrs. Wright was not exaggerating. She was surprised, in fact, that he didn’t already have a squad of ex-cheerleaders lining up to care for him; bringing him meals, keeping him company… giving him sponge baths.

  But would Penny mind looking after him?

  Penny certainly didn’t mind looking at him.

  “That’s no trouble.” Her ears buzzed. It would mean she would see more of him. And not while hiding behind the blinds. “I work at home, so I don’t have to be anywhere.”

  “Oh, wonderful, wonderful! Maybe you could come over after you’ve had your coffee and give Chaz your phone number? He can program it into his cellular, and if he has any problems, he could call you.”

  “Hold on just a minute. I’ll be right back.” Penny jogged back to the kitchen and grabbed her phone. When she came back outside, Mrs. Wright was still there. “Let me have your number, so I can let you know if anything comes up. And you can have my number, too.”

  After putting Mrs. Wright’s info into her contacts, she called the number and then helped her set it up as a contact in her own.

  “Oh, thank you so much, Penny! You don’t know how much better this makes me feel.” Chaz’s mother was obviously relieved. “I’ll tell Chaz you’ll be coming by later. Again, I’m so sorry to bother you with this…”

  “No problem,” Penny insisted. Wow, it seemed she really was going to be rejoining civilization. “Have a good trip! And don’t worry about anything here.” She waved as Mrs. Wright walked away before shutting the door.

  Coffee.

  She was going to need at least three cups this morning.