Dave scrambled to his feet before reaching down and helping Penelope off the floor. He pulled her up a little too quickly, she lost her balance and fell into his arms. They held each other awkwardly for a moment. Penelope giggled and leaned into his chest as Dave buried his nose in her hair and breathed in the scent of her shampoo.
Mudgie began sniffing at the boxes and bags, tail thumping loudly against every object it encountered.
The couple parted slowly.
"Let's get you settled," Dave suggested as he picked up the errant box from the floor that Mudgie was currently perusing.
"That one can stay down here," Penelope told him as she eyed the piles around them. "The suitcases and the boxes with hearts on the top need to go upstairs."
Dave inspected the boxes and realized that over half of them were heart-free. What the hell was in all of these boxes? And did she leave anything at her apartment? If not, that would sure make things easier.
"Can I go upstairs now?" Penelope asked.
Dave glanced up. She had one hand on the banister and the other hand held a suitcase, while her foot hovered over the first step. He gave her a half grin. "You can go as far as the top of the stairs."
She pursed her lips and nodded once. He watched her slowly ascend the stairs, his eyes glued to her ass. Every movement moved smoothly into the next. Dave admired the shape of her backside, from the top of her waist down over the curve of her ass, to her shapely thighs. Each step was as mesmerizing as the last.
Penelope reached the top step and looked back over her shoulder. She saw that Dave hadn't moved other than tilt his head as he watched her. She gave her backside a shimmy and giggled as he swallowed hard. Bending at the waist, she pushed her ass out a little farther than necessary as she placed the suitcase on the floor.
"Are you coming?" she asked.
Dave blinked. "What?" his voice croaked like a bullfrog in the spring.
She forced the smirk off her face. "Are you coming upstairs? Or should I find my room on my own?"
"I'm… no," Dave panicked. He looked at the box in his hands like he had never seen it before, set it aside and grabbed the two largest suitcases. "I'm coming up right now."
Penelope picked up the smaller suitcase and took a couple of steps as Dave stumbled up the stairs. She heard thunder behind her, but before she could turn around Mudgie ran past. She giggled at the excitement the dog was displaying. She wished that she could display her own excitement of being in Dave's house, umm, mansion.
"That's my room," Dave said breathlessly as he reached the top of the stairs. "That one on the right."
She glanced through the open double doors, her eyes admiring the King-sized bed covered in dark blue satin sheets and a matching comforter. It looked very comfortable and she hoped she would be finding out for certain sooner rather than later.
"You're going to be right here across the hallway," he continued.
She turned away from the master bedroom to the doorway that Dave now stood next to.
"How nice," she murmured. She scuttled to the door and reached for the handle. Dave grasped it first.
"I hope you like your room. I know you brought some things from home, but honestly, I'm hoping you won't need them," he said with a smile.
She looked at him and blinked. "Did you decorate? For me?"
She smiled inwardly as he nodded and faint blush ran up his neck to his cheeks. 'Oh, sweet baby Jesus,' she thought. 'Why is he so freaking adorable?'
"Remember that time when I was at your apartment," he asked.
She raised an eyebrow. "David… Honey, you've been at my apartment several times, to which are you referring?"
"That, um, the umm, time before the case," he stammered. "The case, you know?"
She stared at him in silence, for she knew if she opened her mouth laughter was going to tumble out and the Heavens knew she should not laugh at the man she wanted to marry. Not yet anyways.
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "The Galen case," he shouted. "Sorry, I didn't mean to yell."
She placed a hand on his chest and felt him tremble. "Don't worry, Sweet Cheeks, I could never hold anything like that against you. And yes, I remember."
He smiled shyly. "Thank you, Kitten. I remember there were lots of candles and music and the sweet smell of strawberries and that always reminds me of you."
Inside, she was horrified to think that Dave's favorite memory of her was the first night she got laid by Kevin Lynch. It was a night of firsts for her, and after a horrible break-up with the man a few years ago, one she really wanted to forget. "How sweet," she managed to say aloud.
Dave's smile widened as he opened the door. The smooth sounds of Dean Martin hit her ears. He pushed the door wide and motioned for her to precede him into the room.
She took a step and froze in place, eyes wide and mouth agape. The room was aglow. A fire burned in the fireplace, not a gas fire but an actual freaking wood fire. An array of candles sat on various surfaces. On the wall behind the bed and around the edges of the ceiling Christmas lights were strung, a soft pink hue mixed with the flickering lights of the candles and the fire.
The bed was covered with a thick rust-colored duvet, inlaid with gold flowers and several large, fluffy pillows. Two over-sized chairs sat near the fireplace a small table between them held a vase of mixed wildflowers. On the wall by the door, a large, square, white canvas was hung.
She took a couple of steps to examine the canvas better. "Is this…" she peered at Dave who stood in the doorway watching her expectantly. "Is this a movie screen?"
"Yeah," he nodded. "I thought you might want to watch your Super 8 movies. Also, there's the projector on the ceiling – you can stream movies and stuff from your laptop."
She tilted her head back and sure enough, there was a projector hanging from the ceiling. "Wow! This is amazing. You did all of this for me?"
He nodded again as he dragged her two suitcases into the room. "I need to go check on dinner and I'll start bringing up the other boxes. Bathroom is through that door."
He pointed to the right. She frowned and looked around the room.
"No closet?"
"You'll find it on your way to the bathroom," he grinned. "Feel free to take a bath, unpack and relax. Dinner is still about an hour away."
"If I take a bath I'm going to change into my pajamas," she flirted.
"As long as you wear your sexy red robe, I'm okay with that," he said as he slid out the door.
Penelope frowned, she stared at the empty doorway for a moment before realizing he was talking about the robe she had been wearing that night with Kevin. Honestly, the man had been there all of five minutes and had been out of his mind about a damn folder, how did he remember so much from that night?