"Sweet Lord," Morgan whispered. His breath tickled her ear and she nearly shivered. "I've never done that before."
They were leaving the plane, and his hands were resting on her shoulders, walking as close to her as possible without stepping on her heels.
"You mean you weren't already a member of the mile high club?" she asked, flashing him a grin over her shoulder.
Instead of answering, he gave her shoulders a squeeze.
"Did you enjoy your flight?" a stewardess asked as they exited the plane.
Morgan grinned at her. "Immensely, thank you."
Penelope cleared her throat to keep from laughing.
"Oh, I almost forgot," Morgan said as he pulled a blue velvet box out of his pocket. He handed it to Penelope. "For you."
She took the box and opened it, her eyes widening. "Is this…real?" she asked, coming to a stop to study the ring.
He nodded, taking her elbow to resume their pace. They were holding up the people behind them.
"Are you kidding?" she asked in disbelief. She took the ring out of the box and put it on the third finger of her left hand. "Perfect," she said in awe. "Why didn't you just get a cubic zirconia?" But even as she asked, she held her hand up in front of her to admire it.
"My mother could spot a fake immediately," he told her.
"Where did you get this?" she asked. "A pawn shop?"
"No," he told her. "I got it at Diamond Link."
"You got it at a real jewelry shop? Morgan! This must have cost you a fortune."
He shrugged. "I had a trade in."
"Oooh," she said. "What were you doing with a diamond?"
He sighed. "I was engaged when I was living in Chicago," he told her.
"Is that why you left?" she asked softly. "Because you weren't engaged anymore?"
"Partly," he admitted.
"What happened?" she asked.
"She… left me because I worked too much," he told her. "So I solved that. I moved to Virginia, joined the FBI, and worked even more."
"Ahhh…your last chance to stick it to her."
He laughed. "Exactly," he said, reaching down for her hand.
"What are you doing?" she asked, trying to pull away. But his grasp remained firm.
"Playing the part," he told her. "You can be sure that somewhere, my mother and sisters are watching our every move."
Penelope looked around the airport but couldn't spot them. "They think we're engaged," she muttered. "They're not gonna be expecting us to be puking affection."
"What?" he asked with a grin.
"They'll think we're past the…lovey stage."
"Penelope Garcia," he said scolding. "If you think that I will stop romancing my girl once I've got her, then you don't know me very well. My mother, on the other hand, would expect nothing less." He kissed her on the forehead. "Now put stars in those gorgeous eyes of yours whenever you look at me, because anything else will rouse my mother's suspicion. And trust me, baby girl. The woman…is like a vulture."
"Now you tell me," she said with a dramatic eye roll.
"Don't worry," he said huskily. "Tonight—when I'm inside you, it'll all be worth it."
At that—she did shiver.
___
"I can't believe you're finally home," Derek's mother said, embracing him again as they walked through the front door.
He laughed. "I'd hug you mom, but I'm loaded down with luggage."
She waved a hand. "Just drop it by the door for now," she said dismissively.
"I need to go get the rest of my bags," Penelope said, trying to move around mother and son.
"Derek will get it for you," his mother said.
"Sure thing, baby girl," he said, leaning down and kissing Penelope on the forehead.
"Thanks…hon," she said. But it sounded flat even to her own ears.
But Derek was quick to cover. "There's no reason to be shy around my mother," he told her, wrapping an arm around her waist and giving her a squeeze. "You can call me sweet stuff."
Penelope cleared her throat and nodded uncertainly as Derek disappeared to get the rest of her luggage.
"Would you like some wine?" his mother asked, pulling two glasses out of the cupboard.
"Please," Penelope said amiably. And lots of it!
His mother walked into what Penelope assumed was a pantry and returned with a bottle of wine and proceeded to uncork it and pour them each half a glass.
"A little more would be great," Penelope said. She needed to get these nerves relaxed.
"You know what? I think you're right!" she said, filling each of their glasses close to the rim.
Penelope reached for her glass on the counter and followed Derek's mother into the living room. They sat down on the couch and Penelope tried to look around the room to avoid Mrs. Morgan's stare.
"So, how did you meet my son?" she asked.
"At work," Penelope said quickly, taking a sip of her wine.
Mrs. Morgan nodded. "Was it love at first sight?" she asked.
"Something…like…that," Penelope said evasively. She had no idea what Derek had told his mother, and she didn't want to contradict any story he may have fabricated about their fake engagement.
Luckily, he chose that moment to walk into the living room. "Where'd Sarah and Desiree go?" he asked, looking around.
"They went to get stuff for supper," she told him, and then smiled. "Lasagna."
Derek rubbed his stomach. "Mmm mmm mmm," he said heartily. "Momma's homemade lasagna! You know just how to get to me, Momma."
She grinned. "Some things never change," she said. "So, have you two set a wedding date yet?" she asked.
Penelope choked on her wine and Derek pounded her back a few times. "You OK, baby cakes?" he asked.
She coughed. "My throat," she said, patting her chest as she struggled for breath. "It was dry. I'm so sorry."
Mrs. Morgan grinned at her. "Derek's giving you a hard time setting a date, huh?"
"Exactly the opposite," Derek said, sitting down in between them, closer to Penelope. "I want to make it official, but Penelope here is happy just living in sin."
Oh, she was going to kill him the first chance she got.
"So, you two are living together, then?"
"Oh, just a few nights here and there when I can talk her into it," he said in a teasing tone, putting a hand on her knee.
His mother gave them a knowing look, and Penelope had to bite back a retort. It was like he was baiting her!
"Have you discussed children yet?" she asked casually.
Derek nodded. "I'm thinking six, but Penelope wants to stop at two." He shrugged. "We'll see," he said, taking the glass out of her hand and finishing off her wine. "It's definitely up for discussion."
Penelope cleared her throat again and stood up. "If you can just tell me where my room is, I'd like to get settled in and freshened up before dinner."
"Of course," Mrs. Morgan said, as she rose to her feet.
"You show her to our room, Momma," Derek said. "And I'll get our bags."
___
Penelope was pacing furiously when he walked into the room with the last of their suitcases. As soon as they hit the floor, she hit him upside the head.
"Oww! What the hell?" he asked.
"Are you trying to make me look like an idiot?" she asked heatedly.
"What in the hell are you talking about?" he demanded.
"Oh, Penelope likes living in sin. Penelope only wants two kids," she said, hands on hips, mimicking his voice.
He laughed. "Just so you know, I don't sound anything like that," he told her softly as he approached her. He looped his arms around her waist and pulled her flush against him.
"Derek—" she said weakly.
He took her face in his hands. "I wasn't trying to make you sound like an idiot," he assured her.
"Well, it felt like you were," she said with a pout.
He'd never seen her pout before. She looked adorable. He couldn't help but drop a soft kiss on her pouty lips. "I'm trying to establish our differences," he explained. "So that when I have to tell my mother that we broke it off, I have some excuses in my back pocket."
"OK," she said in understanding. "I guess that does make sense."
He grinned down at her. "I'm not as stupid as I look, you know," he told her.
She laughed as he lowered his lips to her neck and began to suckle. "Derek," she said breathlessly.
He lifted his lips long enough to say, "What, baby girl?"
"You know I am white as a ghost! I swear, if you give me a hicky—"
"Would you relax?" he said, pulling away. "I just wanted a little taste of ya. God, you're adorable when you're nervous."
She took a deep breath. "Then you should be getting a pretty good show over the next three days," she informed him.