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The doorbell went off one more time and Penelope quickly turned off the stove and rushed out to the hallway, checking herself in the full length mirror and giving her hair one last fluff before rushing to the door. Sliding her hands down over her body to smooth down her dress, she took a deep breath and pulled the door open. On the other side of the door stood Colin Bridgerton, leaning against the doorframe, looking his usual suave self, a large bouquet of flowers in hand. Eyes landing on Penelope, he swallowed hard, the flowers he was holding falling from his grip ever so slightly before he caught them. Clearing his throat, he handed the flowers to Penelope as she stepped aside to let him in.

“Happy anniversary baby.” Breathed Colin as he nudged the door shut with his foot. His eyes raked over Penelope’s body, his mind going completely blank as his eyes lingered on her chest. Penelope coughed a polite cough and Colin forced his eyes away from her chest, giving her a sheepish smile as he leaned down and pressed a light kiss to her lips.

Taking the flowers from his hand, Penelope gave them a long sniff before turning her attention back to Colin, raising her eyebrow at the fact that he was openly ogling her again.

“We’ve been married exactly three years and we’ve been together for four and yet, you’re still staring at me like you’re about to pounce on me.”

Gently taking the flowers from her hand, Colin set them aside on the sideboard as he kicked off his shoes. Circling his arms around his wife, he pulled her into himself, the lower half of their bodies pressing together. Hands trailing up from her waist, Colin rested his hand on her hip while the other cupped her face, stroking the apple of her cheek.

“I was going to be a gentleman. I was going to come home, hand you the flowers, give you a chaste kiss as I wished you a happy anniversary and then I was going to help you with your special dinner. Only once we were fed and watered would I take you to bed. But you… You Penelope Bridgerton always have to find a way to derail my plan.” He punctuated his statement by squeezing her waist, pulling her further into himself.

Shivers ran down Penelope’s body, understanding exactly what he was trying to say.

“How… How have I derailed your plans?” Penelope asked coyly.
“You can’t wear a dress like that and expect me not to take you to bed right away?”

Letting her go, Colin stepped back a little, his eyes racking over her body once more. Penelope shifted her weight from one foot to the other, heat licking up and down her spine under his appreciative perusal. Penelope knew she looked good. The ribbed fabric of her grey, bodycon skims dress did wonders for her body, accentuating every dip and curve. She’d chosen to leave her hair completely natural and flowing down her back because that’s how Colin liked it and had opted to keep it completely minimal with her jewellery, wearing only a pair of long dangly earrings and her wedding and engagement rings. Penelope had toyed between putting on a necklace and forgoing it and had ended up deciding to not bother. Her neckline was low and she was showing ample cleavage and she just knew there was no way her husband was going to leave her neck or her breasts alone.

“I guess you like the dress.” Penelope finally said, trying to stop her face from burning up under his appreciative stare.
“It’s incredible but baby, you know you can never wear that out. This view of you, this is for me only. You go out in that dress, with your breasts looking that good, you’ll have men flocking to you and you know I don’t deal well with other men looking at my wife.”

Giggling, Penelope nodded, knowing full well his words meant nothing because he would definitely tell her to wear this dress again on one of their future date nights. He loved playing the possessive, caveman husband, but they both knew he loved showing her off as much as she liked showing him off.

“Dinners almost ready if you’re hungry.”
“I am hungry, but not for dinner Pen.”

Before she could respond to that, Colin scooped her up bridal style and began walking towards their bedroom. Penelope squealed as Colin stepped around their packed boxes and carried on the short walk down the hallway to their bedroom.

Their flat was a mess, boxes and boxes of stuff everywhere because they were packing to move into their new house. Their forever home. After almost three and a half years of living in their two bedroom flat, they were finally moving into their dream home, the home where, hopefully, they would start growing their family. The house hunting process had been long and gruelling. They had seen multiple houses and had almost given up hope that they would actually find the house of their dreams and then, completely out of the blue, they finally found it. Now they were just waiting on a few final details before they could finally get their keys and move in.

Reaching their bedroom, Colin nudged the door open with his foot, not bothering to shut it again as he dropped his wife onto the bed. Penelope landed with a little bounce, giggling as she watched Colin hastily pull off his clothes. Without taking her eyes off him, she made light work of her earrings, taking them off and toss them onto the bedside table before getting onto her knees and crawling to the edge of the bed. Colin had barely got his jeans down his legs when she grabbed him by the waistband of his briefs and pulled him towards herself. Her looked down at her, taking in her dark eyes and grinned as he laced his fingers into her hair.

Penelope stroked his length through his underwear, not at all surprised that he was already hard for her. It was crazy, they had only shared a gentle kiss, and yet he was already rock solid and her own panties were uncomfortably damp. How was it, even after three years of marriage and almost four years of sleeping together, they still wanted each other as much as they had done that very first time. She leaned closer, her hands going around him and taking hold of his ass as her lips ghosted over his bare stomach. She pressed the gentlest of kisses to his abs, rising up on her knees as she kissed her way up his body, letting her lips linger on his nipple before carrying on up to his chest. Her fingers tangled into his chest hair as her lips finally found his.

Wrapping her arms around him, Penelope’s kiss caught him off guard, her lips hard and incessant against his, teeth nipping at his bottom lip, coaxing his lips apart as her tongue tangled with his. Colin leaned into her, his hands all over her body, coming to rest on her firm ass, squeezing and making her gasp. She scooted closer, feeling his hard cock against her stomach.

Breaking the kiss for air, Colin look down at her, taking in her swollen lips and her mussed hair.

“Are you ovulating?” Colin asked.

Penelope shook her head, her lips ghosting over his once more as her hand slid down his body, palming him over his underwear.

“I’m just really, really horny.”

Before he could reply, she slid down his body again, her hands finding the waistband of his briefs and pulling them down just enough to free his manhood. She kissed her way down his body, her hands stroking and caressing as she went until one hand took a firm grip of his length and she gave it a light tug. Colin laced his fingers into her hair again, gathering it into a ponytail as he watched her mouth get closer and closer to where he was aching. Finally reaching her destination, Penelope kissed his tip, before licking away the precum that had leaked out.

“Do you remember the first time I did this?” She mused, looking up at him from under her lashes.

Colin nodded, his hand tightening in his hair. Of course he remembered the first time she’d sucked him off. When they’d started dating, she’d told him she was unsure about giving head, being honest about the fact that she felt slightly terrified by it. Colin had reassured her that she didn’t have to do anything she didn’t want, that he didn’t mind if she didn’t want to do it. But on their wedding night, exactly three years ago, his bride had surprised him by using his wedding tie to tie his hands together as she went down on him. And good god, Colin still remembered how hard it had been to not lose control and spill down her throat within the first minute. For a woman who had never performed oral sex before, and while it had been completely clear that she was nervous as hell, Penelope had blown his mind, had him on edge from the moment she closed her warm mouth around him. In the years since, Penelope had become something of a pro at going down on him and she thrived on having him under her mercy.

“Of course I remember. I’ll never be able to forget.”

Smiling, she placed another playful kiss to the tip and Colin bit down on his lip to stop from groaning.

“You were so gentle, barely moving.”
“I wanted you to feel safe.” He was struggling to speak with the way her hot breath felt on his aching cock.
“Mmm… Always a gentleman.”
“I try my best.”
“I don’t want a gentleman tonight though.”
“Pen… Oh fuck.”

Colin couldn’t finish what he was saying, because she’d taking him into her mouth. One hand took ahold of his thigh to keep her anchored to him and she used the other to work the length of him that she couldn’t take into her mouth. Pulling back slightly, she moved back in again and thus began her ministration, working his length with her hand and mouth. Colin tried to keep a loose grip on her hair, but he could feel himself getting close and his hand tightened in her hair, his hips moving on their own accord, pushing further into her mouth, testing her boundaries.

She released him with a pop, breathing hard, her eyes shining with tears.

“Stop holding back baby.”
“Penelope…”
“I want you to fuck my mouth. I want you to use me.”
“I…”
“I trust you Colin.”

Swallowing hard, Colin nodded, his eyes fixed on her as she looked up at him. Still holding her hair, he pressed his fingers into the back of her head, guiding her head as his hips thrust shallowly at first but with her trusting eyes fixed on his, he let go of the last of his control, thrusting into her mouth hard and fast. Her gag reflex was being tested to the limit but Penelope kept a firm hold on Colin, urging him to keep going. He could tell he was almost there, his thrusts getting messy, his fingers tight in her hair in an attempt to keep ahold of himself, but when she reached down and fondled his balls, he felt his entire being tighten up and then he was coming hard, down her throat. Penelope took it, swallowing down each shot of his release, her entire body humming with desire and glee that she could undo her husband like this.

Holding her head to him, Colin lazily carried on thrusting into her mouth as he carried on spilling and only withdrew once he was done. He ran his thumb across Penelope’s lips, wiping away the saliva and cum that had dribbled out of her mouth. She was looking up at him with a dazed smile, her entire body flushed and he hadn’t even touched her yet.

“You knew you were going to suck my cock before dinner didn’t you?”
“How did you come to that conclusion?” Penelope asked, wiping her lips herself as she sat back on her heels, batting her eyelashes.
“You didn’t put any lipstick on.”

Shrugging playfully, Penelope leaned back on her hands, pushing her breasts forward, a flirty look on her face.

“Are you going to stand there and think about why I didn’t put lipstick on, or are you going to return the favour?”

Grinning almost menacingly, Colin pushed his underpants all the down his legs and stepped out of them before throwing himself onto their bed, grabbing hold of her waist and pinning her down onto the bed.

“Oh, I am definitely going to be returning the favour baby.”

Without missing a beat, Colin pushed Penelope’s dress up. He wanted to take it off, needed his wife naked underneath him, but at the same time, he didn’t want to waste even a moment undressing her. Pushing the dress until it was up around her hips, he made light work of her panties and threw them over his shoulder. Grabbing hold of her thighs, he pushed them apart, opening her up to himself. Penelope pushed herself up onto her elbows as she watched him, taking in the way he brought his nose to her slit, making her moan as her eyes fell shut. Using his fingers, he opened her up to himself and pushed a finger in. Her head fell back at how easily he was able to breach her body, how ready she was for him.

“Good god Pen, does sucking me off make you this wet?”
“Yes.” She replied breathlessly, as he curled his fingers inside her.
“Three years of marriage and you’re still this needy for me?”
“I’ll always be needy for you.” Penelope panted as he gently thrust his fingers, practically knuckles deep inside her. “I’ll always want you. Always.”

Colin moved over her, his fingers curling and thrusting as his lips found hers in a hungry, heated kiss. Their tongues duelled for dominance, teeth gently biting down, lips sucking lips. It was messy and passionate and needy. Colin’s free hand moved over Penelope’s body, squeezing and stroking, pushing her dress even higher, exposing her stomach. When they finally broke apart for air, Colin began his descend down her body, kissing every inch of skin that he passed, spending an excessively long amount of time on her chest, kissing and nipping on the swells of her breasts.

Lacing her fingers into his hair, Penelope held him close to herself, struggling to breathe because of the way his fingers were working her up.

“I have only ever wanted you Colin.” Penelope moaned as he moved lower down her body. “It will always only ever be you.”
“For me too baby, always you.”

He’s dropped down to between her legs, his mouth ghosting over where she was weeping for him. He withdrew his fingers and Penelope mewled in protest, needing him to carry on. Before she could get too distressed though, Colin replaced his fingers with his mouth. Her back arched off the bed, his undulated tongue spearing into her, his nose slotting against her clit, bumping it just right. Colin was unrelating, his lips and tongue working overtime, hitting every spot that he knew would set her on fire. She writhed against him, her hips lifting and pressing against his face. Throwing one arm over her stomach, he pinned her down to the bed as he used the other hand to thrust his fingers inside her. He curled his fingers the way he knew would set her off and wrapped his lips around her clit and sucked. Despite being held down, Penelope’s entire body lifted off the bed, crying as she felt her climax building and building. It was within touching distance, her vision already starting to blur and then it happened. Explosions behind her eyelids, a strangled cry leaving her as her muscles spasmed and pulsated around his fingers. She was twitching beneath him, trying to close her legs, but he kept lapping at her, enjoying the taste of her.

“Colin please, Colin…”

He pulled away from her marginally and looked up.

“What is it baby?” His voice was low and gruff, laced with desire, lust and need.
“I need you to fuck me.” Penelope panted. “I need you inside me. I need it hard and fast.” She practically cried. “Please Colin.”

Never one to deny his wife, Colin delivered a light slap down there which had her entire body clenching up and tingling. Moving off her properly, Colin shifted Penelope up the bed and then gestured for her to sit up slightly. With a dazed brain, Penelope complied and Colin made light work of her dress, throwing it aside. His eyes fixed on the strapless bra doing its best to hold her breasts and hastily undid that too, throwing it aside. He had to pause a moment as he took in her glorious breasts, so big and round and perfect. Colin had never thought himself a boob man, but since Penelope, he knew without a shadow of a doubt, he was a boob man for Penelope only. Noticing him staring, Penelope cocked her eyebrow at him before laying back against the pillows, her hands sweeping down her own body, pressing her breasts together.

“Stop staring and fuck me, Mr Bridgerton.”
“Penelope…”
“I want you to fuck me the way you did on our wedding night.”

Colin’s eyes darkened, his cock stiffened and his mouth went dry. Their wedding night had, hands down, been the hottest sex they’d ever had. For the weeks before their wedding, Penelope had told him that they wouldn’t sleep together. So even though they were sharing a bed, for three whole weeks, sex was completely off the table. When they’d finally retired to the honeymoon suite after their reception, with as much patience Colin could muster, he helped her out of her wedding dress. Unfortunately, her delicate bridal lingerie had not made it. He had thrown his bride onto the bed and pound into her like an animal starved. Penelope had been equally needy, her nails scraping up and down his back as her legs had been locked firmly around him, keeping him close to herself as she’d rolled her hips in time with his.

Looking at her now, her fingers playing with her nipples, her legs spread ever so slightly so he could see her glistening, Colin threw himself onto the bed and pulled Penelope down onto it, making her squeal as he pushed her legs apart, his fingers diving back inside her. She was still so sensitive, her entire body jolting the moment he touched her. He worked her up with his fingers, his lips wrapped around her perfect nipple, sucking like his life depended on it. Penelope writhed and mewled against him, her body shaking with need.

“Colin please. I need you inside me. Please.”

She was practically begging as she panted out her request. And as much as Colin would have loved to play with her and keep her on edge longer, it was their anniversary and he didn’t want to be cruel. Sitting up, he moved onto his knees as he pulled her even close to himself again, his thumb running along her slit even though he knew she was more than ready for him. Her eyes were saucers as she watched him stoke himself, taking the moisture from between her legs to lubricate himself. Just as she opened her mouth to ask him again, he pulled one of her legs onto his shoulders and he held the other, opening her up to him. Perhaps in another life Penelope would feel unbelievably shy to be in such a vulnerable position, to be so open for her husband, but she couldn’t find it in herself to care in the slightest. This was her husband, the love of her life, the man who knew her body as intimately as she knew her own. She belonged to him. Every fibre of her being belonged to him and she knew he felt the same way about her.

Taking ahold of his cock, Colin brought it to her entrance, slapping it once, twice, against her, making her moan and gasp. And then, without wasting another moment, he slid home in one swift motion, facing absolutely no resistance at all. Penelope’s back arched off the bed, her eyes wide as she gasped and panted, the stretch still so delicious as it had been for the first time all those years ago. His thrusts started slow and shallow, keeping his eyes locked on hers. But it quickly became obvious she meant what she said about wanting to be fucked because her fingers clawed into his arms, rolling her hips urgently, urging him to go on. With a nod, Colin picked up the pace, rolling and thrusting faster, harder. Penelope’s quiet pleas got louder, her “pleases” becoming “yeses.” Leaning forward, Colin needed to grab onto something to keep himself anchored. He grabbed for her breast, squeezing hard as he kept pounding into her, the headboard beginning to knock against the wall. They both got louder, their moans, gasps and grunts bouncing off the walls. She was close, Colin could feel it, could feel the way that her muscles were tightening and clenching around him. Placing one hand on her stomach, he worked in and out of her, hard and fast, enjoying the way her body rippled each time he buried himself to the hilt.

“One day,” Colin began his thrusts beginning to get sloppy as he felt his own orgasm building. “When I cum inside you, our baby is going to take root inside you.”
“Yes…” Penelope moaned, her head falling back as she struggled to keep ahold of him, opting to curl her fingers into the sheets by her side.
“D’you want that Pen, my baby inside you?”
“Yes, yes!”

Was it weird that mention of a baby is what pushed Colin over the edge? Perhaps. Colin couldn’t remember when I happened for the first time, but the thought of Penelope being round with their baby inside her always set him alight. He came, hard, rope after rope of his release leaving him and filling her tight channel. Lowering his hand to between them, Colin fondled with her her clit and seconds later, Penelope’s entire body went ridged as she arched her back, coming with a cry. With a few last gentle and shallow thrusts, Colin slumped over Penelope as he slowly pulled out, a mixture of their release leaking out of her. Gathering what he could, Colin pushed it back inside her, a shit eating grin on his face when it didn’t come back out again.

Getting comfortable, Colin gathered Penelope into his arms as he pulled the covers around them, tucking them into their bed. They were both still breathing hard as Penelope burrowed herself into Colin’s chest, her lips coasting over his neck and chest. They gave themselves a few moment to just lie there, basking in the afterglow of the most incredible sex they’d had that week.

“Pen?”
“Hm?” Penelope replied, not looking up.
“I’m so in love with you.”

This did cause Penelope to look up, and she grinned, her already flushed cheeks flushing further.

“I’m so in love with you too.”
“Three years of marriage baby, and I’m still so fucking obsessed with you.”

Giggling, Penelope lay Colin onto his back and moved over his, resting her read on his chest as her leg draped over his.

“Obsessed with me or obsessed with fucking me?”
“Both. I’m obsessed with you, but you know fucking you is without a doubt, my favourite hobby.”

Giggling. Penelope shook her head, her fingers tangling into his chest hair.

“Good, because I feel exactly the same way.”
“Oh yeah?” Colin asked, an eyebrow raised, a cheeky grin on his face. “You like being ripped apart by my thick co-“

Before Colin could finish though, his phone went off from somewhere in their room. Furrowing his brows, he lifted his head to have a look around but then slumped back down, shaking his head.

“Aren’t you going to answer it?” Penelope asked.

Colin shook his head, his fingers trialing up and down her back.

“Everyone important knows it’s our anniversary. The family are aware, work are aware, everyone knows this is our time and that they shouldn’t be bothering us this evening.”

Nodding, Penelope smiled as she settled against him once more. He was right, everyone knew that they were not to be disturbed.

“Should we get cleaned up and have dinner?” Penelope questioned when Colin’s phone finally went silent.
“We should, because I just knew you’ve spent all evening cooking my favourites, but I really would rather stay in bed with you. Maybe I can eat you out again.”

Laughing, Penelope shook her head as she brushed her hair out of her face. He was right, she had spent the better part of the evening cooking his favourite foods. Penelope wasn’t the cook in their relationship, that was very much Colin’s role. But for special occasions such as his birthday and their anniversary, she tried her best to cook his favourites for him.

“Oh shit! I nearly forget to give you your present!” Colin exclaimed as he leaned over to his bedside table.
“I thought we said we weren’t going to do presents this year.” Penelope replied as she moved off him slightly so that he could move with ease.

Colin and Penelope had decided earlier in the month that they wouldn’t give each other presents this year because they had wanted to put all their money and effort into the new house. But of course, neither of them had actually listened to the other. Penelope’s present to Colin was waiting on the dining table and his was apparently in his bedside drawer. Pulling out a card, Colin handed it to Penelope as he gathered her back into his arms. She gave him an exasperated smile as she opened the envelope, curious as to what was waiting for her within. Just as she went to take the card out, Colin’s phone began ringing again.

“Oh good lord, who is hounding me?” Colin grumbled still not moving to answer the phone.

Taking the card out, Penelope smiled at the adorable image of two teddy bears clinking their glasses together and celebrating their anniversary. As she opened up the card, a piece of paper fell out. Picking it up, she opened it and read the contents of it, her mouth falling open.

“Colin Bridgerton!”
“Happy anniversary baby.”
“Colin this…” Penelope stuttered, shaking her head.

What Penelope held in her hand was the booking confirmation for three nights in Rome in an all inclusive five star resort and villa.

“Colin! This is far too much! We said we weren’t going to do presents at all and this…”
“I know, I know, but we haven’t had even a weekend away in months, not since the house buying process started and we need a break. And it’s only for the weekend…”
“I know it’s only for the weekend but it’s expensive.”
“Baby,” Colin started as he cupped her face. “We have the money, you know that. It’s not like we’re breaking the bank. And besides, you’ve been saying it forever that you want us to go back to our honeymoon resort. So let’s finally do it. I checked our calendar, we both have a little time off during the week I booked.”

Shoulders dropping, Penelope nodded in agreement. Colin was right, realistically, they had more than enough money, it wasn’t a huge deal and she really did want to go back to the paradise where they’d spent their first few weeks as newly weds.

“Thank you Colin, this is incredible.”
“You’re welcome baby. But I mean, it’s not really a present for you, it’s for the both of us. Private villa with a private pool, it means I get to see you in skimpy bikinis all day. Sounds like a present more for me.”

Throwing her head back with laughter, Penelope slapped his chest as they got cosy once more. They both knew that they should get up and eat, but they really didn’t want to. It was in that moment that Colin’s phone went off for the millionth time. Penelope gave him a pointed look, beginning to get frustrated with the ringing but also because if he just answered it, it would stop. Colin though was still adamant that he was not going to take a phone call. The phone stopped ringing And the telltale ping to let him know he’d received a voicemail sounded. Just as Penelope opened her mouth to tell him to just check who was calling, her own phone started buzzing. Unlike Colin, Penelope had no intention of playing hard to get so reached out for it and checked who was calling. Alice Mondrich? Colin began to protest, ready to tell Penelope to not answer but she simply slapped her hand over his mouth and took the call.

“Hey Alice.”
“Penelope, hi! You answered. I was worried you weren’t going to because I know it’s your anniversary but…”
“It’s alright, is everything okay Alice?”

As much as Penelope loved chatting with Alice, a long time family friend and now her literary agent, now wasn’t the time for a friendly chat. She just wanted to know what was going on so she could put the phone down and get back to her husband.

“Everything’s fine, it’s just Will’s been trying to get hold of Colin. Is he with you right now?”

With eyebrows furrowed, Penelope looked over at Colin. He raised an eyebrow at her, curious as to what was going on.

“Yeah, he’s with me right now. What’s going on?”

Alice was just beginning to respond when Penelope heard Will in the background. She wasn’t sure he said, but Alice replied with “I’ve got Penelope on the phone and Colin’s with her.” There was another muffled response from Will and then he was closer, asking Alice something though Penelope still couldn’t make out what was being said.

“Hi Penelope.” Came Will’s voice, finally clear. “Alice has passed me the phone over. How’s your anniversary going?”
“Hi Will. It’s going great. Is everything alright?”
“Everything is… Well, technically yes. But I really need to speak to that husband on yours. Can you put me on speaker?”
“Sure.”

Pulling her phone away from her ear, Penelope put it on speakerphone and held it between herself and Colin.

“You’re on speaker now Will.”
“Thanks Penelope, you’re a star. Now. Colin Bridgerton. Why haven’t you been answering your phone you asshole?”
“It’s my anniversary, asshole. I told you I was going to be unreachable.”
“And I told you I might have news for you so you needed to keep your phone nearby. You know I wouldn’t have been blowing up your phone on your anniversary if it wasn’t important.”

Colin felt a little sheepish as Penelope glared at him. Will was an old friend, someone who had been a part of his life for a long time and he knew it was wrong of him to have not checked his phone when Will had expressly told him that he needed to be reachable at all times at the moment. Aside from being an old family friend and friend, Will Mondrich was also Colin’s agent.

“I’m sorry Will. I was an idiot. What’s going on?”

Will sighed and Colin knew his friend was less pissed with him than he had been a few moments ago.

“I just got a call from a contact at Universal. Don’t ask me for names or their role, because I can’t tell you, but he told me that he’s heard you’re pretty much a sure thing for the lead role in ‘Romancing Mr Mayfair.’ It’s just a matter of them finalising finalising the shortlist of actors and calling them back once more, but they are already pretty much certain the role is yours.”

Colin’s jaw dropped at the news and Penelope clapped her hands over her mouth, her eyes wide in delight. As it happened, ‘Romancing Mr Mayfair’ was actually a book Penelope had written, her debut novel in fact, and was loosely based on hers and Colin’s love story but set in the Regency era. When the book went viral the previous summer, almost a year after being published, Penelope was suddenly inundated with offers from prospective companies wanting to adapt her book into either a show or a movie. With a very talented team behind her, Penelope had ended up securing a deal with Universal studios for the book to be adapted into a film and when an open casting call went out, Colin, an up and coming actor, had thought it would be funny to try and bag the role of the lead character that was based on him. Never in his wildest dreams had Colin thought that he would make the shortlist let alone be the front runner.

“I… I can’t believe it Will. Are you being serious right now?”
“Like I said, it’s not 100% confirmed, but I trust my source and he usually does know what’s going on so I’m inclined to believe him. We’ll have to wait and see what happens, but it’s looking good mate. This could be the big break that we were waiting for.”
“I’m… I’m genuinely speechless, I can’t believe this is happening.”
“Well believe it brother, and celebrate your success. Even if this does fall through, you’ve made a huge impact so if not this, something else will come your way. Anyway, that’s all I needed to tell you for now. Please keep your phone nearby so if I hear anything more, I can let you know. I’m going to let you both go and enjoy the rest of your anniversary.”
“Thanks Will. And again, I’m sorry for not getting your call earlier.”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. Have fun you two! But not too much fun and remember to be safe. Unless you don’t want to.”

Colin and Penelope laughed, saying their goodbyes as they disconnected the call. Handing the phone back to Penelope, Colin shook his head as he flopped back down onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Putting her phone aside, Penelope lay down, resting her head on his chest as she rubbed circles on his stomach.

“Congratulations baby! You’re about to make your big break.”
“I still can’t believe it. You know I only did that audition because I thought it would be funny. I never thought… This is huge! Insane! And it’s to play a role in your film… I can’t believe…”

Smiling, Penelope pulled him close to herself and kissed his chest.

“You deserve this Colin. This is what you’ve been working towards. This is your dream! Believe it and be excited baby! This is the start of a new chapter for you.”

For years Colin was content with travelling and being a travel journalist. It took him all over the place and he was content with his career. He still couldn’t quite remember how it had happened but a modelling gig to help out Edwina, his sister in laws sister and Penelope friend, had resulted in a casting director approaching Colin because he’d felt he would be perfect for the role in an extra on a show he was working on. Three episodes on that show gave Colin a taste of acting and he found himself to really enjoy it, so with Penelope’s support and encouragement, he’d decided to try his hand at acting. After his role as an extra, he officially brought Will on as his agent and he booked a recurring role on a show that was cancelled after a season. After that, he’d landed himself the lead role on an indie film. The film performed moderately at the box office, but Colin’s performance had been praised by the general public and the critics. Since then, he’d auditioned for a few roles, but nothing had really worked out so Colin had gone back to his freelance travel journalism work but this… If he secured this role, it would have the potential to change the entire trajectory of his life. Not just his, but Penelope’s too. If this worked out, their entire lives would change and Colin wasn’t sure if he was ready for that.

Penelope could tell that a million different thoughts were running through Colin’s head, so she moved over him, straddling him as she ran her fingers along his face.

“Be excited baby, I am. This is a good thing! This is going to be incredible for both of us. I can just feel it.”

Nodding, Colin placed his hands on Penelope’s hips as he pulled her down towards himself, his lips finding hers as his hips rolled against hers. They knew they really needed to get out of bed and have dinner, but they just had another reason to celebrate so there was no way they were getting out of bed just yet.

A new beginning was within reach and both Penelope and Colin just knew that their lives were about to change forever.

Chapter Text

Three weeks passed between Will first telling Colin that he had basically secured the lead role in ‘Romancing Mr Mayfair’ and when he received the official call from Will confirming the news. During that time, Colin had been jittery constantly, unable to focus on anything at all, unable to leave his phone unattended just in case he got the call. Penelope was his rock through it all, calming him down, making sure he ate properly and simply making sure that his phone was always nearby and was always charged. She also kept hers close at just in case Colin missed the call and Will called her instead.

The only time during the three week window when Colin actually felt like himself was when he and Penelope had gone to Italy for their anniversary holiday. It was a break that they both needed and they thoroughly enjoyed their time away, simply basking in each others company and not worrying about what was waiting for them back at home.

When Colin finally received the call from Will confirming that the role was his, it had taken him more than a full minute to actually process what he heard and before he could react. Never in his wildest dreams had he thought that he would actually secure a leading role in such a big budget project. When he’d put the phone down, he turned to Penelope and he’d twirled her round and round their living room, not caring at all that their packed boxes were in their way. Their new life really was beginning.

*****

The morning after Colin received the call, he and Will had a meeting with some of the executives and producers to discuss some of the early details of the film. Colin had been unsure what to expect because usually Will and other members of his team would finalise all the details so he was curious as to why they wanted to meet with him personally before anything was signed. Regardless, the two of them made their way down to where they were asked to be. They only had to wait in the lobby for a little while before they were ushered into the office and Colin was met with a group of smiling execs, all wearing their business smiles.

Reaching out, he shook all their hands in turn, introducing himself before settling down in his chair.

“Thank you for meeting with us today Colin, we appreciate you taking the time out of your busy schedule for us.”

Colin simply smiled, shrugging a little shrug.

“Right, there’s quite a lot we need to discuss with you so should we get right into it?”

Both Colin and Will nodded, ready to get the show on the road.

*****

Half an hour later, Colin felt like his head was about to explode. So much information had been thrown at him that he was struggling to keep up. Will had managed to remain composed, asking all the right questions and taking note of the answers.

All Colin had truly taken in was the fact that if he signed onto the project, he would need to be ready to start working on the project sooner rather than later because he needed to do a chemistry read with all the shortlisted actresses. He had been half expecting this to be the case anyway because it was a romance film so it was imperative that there was good chemistry between himself and his costar.

“There’s also… There’s also something else that we need to discuss.”

The executive that was speaking looked nervous, turning to his colleagues before turning his attention back to Colin and Will.

“Well… Before anything is completely finalised and you’re involvement with the project is announced, there are a few things we need to go through with you.”
“Haven’t we already done that?”
“Yes and no. The things we have discussed so far are more conventional aspects of filming a film and the process behind it but this is… Well a little less conventional.”

Not quite understanding what was going on, Colin raised an eyebrow as he waited for the exec to carry on.

“As you may have gathered, this is going to be a very big budget project. Due to the number of balls that are featured in the book and the costumes, make up, etc, there’s a lot of expenditure and so we need to make sure that we do whatever we can to ensure that we make most of that money back in the box office.”

Staying quiet, Colin simply nodded in understanding. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary to want to make your project a success and recoup all the money that was going to be spent.

“This film is immensely romantic and we’ve found that romances tend to perform well in the box office when the audience are invested in the chemistry behind the leading characters.”

Again, Colin nodded because that was a given too.

“Over the years, we have found that when the leading pair have a good offscreen dynamic, it really helps to bring in the punters. So as a part of your overall contact, there would be a clause which will require you to do a fair amount of promotional work with your costar.”

Colin felt like he was missing the point because everything that was being said to him thus far was all pretty standard. Looking to Will, he tried to gauge his agents reaction but Will looked equally confused.

“I’m a little confused. All of this is pretty standard. Or am I missing something?”

The producer nodded before carrying on.

“We are aware that you are married Colin, but in order for this to work, while filming and before the film comes out, if you were to sign onto the project, we would expect you to keep your personal relationship completely out of the public eye and we… Well we wouldn’t be opposed to letting the press and the public believe that you were in a relationship with your costar.”

The penny finally dropped and so did Colin’s jaw. Were these people really… Were they asking him to essentially fake a relationship with his costar in order to sell the movie? That was insane? He knew stuff like that happened in the entertainment industry but to have it put forward to him so plainly…

“You… You would want me to fake a relationship with my costar?l
“No, no! We wouldn’t be asking you to actively fake your relationship with your costar, but maybe allow yourselves to spend time together, go to events together… That kind of stuff just to get people talking.”
“As you correctly mentioned earlier, I am married. I’ve been married to my wife for three years now and we’ve been a part of each others lives for almost two decades. My wife has always accompanied me to events and as you’re aware, she is a successful author, so I often accompany her to whatever she has going on. While we have kept our relationship to ourselves and out of the public eye for the most part, we have not kept each other a secret, nor do we intend to. So what you have proposed, it sounds like to me you wish for me to hide my wife away and spend more time with my costar to get people speaking. I can’t… I don’t think I can do that.”

Colin knew that what he was doing was potentially career suicide, that if he didn’t go along with what they were asking of him, they were going to rescind their offer, cast someone else who would be willing to play along. But the idea of faking a relationship with someone else while keeping Penelope a secret made him feel icky. Before Colin could ponder on it for too long, another one of the producers chimed in.

“We understand what you are saying, and you are not the first person to have concerns. Look Colin, we really want you on this project but these are our terms and conditions. Take some time to talk it over with your team and your wife, of course, and we can meet again in another week and you can tell us what you have decided on.”

Colin was ready to object but Will gave him a little nudge under the table, signalling for him to stay quiet.

“You have given us a lot to think about and you’re right, we will need to think this over with the rest of the team. Thank you for your time.”

Will made it clear that the meeting was over and he and Colin got to their feet, saying goodbye to everyone and then left. The moment they were outside the building and in Will’s car, Colin undid his top button and turned to his agent.

“What the actual fuck was that?”
“That’s showbiz mate.”

As Will put the car into gear and got out of the parking spot, Colin shook his head as he slumped back in his seat.

“I know what showbiz is, but to ask me to treat my wife like she’s a secret so that I can play up a fantasy with a costar… That’s insane right? I can’t possibly take this job.”

Without taking his eye off the road, Will sighed.

“It’s shady as hell but it’s not uncommon. It happens far often than you think. And the way people fall in love on sets anyway, sometimes they don’t even have to fake it.”
“Well that’s not going to happen to me. I love Penelope.”
“I don’t doubt you at all, I’ve had a front row seat to watching you and Penelope fall in love and watching your relationship blossom. I’m just saying it happens.”

It was true, obviously. Colin wasn’t a fool, he knew that show and film sets had a high rate of infidelity, but he knew that wouldn’t happen to him. He and Penelope were solid and he wasn’t about to do anything to jeopardise that.

“What do you suggest I do about this film?” Colin finally asked Will after a few long moments of silence.
“It’s entirely up to you. This film has the potential to change the entire trajectory of your life, and if we were to go ahead with this, we would need everything in writing in terms of what would be expected of you. But honestly, I know how what they said seems like a dealbreaker, but I think you could make it work. It’s something you’d need to talk to Penelope about and see how she feels, but if you’re both okay with it, I think it could be really good for you.”

Will was right and Colin knew that. This film could change everything, not just for him but for Penelope too. As the author of the book that was being adapted, though she wouldn’t have any involvement with the film itself, she would get royalties from it. Not to mention the fact that the success of the book could help to push her book to new audiences and give more exposure to her other books. There was a lot to consider and Will was right, this was something that he needed to discuss with Penelope before making any decision.

*****

Pushing the door to their flat open, Colin stepped inside, putting his keys down and taking off his shoes and leaving them in the little scrap of space he could find. They were now only days away from getting the keys to their new house and so more or less all of their belongings were packed and ready to go.

“Honey I’m home!” Colin called out playfully as he walked through the flat, trying to find his wife.
“In the study!” Penelope replied.

Grinning, Colin went into the study to find Penelope sitting at her desk, writing away in her notebook, her laptop on in front of her. Taking a seat in the armchair by the bookcase, Colin watched his brilliant wife as she made notes, highlighting things and then finally putting her pens down.

“Hey! How was your meeting?”

As Colin had made his way up to their home from Will’s car, he had been unsure about what he would say to Penelope. But he realised that the truth would be the best option. There was no point sugarcoating what he had been told because she needed to know all the facts before they could come to any decisions.

Colin began by talking through the basics of the project, the same way that the executives had talked him through it all.

“That all sounds amazing! But I feel like your hesitating about something.”

Of course Penelope could tell when he was holding back, maybe it was a testament to all their years of friendship or maybe he just didn’t have a poker face at all. Either way, Colin nodded as he leaned forward in his chair, closing the distance between himself and Penelope.

“There is something else, you’re right.” Sighing, Colin reached for Penelope’s hands. “If I were to take this project, I would have to be willing to keep our relationship from the public eye and… And lean into the narrative that I could potentially be in a relationship with my costar.”

There was a pause and Penelope furrowed her brows, taking in what he’d said, waiting for him to continue.

“Right…” Penelope finally started when Colin didn’t carry on. “So what’s the issue?”

Dumbfounded, Colin sat back, his eyes wide. How was she not seeing what the issue was?

“Pen, they’re asking me to keep us a secret. I’m not entirely sure how it would work, but I don’t think I would be able to take you to events or accompany you to events during the filming and the promotional stages of the film. They would want me to spend time and be seen with my costar to get people talking because they think it would drum up attention for the film.”
“I mean, that’s nothing out of the ordinary. It happens all the time when lead pairs play up their relationship to generate more buzz for the film. I don’t think they’re asking you to do anything unreasonable.”

Closing her notebook and turning her laptop off, Penelope reached for Colin’s hands, giving them a gentle squeeze.

“We have always kept our relationship out of the public eye and with Anthony’s sway within the press, we’ve been able to keep ourselves out of the tabloids. What they’re asking you to do won’t change much except that maybe I won’t be able to come to all your promotional events.”

Colin hummed thoughtfully, unsure what to say because he knew Penelope had a point. Due to their professions, he and Penelope both had personal and professional social media accounts and they always ensured to keep their relationship completely off of their professional accounts. So far, they had done well to keep their relationship away from the public eye and public scrutiny, but to actively try and portray a different image, Colin wasn’t sure about that.

“I think we can do this Colin, I think we could make it work. But at the end of the day, it is your decision and whatever you decide to do, you have my full support. I know how much you want to do this film and you know how much I want you to do this film, but if what they’ve told you today makes you uncomfortable, you can walk away from it. You would still have my unwavering support.”
“Are you sure?”
“I trust you Colin.” Penelope replied with a shrug. “I trust you more than I trust myself and at the end of the day, regardless of what you have to do for show, you’ll come home to me, to our bed. Nothing else matters.”

Grinning, Colin dropped to his knees and approached Penelope, cupping her face with his hands as he pressed a gentle kiss to her lips.

“What did I ever do to have you in my life?”
“I ask myself the same thing every day.” Penelope murmured against his lips, a wide smile on his face as she pulled him towards her once more.

*****

After going through the contract with his team and after ensuring that Penelope was absolutely on board with what taking the job was going to entail, Colin signed onto the project.

From that point onwards, things started moving quickly but before Colin could allow himself to throw himself into work, he and Penelope got the keys to their new house and the focused on getting moved in. It didn’t actually take them too long. While it felt like they had an abundance of stuff that they would need to take to the new house and organise, once they actually got their boxes into the new house, they realised they didn’t actually have that much stuff. The new house was immensely bigger than their old flat and so their belongings felt measly in comparison. It meant that all their things were in and organised in no time and they could then focus on buying new furniture and decor to make their new house a home.

For the entirety of their first week in their new house, neither of them could quite believe that they had finally done it, that they owned their dream home. Neither Colin nor Penelope grew up wanting for anything, both privileged to be from families who were more than well off. But buying their house, their dream house, had felt unattainable for a long time. But they’d finally done it and they had made sure to christen every single room in the correct manner.

The day the Deadline article came out about the film, it came out first thing in the morning and Colin was awoken by a squealing, naked Penelope, throwing herself onto him, kissing his face as she urged him to get up.

Groaning, Colin wrapped his arms around Penelope, kissing her face in return.

“As much as I love being awoken to the feel of your nipples pressing into me, can you please tell me why you’re squealing in my ear before I’ve even opened my eyes.”
“The Deadline article! It’s out!”

The realisation of what was happening jolted Colin awake and he scrambled to sit up. Holding the covers around herself, Penelope too sat up, leaning into him as he grabbed his phone and unlocked it. Ignoring the flurry of messages that were waiting for him, he went straight to his message thread with Will and clicked the link. There it was, in black and white. ‘Colin Bridgerton to head “Romancing Mr Mayfair” Universal Studios big budget period film.’ Colin read the headline over and over again, not truly believing that his name and Universal Studios were being mentioned in the same sentence. He carried on reading the article nudging Penelope when it mentioned the fact that ‘Romancing Mr Mayfair’ was Penelope Featherington’s debut novel that took the world by storm. Penelope though simply brushed him off as she diverted his attention back to what was written about him.

Once the article had been read about 7 times over, Colin locked his phone and put it aside as he gathered Penelope into his arms.

“I can’t believe it, it’s really happening.”
“Believe it baby, you’re finally getting your big break, just like I always said you would.”

Wrapping her arms around his neck, Penelope craned her own neck to his, pressing her lips against his.

“I’m so, so proud of you Colin. And this really is just the beginning for you. You’re going to be so famous and so successful that everyone is going to want a piece of you.”
“Hmm…” Colin replied in response, his hand stroking up and down Penelope’s body, brushing over the side of her breast.
“Sometimes I think… Maybe you’ll become so successful you’ll realise that you can do better than me.” Penelope said quietly, more to herself than to him but Colin heard it anyway.

Pulling back slightly, he shook his head, an eyebrow raised. Self depreciating comments weren’t unusual from Penelope, but it had been a long time since she’d said anything like that. He had thought that they were content and secure enough in their relationship now that she would stop thinking like that. But after being told she wasn’t good enough all her life, it didn’t surprise him that the effects of it still lingered.

Cupping her face, Colin brushed his thumbs over the apples of her cheeks.

“It has always been you Pen and it always will be. From the moment we met when you made me fall off my bike when I was 9, a part of me has always known it was you. And now at 27, I know without a shadow of a doubt that it will always be you, you’re the only person for me. And I need you to believe that.”
“I do it’s just… You’re going to be around so many celebrities, so many beautiful and glamorous women. In comparison to them I’m just-“
“You are real. You’re my best friend and you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on. I don’t care about the other women of the world, you’re the only one that I want and nothing is going to change that.”
“Colin…”
“No, nuh-uh, no more of this. Anyway, I think I would quite like to celebrate my first ever Deadline article.”
“Oh? How would you like to do that?”
“I have a few ideas.” Replied Colin with a smirk as he moved away from Penelope, and settled her back against the pillows.

Without missing a beat, Colin moved back over her, his lips pressing against the sensitive curve of her neck. Penelope felt her entire body unravel and loosen up, focusing only on where his lips and hands were touching her skin. As he began descending down her body, she really did allow herself to believe she was the only woman in the world for him.

*****

After the Deadline article came out, things started moving quite quickly. Colin was asked to go in to do chemistry reads with potential female leads, he got measured and fitted for his costumes, he had his screen test and then also took a few principle photographs for the film. It was all very exciting, he couldn’t hide his excitement no matter how much he tried, but he was also so nervous. It was all really happening, and soon enough, shooting the film would really begin. But before that, they still had to finalise the female lead. So far, Colin had done chemistry reads with five actresses and one had been almost perfect but the director hadn’t been happy with how she and Colin looked when they kissed. Colin knew he was part of the problem, kissing someone who wasn’t Penelope felt awkward and as much as he knew he needed to be professional about it, he just struggled to get out of his head about it.

When the shortlisted five actresses were crossed off the list, the casting director went back to the list and called back the actress that had almost made the final five. The moment she stepped onto the scene and gave Colin a cheeky wink, the casting directors knew that they’d found their female lead. The pair absolutely blew everyone’s socks off with their acting and while the kiss still wasn’t seamless, Colin still feeling uncomfortable, it went a lot better than it had done with the previous actress. Because unlike the previous actress, this one put her heart and soul into kissing Colin and more than made up for his discomfort.

It was then agreed by everyone that they’d found their female lead. And just like that, Marina Thompson became a part of the ‘Romancing Mr Mayfair’ project.

Let the fun begin.

*****

The first three weeks of shooting the film went by pretty smoothly.

In real life, Colin and Penelope had met when they were 9 and 6 years old and Penelope’s sun hat had flown off her head and smacked Colin in the face, causing him to fall off his bike. In Penelope’s book, the lead characters met when the female leads bonnet had flown off her head and spooked his horse, causing it to throw him off. In the film though, they had decided to age up the characters so Colin’s character was 19 when he first met the female lead but like in the book, he had fallen off his horse.

For Penelope’s sixth form prom, she had mentioned to Colin that she didn’t have a date and despite the fact that he’d finished school three years before she did, he asked her to prom and they had the best time together. In the book and in the movie, Colin’s character offers to take the female lead to her debutants ball when she turned 19. And this was the first time Colin and Marina spent any real time together. Due to how complex ball scenes were, they were on that set for a long time, some days with the entire cast, other days just the two of them. Production had also decided that they wanted to use Colin and Marina’s pictures from this particular scene to start teasing and promoting the project.

The moment the pictures went up, the fans started reacting, almost all of them expressing their excitement and demanding for more content soon. It was insane to Colin, but he was impressed. He hadn’t expected such a reaction so soon, but he realised most of it was coming from fans of the book. Regardless though, it gave production the clear sign that they needed that any content from Marina and Colin would help to generate buzz for the film.

As the big ball scene was being filmed in an external warehouse and not the usual studio, it meant the drive home was much longer than usual and as a result, Colin had been staying in a hotel so that he wouldn’t have to make the long drive home after a long day of shooting and then driving back to set before the crack of dawn. But after over a week and a half, Colin finally had a late call time and was excited to go home to his wife. All day, whenever Colin had a moment, he texted Penelope, expressing his excitement to get home to her.

Colin: Don’t go to sleep, I’m coming home tonight
Penelope: I’ll wait up for you 💖
Colin: I feel like I haven’t seen you in months
Penelope: you were home less than 2 weeks ago
Colin: way too long
Penelope: I will admit, it’s hard to sleep without you in our bed with me. And this new house is too big for just me
Colin: I know baby, I’m sorry
Penelope: don’t be sorry! I love that you’re doing this
Colin: that’s because you’re just the best person
Penelope: you are too
Penelope: I’m so excited to have you home tonight, even if it is only for a few hours
Colin: we’ll make the most of our limited time.
Colin: I have to be honest, I can’t wait to fuck you. I’ve missed being inside you
Penelope: I’ve missed having you inside me. I feel empty without you. And I’m so horny every time we get off the phone 😞
Colin: I know baby, me too. I’ve never jerked off as much as I’ve done these last few weeks
Penelope: god, can’t you come home already, I can’t wait
Colin: I know, but I’ll be home soon
Penelope: I love you Colin
Colin: and I love you Pen

*****

By the time that they finally wrapped for the night, it was a lot later than they had anticipated and while Colin was exhausted, he wasn’t going to bail on Penelope. Drinking a strong coffee, Colin got into his car and began the journey home to his wife.

*****

Due to the late hour, Colin got home faster than he anticipated, but as he pulled up onto their drive, he felt absolutely drained. Regardless, he got out of the car, locked it, and bumbled up to the front door. Unlocking the door, Colin went inside, taking a deep breath to simply inhale the smell of home. The house was dark and quiet, with only the hallway and stair lights still on. Slowly, Colin began making his way upstairs, noting that the only light was coming from their bedroom. Undoing his jacket, a small smile played on Colin’s lips as he walked over to their bedroom door. Was Penelope aware he was home yet? Had she heard him? Hoping he still had the element of surprise, Colin pushed open their bedroom door, but instead of doing the surprising, he was surprised himself. There was his wife, his beautiful, intelligent, talented wife, sitting in the middle of their marital bed, in a an ivory silk robe, tied loosely around the middle doing little to hide the delicate silk baby blue tank top and shorts she had on underneath. Leaning against the door, Colin watched as she carried on scrolling through her phone, still completely unaware that he was in the doorway.

Clearing his throat, Colin pushed off the doorframe. Penelope’s eyes shot up, a smile instantly filling her face. Jumping off the bed, Penelope ran across the room and wrapped her arms around Colin, her lips finding his. Catching ahold of her, Colin kissed her back, his hands dropped to her ass as he dragged her into himself. The kiss was urgent and needy, a clash of lips and teeth, tongues mingling as they tried to get as close to one another as possible.

Penelope was the first to break the kiss, pulling back ever so slightly but her nose still brushing against his.

“You’re home.” Penelope said breathlessly, her hands stroking his arms.
“I’m home.” Colin confirmed, brushing his nose against hers.
“I’ve missed you so much.”
“Was this the longest we’ve been apart since we got married?”

Wrapping her arms back around his neck and rising onto her toes, Penelope nodded, resting her face against his chest, taking in the way that his heart was beating at top speed.

“I hate being away from you.” Penelope murmured into his chest. “I know that sounds super clingy of me and no man wants a clingy wife, but I really hate not falling asleep in your arms. But I know you’re a superstar in the making and I have to get used to you being away for weeks, if not months, at a time for work.”

Shaking his head, Colin walked her backwards towards the bed and sat her down on the edge before dropping down onto his knees in front of her.

“I don’t know how things are going to play out in the future, but I refuse to stay away from you for extended periods of time. If you’re clingy, I’m equally clingy. And I just know once we have a baby, staying away from you and our child is going to be impossible. So maybe this acting thing won’t be a long term thing, but for now, I’m just going to do my best to secure our futures.”

Talk of them having a baby caused Penelope’s heart to leap and soar. They talked about having children often enough, but recently, the mention of babies had Penelope yearning more and more for the children they would one day have. But they had a plan, they were going to wait until their fourth anniversary before they revisited the topic of when they would want to start trying and Penelope was more than happy with that, but it didn’t stop her insides from clenching desperately each time he mentioned babies.

Before they could fall deeper into the topic of their future, Penelope stood back up again.

“Anyway, before you distracted me, I was going to ask you if you wanted anything to eat?”

Shaking his head, Colin caught ahold of Penelope’s hand as he got to his feet, wrapping his arms around her waist.

“I didn’t come home for food. I came home for my wife.”

He pulled her flush towards him, his lips on hers again as his hands roamed over her body, squeezing and stroking. Every inch of Penelope’s body was on fire and she wanted nothing more than for Colin to undress them both and fuck her into next week, but she found herself breaking the kiss instead and putting some distance between them. Raising an eyebrow, Colin gave her a confused look.

“What’s the matter?” Colin asked, his fingers pulsing on her waist.
“You’re exhausted Colin. Just looking at you, it’s obvious you haven’t slept properly in weeks. And as much as I know we both want to do this, you need sleep.”
“I can sleep after.”

Shaking her head, Penelope began unbuttoning his shirt and then pushed it off his shoulders. She then made light work of his belt, pulling it out of his belt loops and then undoing his jeans. Colin pushed them down his legs and stepped out of them as he looped his arms around his wife again.

“You’re saying no but you’re getting me naked anyway.”
“You need sleep Mr Bridgerton. And I can tell sex isn’t what you need right now because look…” Penelope paused as she slid her hand down his body, gently rubbing her hand over where his penis sat within the confines of his underwear. “Absolutely no movement down there. You’re exhausted and you need sleep.”

Sighing, Colin nodded because the truth was, she was right. He had been excited to come home and sleep with his wife, but by the time he actually got into his car to come home, he was already so tired and sex was the last thing on his mind. With a smile, Penelope guided him into bed and pulled the covers up around him before sliding in next to him, wrapping her arms around him.

“I’m sorry if I’ve disappointed you tonight.” Colin said quietly as he clasped her hands in his own.
“Don’t be silly. I’m just glad you’re here in my arms. That's all I need. What time do you need to be back on set by in the morning?”
“I’ve got a 1pm call time, so as long as I leave home by half 11, I’ll be fine.”
“Alright, I’ll be sure you’re up on time. But now, you really need to get to sleep.”

Nodding, Colin pulled her arms tighter around himself.

“Goodnight baby.” Colin said, his voice already sounding sleeping.
“Goodnight.” Penelope kissed the side of his face as she snuggled into him.

Moments later, Colin felt his eyes grow heavy and then he was out like a light.

*****

Penelope awoke the next morning to the feel of strong arms around her, soft lips on her skin and hands sliding up and down her body. Smiling to herself, she leaned back into Colin’s touch, covering his hands with her own.

“Mhmm, good morning.”
“Morning.” Replied Colin, his voice low and raspy.

Turning her head to the side, Penelope noticed that it was half 9, meaning she and Colin had 2 hours together before he would have to set off again. Leaning further into him, she pressed her ass into his crotch, delighted to find that his cock was stiff and ready.

“Oh, I see someone else has woken up too.”
“Yup, and he’s ready to go.”

Giggling, Penelope turned in his arms, wrapping her arms around him as she draped one leg over him, pressing close to him as her lips found his. She rolled her body against his, urgently, desperately, as he deepened the kiss, his tongue licking into her mouth as his hand dropped to her ass, dragging her further into himself. Their hips moved in tandem, his length hardening further in his boxer briefs and pressing into her, making her arch forward and sigh. Her hand found it’s way into his underwear, wrapping her fingers around his length and stroking up and down, making him groan into her mouth. His own hand found into way into her shorts, his fingers skimming along the length of her slit, teasing gently.

“Did you not want to have breakfast first?” Penelope asked, her lips brushing against his.
“You’re the only breakfast I need.” Colin replied simply as his lips closed around hers once more.

Giggling at her husband’s lame jokes, she sped up her ministrations, her hand moving faster on him. His own fingers slipped inside her, making her moan as he curled his fingers and stroked her just right, bringing her to the cusp of euphoria in seconds.

“How are you still so responsive to me?” Colin groaned, his lips ghosting over hers. “All these years and I can still get you off instantly.”
“Because you’re all I have ever wanted.” Penelope replied, struggling to hold back the moan that threatened to rip from her throat.

The truth and sincerity of her response had him stiffening further, his entire body tight and aching to be inside her. And Colin knew it was the truth because when they had been apart and when they’d attempted phone sex, regardless of whether she used toys or her fingers, it either took her an exceedingly long time to finish or she didn’t finish at all. But when they were together, when he was touching her…

Feeling her almost there, Colin pulled his hand away, causing Penelope to mewl in protest, grabbing his hand and trying to keep it where it was.

“Colin…”
“Take your clothes off baby and get onto your side.” His voice was low and gruff, commanding while still needy.

Nodding, Penelope complied, pulling off her silky tank top and shorts and throwing them aside as she lay on her side, facing away from Colin. He made light work of his underwear, slinging them over her and grabbing ahold of her leg and lifting it over his thigh.

“I haven’t made you come in almost two weeks and there’s no fucking way, your first orgasm is going to be around my fingers.”

Penelope shuddered but nodded eagerly, her breath hitching at the feel of Colin running his cock along her. Grabbing hold of the sheets by her head, she braced herself. He pushed himself in slowly, just the tip at first before pulling out and repeating the motion. He kept doing that, in and out, only slightly and Penelope let out a frustrated groan. Chuckling to himself, Colin wrapped his arm firmly around her middle as he buried himself within her. Penelope’s muscles tightened around him and she gasped, grabbing onto his arm. God, was he always that big?

“You okay?” Murmured Colin into her ear.
“Mhmm, just, fuck me please.”

Chuckling to himself, Colin nodded against her neck, but to Penelope’s dismay, his strokes remained slow and languid, his hand gently caressing her skin.

“Colin!” Penelope groaned, rolled her hips back into him, trying to urge him to move faster.

Finally giving in, Colin tightened his hold on her waist as his hips snapped into her. Penelope’s fingers tightened on his arm around her and she urged him to go on, rolling her body in time with his. He moved faster, harder, his fingers pressing into her supple flesh in an attempt to keep himself grounded, but it was no use. Colin fucked into his wife, hard and urgent, chasing the high that he could feel building at the precipice of his body. The way Penelope’s muscles were clenching around him, Colin could tell she was almost there too. Tightening his hold on her, he dropped his hand to between her legs, his thumb seeking out her clit, rubbing it in tight circles in time with his thrusts. Her moans got louder, her head falling back against his chest as she grabbed hold of his arm, keeping him close to herself.

With a few final powerful thrusts, Colin spilled inside her, biting down on her shoulder lightly to stop himself from shouting out. Penelope dug her fingers into his arm, her nails biting into his skin as she felt her own release within touching distance. With a few final swipes of his thumb, Penelope came undone in his arms, her muscles contracting almost violently around him as he stayed buried in her, relishing in the way her body felt around him. He slumped against her back, his hips rocking gently as his lips peppered kisses on the side of her neck.

When Penelope felt her body calm and she regained some strength, she pulled her hips away from him, releasing him from her body as she turned in his arms, burying her face into his chest, lifting her leg back onto his as she pressed her entire body against his. Wrapping his arms around her, Colin kissed the top of her head, his fingers gently carding through her hair. When he felt her let out a shuddery breath against his chest, he pulled back ever so slightly, lifting her face gently.

“You okay baby?”
“I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?” Colin asked with a tilt to his head.

Sighing, Penelope shook her head.

“I just… You have to leave soon and we don’t know when you’re going to be able to come home again and I… I don’t want to be needy or complain, but I hate being here alone. I didn’t mind it so much when we lived in our little flat, but this house is just too big when I’m home alone. Eloise and Francesca have been coming to keep me company, but it’s not the same.”
“I know Pen, and I’m so sorry.”
“Please don’t be sorry, you have nothing to apologise for. I just… I miss you, so much. And this bed is so much bigger than our old bed too. It’s always so cold.”

Colin felt his heart go out for his wife, because he could understand how she felt to an extent. Each evening, when he got back to his hotel room, he hated how empty the bed felt, hated that he didn’t have her beside him. Before Colin could say anything else though, Penelope grabbed for her dressing gown and pulled it around herself, tying it around her waist.

“Anyway, I should go prepare breakfast.”
“Pen…”
“You’re going to be late.”
“Baby…”

Before she could rush away, Colin grabbed ahold on her hand, pulling her back onto the bed, pinning her underneath himself, his fingers locking with hers. She gasped as he rolled his hips into hers, making her aware of his growing erection.

“I don’t want breakfast yet. I think I want a shower and I might want to be buried inside you again.”

Feeling her cheeks heat, Penelope nodded, pushing him off of herself but taking his hand as she got up.

“Let’s have a shower then.”

*****

Their shower ended up taking longer than anticipated because Penelope had found herself dropping to her knees and taking her husband into her mouth. His fingers had wrapped themselves in her hair and she urged him to take what he needed, to use her mouth the way he wanted to. And once they were done in the shower, Colin had pulled Penelope back up to himself before carrying her back to their bed and burying his face between her thighs, making her pant and cry before finally allowing her to find her release.

When they were both finally satiated, Penelope got out of bed and hastily dressed before Colin could pull her back. Laying flat on his back, Colin smiled to himself as he stared up at the ceiling, wishing he didn’t have to leave so soon. Just as he began to get up to go downstairs, his phone rang. Groaning, Colin reached for it, checking who was calling. His eyebrows shot up when he saw that it was Marina calling him.

“Hello?”
“Colin! Hi! Where are you?” She sounded chirpy enough but there was a hint of annoyance in her voice too.
“What?” Colin was utterly confused.
“I’m outside your hotel room. Can you open the door.”
“Why are you… What?”
“Colin! Stop being annoying! Can you open the door so we can run through lines?”
“I’m not in my hotel room. I came home last night.”

For a moment, there was absolute silence from the other end of the line and Colin had to pull his phone away from his ear to make sure that the line was still connected. When he saw that it was, he brought the phone back to his ear.

“Why did you go home?”

The question threw Colin off and he was unsure how to respond. He and Marina got on well enough, but they weren’t really friends and he couldn’t understand why she felt the need to question his actions.

“I have a late call time this morning so I thought I’d come home, have a good nights sleep, spend some time with my wife and then come back. Is that an issue?”

Again, there was silence from the other side of the call and then Marina sighed.

“I thought you had to keep your personal relationship quiet.”
“Yes, I’ve been asked to keep my relationship quiet and out of the public eye but that doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to see my wife. I can still come home when I want to spend some time with her.”

Colin was confused, he couldn’t really understand what was going on and why Marina was behaving in this manner. She did often come looking for him during their down time to go through lines with him but this felt… He couldn’t understand why she was asking so many questions.

“Listen Marina, I’ll be back on set soon and if I have some time, we can go through lines, but I have to hang up now.”
“Of course.”

The next thing Colin knew, Marina had put the phone down. Pulling the phone away from his ear, Colin looked at the screen, utterly baffled as to what just happened. He couldn’t quite understand why Marina felt the need to call him. Surely she could have just run her lines with someone else. Shaking his thoughts aside, Colin got out of bed and decided to finally get started with his day.

*****

Saying goodbye to Penelope was hard. As she kissed him at the door, her eyes filled with tears and she tried her best to brush them away before he noticed but her efforts were futile. Colin rubbed his thumbs under her eyes, brushing the tears away and pressing a watery kiss to her lips.

“I’ll be home again in no time, I promise.”
“I know, I know. It’s silly, I don’t know why I’m so emotional.”
“It’s not silly. I hate knowing that I won’t be coming home to you tonight. But I promise you Pen, all of this will be done in no time and after that, we can go on holiday or something and make up for lost time.”

Wrapping his arms tightly around her, he pulled her into himself, lowering his mouth to hers. Penelope pressed her body into his as she kissed him back, putting all her need and love into the kiss. As they pulled apart, Penelope’s fingers lingered on Colin’s arm, her eyes shining with fresh tears.

“I’ll be back home in no time baby, I promise.”

*****

Deuxmoi: * posts pictures of Colin and Marina at a coffee shop at what seems like early hours of the morning, laughing together *

‘Romancing Mr Mayfair’ stars Colin Bridgerton and Marina Thompson spotted having coffee together in the early hours of this morning. A working breakfast meeting or is there something more going on between the two?

Chapter Text

Colin had kept his promise and had made sure to come home as often as he could. Once they were done with the big ball scene and once they were shooting back at the studio, Colin and Penelope were able to find a sense of normality once more.

As a whole, it was all going pretty well. Shooting had been going well and they were nearing the end of the filming timeline. All they had left was one last big ball, a few little scenes with the families and between Colin and Marina. The only scene that Colin was truly worried about was a simulated sex scene between himself and Marina, which he was set to film the very next afternoon. He had talked about the scene with the director, the intimacy coordinator and with Marina. While the director and intimacy coordinator reassured Colin that it would all be fine, Marina had brushed off his concerns, telling him that it was just pretend sex and that they would just go for it.

As he and Penelope got ready for bed, he watched as she changed into a silky blush nightgown, her perfect nipples pressing proudly against the soft fabric. Her eyes locked on Colin’s as she reached under her dress and pulled off her panties and dropped them onto the pile of discarded clothes, her lips tipping up at the side. Pushing the duvet down, he pat her side of the bed, gesturing for her to hurry up and get into bed. Turning out the bedroom light, Penelope walked back over to the bed and slipped in beside Colin, pulling the duvet up around them as she rest her head on his chest and draped her arms around him. Kissing the top of her head, Colin wrapped his arms around her, holding her close.

“Are you sure I have to go to work tomorrow? What if I just said I have the flu?”
“Would they postpone shooting for the flu?” Penelope asked, turning her head to the side to look up at him.
“I’m not sure, probably not.”
“You’ll be absolutely fine, you have nothing to worry about.”
“Pen, it’s a sex scene. I’m terrified.”

Running her hand up his arm, she gave his shoulder a squeeze.

“You have nothing to worry about, you’re going to be amazing.”
“But it’s a sex scene.”
“It’s just another bit of acting. It’s different to anything you’ve done before, but you’ll be incredible regardless, I’m sure of it.”

As much as Penelope had been trying to reassure him that it would all be fine, Colin was still unsure, still nervous. Initially, he had been worried that she would be upset or would feel uncomfortable about the fact that he would have to be naked with someone else, but when she’d reassured him that she understood it was a part of the job and didn’t care, it calmed him slightly but it didn’t change the fact that he was nervous to get naked with someone else. There was a time, before he and Penelope started dating, when he had absolutely no issue with casually dating. It wasn’t fulfilling in the slightest, but he was confident in himself to be able to play the field. But since Penelope, Colin had no interest or desire to be in a compromising position of any nature with anyone other than his wife.

“I don’t know how I’m meant to perform that scene and make it believable.”
“Just think about me.” Penelope rest her chin on his chest, a small smile playing on her lips. “When she’s touching you, just imagine it’s me.”

Running her hand along his chest, Penelope tweaked his nipple, making him shudder before letting her hand drop further down his body.

“Just think about me.” Penelope repeated huskily.

Catching ahold of her face, Colin brought it to his own as he kissed his wife with everything that he had. Shifting position, Colin moved Penelope onto her back and moved over her, parting her legs with his own as he settled between them…

*****

Sometime later, Penelope emerged from the bathroom, cleaned up and with her nightgown back on again, and she slipped back into bed, wrapping her arms around Colin. Smiling, he held her close, struggling to keep his eyes open. While he still felt nervous about the sex scene he’d have to perform tomorrow, he felt slightly more at ease. Or maybe he was just feeling like that because he’d had incredible, mind melting sex with his wife and he couldn’t really think about anything else other than Penelope.

Turning out the lights, Penelope curled into Colin’s side, ready for sleep to take over. Just as Penelope felt her eyes beginning to get heavy, both Colin and Penelope’s phones pinged with message notifications. They were both willing to ignore their phones when both went off again. And again. And again. Groaning, Penelope rolled over and grabbed her phone, noticing that it was the Bridgerton siblings groupchat going off. Unlocking her phone, she held it between herself and Colin so he could see what was going on. The conversation seemed to have begun when Benedict had sent screenshots of some instagram posts. Opening them up, Penelope realised the screenshots were from Marina’s instagram and all the pictures were from the same dump. Almost all the pictures were of Colin and Marina on set, looking cute. Penelope scrolled through the pictures, zooming in to get a better look before reading the caption.

Working with this one the last few months has been amazing! So lucky to have been blessed with such a supportive costar 💕 *

Closing the pictures, Penelope began reading through the messages from the Bridgerton’s.

Benedict: just saw Marina’s post and I thought I’d share it with the rest of you.
Eloise: why is she gushing over Colin like that, it’s weird
Philip: be nice babe. Some of us actually genuinely like Colin
Gregory: Marina’s hot, do you think she’s single?
Anthony: She’s too old for you so it doesn’t matter if she is single or not.
Gregory: doesn’t mean I can’t shoot my shot.
Hyacinth: go for it @Gregory, shoot your shot! I believe in you brother
Gregory: favourite sister for a reason 🩵 @Hyacinth
Francesca: she only wants you to shoot your shot so she can watch you get shut down. Don’t do it Greg!

Chuckling to herself, Penelope nudged Colin who’d grabbed his own phone so he could go through the messages. She noticed that her husband had a lopsided smile on his face as he read through the chaos that his siblings were creating. Penelope’s phone going off again brought her attention back to the group chat.

Hyacinth: remember when Colin and Penelope first started dating, Gregory was DISTRAUGHT! He really believed he was going to be the one to date Penelope.
Benedict: 😂😂😂
Gregory: shut up.
Eloise: I mean we all know you’re still in love with Pen
Colin: stay the hell away from MY WIFE

Looking over at her husband, Penelope chuckled, nudging him.

“Leave Gregory alone.”
“He’s never going to live down the fact that he has a crush on you. I’ll be sure to mention it during his wedding toast.”
“It’s not his fault he’s the cutest Bridgerton. And the one with the most guts! He made his feelings known for me way before you did.”
“And you rejected him.”
“Well you know, he was like 12 or something and I was 21 so…”

Colin laughed, wrapping his arms around Penelope and pulling her into himself.

“It’s because he was 12 he had the balls to tell you he was in love with you. He hadn’t experienced rejection yet.”
“Poor Gregory. I feel bad.”

Chuckling, Colin turned his attention back to his phone which was still going off.

Gregory: I’M NOT IN LOVE WITH PENELOPE
Daphne: leave Gregory alone. Can we talk about these pictures. Did Colin know Marina was going to post these? Because they kind of look a bit too cosy. Not in a eyebrow raising way, just feels like something that shouldn’t be on socials if you know what I mean
Eloise: yeah I get what you mean but probably was meant to be posted, it’s all PR for the movie
Daphne: and Penelope’s okay with this? @Penelope and all the Deuxmoi posts?

That was where the messages stopped and it didn’t seem like anyone was typing. It seemed that they were all waiting for her to respond. Penelope went back up the messages and clicked on the pictures of Colin and Marina again. She could definitely see why Daphne was asking her if she was okay with it all because some of the pictures did look a bit cosy. For example, in one of them, Colin and Marina were sat very close together, reading from one script. In another, the two of them were sharing an armchair, laughing together. And in another, Colin was saying something and Marina seemed to be gazing up at him, admiration clear in her eyes. She could definitely see why she was being asked if she was okay with it, but the truth was, she was absolutely fine with it. She knew these pictures weren’t actually real, nor did they mean anything and she trusted Colin with her entire soul.

Penelope: absolutely fine with it! I know all of this is just part of the promotion for the movie. It’s all good!

There was a flurry of messages after that but Penelope had already put her phone down and had curled back into her husband’s side. Colin let the group chat know that he and Penelope were going to turn in for the night and then put his phone aside and wrapped his arms around his wife, kissing the top of her head.

“It truly doesn’t bother you?”
“Not in the slightest. I know what the deal is and I trust you. I know nothing weird is going on between you and your costar.”
“Good, because nothing is. You’re the only woman I have eyes for. And nothing is going to change that.”

Leaning over him, Penelope pressed a deep and lingering kiss before pulling away.

“We really should get some sleep.”

Chuckling, Colin nodded and they both got comfy before letting sleep finally take over.

*****

By the time Colin got home the following evening, Penelope was already in bed, tucked up and half asleep. She’d started her period earlier in the day and had been feeling rough since, so all she wanted was to snuggle up and go to sleep. It would be great if her husband got home soon and wrapped his strong body around her but after checking on him using find my friend, he’d still been on set and she was struggling to stay awake.

When Colin finally got home, he slid into the bedroom as quietly as possible, not wanting to disturb Penelope. But as he shut the door behind him, she lifted her head slightly and gave him a sleepy smile.

“Hey, you’re home!” Penelope said groggily.
“I’m sorry I’m late. Shooting took longer than expected. Go to sleep baby, it’s late.”

Shaking her head, Penelope rubbed her eyes as she slowly began to sit up.

“I’m just going to take a quick shower because I feel like I stink of Marina’s perfume.”

Chuckling, Penelope nodded as she moved the duvet off of herself and began getting out of bed. Colin paused undressing and raised an eyebrow.

“Why are you getting out of bed?”
“To get dinner warmed for you.”

Shaking his head, Colin rounded the bed and caught ahold of Penelope’s hand.

“Don’t get out of bed, I’ll sort dinner out myself.”
“I want to. Besides, if I go and get your dinner sorted while you’re in the shower, you can get to bed sooner.”
“You’re tired.”
“I’ll be fine. Now go and have your shower, you really do stink of another woman’s perfume and it’s throwing me off.”

Chuckling, Colin leaned down, pressed a kiss to Penelope’s cheek and nodded as he began to peel himself out of his clothes while Penelope went downstairs.

*****

Shower and dinner done, Colin and Penelope returned to their bedroom and got into bed. Though no longer tired, Penelope almost instantly wrapped herself around her husband’s body, her hands sliding under his T-shirt to rest on his toned stomach.

“So tell me how shooting went today.”

Wrapping his arms around her, Colin rest his chin on the top of her head.

“How much detail do you want me to go into?”
“I want all the details!”

With a quiet chuckle, Colin drew circles on Penelope’s back as he collected his thoughts.

“Well, you read the script and my notes so you know some of the points we had to hit, but in terms of the actual acting itself, it felt very strange. Kissing Marina has always been strange enough but to almost be butt naked with her…”
“Were you both… How naked is ‘almost butt naked?’”
“I had this really weird bag like thing to cover my cock and balls and it was padded so when we were, you know, enacting the scene, I couldn’t feel anything except the padding in my intimacy wear.”
“And what about her?”
“She was also wearing some kind of padded underwear I believe, I’m not too sure. There was also a neck pillow between us so there was always 3 layers between our groins.”
“But she wasn’t wearing anything on top?”
“Well no.” Colin admitted honestly. “For some of the shots she was completely bare and for others they put nipple covers on her.”
“But you were still able to see her breasts?”

Colin’s thumb stopped circling her back and he looked down at her, gently lifting her face to his.

“Pen?”

Colin raised an eyebrow, waiting for Penelope to say something because he couldn’t quite understand what she was getting at. He had talked her through the scene before, had even shown her his script and his notes from his director and intimacy coordinator, so he was unsure what was going through her mind now.

Throughout the project, Penelope had little issue with anything that Colin had to do for work. Was it a bit weird knowing that her husband was kissing another woman? Of course. But Penelope knew that it was all for work, it didn’t mean anything. Similarly, she didn’t care about the fact that Colin had to perform a simulated sex scene. However, something about the fact that he was that degree of naked with someone else just felt strange. She had also seen Marina, so she knew how beautiful his costar was, how different her body looked to her own.

When Penelope didn’t answer, Colin gently nudged her again.

“Baby what’s wrong?”
“Nothing it’s just… It’s nothing.”

Shaking her head, Penelope attempted to tuck herself back into Colin’s chest, but he kept a firm hold on her upper arm, keeping her where she was.

“Talk to me.”
“I can’t stop thinking about the fact that you saw her naked.”
“Pen…”
“I’m fine with the fact that you had to do a sex scene, you know that. I know it’s all fake but she’s… She’s so beautiful Colin! She’s all long legs and gorgeous tanned skin and she’s got perky tits and I…”
“Whoa, okay stop right there. Where’s all this coming from Pen?”
“I just can’t stop thinking about how different she is to me. Ans now you’ve seen her naked and I… My body doesn’t look like hers. It never has. No matter how much I sit in the sun, I don’t get a nice tan, I just turn red. I’ve got chunky arms and thighs and my breasts… Ugh, they-“

Colin cut Penelope off by resting his hand over her mouth, a frown on his face.

“Be careful what you say next. You know your breasts are my best friends. I won’t tolerate you talking shit about them.”

Giggling against his hand, Penelope shook her head as Colin lowly withdraw his hand.

“Why does it matter what her body looks like Pen?”

Shrugging, Penelope tucked herself back into Colin’s chest before he could stop her.

“Knowing you can do better than me is one thing. But to actually be able to see it.”
“I don’t think that Pen, surely you know that. I fell in love with you and I chose you because I wanted you and I still want you. Just because I wasn’t seeing other women naked when I proposed to you doesn’t mean I didn’t know what else was out there. I chose you regardless of what else was out there because I don’t care what else is out there. I know you are hard about your body, but I have always loved you exactly as you are and nothing is ever going to change that.”
“But why?” Penelope asked, looking up at him.
“Because that’s just how I feel. You are all I want and that is all I know. If I wanted a woman with Marina’s body type, I would have found her at the time. But I want you, it’s always only been you.”
“We were friends…”
“Well yes, but I wouldn’t have fallen in love with you if I didn’t love all of you. So yes, I did fall in love with you because of your personality but I also fell in love with your exterior. When I asked you to be with me, it was because I loved everything about you and because I knew you had everything I wanted in a woman.”

Feeling a little overwhelmed, Penelope shrugged her shoulders, barrelling further into Colin as he ran his hand up and down her back.

“I’m obsessed with your body Penelope. I always have been, you know that. I love your curves, your hips, your waist, your soft tummy… I know you don’t like it, but I love it. I have never once thought that you should try to change any aspect of your body. And don’t even get me started on your tits…”

Gently laying her back, Colin ran his hand along her body, stroking her over her top first and then sliding his hand underneath, his hand cupping a perfect, full breast, his thumb strumming gently at her nipple.

“Fucking perfect baby. So big and full and bouncy. Do you have any idea how fucking sexy it is to watch your boobs bounce when you’re riding me? Or the way they move when I’m fucking you? God it’s… It’s hypnotic. Not to mention how hot it is when I can bury my face between them. And you know how hard and fast I come when I slide my cock between them. And when we sleep and your little spoon and I can shove my hand up your top… Literal bliss baby. Your breasts are perfect Penelope. Never once in my life have I wished them to be anything except what they are. And I know you’re going to mention your butt next so I’ll beat you to it and tell you, I love your arse the way it is. You always complain about cellulite and it having a wobble, but I love it. You have no idea how sexy it is when I’m hitting you from behind and your ass ripples when it hits my thighs. I love it all Penelope. And I love you. I know you sometimes struggle to believe that, but it’s true and nothing is ever going to change that.”

Looking up at him, Penelope felt her eyes fill but she quickly blinked away her tears, the smallest of smiles playing on her lips.

“So you truly have no issues with my body? You don’t think I can change anything to make me more attractive for you?”
“You are the most attractive women I have ever met. Maybe I need to remind you just how attracted I am to you.”

With that, Colin’s hand began descending down her body, stopping at her stomach momentarily to give it a little stroke before carrying on down, his fingers finding the top of her waistband as he began peppering kisses to the side of her neck. Before his hand could dip into her shorts though, she caught ahold of his hand.

“Not tonight Colin, I started my period earlier today.”

Colin raised an eyebrow, wanting to know if she was just making an excuse or not, but from the look on her face, he knew she was telling the truth. Nodding, Colin wrapped his arms back around her and pulled her into himself. After over four years together, Colin knew how uncomfortable Penelope felt during her time of the month, so he simply held her close, kissing the side of her face because he knew that was all she truly needed.

“I love you baby.”
“I know, and I love you. I’m sorry if sometimes I get a bit wobbly.”

Shaking his head, Colin held her tighter to himself.

“You don’t have to apologise for feeling wobbly. As long as you tell me when you feel like that so I can chase away all your insecurities, we’ll be okay.”
“I know, and I promise, I’ll always tell you.”
“Good, now get to sleep. You looked like your eyes were falling out of your head when I got home.”

Giggling, Penelope nodded, pulling the covers further up her as she sunk further down the bed, her face pressed into Colin’s chest. Reaching for the bedside lamp, Colin turned the light out and then he too moved down the bed, getting comfortable. Penelope looked at him, a small smile playing on her lips.

“What?” Colin asked, an eyebrow raised.
“Nothing, I was just thinking about how it feels like the only time we have a proper conversation now is when we’re in bed.”

Chuckling in response, Colin nodded because she was right. He was either on set all the time or if on the odd occasion he was at home, he either had to do his errands or he was busy going through his script. The only time he could really turn off from work mode and just have a chat with Penelope was when they were in bed. Hand coming up to cover her shoulder, Colin gave her a little squeeze.

“You’re right. Hopefully when this is all done, we can try finding some normality once again.”

While Penelope hummed in agreement, in her heart, she had a feeling that this was about to become their new normal and she had no idea how she felt about it.

*****

Deuxmoi: * posts pictures of Colin and Marina at an American style diner *

Colin Bridgerton and Marina Thompson of upcoming ‘Romancing Mr Mayfair’ seen together by fans lunching at a diner. It seems the two are spending a lot of time together off set.

*****

A few weeks after filming the big sex scene, Colin had a little time off between shooting and was spending as much time possible catching up on sleep but also catching up with his family and friends. Since Penelope’s wobble a few weeks ago, things between them had gone back to normal and they were as good as ever, but Colin was beginning to feel a little nervous about how often gossip columns were posting about him and Marina, or catching them when they met up between shoots to go through their scripts. Despite the fact that each time that they had been spotted together had been times when they had their scripts with them and they were working through the content together, the columns failed to pick up on the fact that they were discussing work. On set, he knew pictures of himself and Marina discussing work was often taken and used for promotional content, but third party content was not an approved part of his contract and he couldn’t understand how they kept getting papped.

One afternoon when Penelope had left to go to her publishers office for some meetings, Colin decided to invite Will round. It had been a while since he’d seen his friend and agent but at the same time, he did want to ask Will what he thought about all the papped content. Will arrived with lunch and the two friends got settled at the dining room table and tucked in.

“I just realised, this is the first time I’m at your new house.”
“I’ve barely spent much time here myself, so we haven’t really had much time to entertain.”
“Have you had an opportunity to get settled?”

Colin tilted his head for side to side as he took a bite of his lunch.

“I mean we’re all moved in, but it’s not really feeling like home just yet. Like sometimes I’ll get into the car after work and I’ll start making my way towards our flat and then remember that we don’t live there anymore. Or I’ll wake up and I’ll be thrown for a moment because I’m expecting to wake up in our old bedroom. But I guess when you live somewhere for so long, it take a while to get accustomed to your new surroundings. And because I haven’t been spending as much time at home as I’d like, it’s just taking a bit longer.”
“I understand how you feel, I felt that way when Alice and I moved into our home together. But we obviously had the kids so coming home and hearing the same old commotion made the new house feel like home quite quickly.”

Colin chuckled, nodding in understand.

“So are you going to host a housewarming party?”

Tilting his head to the side, Colin gave Will a moment to work out the answer to that question himself.

“Of course you’re going to throw a party, you’re a Bridgerton.”

Chuckling, Colin held out his can of beer to Will and Will clinked his can against it.

“As soon as we wrap shooting, we plan on hosting everyone. Penelope had insisted that she would be okay to do all the planning and prep herself and we could host it one weekend when I was off work, but it didn’t feel right to make her do all that work.”
“Fair enough! And how has everything else been? I know you said you were struggling with being away from Penelope so much. Are you still feeling like that? Are you two okay?”
“We’re fine.” Colin replied honestly because they were fine.

Penelope had had a wobble the night Colin had filmed his sex scene, but since then, she’d been fine again, her supportive and excited self back in full force.

“I’m just counting down the days until shooting is done so I can take Penelope away. I feel like we definitely need a break.”
“I would recommend it! Because once the film is done, you’ve not got long before you start filming that sci-fi movie and by the time that’s down, you’re going to have to start preparing for the press tour for ‘Romancing Mr Mayfair.’”
“Remind me again why I thought it would be smart to book another film right off the back of this one?”
“Because it was a great opportunity and your incredible agent was able to negotiate a great deal.”

Throwing his head back, Colin laughed shaking his head. As his laughter subsided, a thought hit Colin.

“Oh, I was meaning to ask you, what do you make of all the papped content that’s been coming out of me and Marina, that’s not normal right?”

Will chewed on his bite slowly, thinking about what Colin had asked him.

“I will admit, I have been a bit confused seeing all the posts and articles. I have tried to find out what’s going on but the studio said they have no idea either because they haven’t commissioned for these pictures to be taken. So it could be a case of you’re unfortunate and paps are catching you, or someone else knows what you’re going to be doing and where you’re going to be going and they’re commissioning the pictures to be taken.”
“So many people know when Marina and I are going to leave set though. We have to let assistants know, often other cast members know… How can we find out what’s going on?”
“I’ll keep looking into it for you because if someone else is commissioning for these pictures to be taken, then we’re going to have a problem because third party promotional material of any kind isn’t what we negotiated. So if anyone is doing this for financial gain or for publicity, they’re in breach of your contract.”

Colin nodded along as he took another sip of his drink, content with what Will was saying. He knew Will well enough to know that he would take this seriously and that he would look into what’s going on. It wasn’t the biggest of deals, but it was annoying that the paps were taking these pictures and gossip sites were trying to spin it as something it wasn’t. Before either of them could say anything more, they heard the door open and Colin could hear Penelope’s melodious laugh as she walked through the house.

“In the kitchen babe!” Colin called out.

Colin and Will waited quietly as they had Penelope’s footsteps through the house and were aware that she was with someone else. As she walked into the kitchen, a wide smile on her face, Colin noticed that Alice Mondrich walked in with her. Getting to his feet, Colin pulled out the chair beside him and rounded the table to pull out the chair beside Will as he approached his wife.

“Hey babe.” Penelope beamed as she rose up on her toes and pressed the gentlest of kisses to Colin’s lips.
“Hey.” Colin grinned before turning to Alice and giving her a quick hug. “Hi Alice! Good to see you.”

Alice gave Colin’s arm a squeeze and a warm smile playing on her lips.

“Would you both like to join us for lunch? We have more than enough food.” Colin said as he gestured at the table.
“We’ve already had lunch.” Penelope said as she shook her head. “But we’ll join you anyway.”

Penelope took the seat beside where Colin was sitting and Alice rounded the table and sat down beside her husband.

“I didn’t realise you were with Penelope today.” Will said to his wife as he kissed her cheek.
“We had a few meetings today.” Alice replied.
“How did your meetings go?” Colin asked both Penelope and Alice as he took his seat once more, his arm draped around the back of Penelope’s chair.

Penelope and Alice looked at one another, coy smiles playing on their lips. Alice raised her eyebrow at Penelope, gesturing for her to go on. When Penelope didn’t answer, Alice took the can of beer from Will’s hand and took a long sip as she braced herself.

“Colin Bridgerton, your wife has just secured a seven figure deal for her next two books!” Alice announced as calmly as possible but the excitement was evident in her tone.

Eyes wide, Colin turned to Penelope and pulled her in for a big hug, kissing the top of her head.

“I’m so proud of you baby.” Colin murmured into Penelope’s head and she smiled, tightening her arms around him.

Kissing the top of her head once more, he slowly let her go, his hand coming to rest on her thigh.

“Congratulations Penelope, that’s incredible news!” Beamed Will proudly.
“Thank you.” Penelope said quietly, struggling to keep to stop herself from beaming like an absolutely fool.
“Look at you two, the superstar actor and the best selling author. You’re a literal power couple.”
“Oh hush.” Penelope laughed at Will, sneaking a spring roll off Colin’s plate. “We might be the actor and the author, but behind us we have the best agents people could ask for. Without you and Alice, we’d have never got off the ground.”

Colin hummed in agreement as he went over to the fridge and grabbed some champagne.

“You both would have still found your feet even without us, but if you want to give us credit, we won’t be humble and pretend we didn’t help you get there.” Will joked.

The group laughed as the conversation shifted away from work and went onto more general stuff. Once all the food was gone and the bottle of champagne was empty, both Will and Alice began getting to their feet.

“Right, we really should get going. The kids are going to need to be picked up from school and even though it was misters day to pick them up, he’s had a little too much to drink.”

Will gave Alice a sheepish look.

“It’s Colin’s fault. He got me drinking beer at lunch.”

Chuckling, Colin threw a grape at his friend and surprisingly, Will managed to catch it in his mouth. Penelope and Alice just looked at each other, rolling their eyes at their husbands’ antics. Finally ready to leave, the Mondrics gathered their things and Alice gave both Colin and Penelope a hug.

“This was a really nice impromptu little date, but the four of us do need to plan something soon, it’s been so long since we’ve been out together.”
“We’ll definitely plan something soon.” Penelope replied excitedly as she leaned into Colin’s side. “Maybe once he’s done with shooting, the four of us can go out for drinks or something.”
“That would be a great idea! Will, you like that idea don’t you?”

Alice turned to her husband, waiting for him to reply but found him frowning as he looked down at his phone.

“Everything alright?” Colin asked.

Looking up, Will shook his head.

“Not really. Deuxmoi has posted about you again.”

Will handed Colin his phone, and Colin held it between himself and Penelope as they looked down at the post.

———

Deuxmoi: * posts a number of pictures of Colin on his off day, leaving Sainsbury’s with groceries and then some more pictures of him leave Greggs with his lunch. Zoomed in pictures of his hand and of his wedding ring.

Spotted, Colin Bridgerton, lead actor of ‘Romancing Mr Mayfair,’ running mundane errands. But is that a wedding ring we see? Is this up and coming actor secretly married? We’ll have to keep an eye out.

———

Handing the phone back to Will, Colin shook his head, not really seeing what the issue was.

“So they caught me with my wedding ring on, what’s the big deal? They have no proof that I’m actually married. I haven’t breached my contract.”
“You haven’t, but people are going to be curious now and they’re going to start digging.”
“They won’t be able to find anything.”
“You can’t be sure of that. You have no idea what the press can do. They’ll do a deep dive if need be.”

While Colin hadn’t seen the issue before, now that Will was laying out like that, he couldn’t help but feel a little tense. Not because he was worried about being in breech of contract, but because he really didn’t want the press to be diving into his family. While the Bridgertons weren’t exactly a reclusive bunch, Colin didn’t want people looking into his family and invading their privacy. And he really didn’t want people looking into Penelope and harassing her. Despite being a best selling author, for the most part, Penelope flew under the public radar, no one really asked or looked into her private life. Part of that was down to the fact that she had chosen to carry on publishing under her maiden name. But if the press realised hat she was his wife, she would lose the anonymity that she enjoyed.

“Look, don’t stress too much about it. Let me go home and speak to the rest of your team and speak to your PR people. If it comes down onto it, we’ll just commission a bunch of pap pics to be taken of you during different days and we’ll make sure you’re wearing different rings on different fingers each time. This can be easily brushed away. We just need to not let the studio know that questions about your relationship status have been raised because you know how weird they can be about it all.”

Colin nodded as he wrapped an arm tightly around Penelope and pulled her into himself. This was so annoying. Since he had started filming, they had been so careful when they had been out together to stay under the radar so that no one would see them together. But even though they were taking precautions, they hadn’t had a proper date night out since filming had started. They usually liked having dinner out at a fancy restaurant at least once a month and they hadn’t been able to do that. And now, knowing that he may have made a mess of it all anyway was so annoying.

Will placed a gentle hand on Colin’s shoulder.

“Seriously Colin, don’t worry about it. We’ll get this sorted. We’ve got this.”

*****

Will hadn’t been wrong, they had been able to deal with the situation. Colin’s team had hoped that the studio execs wouldn’t have found out, but they’d always known that that was a long shot. The studio was always going to find out. But it was their luck that the studio agreed with the strategic decision to commission some pap pictures to be taken of Colin and to ensure that he was wearing different rings on different fingers each time. Part of Colin really didn’t like any of this, it felt weird and manipulative, but if it meant that they would be able to get back on track and it would stop the media and the public from trying to pry into his public life, then he was willing to do whatever it took. And their plan ended up working like a charm. While some people had been clearly dubious, for the most part, people seemed to go along with the narrative that Colin just liked rings.

In fact that plan had worked so well, a popular jewellery brand had reached out to Will, wondering if Colin would like to work with them to model some of their pieces. With so much buzz coming from Colin and his rings, the brand had felt that the partnership would be a good one and ultimately, they had accepted. Everything had seemingly begun to fall back into place.

The studio though were not necessarily impressed that they had come so close to people find out out the truth of Colin’s relationship status. In a meeting with his manager present, the studio execs made it more than clear that Colin needed to be a lot more careful going forward and that meant that until ‘Romancing Mr Mayfair’ was out, Colin was strongly advised against wearing his wedding ring. During the meeting he had agreed to what they had said, but once outside, he couldn’t help but feel a little pissed off.

“I’ve been so careful the entire time Mic. I haven’t even been able to take my wife out on a date in months and they have the audacity to make it sound like I haven’t been careful? Mind you, I had been less than willing to hide my relationship in the first place.”

Colin was ranting and as he and Michaela got into her car, he slumped back in his seat.

“Hey listen. I know it’s all shit, but the finish line is literally within touching distance now. You’ve only got a few weeks of shooting left and then you’ll be free of this project for a while until you have to come back for the press tour.”
“I know, but you heard what they said. I can’t wear my wedding ring again until after the film is out. And while they didn’t explicitly say it, I guess that means I can’t be seen with my wife either which is just bullshit.”

Michaela hummed thoughtfully because everything Colin had said was right. He would be expected to not be seen with Penelope in public and that also meant he wouldn’t be able to wear his wedding ring and she could see why it was all throwing him off kilter.

“I know it all sucks Colin, but think about it this way, once this is all done, you’ll be a leading actor and your career will begin to take a whole new level. It’s all for the greater good for yourself and your family.”

Once upon a time, Colin may have believed that. But now? He wasn’t so sure.

*****

When filming finally ended without any further hiccups, Colin couldn’t help but feel relieved. He enjoyed the whole process but he was ready to just relax, spend time with Penelope and finally catch up with his friends and family. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d been able to attend Sunday roast at his mothers house so he was really look forward to taking it easy before he was due on set of his next film.

But before anything else, Colin and Penelope had a housewarming party to host and they still had to attend the wrap party for the film.

*****

The evening of the wrap party, Penelope was feeling stressed. Her dress was ready, hanging on the wardrobe door and her make up was looking great. But as she watched Colin get dressed, she couldn’t help but wonder if she really should be going with him. Noticing that she was staring at him instead of getting changed, Colin raised an eyebrow as he slowly closed the distance between them.

“Less staring and more getting ready please Mrs Bridgerton.”
“Colin I…” Penelope paused, fiddling with the ties of her robe. “Are you sure you want me to come with you?”

Pausing, Colin frowned, shaking his head as he dropped down onto his knees in front of her.

“Of course I want you to come with me.”
“I just… I’ll be the odd one out, I’ll be out of place.”
“No, you won’t. Everyone is bringing their significant other and besides, you’re not only coming because you’re my wife. You have your own invite as the author. These guys have been wanting to meet you for so long.”

Turning her attention back to her robe, she fiddled with the bottom of it once more, unsure what to say.

“It’s a party, I want you to enjoy yourself. If I come with you, I just know you’re going to spend the time with your arm around me instead of mingling with your cast and crew.”

Colin shrugged his shoulders, his hand gently squeezing her knee.

“I’ve seen those people far more than I’ve seen you recently, so I don’t think anyone will mind if I want to spend my time with my wife. But I promise you, I will mingle with everyone, you don’t have to worry about that.”
“Don’t you need to get pictures with Marina though? So that the team can post them on socials?”
“We do, but that’ll take all of a few minutes. There’s no reason for you not to accompany me just because I need to take pictures with her.”

Feeling her faltering again, Colin took Penelope’s hands and guided her off her chair and down onto his lap, wrapping his arms around her.

“If you don’t want to go, we don’t have to go.”
“You can’t miss the wrap party just because I don’t want to go.”

Colin simply shrugged, his hand running up and down her back, the silk of her robe rubbing against her skin and making her shiver. She didn’t know why she was feeling the way that she was feeling, but she had never felt so anxious about a social event before. Her feeling was inexplicable, but she knew she needed to put her feelings aside for Colin. Tonight was important for him and she refused to be the reason why he missed out.

Shuffling off his lap, Penelope sat back on her chair and went back to fixing her hair.

“Well go and get ready then, we’re going to be late.”
“Are you sure? We don’t have to.”
“No, we’re going. So get ready Mr Bridgerton, I’m not letting you miss out on your first wrap party as a big budget romance hero.”

Grinning, he kissed the side of her face as he went to get ready.

*****

When they finally pulled up to the hotel where the party was being hosted, Penelope felt her nerves kicking in again. As much as the production team had been inviting her to go onto set to see how things were going, she had declined, citing timing issues. But now she was finally here and she was going to have to meet everyone associated with the film. More than anything else, she was a little nervous to meet Marina. There was no specific reason for it and she didn’t really know why she felt nervous, but she did.

Colin looked across at Penelope once he’d parked and took her hand into his own.

“You okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“We can still go home if you don’t want to be here. No one needs to know we came and then turned back.”

Giving his hand a squeeze, Penelope chuckled as she shook her head.

“I didn’t put this pretty dress on for you to take me home. You, Mr Bridgerton, need to show your wife off tonight.”

Leaning across the center console, Colin grinned as he pressed a gentle kiss to her lips.

“There’s nothing I love more than showing off my wife.”
“Then let’s get this party started baby.”

With one last chaste kiss, Colin and Penelope got out of their car and began making their way up to the hotel, Penelope’s hand locked firmly in Colin’s. Security quickly and discretely let them through and directed them toward the conference hall where the party was. Hand in hand, they made their way down there, Penelope doing her best to shove aside any reluctance.

The lights to the conference hall were dimmed, additional colourful lights on instead and the music thumping. The director was the first person to spot Colin and rushed over to him, a wide smile on his face, a drink in his hand.

“Colin! We were beginning to wonder whether you had bailed on us.”

The older man gave Colin a quick hug, patting him on the back before turning his attention to Penelope.

“And this I must be our author and your lovely wife.”

With a smile, Penelope held out her hand.

“Penelope Featherington, pleasure to meet you.”

The director shook her hand, a wide smile on his face as he turned his attention back to Colin.

“Well there is no surprise why you were always so eager to go home. I would too if I had such a beautiful wife waiting for me at home.”

Feeling herself flush, Penelope smiled down at the floor as she shuffled in a little closer to Colin who simply wrapped a protective arm around her and gave her a little squeeze. Colin and the director exchanged a few more pleasantries before the other man excused himself to go and speak to someone else.

As Colin and Penelope worked the room, him introducing her to all his colleagues and her graciously taking the compliments about her book, Penelope felt herself beginning to ease up. Everyone was being lovely, telling her how much they had wanted to meet her, complimenting her dress and how she looked and asking her about her other books. It was just as Penelope was letting her guard down that she saw a flash of gold sparkles heading towards her and Colin.

“Colin! There you are! Everyone’s been saying you’ve arrived but I couldn’t see you anywhere.”

Marina. Feeling her mouth go dry, Penelope ran her eyes over the length of Marina’s body, and up close, she could see exactly why this woman had been cast as the female lead of the film. Everything from her sun-kissed brown skin to the way every single curl on her head looked perfect, this woman was oozing superstar potential. Penelope was still taking Marina in when she threw her arms around Colin and kissed both his cheeks. Slightly stunned, Penelope looked between Colin and Marina, feeling her eyebrow raise lightly as she watched Marina disentangle herself from Colin but stayed standing close to him, her hand on his arm. Colin looked between Marina and Penelope, not quite comprehending what was going on. Marina had never shown such affection toward him before. This felt like too much? Perhaps she’d just had too much to drink already.

Shaking himself away from Marina slightly, Colin took a little step back to Penelope and wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her into himself.

“Marina, this is Penelope, my wife. Pen, this is Marina.”
“Hi.” Penelope said quietly with a little smile. “It’s great to finally meet you.”
“Oh my goodness hi! It’s so nice to finally meet you too! Colin doesn’t stop going on about you!”

Penelope looked up at her husband, giving him a small smile as she shuffled closer to him.

“And I just love your dress! It really suits you, I don’t think I could ever pull something like that off.”

Looking down at herself, Penelope couldn’t quite work out why Marina felt she couldn’t wear a dress like this? It was a simple black velvet number with slight bunching on the side.

“Thank you?” Penelope replied, unsure what else to say.

Marina simply smiled, tossing her long hair over her shoulder before turning back to Colin.

“Anyway, I was looking for you because I think we should take a couple of pictures together for instagram. I’m sure our fans want to see us at the wrap party.”

Colin hesitated for a moment, his eyes darting to Penelope again. Her expression was unreadable and Colin knew that was never a good sign.

“Surely we have enough content from on set that you can post. I don’t think…”
“We need wrap party pics Col! It’s like… it’s a staple!”

Penelope bristled slightly at the use of “Col” because no one called him that. In fact he hated being called that, so she couldn’t really figure out why Marina felt like she could call him that. Beside her, Penelope felt Colin’s shoulders drop and he signed as he gave Marina a little nod.

“Excellent!” Marina squealed with a little clap of her hands and then handed her phone to Penelope. “Penny, would you mind taking a few pics of us, thanks babe!”

The only people in Penelope’s life who ever called her Penny were her sisters and they were the only people who were allowed to call her that because they’d been doing it since they were kids. Under normal circumstances, Penelope would have very firmly said that she did not like being called Penny, but truthfully, she didn’t feel comfortable asserting herself with Marina. Knowing her distaste for the use of that name by people outside of her siblings, Colin gave Penelope’s arm a little squeeze, trying to relay to her that he knew she was feeling uncomfortable right now but they would be done with this soon enough.

With a sigh and a little nod, Penelope opened up the camera app on Marina’s phone and waited for her and Colin to pose. When they did, Penelope snapped away, and she did her best to tamp down her annoyance when Marina wrapped her arms around Colin’s neck and hugged him closely from the side. Never in her life had she had to deal with someone being so overly touchy with her husband and Penelope didn’t quite know how to deal with it. Just as Penelope was ready to hand the phone back to Marina, Marina had a bright idea and asked Penelope to take one more picture. Before anyone could quite comprehend what was happening, Marina leaned in and pressed a big kiss to Colin’s cheek. His head snapped away from her in shock, he hadn’t expected that.

As annoyance really began to set in in Penelope, she handed Marina her phone back as she took Colin’s arm.

“It was lovely to meet you Marina, but we really should get going. Colin was about to introduce me to your executive producers when you came over.”
“Of course, thanks for taking my pictures for me!”

Penelope hummed in response as she led Colin away. When they were well away from Marina, Penelope looked up at Colin, her eyebrows furrowed.

“Respectfully, but what the hell was that?” Penelope asked as she dropped his arm.
“Baby, honestly, I have no idea. I think she’s buzzed because she’s never usually like that. Like she does like having our picture taken for her instagram and stuff but she’s never that touchy. I’m so sorry if she made you feel uncomfortable.”

Frowning, Penelope sighed as her shoulders dropped.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have snapped I just…”

When someone walked by them, Penelope stopped speaking, just shaking her head as she looked down. Colin knew that this was a conversation they needed to have, otherwise it would keep festering in her mind. He would much rather wait until they got home, but he knew how Penelope’s mind worked, she’d be thinking about it for the rest of the evening and getting herself worked up about it.

Taking her hand, he led her through the party, trying to find somewhere quiet for them to talk. As they walked through the party, some of Colin’s costars noticed them, the lads wolf whistling at them, poking fun at Colin for wanting to be alone with his wife. It was a work event and Colin knew that he really shouldn’t be walking off with his wife, but truthfully, what was going on in Penelope’s mind was more important to him.

Finding a secluded corner, Colin let go of Penelope hand and ran a gentle hand along her cheek before slipping his finger under her chin and lifting her face to his.

“Baby, what’s the matter? What’s going on in your head?”
“Nothing I… We should get back to the party? It’s not a good look for us to walk away like this.”
“I don’t give a shit about the party Pen, I want to know what you’re thinking and why you’re so wound up right now.”

Shifting her weight from one foot to the other, Penelope did her best to gather her thoughts but then decided to just go for it. This was Colin, her Colin. She didn’t need to be refined, nor did she need to get her thoughts in order, she just needed to say what was on her mind and he would understand.

“I just… I really don’t like it when random women touch you like that. Like I know she’s your costar and I had no issue knowing that you’ve had to kiss her or that you’ve had to perform intimate scenes with her, but that was for work. Now, we’re just here as Colin and Penelope and Marina and I just don’t… I didn’t feel comfortable with the way that she approached us or the way that she was so familiar with you. And I know she wants to get pictures and whatever but… I don’t like it Colin! I know I sound stupid and petulant but…”
“Hey, hey no. Don’t do that. Don’t belittle yourself like that. You don’t sound stupid nor do I think you’re being petulant.” Stepping closer, Colin cupped Penelope’s face, his thumb grazing the side of her cheek. “There is nothing wrong with the way that you’re feeling and you’re feelings are entirely valid. I’m not really sure why Marina approached us the way that she did today, or why she behaved like that because I promise you, she’s never usually like that with me. I really do think she’s had a little bit to drink and she’s probably feeling a little loose, but I wasn’t comfortable with the way she was being either. I’m sorry on her behalf baby. I’m sorry her behaviour is making you feel weird.”
“I swear I’m not an insecure loser, I just…”

Colin shook his head, backing her up against the wall as he crowded her, his free hand coming to rest on her waist.

“It’s not insecure, it’s possessive. And it’s fucking hot. I would much rather my wife look at other women like she wants to kill them for touching me than have a wife who doesn’t care. Just shows me that you still want me the way you did before we got married.”
“I will always want you, even when we’re old and grey. I’ve wanted you since we were kids, before I even knew what it was to want someone. It’s always been you and it will forever be you.”
“And I feel the same about you. You know I hate it when men try to talk or hit on you.”
“We’re just a pair of possessive losers.” Penelope replied with a giggle.
“And I love that for us.”

Dropping a quick kiss to her lips, Colin moved away ever so slightly.

“Do you want to go home?”
“No, we can stay a little while longer.”
“You sure?”
“I’m sure.” Penelope replied confidently.

Searching her face for any sign of hesitance, Colin was unable to find anything so nodded as he stepped away from her and offered her his arm. She took is graciously and they moved to rejoin the party.

*****

For the remaining duration of the party, everything went smoothly and Penelope even enjoyed herself. Aside from Marina who stayed well away, the rest of Colin’s costars were all beyond welcoming and were so kind to Penelope. They asked her about her work and what was coming next, but also asked her about how it felt to now be the wife of an up and coming actor, how it changed her life. She answered everything in her own way and she made conversation with everyone, asking them about their own lives and careers.

When it was finally time for them to leave, they did a quick circuit, said goodbye to everyone and then took their leave. By the time they got back to their car, they were both exhausted but content. As soon as the doors locked, Penelope got her shoes off and threw them into the backseat, stretching her toes and letting out a relieved sigh. Colin chuckled to himself as he began driving, his hand coming to rest on her exposed knee.

“Shoes giving you grief babe?”
“You have no idea how much hard work heels are. You’re so lucky to be a man, and to be so tall.”
“You could just wear lower heels.”
“And be half your height? No thank you. I’ll keep struggling for my life because at least then I come up to your shoulder.”

He gave her an inconspicuous look and Penelope rolled her eyes as she turned away from him. Okay fine, she didn’t quite reach his shoulder, even in heels, but she wasn’t about to correct herself. Turning her attention back to her bag on her lap, Penelope fished her phone out. There was a flurry of messages from the Bridgerton group chat, but she really didn’t have the energy to reply to them now, so she ignored it and went into instagram instead, just to have a little scroll and see what was going on. As soon as she opened the app, the first post was from Marina.

Just sharing a few snaps from tonight because I know how much you guys have been waiting for wrap party pics! Having the best night with the best people! *

Flicking through the carousel of pictures, Penelope couldn’t help but roll her eyes at the fact that 4/6 of the pictures that Marina had posted were of herself and Colin. It was kind of ridiculous in Penelope’s opinion but who was she to care. It was all a part of the promotion for the film and it was clearly working if the number of likes and comments were anything to go by. A part of Penelope knew that she should absolutely not go into the comments section, but she couldn’t stop herself. Opening up the comments, it was flooded with people replying to Marina’s post by telling her how good she and Colin looked together and how they couldn’t wait to see the film because they wanted to witness their chemistry. Penelope looked back at the pictures and while they weren’t bad pictures by any means, she couldn’t really see what people were seeing. Colin looked distant and disinterested and he was barely touching Marina. But regardless, she went back to the comments.

Colin kept driving, completely oblivious to what his wife was doing, but Penelope kept reading. Comment after comment, people kept reiterating that Marina and Colin would make a beautiful couple and that they hoped that the two of them were happy in their real life relationship. It was insane! Penelope couldn’t believe the number of people that truly believed that Marina and Colin were together simply based off of a couple of ambiguous posts. And then she found the comments, the longer, more rambled ones where people were expressing how good Marina and Colin looked together, but then went onto saying how much of a beautiful couple they made in real life and how they would have the most beautiful children. Penelope had to lock her phone and put it away, she couldn’t keep reading. Did people really think that? That Colin should be with someone who looked like Marina.

Unlocking her phone again, Penelope went into her camera roll and looked at her own pictures with Colin from the night and, in her opinion, she thought they looked beautiful together. He looked so much happier and looser in his pictures with her, but even with her in heels and him leaning down, the height difference between them was significant. She always quite liked the height difference between them but what would other people think if they saw them together? Would they think they looked silly together? That she was too short for him? Is that the kind of thing people took into consideration when deciding whether or not they thought two people looked good together? Marina was much taller than she was, was that why people thought Colin looked good with Marina? Not to mention, Marina just had a completely different body shape. Is that also something people noticed?

Shaking her head, Penelope forced the thoughts aside. She couldn’t think about all of that. It would drive her insane. It didn’t matter what random people on the internet thought, they didn’t know her or Colin or Marina. All that mattered was that she and Colin were together and happy and nothing was about to change that. Putting her phone away once more, Penelope leaned back in her seat as she covered Colin’s hand on her lap and gave his fingers a squeeze. He looked over at her really quickly, gave her a wide smile and then turned his attention back to the road.

They were going to be fine, she just knew it.

*****

Deuxmoi: * posts a picture of Colin and Penelope arriving at the wrap party, his hand resting low on her back as they make their way up the stairs. Penelope’s face is unclear but you can clearly see it is Colin. *

‘Romancing Mr Mayfair’ star Colin Bridgerton seen arriving at the films wrap party late yesterday evening with a mysterious red head. The two appear to be familiar with one another if their body language is anything to go by. Does Colin Bridgerton have a girlfriend he has been hiding from the public or was this simply a member of the cast or crew? I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough.

Chapter Text

After the picture of Colin and Penelope had been posted by Deuxmoi, the internet went a little bit crazy. For days they speculated who it was in the picture and what her relationship with Colin was. For a while, it seemed like people wouldn’t work it out, and then an eagle-eyed fan realised it was Penelope.

When people realised it was Penelope, the internet went into a bit of a tailspin because they wanted to work out what was going on between Colin and Penelope.
At that point, everyone did panic slightly, worrying that the public were getting too close to the truth. But then people honed in on the fact that Penelope was the author of the book, hence why she would be invited to the party and they remembered that Penelope was married. After that, the internet calmed down a little, deciding that Colin and Penelope being seen together didn’t mean anything.

It was all over and forgotten about in the space of a few weeks, but it had been a stressful couple of weeks. Colin had just waited to be called in by the execs to get a verbal battering for putting promotion of the film at risk, but to his surprise, no call came. But he could tell Penelope was a bit shaken and he couldn’t blame her, he was too. He couldn’t understand how someone papped them outside the hotel. It was all so exclusive and closed off, no one unauthorised should have been able to get that close. Something about it all just wasn’t sitting right to him.

Colin did want to look into it further, wanted to work out what was going on because why was it only him that was getting caught out each time, but at the same time, he didn’t want to share his theory with Penelope that someone was deliberately selling his pictures to the media. If he told her that, she would become even more wary and the last thing he wanted was for his wife to get too in her head about it and then refuse to go out with him. He decided to let it slide for the moment, but if he got papped again, he was going to have to get his team to double down and really try and work out what was going on.

Despite the time and effort he and his team had put into trying to figure out what was going on already, they were having very little luck. In an attempt to distract himself, Colin decided it was time he and Penelope hosted their house warming party.

*****

Putting down the last platter of canapés, Penelope stepped back as she looked at the spread. It was all looking good with plenty of snacks and drinks on the table, and she was happy that everything was ready to go. Walking over to the kitchen window, she looked out and watched as her husband got the barbecue going and set out the garden furniture.

After weeks of trying to find the perfect date, they had finally found a day when most of their family and friends were available for a housewarming party. Penelope was buzzing while also being ever so slightly nervous. Some of their family and friends had already been round the new house and seen some of it, but everyone would be coming at the same time and she was nervous how they would react.

When she and Colin had first started dating, they both owned their own flats and as their relationship progressed and they decided to move in together officially, Colin’s flat was the obvious choice because his was a little bigger but also because he was more centrally located than she was. Then they got married and his flat because their first marital home. But now they had their real forever home, the one where they would hopefully raise their future children and Penelope was terrified someone was going to say that they had picked a bad house. And she had a feeling it was either going to be her mother or Colin’s eldest brother, Anthony.

Penelope had been so lost in thoughts that when Colin came back inside and wrapped his arms around her, it startled her slightly before she leaned back into him.

“Hey.”
“Hi.” Penelope whispered in response as she covered Colin’s hand with her own.
“What you thinking about?”
“Nothing much. I’m just trying to decide if it’s going to be my mum or if it’s going to be Anthony that finds some fault with our house first.”

Colin chuckled in response as he tightened his arms around Penelope, kissing the side of her face.

“It will definitely be Anthony.”
“It’s always Anthony.”
“Always.” Colin confirmed, rolling his eyes.

Before either of them could get too lost in the moment, the doorbell went off, signifying the first of their guests had arrived. Pushing Colin off of herself, Penelope smoothed down her dress before excitedly making her way across the house and throwing the door open. Colin followed her and grinned at the sight of his mother and his three youngest siblings at the door.

Violet had wrapped her arms around Penelope but was slowly peeling herself away, taking in her surroundings.

“Hi mum.” Colin beamed as he closed the distance between himself and his mother.
“Hello sweetheart.” Violet stepped into her son, wrapping her arms around him as he kissed her on the cheek. “Have you been well?”
“I’ve been great mum and you?”

They pulled apart and Violet nodded her head, signifying that she had been alright too. As Colin and Violet caught up, Penelope had turned her attention to Gregory, Hyacinth and Francesca, hugging them all in turn, asking them how they were. The four of them spoke animatedly, Gregory the most excited as always, telling Penelope all about his studies. Hyacinth and Francesca had stepped back, sending each other knowing looks as they watched their youngest brother do his thing and try to impress their sister in law. Colin caught his sisters sending each other knowing looks and wrapped his arm around Gregory’s shoulder and ruffled his hair.

“Right you, stop flirting with my wife.”
“I’m not!” Gregory protested, his cheeks flaming.
“Sure bro. Come on you lot, let me give you a tour before everyone else arrives.”
“Can I use the hot tub?” Gregory asked, his eyes wide with excitement.
“Absolutely not. That’s mine and Penelope’s private hot tub.”
“I’m your brother.”
“It’s for me and my wife only.”

Grumbling, Gregory rolled his eyes, saying something about how he couldn’t wait to have his own house so that he could have his own hot tub. Colin simply laughed as he gestured for them all to follow him, beginning the tour.

*****

The tour concluded in the garden and the Bridgertons sat down by the large patio table.

“It’s a beautiful house, I’m so proud of you both.” Violet gushed as she looked between Colin and Penelope. “The only thing that would make the house more perfect is if you both started filling it with my grand babies.”

Penelope blushed and Colin groaned as he wrapped his arm around his wife and pulled her into himself.

“Mother!”
“You’ve been married almost four years, surely I can finally start asking for grandchildren from you. And you finally have the space for babies too so…”
“When the time comes, you absolutely will get grandchildren from us. But at this moment of time, babies are still something we can’t really accommodate. Pen’s got this massive two book deal which is going to come with two huge book tours and I’m barely home when I’m working on a project. It’s not exactly the ideal environment to bring a child into. But when the time comes, it will happen.”

Violet grumbled in response, muttering something about life falling into place on its own accord when there’s a baby, but she knew better than to pursue a conversation when she’d been quite clearly shut down. Gregory nudged his mother, placing his hand on her shoulder.

“Colin’s right mum. When the time is right, they will have a baby but we shouldn’t push them.”

Colin and Penelope looked at each other, amused but confused at Gregory’s comment. Francesca and Hyacinth though burst out laughing. Pinching her brother, Hyacinth pat him on the arm.

“Baby or not, Penelope isn’t about to leave Colin for you.”

Face turning beet red, Gregory threw his hands up in the air, shaking his head while the rest of the group burst out laughing.

“I don’t have a crush on Penelope.” Gregory grumbled quietly.

Wrapping his arm around his baby brother, Colin held Gregory close to himself, ruffling his hair as he always did.

“One day you will meet your own Penelope, but until then, I really need you to stop thinking about trying to break me and Pen up so that you can take my place.”
“I’m not!” Gregory groaned.
“Good, because nothing’s coming between my wife and I. Besides, you’re not really Penelope’s type. She likes her men with hair on their chest, don’t you baby?” Colin turned his attention to Penelope and raised an eyebrow.

Penelope simply laughed, shaking her head. As she went back to conversation with the Bridgerton sisters, Colin couldn’t help but take in her beautiful smile.

God, she was perfect. He didn’t blame his baby brother for having a crush on his wife because he could understand better than anyone why Penelope caught anyone’s attention. Everything about her was hypnotic. The way she laughed, the way she smiled, the way her nose crinkled when someone said something she didn’t like…

And then there was the things, more intimate things about her that only he knew but still made her so perfect. The way she sounded when she was annoyed with him, the way she groaned when he spent too much time with his face between her thighs when all she wanted was for him to fuck her hard and fast. The way she practically sobbed when she came…

Feeling his cock stir, Colin shook his thoughts away and turned his attention back to his little brother. But no matter what he did, his attention kept sliding back to Penelope. His wife was an enigma and Colin would never stop counting his blessings that she had chosen him. She could have any man she wanted but she’d chosen him and for that, Colin was eternally grateful.

*****

Sometime later, the rest of the Bridgertons had arrived, as had the Featheringtons. Their handful of friends that they had invited, for example the Mondrichs, had also arrived. Colin and Penelope took the time to greet everyone in turn before giving a tour to anyone who wanted one. Everyone expressed how much they liked the house. Even Anthony had reserved any judgement and had congratulated Colin and Penelope on their new home.

Everyone had made their way out to the garden and Albion took over the barbecue so that Colin could talk to his guests. Colin watched as Penelope spoke animatedly with her mother and sisters, her entire face glowing. He remembered a time when she didn’t have the best relationship with her family, but after they had started dating, Penelope had put her foot down with her mother, making it clear that she wanted her mother to be supportive of her relationship with Colin if she wanted to maintain a relationship with her at all. Portia had then gone on to explain to her daughter that, of course she was happy for her if she felt she had found true love with Colin, all she ever wanted for her daughter was security and stability. After that their relationship went from strength to strength, and her sisters followed suit. Now Penelope had a great relationship with her mother and sisters to the point where she was Philippa’s daughters godmother. Colin still remembered the day that he and Penelope had gone round to see Philippa and Albion after they’d had Philomena and how they had left with Philippa saying there was no one else she wanted to be her daughter’s godmother more. It had been such a surprise and Penelope had cried about it for hours before graciously accepting.

Sometimes Colin thought about how Penelope could have held her family at arms length if she wanted to due to how they’d treated her for years on end. But he knew better than anyone else that his wife wasn’t one to hold a grudge against people she loved. And he was glad that she was someone who forgave and moved on because looking at her now, it was so clear that a real relationship with her family is what she really needed and she was happy to have it now.

Noticing that his brother was staring at Penelope, Benedict gave Colin a sharp nudge, making him groan in both pain and annoyance.

“What?”
“Stop staring at your wife like a creep.”
“How am I being a creep if I’m staring at MY WIFE?”
“Because everyone knows what’s going through your head.”
“And what’s going through my head?” Colin questioned, eyebrow raised.
“You’re thinking about taking her to bed.”

Gregory who had been listening to his brothers banter, choked on his drink, eyes wide. Anthony slapped him on the back, laughing as Gregory struggled to compose himself.

“I was not thinking about that, I was thinking about how beautiful my wife looks when she’s happy.”

While most of Colin had been thinking about how happy she looked, part of him may have been thinking about how he could sneak his wife away and bend her over a table while he flipped her little sundress up. Or maybe he’d prop her up on a table and free her perfect breasts from the confines of the low neckline of the dress as he took her hard and fast, but he wasn’t about to admit that to his brothers. Benedict though knew Colin was talking rubbish and simply smirked as he turned away to grab himself another drink and then went over to join Daphne and Eloise and their husbands.

With Benedict gone from between them, Anthony placed his hand on Colin’s shoulder, giving him a firm squeeze.

“The house is perfect Colin, you and Penelope have done so well.”
“Really?” Colin asked, feeling surprised that his brother’s compliment didn’t have a caveat.
“Yes.” Anthony replied, rolling his eyes. “You don’t have to be skeptical every time I compliment you.”
“Hard not to be when you’ve spent so much of our lives telling me I’m doing something wrong.” Colin’s tone was light and playful, but both brothers knew that Colin wasn’t joking.

Feeling the slight tension, Gregory slipped away, not prepared to deal with Anthony’s inevitable annoyance. Noticing that Gregory had slipped away, Anthony sighed, realising that his siblings were distancing themselves from him and unless he tried to make amends with all of them, he’d lose them. Shoulders dropping, he continued.

“I… Yes, I suppose you have a point. And I’m sorry, for always being a critical arsehole.”

Sighing, Colin nodded, not really wanting to go into it any further. He had plenty he wanted to say to his brother, plenty of grievances that he had held back for years and years, but he knew that no one would appreciate it if he lay into Anthony during a family party.

“Thanks for coming, it means a lot to Pen and I.”
“Of course.”
“I haven’t had the opportunity to talk to Simon yet, you coming?”

Nodding, Anthony and Colin began making their way over to the rest of the Bridgerton clan.

*****

On the other side of the garden, Penelope was enjoying talking to her family. She hadn’t seen her mother and sisters in a while, had seen the Bridgerton’s more recently than she had seen the Featheringtons and so she was glad that they had all been able to make it.

“It’s a beautiful house Penelope, I love what you have done with it.”
“Thank you mama.”
“Now you have the space, I think it’s time for a grandchild.”

Groaning, Penelope covered her face, feigning annoyance:

“Mama!”
“It is the natural progression of life Penelope. And besides, compared to your sisters, you have now been married the longest without a child. Prudence had her baby a year into marriage and little Philomena arrived shortly after her parents second anniversary. You and Colin will have been married four years soon and no baby.”

While she and Colin had always said they were putting the topic of kids on the back burner until after their fourth anniversary, it wasn’t a plan they shared with their families because of course, it was no one else’s business.

“When the time is right, you will get your grandchild mama, I promise.”
“You and Colin have been saying that from the moment you got married! When do you think the time will finally be right?”

Philippa struggled to hide her laughter and nudged her sister playfully.

“Yes Penelope, tell us, when will the time be finally right. Mind you, the way you and Colin got into a relationship all of a sudden, I had assumed you were already pregnant. But then that wasn’t the case and then you both got engaged less than nine months into your relationship and you got married quickly after, I had thought you were already pregnant or you planned to have a baby soon. But now almost four years after your wedding and still no baby…”

Rolling her eyes, Penelope nudged her sister.

“Have you all been spending your time thinking about when I’m going to add to our family.”
“Yes.” All three Featherington women deadpanned.

Laughing, Penelope shook her head, unable to even fathom what to say to her family. There was once a time that she would've hated this line of questioning, would have taken it personally and probably would have felt like she was failing at life because she hadn’t followed suit like her sisters and had a baby soon after marriage, but she knew now that her family did mean well in their own way.

“A baby just isn’t feasible for us right now. We both have so much going on with work, now is not the best time for us to have a baby. Maybe when we slow down a bit but right now…” Penelope shook her head, making it clear that a baby just wasn’t on the cards right now.
“There is never a right time to have a baby. It will always be one thing after another and you and Colin are both in the early stages of your careers. It will be a while before either of you have a real gap when you can have a baby. You just need to trust the universe will work itself out and decide to have a baby anyway.”

Before Penelope could say anything more, Colin walked up to them, wrapping one arm easily around Penelope waist and the other over Portia's shoulder.

“Are you ladies all having a good time? Is there anything I can get anyone?”
“You can get me a grandchild.” Portia hummed playfully.

Momentarily taken aback, Colin looked between his wife and mother in law and then burst out laughing.

“You and my mother are both relentless today. Did you both plan in advance to bombard us with questions about when we planned to have a baby?”

Portia shrugged noncommittally and Colin knew that meant that his mother and mother in law were in cahoots with one another. It wouldn’t be the first time the two of them planned their own version of a sting.

“You already have two grandchildren, as does my mother. And my mother has a plethora of other married children she can bully into giving her a grandchild. Penelope and I shall wait our turn.”
“But Violet and I are excited for yours and Penelope’s baby. And out of your married siblings, you have been the sibling married the longest with no children yet.”
“Technically Anthony has been married longer than Penelope and I.”

Portia and Colin both looked over to where a pregnant Kate and Anthony were stood and Portia turned back quickly after, an eyebrow raised.

“Their baby isn’t here yet.”
“But your brother has impregnated his wife. Unless you and Penelope are hiding it from us, you have not yet impregnated my daughter.”

Groaning, Penelope hid her face into Colin’s chest, her arms going around his waist and he held her close to himself, laughing.

“I will tell you what I told my mother earlier. Babies are definitely in our future. But right now, we are simply enjoying perfecting the art of baby making.”

While Penelope’s sisters burst out laughing at Colin’s playful response, Penelope pressed her face further into Colin’s chest, hitting his arm with her hand as he laughed with her family. As embarrassing as this conversation was, Penelope couldn’t help but laugh. She loved that she now had this relationship with her family and she would take them being embarrassing but affectionate than ignoring her any day.

*****

When the food was ready, everyone found themselves somewhere to sit and tucked into their food. It was nice, seeing all their family and friends sat on either the garden furniture or on the grass, talking amongst each other while they commented on how good the food was.

As Colin and Penelope looked around, they couldn’t help but feel content with their lives. They were surrounded by the people they love the most in the world, living the life that they always dreamed for themselves.

Finishing up with their lunches, everyone helped with the cleanup and then just hung around, enjoying each others company. Gregory, turned to his brother, his eyes wide with excitement.

“Should we play a game?”
“Sure, what did you have in mind?”
“Hm, maybe truth or dare?”

Colin and Philip shared a look between them, eyebrows raised.

“Maybe not truth or dare.” Colin said slowly. “We’re all related. Dares sometimes get a bit weird. Plus whatever you play, you need to make sure it’s kid friendly.” Colin gestured over to where Will and Alice’s three little ones were playing with Daphne’s children.

Understanding dawned on Gregory and he nodded, trying to think of something else that they could play.

“Yeah, you’re right. Never mind.”
“Pen and I haven’t bought much yet but we do have a croquet set and it’s got quite a few mallets so a fair few of us can play. Ask who wants to play and I’ll get that out for you.”

Nodding, Gregory went around the garden, rounding up the troops and in no time, a riveting game of croquet was on.

*****

It took a little while for those who were playing croquet to get a hang of the game but when they did, the game was in full swing. Colin, Gregory, Eloise and Philip were naturals at the game and were leading, while Anthony and Albion categorically sucked. Will, Philippa, Simon and Daphne weren’t at the top of the leader board, but they were doing respectably and Penelope had her money on Daphne being the underdog of the game.

Turning her attention away from the game, Penelope beamed at Alice as she laid a gentle hand over hers.

“Thank you again for coming. I’m so glad you and Will were able to make time for us today.”
“Always Penelope! You know how mucin the both of us adore the both of you. It’s so nice for us all to be able to hang out like this and just enjoy each others company without having to think about work.”

Nodding eagerly, Penelope turned to grab her drink and took a long sip before turning back to Alice.

“Work is so all consuming. Like I’m grateful and so is Colin because we’ve both been really lucky with our careers, but sometimes weeks pass and it feels like we haven’t had a chance to sit down properly and just talk about something other than work. He’ll come home from set and I ask him about his work day and he asks me how my writing went and then we just get into bed and that’s our day done. The other day, I realised I couldn’t remember the last time I had a conversation about something mundane like the grocery shop, or I don’t know, utility bills.”

Nodding in understanding, Alice gestured for Penelope to go on.

“I know, it probably sounds so stupid, I’m complaining about not having time to have boring everyday conversations with my husband, but I miss it. Everything is fine between us and we’re both living out our dreams but… I don’t know. I don’t know how to explain it without sounding stupid.”

Shaking her head, Alice reached over for Penelope’s hand and gave it a squeeze.

“It’s not stupid at all, I know exactly how you feel. When things started getting really busy for Will and I, all three of ours were really small and I remember there was one particular day when Daisy finally learnt how to make her horse trot on her own and i just really wanted Will to be there, but he wasn’t. Like obviously I had it on camera and he’s seen it a million times, but it’s just not the same is it? So I get what you mean about feeing like you’re missing all the mundane things about life.”
“Does it get better, or easier?”

Alice hesitated for a moment too long and that was answer enough for Penelope.

“I have to be honest, it doesn’t get better but it does get easier because you just get used to it.”
“I don’t want to get used to it though.”

Placing a gentle hand on Penelope’s knee, Alice smiled.

“You’re both doing this for yourselves, for your future together. I know it sucks now, but I promise, it won’t always feel this crappy.”

Penelope wasn’t sure how that was going to be the case, but she didn’t want to argue with Alice. Looking across the garden, she smiled as she saw Colin playing with the kids. She had to drag her eyes away because she was feeling that pull within her, the same pull she always felt when she saw him with children. Alice noticed though, and gave Penelope’s knee another squeeze.

“Baby Penelope or baby Colin soon?”
“I really do want a baby, but we’ve always said we’ll wait until were a little further into our marriage and right now, we just don’t have the time for a baby anyway.”
“I get that.”

There was nothing more to add to that so Alice joined Penelope in looking across the garden. The children had walked away from Colin and they were back to playing amongst themselves and Colin had gone back to the croquet game.

“It’s all going to work out in its own time. Just wait and see.” Alice concluded.

*****

Many hours later, when the last of their guests finally cleared out, Colin leaned against the kitchen worktop after he’d put the last of the dishes away. He watched Penelope as she came back inside from the garden, his eyes unable to see anything other than the way her soft breasts bounced ever so slightly in the confines of her dress. He had done his best to keep his hands off her all day, but now that their guests were gone, he was done holding back.

As she closed the distance between them, tucking her hair behind her ear, she smiled at her husband.

“I think our first party in our new house was a massive success.”

Nodding, Colin looped his arms around her waist and closed the remaining distance between them.

“Huge success. And no one said anything weird about our house.”

Chuckling, Penelope rest her hand on Colin’s chest, beaming up at him.

“The only weird comments we had was about having a baby.”
“Only a little weird but it’s not like it’s not something we’re overly aware about anyway.”

Penelope hummed in agreement, her hand sliding up and down his arm.

“Do we… Do we want to reevaluate our stance on a baby or do we still want to wait until our fourth anniversary?”

Looking down at his wife, Colin hummed as he thought about it.

“I would love for us to have a baby, seeing the kids running around the house today, I definitely want that for us. But the timing…”

Penelope nodded in agreement, because she did feel the same way. Seeing Daphne’s kids and her sisters kids all running around and playing together reminded her that she wanted that too. But not yet.

“So we’re good to stick to our original plan and wait to revisit the topic later?”
Colin nodded. “Yes, let’s stick to the original plan.”
“I’m cool with that.”
“But maybe we can practice making a baby?”

Penelope rolled her eyes at her husbands lame comment but truthfully, she wanted to laugh with him.

“You are such a dork Colin.”
“A dork that knows how to make you cum real good though.”

Giggling, Penelope began turning away from Colin, but was stopped in her tracks when he caught her around the waist and easily hoisted her onto the island in the middle of the kitchen. Squealing, Penelope looked at her husband with wide eyes as he stood between her legs.

“Colin what are you…”
“Sh…” he murmured, leaning into her, his lips brushing over hers as his hands stroked up her thighs. “Need to practice baby making.”
“Should we go upstairs?”

Shaking his head, Colin’s hands moved higher up her thighs, moving her dress out of the way.

“We can do it wherever we want Pen, and besides, we’ve already done it in the kitchen before. Multiple times.”

Blushing, Penelope locked her arms around Colin’s neck and brought him closer to herself, his nose brushing against her.

“The moment you came downstairs this morning, in this dress, I’ve just been waiting for everyone to leave so that I could have you alone.”
“Colin…”
“You know Pen, you wore a dress similar to this for our second date, when we went bowling. And the night ended with you on my lap in the car.”
“I remember.” Penelope replied breathlessly, rocking her hips gently against Colin’s.
“I was trying so, so hard to be a gentleman, trying to keep my eyes off your tits but you…”
“If I wanted you to keep your eyes off my tits, I wouldn’t have worn a dress like that.”

Colin groaned, his nose skimming down the side of her neck, his hands squeezing her waist.

“Even after all this time, I still think about the way you grabbed me, the way you rolled your body against mine in the car, the way you just couldn’t stop touching me…”
“I had never wanted to sleep with someone as much as I wanted you that evening. I truly wanted you to just fuck me in the car in the car park. I didn’t care who saw, I just wanted you so bad.”
“I was aching for you too.”

Biting down on the soft skin at the base of her neck, Colin grinned at the soft moan that left her lips.

“I’m always aching for you baby.”
“I am too.” Penelope replied breathlessly.

Hiking the skirt of her dress further up, Colin’s hands ran up and down her thighs, moving higher and higher each time until his fingers grazed her underwear. Hands moving round behind her, Colin grasped her butt and pulled her flush against himself, catching her gasp with his lips as he pressed a heated kiss to her mouth. Tightening her arms around him, Penelope deepened the kiss, her own hands running up and down his body, fumbling with his belt as she hastily undid it. Jeans falling to the ground, Penelope brushed her hand along the front of his boxers, feeling the bulge in his pants harden beneath her palm.

Groaning into her mouth, Colin yanked himself away as he fumbled with Penelope’s dress. His hands were shaking, his entire body trembling with need. He had done his best to keep away from her all day but now that they had an empty house again, he couldn’t wait another second more. He fumbled with her dress, trying to find a clasp or a zip or something to undo it, but when he couldn’t, he decided to change course and dropped down to his knees. Finding her underwear, he yanked them down, pulling them off her legs and throwing them aside as he pressed his face into her thigh, his hands still caressing her soft flesh.

Taking one leg into his hands, Colin lifted it onto his shoulder as his nose ran along her thigh. Penelope’s fingers dug into his hair, pulling him closer to herself while she used the other hand to lean back on the countertop. Moving higher and higher up her thigh, her breathing hitched as his nose grazed against her slit. Using his fingers, her opened her up to himself and ran his nose along the length. Her entire body tightened and her head fell back as he nose bumped against her clit and his fingers slid inside her ever so slightly. His tongue joined the mix and Penelope was certain she was done, there was no way she could take anymore. But then he slid his fingers all the way in and Penelope struggled to keep ahold of herself, falling further back on the countertop. With his fingers and his mouth, he worked her up, feeling her muscles spasming around him, his lips wrapped firmly around her clit as he licked into her over and over again.

With one hand Penelope clutched Colin’s hair and with the other she held onto the countertop for dear life as her husband kept up with his ministrations. Wrapping his lips tightly around her clit once more, Colin sucked, unraveling her completely, her back arching, pushing herself further against his face as her legs shook around his head. Every muscle within Penelope was wound like a tight coil and then she snapped, panting hard as she clutched onto Colin’s hair, her hips grinding against his face.

Working her down from her high, he quickly rose to his feet once more and undid her dress, this time finally managing to get it off. Despite her shaky limbs, Penelope lifted herself off the counter slightly, letting Colin pull the dress out from under her before he threw it aside, swallowing hard when he realised he didn’t have to take her bra off because she wasn’t wearing one.

“You… Family event and you went braless?”

Draping one leg over the other, Penelope leaned back on her arms once more, shaking her hair out over her shoulder, her breasts proudly on display. Colin had to take a step back as he took her in, really taking in every dip and curve of her body before his eyes snagged on her breasts. He loved the way her skin was so pale but her breasts were tipped with darker skin, funnelling into her nipples which were so dark and standing for attention. For him, always him.

Discarding the rest of his clothes, Colin quickly closed the distance between himself and Penelope once more. Her legs fell open as he stepped between them, and her ankles caught on her back of his back as she pulled him into herself. Grabbing ahold of him, she caught the back of his neck, bringing his face to hers in a fiercely hungry kiss, her hips moving wildly against his. Grappling with his sense of control, Colin pulled Penelope closer to himself, bringing her to the edge of the counter top. Their hands moved frantically over each other, touching, teasing, stroking, grabbing…

Unable to wait any longer, Penelope took ahold of his stiff cock, stroking it, bringing him to his full hardness and brought him closer to herself, positioning him against her entrance. Breaking the kiss, Colin looked down at her, his eyes searching as she nodded eagerly, her fingers tight on his arms. With one arm firmly around her and the other clutching the counter, Colin pushed himself inside her with one firm thrust. Penelope scrambled for purchase, gripping Colin tightly as her legs tightened around him.

Pressing his forehead to hers, he looked into her eyes, his lips ghosting over hers.

“Fuck, you’re so tight.” Colin groaned, pulling back slowly.
“You always say that.” Penelope panted. “It’s because you’re so big.”

It was at times like these Colin knew he was no better than any other man because comments like that about his cock always turned him on so much. He felt himself stiffen further and he pulled his hips back before thrusting into her harder and faster. Dropping his hand to where they were joined, his thumb sought out her clit and he strummed on it, instantly feeling her become more wet around him. He kept up his ministrations, thrusting into her hard and fast as he kept working her up with his fingers. Penelope felt her body give out as she fell back onto the counter, the cold of the marble setting off every single nerve in her overheated body. Grabbing ahold of her waist and pulling her back towards him, Colin fucked into her over and over against, feeling his own release building deep within him. Penelope covered her mouth, trying her best to stifle her moans, but Colin moved her hand away.

“I want to hear you baby, I want to hear you crying my name.”
“Colin…” Penelope cried out on cue, her voice high pitched, practically sobbing. “Harder, god, harder.”

Ideally Colin would take her from behind when she asked for it harder, but the hardness from kitchen counter against her stomach didn’t sound like a good idea, so he double down on his thrusts, pulling back further and slamming into her harder and faster, his hand working tirelessly between her legs. Every nerve within Penelope was tightly wound and her vision was already blurring, she could barely see Colin’s face, but she kept a tight hold of him, keeping him close.

God, she had never thought sex could be so good, but with Colin it was life changing each and every time. She never wanted it to stop, would die if it stopped. She needed this man and everything he could give her more than she needed air.

With a few last presses of his thumb, Penelope came undone, her leg falling off his shoulder, her back slumping onto the counter. Breathing hard, she watched as he kept going, pushing into her over and over again, chasing his own release until he came undone, unloading himself deep within her. Penelope’s body hadn’t stopped spasming from her own release but she made an active effort to clench her muscles around him, milking him for every last drop of his climax.

Slumping forward, he rested his weight on his arms, his face tucked into Penelope’s neck as she ran her fingers through his hair. He stayed like that for a moment before finally pulling himself off of her and running his own hand through his utterly mussed hair. Holding his hand out to Penelope, he helped her up as he looked around them, grabbing the roll of kitchen tissue and taking off a few pieces to clean himself off and then Penelope.

“I’m too tired to clean the counter right now Pen, and I think I want to take a shower.”
“Me too.” Penelope agreed as she hopped down off the counter and grabbed his shirt off the floor, slipping it on. “Maybe we could shower together and then finish with the rest of the clean up.”

Raising an eyebrow, Colin gave Penelope a knowing smirk. They both knew there was no chance in hell that they were going to make it downstairs again anytime soon, but he honestly didn’t care.

“Let’s go.”

*****

The weeks went by and a sense of normality began to take hold in Colin’s life. He wasn’t due to start shooting his new movie for a few more weeks but Penelope found herself becoming increasingly more busy, beavering away with her manuscript. Despite that though, they very much felt like they were falling back into their old routines to some degree.

Colin finally had the time to really get settled into the new house, really adding his own touches to it that he previously hadn’t been able to do. He’d finally been able to really organise his side of the walk in wardrobe and it was finally as he wanted it. For the first time since moving into the new house, Colin was finally beginning to reply feel like it was home.

Penelope’s manuscript for her book that was to be published next was almost reaching the point of completion. She’d revised it a couple of times now and it had been through her editors a few times and she was really beginning to feel like it was almost ready to be out there in the world. So while Colin was at home more and had more free time, he often found himself home alone because Penelope had to go into the office or she would want to go and work in a collaborative space with her team. He couldn’t help but marvel at how their lives had changed since when they first moved in together.

When they had initially started living together, they had far more structure in their lives. Despite the fact that Colin was still working as a travel journalist at the time and was often away so that he could review different locations, it had still felt like he and Penelope were spending more time together. But now, sometimes it felt like they hardly saw each other even when they were both at home at the same time. It was a strange situation to be in and he wouldn’t change it for the world because he knew they were both enjoying their lives, but he couldn’t help but wonder how much longer they could go on living like this. It was as if their schedules purposely kept them on alternating timelines so that they were spending some time together but they were spending more time apart. More than anything, Colin wanted to schedule in a holiday, but Penelope had one thing after another at the moment and they just didn’t have time for a break.

With a sigh, Colin went back to chopping vegetables for dinner, trying his best to put all his thoughts aside.

Before he could get any further though, his phone began to ring. Reaching out for it, he noticed that it was Will calling.

“Will mate! To what do I owe this pleasure?” Colin said cheerfully as he answered the call.
“Get your bags packed mate, you’re going to LA.”
“I am? Why?”
“Because my friend, you are now a SAG award nominee.”

Chapter Text

After Will had broken the news to Colin that he had been nominated for a SAG award for his previous film, it had taken him a long time to actually process the news and get off the phone. Even after he’d gotten off the phone, Colin had struggled to carry on with his cooking because he couldn’t quite believe what had just happened. Surely Will was joking? There was no way he’d been nominated for a SAG award in the best actor category for his previous film. It hadn’t even been with a big production company. Not to mention, how hard it was to secure a SAG nomination, how…

Colin was still trying to work out what the hell was going on when he heard a clatter at the front door. Sitting up straight in his chair, he heard the door shut, followed by the sound of shoes falling onto the hardwood floor and then loud footsteps as Penelope ran through the house. By the time she reached him in the kitchen, he was standing, waiting for her. With a wide smile on her face, Penelope closed the remaining distance between them and threw herself into his arms.

“I can’t believe… OH MY GOD!” Penelope squealed before pulling away from him slightly and cupping his face.

Shaking her head, she wrapped her arms around his neck once more and held him close to herself, giggling giddily.

“I can’t believe my husband is a SAG award nominee. I’m so, so, SO proud of you baby.”

Breaking the hug, she kept her hands on his arms as she looked up at him in awe. Before he could respond though, her expression changed and her previously sunshine like demeanour changed into a thunderous one. Slapping his arm, she furrowed her brows.

“But why did I have to find out that my husband is a SAG nominee from my agent who found out from her husband who couldn’t believe that she didn’t already know because I should have told her. But I couldn’t have told her because my husband failed to tell me.”

Laughing at the surprise of it all, Colin gestured for Penelope to sit down and he sat down on the chair beside her.

“I’m sorry I hadn’t told you. After Will called me, I was just really struggling to understand what was going on. Calling you, or doing anything, just slipped my mind. I’m sorry babe.”

Scooting forward in her chair, Penelope reached out for him, taking his hands into her own.

“I’m messing with you, you don’t have to apologise. I’m just so proud of you. This is so crazy. You, Colin Bridgerton, are a SAG award nominee in the best actor category. I can’t even…. I’m just so proud.”

Getting off her own chair, Penelope looped her arms around Colin’s neck and settled onto his lap, her face tucked into his neck, her lips ghosting along his skin.

“Thank you baby.” Colin murmured into her hair.

Gasping, Penelope quickly untucked herself from Colin and jumped to her feet.

“We’ll need to book a slot in with Genevieve as soon as possible. I’ve seen a Dolce and Gabbana look that you would absolutely kill in and I’m sure she’ll be able to get it in for you.”
“You’ll need to get her to find something fabulous for you too.”

Pausing, Penelope tilted her head to the side.

“I can’t come with you.”

Frowning, Colin shook his head as he got to his feet.

“Yes, you can.”
“I can’t. You can hardly turn up to the biggest award ceremony of your career so far with me on your arm. You’re supposed to be a hot, unattached actor. Me being there with you will defeat everything we’ve been through the last few months.”
“I know but this is my first major award nomination and there’s no way in hell I’m not going to have you beside me.”
“Colin…”

Penelope wanted to go with him more than anything, but she also was very aware of his terms and conditions from his film and she really didn’t want him to get in trouble with his producers.

“If I get Michaela to check with the team, and they say it’ll be okay, will you come with me?”
“If and only if they agree to it, there’s nothing on this planet that can stop me from coming with you.”
“Well then, I need to get Mic on the job so that you can talk to Gen about our outfits.”

*****

By the time they needed to start getting ready to fly out, they had received confirmation from the production company that they had no issue with Colin and Penelope going to LA together, nor did they have an issue with Penelope accompanying him to the SAGs. They simply asked that Colin and Penelope make sure that they stay out of the view of the public and not give anyone any reason to speculate the nature of their relationship and why they were together. To Colin, it sounded easy enough. He was just happy that he would be able to have Penelope with him. Penelope though couldn't help but feel uneasy about the whole thing.

*****

The night before Colin and Penelope were due to fly out for the SAG awards, they were both absolutely buzzing with anticipation. Penelope checked her list over once more and then closed up her suitcase. Looking over her shoulder, Penelope watched as her husband stood in front of his empty suitcase, picking up one item of clothing before putting it back down again and picking something else up.

“So, I’m done packing.” Penelope said simply, her hand on her hip. “And I’d quite like to get into bed.”

Colin looked between Penelope and the bed and sighed, his shoulders dropping.

“I have no idea what to pack.”

Crossing the room, Penelope squeezed his arm reassuringly and looked down at the clothes in front of him.

“Okay so, your outfit for the SAGs is the most important thing and Gen’s going to bring that out to us. You need something smart casual for the little bits of press you’re going to do before the awards so I think…” Penelope paused as her eyes ran over the collection of clothes in front of her. “This pink cardigan is adorable and if you do a tank underneath, that would be cute. And then…” Penelope paused again before turning around and going into Colin’s side of the walk in wardrobe. She came back out moments later, a pair of cream trousers in hand. “And you can wear these. You’d look incredible while still being cosy and comfy.”

Colin nodded his approval and took the bits from Penelope, folded them up neatly and put them into his suitcase.

“Other than that, you can pack anything you want. It’s relatively warm in LA at the moment so grab some of you favourite T-shirts, a few pairs of shorts, and then maybe a pair of jeans for when you don’t want to wear shorts or trousers. Oh, a few pairs of trousers. And then maybe just one more formal pair of trousers and a shirt for when we go out for a fancy dinner.”

Looking at everything in front of him, Colin picked out a few bits that he liked and added them to his suitcase, double checking with Penelope as he went along, making sure she thought what he’d picked was okay.
When he was done with the bulk of his clothes and trying to think what else he needed to add, Penelope grabbed him his underwear, which he took graciously and added to his case.

“And the last thing I can think of, you need some swimming trunks because our room has a private pool and hot tub.”

Raising an eyebrow, Colin draped his arm around his wife.

“I was thinking maybe we could just go skinny dipping. Besides, we’re no strangers to going commando in a hot tub.”

She knew he was joking, but Penelope shook her head anyway. Going commando in their hot tub at home was one thing, but never in one that wasn’t only theirs. Without waiting on her reply, Colin grabbed his trunks and shoved them into his case and threw in his toiletries bag before stepping back.

“I’ve definitely packed everything now haven’t I?”
“I think so. I can’t think what else you need.”

Looking at his case, Colin nodded to himself before closing it up and putting it to the side. He didn’t lock it just yet, just in case he did think of anything else that would need to go in, but he was pretty certain he was done. Things like his laptop and wires and a spare change of clothes were going into his carry on, so it seemed like he was covered. With the suitcases put aside, Colin turned to his wife who had begun getting into her pjs and simply wrapped his arms around her, kissing the top of her head.

“Thanks for your help baby. Now I know why people say marriage is a good idea. Having a wife really does make life a lot easier.”

Raising an eyebrow playful, Penelope put her hands on her hips.

“Get married because it means you have a wife to help you with your packing?”
“Yeah, exactly.”
“I used to help you with your packing even before we got married though?”
“Oh yeah.” Colin replied, giving his wife a sheepish smile.

Rolling her eyes, Penelope slipped into bed and pulled the covers down for Colin, waiting for him to get in beside her. She watched as he checked their passports and paperwork once more before leaving it all piled neatly on top of the dresser and putting his wallet on top of the pile. Finally content that everything was ready to go, Colin slipped into bed beside Penelope and pulled her into his arms, giving her a fleeting kiss.

“I’ve set my alarm for 5 and your car will be here at 7. Philippa’s going to be here at half 6.”
“I still think we could take my car to the airport together. I don’t see why you insist we get there separately.”
“Because if we get out of the car at the same time at the airport, we run the risk of someone seeing us.”

Sighing, Colin nodded, choosing not to argue. They’d discussed it to death and as much as he felt it was unnecessary, he knew better than to argue with Penelope about something she was set on.

“As long as you don’t expect us to social distance at the lounge and on the plane, I accept us travelling separately to the airport.”

Giggling, Penelope shook her head.

“I promise, I won’t socially distance once we get to the lounge, or on the plane.”
“We’ll be okay once we get to LA right? We won’t have to hide out?”

Shaking her head, she burrowed closer to Colin, wrapping her arms tightly around him.

“Like Michaela said, as long as we keep a low profile, we’ll be fine.”
“You know, I’m a little nervous but I’m excited at the same time. I’m nervous because of the awards and the press. But I’m so excited because we need this break, to just spend some time together and explore.”
“I agree, it’s going to be so good. It’s just what we need. We really should get to sleep now though, we have an early morning.”

Colin murmured in agreement as he tightened his hold around Penelope and they both snuggled under the covers, allowed their minds to ease and embraced sleep with both arms.

*****

For the first time in their lives, the following morning, Colin and Penelope weren’t rushing around their house at the last minute making sure that they had everything. For the first time ever, they were all ready, their bags by the door and enjoying a proper breakfast together. Philippa was due to arrive any minute to take Penelope to the airport and Colin would use the time he had alone to wash up and make sure everything was put away before his car arrived to pick him up.

Just as Penelope finished with the last of her coffee, the doorbell went off and she rushed to answer the door. Stood on the other side was her sister, a slightly sleepy smile on her face.

“I need more coffee.” Philippa groaned as she held out her travel mug to Penelope.

Laughing, Penelope took the mug from her sister as she gestured her inside.

“You’re so lucky Colin anticipated that you would need caffeinating and brewed enough for you.” Penelope explained as she and her sister made their way through to the kitchen.

Taking out the pot of coffee out from under the coffee machine, Penelope filled Philippa’s travel mug as Colin got up from his seat and gave his sister-in-law a little hug.

“Congratulations again on your award nomination. I can’t even begin to tell you how excited we are for you. Albion has been losing it and he’s so excited to watch the awards live.”

Colin chuckled as he felt his cheeks heat up. He had a few brother-in-laws, Simon, Philip, Albion and Harry, but it was safe to say Albion was probably his favourite. The man was just so kind and easygoing. Portia referred to Albion as being simple, and perhaps he was, but he was a good person and Colin loved his company.

“I’ll try my best to nick something for Albie from the awards. Thank you again for driving Pen to the airport, I appreciate it’s really early.”
“It’s nothing! Albie and I owe you both considering how many times you’ve watched Philomena for us so that we can spend some time alone. This is the least I can do. And please, if you steal something for my husband, please make sure it’s not another pint glass or something. You two keep stealing pint glasses together and the collection is starting to get out of hand.

Snickering to himself, Colin handed Penelope the travel mug with her coffee and pulled her into himself as she slipped her passport and paperwork into her handbag.

“Right, I’ve got everything, should we go?” Penelope asked her sister.

Nodding, Philippa go to her feet, gave Colin another fleeting hug and wished him luck before making her way out of the kitchen. Turning to Colin, Penelope rose up on her toes and pressed a light kiss to his lips.

“I’ll see you in a bit. I’ll text you where I am in the airport but I think I’ll probably just make my way straight to the lounge after going through security.”
“That sounds like a plan. I’ll meet you in the lounge.”
“Please double check all the windows are locked upstairs and make sure the back door and the garage doors are locked.”
“I will, don’t worry. I’ll double check all the windows and doors.”
“Okay, well that’s everything. I’ll see you in a bit babe.”
“See you in a bit baby.” Colin concluded as he gave Penelope’s hand a squeeze and then gestured for her to get going.

*****

“I still can’t believe you’re going to LA because your husband has been nominated for a best actor award at the SAGs, that’s insane!”
“I know, I’m so proud of him.”
“I have to be honest, I’ve always thought Colin is attractive and when he started doing little bits of modelling, I could definitely see it working out, but I wasn’t sure if the whole acting thing would take off for him. But I’m so glad that it’s all going so well, we’re all so proud of him.”
“I know, I am too.” Penelope replied, pride evident in her tone.

There was a moments lull as Philippa focused on the road and Penelope checked her phone, replying to Colin who had texted to say that his car had arrived and that he was on his way too.

“But is this really what you want Penny? I mean, you’ve been in love with Colin all your life and I know that you’re supportive of him, but is this really the life you saw for the both of you. I just feel like, from what you say from time to time, that your lives have changed quite quickly and quite drastically since Colin has gone into acting and it’s not really quite the life you both initially signed up for when you got married.”
“It’s…” pausing, Penelope gathered her thoughts as she took another sip of her coffee. “It’s definitely been an adjustment. It’s not been easy by any means, but this is what he wants to do and I just want him to be happy. He’s always supported me with my dreams both before we got married and after, so the least I can do is return the favour.”
“I know, I know, and I get that, but this is quite the change. Ans all this stuff about you two having to be careful so you’re not seen together and that weird costar of his that keeps posting about him… are you sure you’re okay with all of it.”

Smiling at her sister, Penelope nodded confidently.

“We’ll be okay. I trust him more than anything, and I trust us and our relationship with my entire soul. We can do this, you don’t have to worry.”

Turning away from her sister, Penelope leaned back in her seat a little as she took another sip of her coffee. Looking out of the window, she watched as they zoomed along the motorway, drawing closer to Heathrow with every bit of road that they moved along. Part of Penelope wanted nothing more than to be able to scream at everyone and tell them to stop asking her the same question over and over again. And while she would never admit it to anyone, the reason why she needed everyone to stop asking was because answering was getting harder and harder each time.

She meant every word she said about trusting Colin and their relationship, but the truth was, she didn’t know if she could trust the likes of Marina. She would never say anything to Colin or to anyone else, but it was getting really weird to Penelope how often Marina posted about herself and Colin. It felt like Marina was posting something from set almost every other day and the whole thing was starting to make Penelope feel a little bit weird. She kept trying to ignore it, after all, Colin was done filming now and he hadn’t seen Marina in weeks, but something about the whole thing just didn’t quite sit right with her.

Shaking her thoughts aside, Penelope forced herself to stop thinking about Marina. She needed to think about the fact that she was on her way to LA because he husband was a SAG award nominee! The plan was simple, the first few days were going to be taken up with all things related to the SAGs, interviews, meetings, the awards themselves. But after that, they would have a few days to themselves to simply enjoy LA. There were a few meeting she was going to have to dial into, and little bits of work she may have to do while she was away, but for the most part, her schedule was relatively free.

“Well as long as you and Colin know what you’re doing and as long as you guys are okay with everything. But remember Penelope, if things start going sideways, you need to put yourself first. That might just be a case of telling Colin you need him to take a step back from something or… I don’t know what, but I’m going to need you to assert yourself. Don’t roll over and take it because you’ve loved this man all your life and you don’t want to rock the boat. If something isn’t okay with you, you need to voice your thoughts. Promise me you’ll do that.”

Rolling her eyes, Penelope turned back to her sister.

“I promise. But it’s not going to come to that. Colin and I know what we are doing and we’re good. You don’t have to worry about us because I’m not worried in the slightest. It’s all perfect, I promise.”

*****

After checking in her luggage and grabbing her boarding pass, Penelope made her way through security and instead of wasting time in duty free, she decided to make her way straight to the lounge. Finding herself a nice quiet corner, she grabbed herself an orange juice and took out her book as she texted Colin, sending him a quick selfie along with a description of where she was. She knew he’d arrived at the airport too and the last time he’d messaged her, he’d been approaching the security line. Getting settled, Penelope allowed herself to get lost in her book.

*****

“Is this seat taken?”

Penelope looked up from her book and grinned at her husband who was putting his things down on the table in front of her. Putting her bookmark into her book, she sat up straight.

“I’m actually saving this seat for my husband.”
“Ah I see. But it doesn’t seem like he’s here yet so, may I?”

Feigning thoughtfulness, Penelope giggled and then nodded, watching as Colin came round and took his seat. Checking her watch, Penelope couldn’t believe that 45 minutes had passed since she’d started reading her book.

“Did you get through security alright?” Colin asked as he got settled into his seat.
“Got through a breeze, no problems at all. You?”
“Yep, no trouble at all. I’m guessing the line for security must have been a bit shorter when you were coming through though.”
“Potentially.” Penelope replied with a shrug.

Looking around her, she took in the relatively empty lounge, her eyes focusing on the buffet of breakfast items that was laid out.

“Remind me again why we rushed to eat breakfast at home when we could have just eaten here?”

Chuckling, Colin shrugged as he picked his phone up off the table between them and looked through his messages. There wasn’t much yet, given that it was still relatively early in the morning, but he noticed that there was a message from Michaela. Going into their conversation, Colin saw that all Michaela had sent him was a link to a tweet, clicking on it, twitter opened up on a random account, but the person had posted a picture of him, getting out of the car outside of departures and putting his suitcases onto the trolley. The caption was simple: * I couldn't believe my eyes when I realised THE Colin Bridgerton was loading up his trolley in front of me! *

“Oh for fucks suck.” Colin groaned as he locked his phone and put it down between them once more.
“What’s wrong?”
“Someone took a picture of me outside.”
“How the hell does this keep happening?”
“It doesn’t look like a pap pic, I’m guessing it was just a case of someone was coming inside at the same time as me and just recognised me.”
“I guess it was a good idea for us to come separately then.”

Colin hummed in agreement as he leaned forward and stole Penelope glass of orange juice.

“It’s it weird? Having random people recognising you and taking your picture without you even realising?”
“It is weird but more than anything else, it’s just an invasion of my privacy. Not just mine, but of everyone close to me too. Every time we go out, in the back of my head, I’m always thinking about what if someone sees us together and takes pictures of us. It may not have been so bothersome, but knowing how strict the studio are with wanting me to keep my personal life out of the public eye, I’m just so hyper aware of it all the time. And then of course, I’m worried about going out with Gregory and Hyacinth and getting papped with them. They’re still so young, I don’t want them to have to deal with being in the public eye just because they’re with me. It’s…”

Leaving over, Penelope gave Colin’s knee a squeeze.

“I’m sorry you’re dealing with this Colin. Truly. I wish there was something I could do to help make all of this easier for you.”

Closing his hand on top of hers, Colin gave her fingers a squeeze.

“You just being here with me is all I need. As long as I have you beside me, I can deal with all this shit.”
“It’ll all get easier the more you become used to it. But you’ll always have me with you, every step of the way.”
“Thank you baby.”
“Today at least, it might not be a bad thing that someone saw you. At least now all your fans will know you are on your way to the SAGs so they’ll get excited for you.”
“That’s true, I just hope it doesn’t alert anyone in LA to try and find us because I was really hoping for us to be able to enjoy our time away without having to worry about getting spotted. I really don’t want us to have to spend our entire time at the hotel because we’re worried about being seen together.”
“I think we’ll be okay. I think we can keep a low enough profile to fly under the radar.”
“I hope so.” Colin said with a definitive nod as he leaned back in his chair, trying to make himself relax.

*****

Less than 12 hours later, Colin and Penelope’s plane was touching down in LA and they were both buzzing with excitement. Colin had spent the majority of the flight watching tv when he wasn’t dozing, but Penelope had curled into her husbands side and had slept for majority of the flight. It was mid flight when Colin realised that this may have been the first time in weeks that he’d seen Penelope sleep so peacefully. Perhaps it was because it had been months since they had been able to curl into one another for at least 8 hours straight and just sleep. The whole thing just reinforced Colin’s belief that they needed a break more than anything else.

Once they recovered their luggage and exited arrivals, they quickly spotted their driver, a near middle aged man holding up a sign for Mr Mayfair. Penelope had nudged Colin at the sight of the sign and he couldn’t help but chuckle with her. Had he not known beforehand that Michaela had arranged for him to be referred to as Mr Mayfair in public situations like this, he would have completely overlooked the sign. Colin waved at the driver who grinned as he approached them.

“Mr and Mrs Bridgerton, good evening, nice to meet you. I’m Dave and I’m your designated driver while you stay with us at the hotel.”

This was something else that Colin had been made aware of by Michaela after she had booked everything. Hotel management received strict instructions that no one could leak that Colin was staying with them or that he was staying with Penelope. Michaela had also asked for a small group of designated staff members to be made available for Colin and Penelope so that only a very limited number of people within the hotel was aware that they were there and everyone who would be working for them, had to sign ironclad non disclosure agreements. When Michaela had talked Colin through it, he had felt it was all a bit excessive, but when a Mic reminded him about his contract with Universal for ‘Romancing Mr Mayfair,’ he realised that all this was necessary. Part of him couldn't wait until this movie was done and out so that they could begin to relax once more, but at the same time, Colin was worried that any other project he signed on for may also have similar stringent rules. It was not something he liked to think about because he wasn’t sure if he could do all the cloak and dagger stuff again.

“It’s lovely to meet you Dave, I’m Penelope and this is my husband Colin.”

Penelope introducing herself and Colin to Dave was what brought him out of his thoughts and he smiled at the other man before holding his hand out to shake it.

“Thanks for coming to collect us Dave. And we’d like to thank you and warn you in advance for all the travelling you’re going to have to do with us during our stay.”
“It’s no problem at all.”

*****

It was still early evening and LA traffic was immense. Penelope had dozed off almost as soon as they’d gotten in the car and Colin made small talk with Dave as he ran his fingers gently through Penelope’s hair. Catching sight of them in the rear view mirror, Dave smiled at them warmly.

“How long have the two of you been married?”
“Just over three and a half years. Are you married?”
“I am indeed, been married almost twenty years. I’ve officially spent more of my life with my wife than I have without her.”
“Twenty years? That’s incredible! It’s the same for Penelope and I. We’ve been in each others lives since we were children.”
“My Mrs and I met when we were 18 and we were married by the time we were 22. We may have pushed our wedding a little more but my wife found out she was pregnant with our eldest and her family would never allow her to have a child outside of marriage so we decided to just do it. Why wait and cause a fuss when we both knew marriage was what we wanted anyway.”
“How many children do you have?”
“Four for us, all girls. Our eldest is 19, then we have a 16 year old, a 12 year old and our youngest is 4.”
“Oh wow, that’s quite a gap between your youngest and your second youngest.”
“Our youngest was our oops baby. We had decided that three girls was more than enough for us but the universe decided it knew better than we did.”

Chuckling quietly, Colin looked down at Penelope and he couldn’t help but wonder when they would start their family. The thought kept coming back to him over and over again, and any time he saw Penelope with the kids in their family, he just couldn’t wait until they had a child of their own.

“Do you have children?” Dave asked Colin.
“No, no, not yet but hopefully one day.”

Dave hummed at the response, not saying anything at all for a moment and Colin turned his attention out the window, taking in LA as they made their way towards the hotel.

“Having children is great, but it changes your life completely. I wouldn’t change having my children for anything, but they really change the entire dynamic of your relationship with your wife.”

Looking down at Penelope, Colin smiled softly as he took in her sleeping form. At one point in time, the thought of children and them impacting their relationship would have terrified Colin, but now, not so much. It felt like, like he and Penelope were nearly ready for the change, that they were almost ready for the new chapter.

The two men made small talk after that, and when they finally arrived at the hotel, Colin gently nudged Penelope awake. With a stretch and a yawn, she got out of the car, thanking Dave. As Colin got out and a bellhop helped with the luggage, Dave shut the door and turned to Colin.

“Well, again, lovely to meet the both of you. I will be around whenever you need me to drive you anywhere, just call down to reception and they will alert me.”
“Thanks Dave.” Colin said with a warm smile.
“And can I just say, I am very excited to have made your acquaintance. My eldest daughter is a huge fan of yours. She’s watching all your movies and she’s very excited for ‘Romancing Mr Mayfair.’”
“Really?” Colin asked, eyes wide.
“Yes!”
“Well then, before I leave, if you would like me to sign anything for her or if you would like to get a picture or something for her, we can definitely make that happen.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. You both have a lovely rest of your day.”

Dave ducked away, leaving Colin and Penelope to check in. The hotel staff took over from Dave, introducing themselves, running through all the necessary information before showing Colin and Penelope up to their suite. Upon entering their room, Colin listened intently as the the manager explained all the amenities included with the room. Beside him, Penelope leaned into him, her arm looped around him, using him to hold herself up.

When the manager finally left, Penelope untangled herself from Colin and pulled her hoodie off over her head, leaving her just in her sports bra and her leggings. Feeling his mouth dry, Colin closed the distance between them, wrapping his arms around her as he pulled her into himself, the entire length of her body pressed against his.

“Getting straight to the good stuff are we? Don’t you usually like to unpack and get settled first? Not that I’m complaining.”

Giggling, Penelope shook her head, placing a firm hand on Colin’s chest and pushing him back slightly.

“I’m really tired but I really need a shower to get the feeling of travelling off of myself before I can get into bed.”
“We can try out the hot tub?”
“I think I just want a shower. I’m sorry.”

Shaking his head, Colin wrapped his arms around Penelope again and dropped a kiss to the top of her head.

“You don’t need to be sorry, you never need to be sorry. We have plenty of time to enjoy the tub and each other.”

Rising on her toes, Penelope pressed the lightest of kisses to his lips and then dropped back down onto her feet. Sitting down on the sofa, Penelope undid her shoes and then stripped out of her leggings. Cock stirring to attention, Colin adjusted the front of his trousers as discretely as possible. There was no shame in Penelope knowing he was turned on by her perfect body being exposed to him, but she’d made it clear that she was tired and she didn’t want to have sex. He didn’t want her to feel like they had to do something because he couldn’t control his urges.

In just her underwear, Penelope began making her way to the bathroom before stopping and turning back to Colin.

“Could you take out my pyjamas out of my case for me?”
“Of course.” Colin nodded.
“Thank you baby.” She replied, blowing him a kiss as she turned and went into the bathroom.

*****

Less than 20 minutes later, Colin had unpacked Penelope’s case for her and put all her clothes in the wardrobe, leaving just a pair of pyjamas out for her to come back and wear. The water was still running and Colin couldn’t help but feel curious. Short showers weren’t usually Penelope’s thing, but considering she was saying she was tired, Colin was surprised he hadn’t come out of the bathroom yet. He contemplating unpacking himself and getting his things put away as well, but decided against it and stripped out of his clothes before making his way over to the bathroom. Opening the door, Colin slipped into the bathroom, taking off his boxers before stepping into the oversized shower. Penelope had her back to him, the hot water pelting down onto her from the waterfall shower head. Stepping up behind her, Colin looped his arm around her, pressing his lips against her neck. His hands ran up and down her wet body, coming to rest on her full breasts as he squeezed gently.

“Hi baby.”
“Colin, what are you…”
“You were taking too long so I came to check on you. Are you okay?”

Nodding, Penelope turned in his arms, looping her own arms around his neck as she pressed her body into his. Colin’s cock hardened against her, pressing into her stomach as her nipples pushed against his chest.

“I need to shampoo my hair, but I’m so tired, I just can’t bring myself to do it. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
“You’ve been so busy with work and stuff, you’re just tired baby, there’s nothing wrong with you.”

Turning her around in his arms, Colin’s hands trailed down the length of Penelope’s arms before he grabbed the bottle of shampoo from the shower ledge and squirted some out into his hand. Lathering it up, he massaged the shampoo into her hair, his thumbs pressing into her scalp, working the shampoo into her roots. She leaned back against him contentedly, her head tipping to the side with how good he was making her feel.

“Mm, that’s good.” Penelope moaned, the sound of her voice going straight to his cock.

Regardless of how turned on he was, Colin focused on his hands in her hair, massaging her scalp, really getting the product into her roots. With her hair sufficiently lathered up, Colin did his own and then moved them both under the direct spray of the shower head, letting the water wash out all of the shampoo as he reached for the shower gel. He repeated the process of putting the product into his hand, working it into a lather and then applying it to her body, starting with her shoulders and working his way down to the tips of her fingers. Stepping up closer behind her, he worked his hands over her breasts, giving them a little playful squeeze before carrying on down her stomach. Turning her around, he grabbed some more shower gel and worked it down her body, lathering up her thighs and her legs. Penelope looked down as he dropped to his knees, watching him with hooded eyes as he worked so intently to help her shower. This was marriage Penelope realised. The mundane task of someone helping you to shower when you’re so tired that your own limbs aren’t moving. There was nothing remotely sexual about the activity, he was purely and simply helping her shower and it was glorious.

As Colin rose back up to his full length, Penelope could do nothing except watch him as he lathered himself up and he made light work of applying body wash to himself before he moved them back under the spray of the hot water to let the soap suds wash out. Looking up at him, Penelope couldn’t help but feel herself fall in love further. It truly was the little things in life that made all the difference in the world.

Looping her arms around his neck, Penelope pressed her body against Colin’s, rising up on her toes as she brought his face down to hers, her lips finding his in a soft kiss. They stood there, under the hot stream of water, kissing languidly, their hands exploring slowly before the finally pulled apart.

“I love you.” Penelope murmured against his lips before lowering herself back down onto her feet.
“And I love you. Should we get out of the shower?”

Nodding, Penelope pulled away from Colin, running her hands over her own body one last time to ensure all the soap had been washed off before stepping out of the shower, wrapping a towel around her body. Colin followed her out, turning the water off and getting out. He followed Penelope back into their room and watched as she picked up her wash bag that he’d popped onto the vanity, and pulled out her moisturiser. Forcing himself to draw his eyes away, Colin went about completing his own post shower routine. His was nowhere near as extensive as Penelope’s and was long done before she was.

When she was finally done and pulled on her pyjamas, she walked to the bed, pulling the covers back.

“I’m getting into bed, will you be joining me?”
“I can’t, I’ve got a meeting in a couple of hours and if I get into bed, I’ll fall right to sleep.”

Nodding in understanding, Penelope got into bed, pulling the covers around her as she buried herself within the fresh sheets.
Before Colin could even wish Penelope goodnight. She felt her eyes shut and in no time at all, she was fast asleep.

*****

The following morning, Penelope awoke bright and early, not that she could tell how bright it was outside because the room was still pitch black. Reaching out for her phone, she saw that it was only 5am, and while she probably could have let Colin sleep a little longer, she didn’t want him to sleep anymore, she wanted him to be up so they could spend some time together before he had to set off to do press.

Grabbing the remote for the windows, Penelope changed the setting slightly so that a little light could come in, illuminating the room just so so that she could see her husband. Scooting close to him, Penelope leaned over him as she peppered his faces with little kisses. She felt him stir beneath her and she saw him crack a little smile as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into himself.

“Mm, this is still definitely my favourite way to be woken up.” Colin said groggily as his eyes gradually began to ease open.
“Even more than waking up to me taking your trousers off?”

Fully awake now, Colin blinked up at Penelope and she giggled as she shook her head and rolled off him.

“Someone’s woken up feeling spry this morning.”
“I slept like a baby and I think I needed that.”
“So you’re feeling better than you did yesterday?”
“Much.” Penelope confirmed with a nod as she swung her legs out of her.

Catching ahold of her hand, Colin stopped her, gently pulling her back to himself.

“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to brush my teeth so that we can then go down for breakfast.”
“Maybe we could have a different type of morning treat before…”

Giggling, Penelope shook her head.

“We’re staying at this incredible hotel and we haven’t made use of any of its glorious features yet because of my tired self. So this morning, I want to have breakfast and then enjoy the sun by our private pool.”
“That does sound like a really good idea.”
“Exactly. And because we’re up bright and early, we can spend a little time together before you have to start getting ready to be picked up for the press you’re due to do today.”

Penelope was right, she almost always was, so Colin began to get himself out of bed.

*****

Due to the early hour, both Colin and Penelope had thought it would still be quiet at breakfast but ended up finding that it was relatively full. Luckily, they found themselves a table and settled down with their food as Colin checked his phone.

“So I’m sitting for press from 10 to 12, I get an hour for lunch and then I’m back to doing press from 1 to 3.”
“Has Michaela arrived yet?”
“She hasn’t texted yet to say that she has, but it’s showing her flight landed at half 5 so I’m guessing she’s just landed and still getting through security and stuff.”

Nodding, Penelope tucked into her breakfast, taking in the view around her.

“So what do you plan to do with so much time without me today?”
“I’m thinking I could sit by our pool, try to tan and get some work done to be very honest.”
“That sounds like a nice idea. Though, don’t you want to go out and explore a bit?”
“I think I want to leave my exploring so that we can do it together. Exploring on your own is no fun.”

Colin hummed in agreement as he too tucked into his breakfast. The pair made small talk as they ate, and when they were done, headed back to the room to take their places by their pool where they remained until Colin had to leave.

*****

The day of the SAG awards finally arrived and Colin was a bundle of nerves. Genevieve had flown in and was helping him get ready and Penelope watched from a distance, a small smile on her face as she watched multiple people faff around her husband, doing what they do best to make him look good. And damn, he was looking really good. There was a heavy feeling in the base of her stomach and an ache was developing between her legs and she had to press her thighs together in an attempt to quell it. There was way too many people around and they were running late, there was no way she could give into her urges, but god damn, she wanted him so badly.

“Penelope, would you like me to do your hair?” Asked Colin’s hairstylist.

Penelope’s fingers found the ends of her hair and she contemplated the question. She often got her hair done ahead of events for herself and had her own hairstylist, but she’d never had Colin’s do her hair for her. She was a little apprehensive about it, but nodded in agreement. Genevieve stopped what she was doing and rushed over.

“Whatever you do, don’t style her hair up! This dress demands you leave it down.”

The hair stylist laughed and nodded as Genevieve went back over to Colin and carried on fixing his outfit. The hairdresser gestured for Penelope to sit down and so she did.

“Even before Gen said to keep your hair down, I was thinking of leaving them down in soft curls, what do you think?”
“Up to you, I don’t mind.”

The hairdresser set to work and Penelope looked across the room at Colin. It was so obvious to her that he was unbelievably nervous and she wanted nothing more to go across the room and set her hands on top of his to reassure him that everything would be okay.

“Are you both excited?” Genevieve asked as she stepped away from Colin, nodding at him to let him know that she was happy with how his outfit was looking.
“So excited!” Penelope replied. “My baby’s first big award ceremony where he’s nominated in a solo category! Are you guys going to be watching the live stream?”
“Of course we are! We’re going to finish up here, grab a quick dinner and then were going to head back to one of our hotel rooms and watch. We’ve all got money on you winning tonight Colin.”

Blushing, Colin shook his head good-naturedly.

“It means a lot to me that you guys are so supportive but honestly, I’m just thrilled to be nominated, I don’t see myself winning. I’m sure they’ll give the award to an actor of a more renown film.”

The team all shook their heads at him, telling him that he deserved the award just as much as everyone else he was nominated alongside and that it was truly anyone’s game. Colin blushed as he took the compliments but his eyes were fixed on his wife who was beaming at him. While Colin still doubted that he would win, it really would mean the world to him if he did end up winning because he loved seeing that proud look on Penelope’s face. She supported him through everything and after everything that they’d dealt with, that they were still dealing with, winning this award would make it feel like it was all somewhat worth it. So for that reason and that reason alone, Colin wished with all his might that when he and Penelope returned back to the hotel later tonight, he would have an award in hand.

*****

As they pulled up outside the venue of the awards, Colin was visibly shaking. Placing her hand over his, Penelope gave him a gentle squeeze as she leaned into him and pressed a kiss to his lips.

“Relax baby, you’ve got this.”
“Let’s just go back to the hotel. Let’s let Mic attend on my behalf and if I win, which I doubt, she can pick the award up for me.”

Giggling, Penelope shook her head as she gave his hands another squeeze.

“We both know you would absolutely regret it if you did that, so there’s no way I’m letting you turn back now.”
“It would all be so much easier if you could walk that carpet with me and be beside me when I have to do press.”
“I know, but I won’t be too far, I’ll always be within eyesight and once we get in there, I’ll be right beside you again. You just have to get through this bit.”

Sighing, Colin nodded.

“I guess we’re doing this then.”
“We are.” Penelope replied, giving his hand one last squeeze.
“We’re ready to go Dave.”

On cue, Dave unlocked the door and Colin got out before rushing over to Penelope’s side and opening the door for her, holding his hand out for her. Penelope took it graciously, carefully getting out of the car and making sure her dress fell just right before they began walking towards the carpet.

“I forgot to tell you before, you look stunning baby. This colour suits you so well.”

Penelope had opted for a slinky blue dress, unlike anything else she had ever worn before. It had taken some convincing from both Colin and Genevieve for her to go for it, but she’d finally given in and now that she had it on, she felt incredible. The material was soft and silky and looked like poured silk over her body, clinging to all her best bits while hiding the bits she didn’t really like. The back was super low, resting just above her bottom and the front was super high, hiding her breasts but making them look incredibly plump under the fabric. All in all, it was a great dress.

“And you look every bit the movie start that you are. God, I can’t wait to get you back to the hotel tonight.”
“Oh yeah?” Colin asked, his eyebrow raised as he lowered his voice. “What do you intend to do to me when we get back?”
“I’m going to show you just how proud of you I am and how much I desire you.”

Blood rushed through every inch of Colin’s body and he had to force his mind not to go to where it desperately wanted to go because there was no way he could walk the carpet with a boner. As if Michaela knew he needed saving, she was beside him, talking quickly about what they should expect as soon as they get onto the carpet. Penelope fell back a little and smiled as she watched her husband go into movie star mode.

*****

Many hours later, after Colin had absolutely nailed his interviews, he and Penelope had taken their seats and were enjoying light snacks as the awards got going. They enjoyed every single moment of it, enjoyed the jokes that the host was making, taking notes of the films and shows that were being nominated so that they could check them out when they got home and clapped and cheered for all the nominees and winners.

When finally it was time for Colin’s category to be announced, he sat up straight, taking a sip of water as he took ahold of Penelope’s hand under the table. She gave his hand a firm squeeze and whispered to him that it was all going to be okay.

“And the winner for best actor in a leading role is…” There was a pause as the host opened up the envelope and while Colin knew it only took a split second, the moment felt like it lasted forever. “Colin Bridgerton!”

Utterly stunned, it took Colin a good moment to realise what had just happened. Penelope gave him a quick hug and urged him to get up and he did, completely dazed. In zombie mode, Colin made his way up to the stage, accepting congratulations from the people that he passed and got up onto stage, taking the award from the host. As he approached the mic, he realised he genuinely had no idea what to say.

“I… I can’t believe this is actually happening! Never in my wildest dreams… My agent and my manager told me from the moment I was made aware that I was nominated that I needed to have a speech prepared but I genuinely didn’t think I was going to win.”

There was a kind, light laughter from the audience and Colin smiled as his eyes found Penelope.

“But I’ll try my best to say a few words. I would like to start by congratulating my follow nominees, you guys are all so amazing, that’s why I really didn’t think I was going to win this. I’d like to thank the jury for voting for me and feeling I am deserving of this award and then I would like to just thank everyone from camp Colin. That includes my family, my friends, my incredible team who work tirelessly to make things like this happen, I honestly wouldn’t be able to do any of this without any of them. And the biggest of thank yous to my person who knows me better than I know myself, the person who makes me get out of bed every morning and who encourages me to be the best version of myself. That person knows who they are and I just hope they know how appreciative I am of them and everything that they do for me. Thank you.”

With that, Colin got off the stage and made his way back to his table, again stopping to accept people’s kind wishes. Taking his seat, Penelope wrapped her arms around him and kissed the side of his face.

“I told you you could do it.”
“Thank you baby, I couldn’t have done any of this without you.”
“You could have, but I’m glad to have been along for the ride with you anyway.”

*****

Despite wanting to make it to the end of the awards and wanting to attend the after party, Colin and Penelope decided to cut their evening short and head back to their hotel so that they could celebrate in private. With everyone still inside the venue, the pair hoped that they would be able to slip out and get back to their car without anyone noticing them.

Once inside their car, Penelope all but pounced on her husband. She had done her best all evening to maintain a respectable distance between them, but now that they were almost entirely alone, she couldn’t stop herself. As Dave put the car into gear and they began making their way back towards their hotel, Penelope pulled Colin into herself, lifting her leg over his as she brought his face to her own. Perhaps, if she hadn’t been turned on all evening, she would have controlled herself, but from the moment Colin had slipped into his outfit, she had wanted to undress him and there was no way in hell she could wait any longer. Her hands slid under the lapels of his suit jacket and came to rest on his chest, her tongue tangling with his as she deepened the kiss. Colin had tried to hold back on account of Dave being right there, but her hands being on his body and her tongue being in his mouth had his mind going foggy and his hands came up to cup her breasts, squeezing gently.

Dave kept his eyes firmly on the road and turned up the radio to block out the passionate pants and moans that were coming from the backseat.

*****

When they arrived back at the hotel, they did their best to appear normal as they walked through the lobby and made their way towards their suite. Colin had his award in one hand and was holding Penelope’s with the other. The hotel staff congratulated him on his win, but it was clear to all of them that Colin wasn’t in the mood to talk and so they kept it light and breezy.

As soon as they walked into their suite, Colin barely put the award down before their hands were all over each other once more and Penelope guided them towards the bedroom, her lips fixed on Colin’s as her hands began to fumble with his clothes. As soon as they found their way into the bedroom and the door was shut behind him, Penelope all but pushed her husband onto the bed. Getting comfortable, Colin raised his eyebrow as Penelope dropped onto her knees in front of him.

“Pen…”

Shaking her head, Penelope ran her hands over his thighs, her eyes on his as she settled between his legs.

“Baby…”
“Sh, we need to celebrate your win.”
“Why don’t you come up here and celebrate by putting yourself on my lap.”

Shaking her head, Penelope flipped her hair out of the way as she leaned further into him, running her hands up and down his thighs, moving higher and higher until her fingertips grazed the bulge in his pants.

“Pen…”
“Let me show you how proud I am of you.”
“Oh god.” Colin groaned as he leaned back on his hands.

Making light work of his trousers and throwing them aside, Penelope gave him a wolffish grin as she palmed the front of his underwear, feeling him stiffen beneath her touch. Hooking her fingers into his pants, she slowly pulled them down, nudging him to lift his hips so that she could get them off. Pulling them down, his cock popped free, falling perfectly in line with her face. Taking him into her hands, she gave him a few solid pumps, her eyes fixed on his as she leaned closer.

“You have no idea how proud i am of you Colin, how happy it makes me to see you living out your dream and thriving.”

Her breath was warm against his groin and he found himself involuntarily moving his hips closer to her face.

“And on days like today, when I see other women openly looking at you like you hung the moon in the sky, part of me gets so jealous because how dare they look at you like that because you’re mine. But also, I feel proud because you are mine.”

Colin’s fingers worked there way into her hair, his fingers massaging her scalp.

“I’m yours Pen, always and forever.”

She signed a contented sigh, giving his length another firm tug before licking the underside of his cock. Sighing, he leaned further back, keeping a firm hold on her head. She did it again, giving him another firm lick before wrapping her lips around just the tip. She gave it something between a kiss and a suck before pulling back. Colin groaned at the lack of contact, his eyes opening.

“You’re a tease baby.”
“Maybe, but you’re overdressed. I need you to shed some layers.”

With an almost frantic nod, Colin hastily took of his clothes, dropping them haphazardly on the floor, not caring that he could take a little more care in putting them away properly. Giggling at how frantic he was being, Penelope moved back in, her hands caressing his thighs again as she took him into her mouth again. He held still as best he could, only using the hand in her hair to move her back and forth.

God, he loved the feeling of her warm mouth on his length, the way her tongue swirled the tip before she swallowed him down further and further each time. She moaned around him, her fingers pinching at her own nipples as she worked him higher and higher. Unable to hold himself back any longer, Colin used his hold on her hair to keep himself grounded as he thrust into her mouth, moving fast as he chased his release. Penelope took it, holding onto his thighs and just when he felt himself about to come, he stopped, pulling himself free out of her mouth. Penelope mewled in protest, but Colin simply shook his head as he pulled her up to her feet, drawing her into himself as he pressed a heated kiss to her mouth.

“As much as I want to come in your pretty mouth, I would rather unload deep inside you instead.”

A shiver ran down the length of Penelope’s spine as Colin stood up too, his hands running up and down the sides of Penelope’s body as he pulled her flush against himself, his raging hard length pressing against her stomach.

“My heads been all over the place today, but fucking hell baby, you in this dress is a thing of my dreams. Please tell me you aren’t returning it to Genevieve when we get home.”

Blushing, Penelope shook her head.

“Good, because I need you to wear it for date night one night so I can peel it off your body all over again.”

Biting her lip, Penelope nodded as she looped her arms around Colin’s neck, rising up on her toes.

“You haven’t even peeled it off me once, you’re already thinking about next time?”

On cue, Colin found the zip on the side of her body and pulled it down in one swift motion, letting the dress pool around her feet. Penelope kicked off her heels, dropping four inches in height and she looked up at her husband, her eyes dark with desire. Colin took in her body, his lip catching between his teeth. Tilting his head to the side, he regarded the sticky bra Penelope had on, trying to work out how the hell he was supposed to take it off. Realising what was going through his head, Penelope giggled as she undid the bra and let it fall to the ground before stripping off her panties and kicking them aside.

“Fuck.” Colin groaned, his mouth feeling dry.

No matter how many times he saw his wife naked, her body never failed to catch him off guard. Every inch of her was just so perfect, so soft and curvy, so perfect…

Not wanting to waste another moment, Colin all but threw Penelope onto the plush bed, falling on top of her, his heavy cock nestling between her legs. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him down for a hungry kiss, her tongue plunging into his mouth and tangling with his as she rolled her hips up, relishing in the feel of his heavy length brushing against her folds. Breaking the kiss for air, Colin rolled them over, putting himself underneath Penelope. She sat up on his lap, looking down at him with an eyebrow raised. When he gave her his usual gut melting grin, his hands behind his head, Penelope knew exactly what her husband wanted. Flicking her hair back and letting it fall over her back, she leaned forward and grabbed hold of his shoulders as she worked her hips against his. She was already soaked, and so with the changed position, she was rocking back and forth against him with ease, her clit grinding against his cock with each roll of her hips. Taking her hips in his hands, he pulled her further down onto him, increasing the pressure between them, making her gasp and her eyes roll. Her breasts bounced hypnotically and Colin wanted nothing more than to take a taut nipple between his teeth. Deciding that that was exactly what he wanted, Colin sat up, his back against the oversized headboard and adjusted Penelope on his lap as he cupped one of her breasts and brought it to his mouth, his lips licking around her nipple. Her back arched against his mouth and she let out a breathless moan as her hips moved hard and fast against him, feeling the coil tighten within her. Colin kept up his ministrations with his lips and tongue as his free hand crept down her body and to between her legs, pushing two fingers inside her as she kept rolling her body against his.

“Oh god Colin.” Penelope cried her head falling back as she struggled to keep up.
“Take me baby, I need to be inside you.”

Nodding frantically, Penelope kept one hand on his shoulder as she lifted herself up slightly, her other hand grasping his cock and bringing it to her entrance. Slowly, she lowered herself onto it, moaning as she felt the tip press against her folds. Colin tightened his hold on her hips, trying to guide her to lower herself, but instead she moved up slightly before lowering herself again, taking a little more of him in. She kept at it, taking her time, watching the way he became more and more needy, his hips riding up to meet hers, trying to coax her to lower herself onto him. When she finally lowered herself all the way down, she fell forward, her forehead pressing against his as she breathed hard. She felt so full, the way she always did when she was on top. And god she loved it. It was the best feeling in the world. Colin too was breathing hard, trying to stop himself from spilling inside her. He tapped at her hip, urging her to go on and she did, rolling her hips back and forth as she pressed her face into his neck, kissing the delicate skin there. She was soaking his lap and with a firm hand on her hip, he urged her to move.

Penelope began moving, lifting herself slightly before lowering herself back down to him. She started slow, and then began to speed up, her thighs burning at the level of control but she kept going. Up and down, over and over again as he played with her tits, tweaking at her nipples. Colin was struggling to hold back and he could tell Penelope was close too. Her movements were beginning to get messy and her legs were shaking but Colin knew she wasn’t quite there just yet. Reaching between them, he sought out her clit and pressed down on it with the pads of his fingers and her hips stuttered as her insides tightened. He swiped his fingers the way he knew she liked and with a few practiced motions, she came undone in his arms just as he spilled inside her. He kept his hands on her hips, moving her back and forth as she rolled her hips against his, riding out her orgasm until she was finally done. Penelope slumped against Colin’s chest, breathing hard as she wrapped her arms around him.

Gently, Colin lay Penelope down onto the bed and pulled himself out of her, moving her to her side and pulling up the covers. They really should clean up, but it could wait just a bit because his limbs were feeling like jelly. Kissing her head, he stayed close to her, his fingers running up and down her spine.

“If that’s how you show me that you’re proud of me, I think I need to start winning awards more regularly.”

Letting out a quiet laugh, Penelope shook her head as she burrowed herself closer to him.

“I’m proud of you every day, regardless of whether you win awards. I love you Colin Bridgerton, and award or not, nothing is ever going to change that.”

Chapter Text

After the night of the SAG awards, the rest of their time in LA was more or less their own. Colin had a couple of meetings added into his calendar because more people had their eye on him after he won his award and they were trying to see if he would fit their upcoming projects. When Colin was off for meetings, Penelope spent her time by the pool, trying to tan while also working on her manuscripts. She did occasionally step out, sometimes just to the coffee shop on the same block as their hotel, but for the most part, she stayed in their suite, enjoying the amenities. All in all, it was all going swimmingly.

Once Colin had finished the last of his meetings, they had a couple of days left in LA and for it, they decided to ignore their phones and just enjoy their time together.

At present, Colin and Penelope were sat by the pool, him with his eyes closed, just enjoying the sun and the heat, while Penelope lay on her back, book in hand. Cracking an eye open, Colin looked over at his wife and grinned because god damn, his wife looked incredible in her skimpy little white bikini, her skin beginning to take on a golden shade. Penelope always burnt first before her skin began to tan and this time away hadn’t been any different. While Colin was already about three shades darker than he usually was, Penelope was only just beginning to tan.

“Stop staring at me.” Penelope said to him without even looking up from her book.
“How the hell do you know I’m looking at you?”
“I told you, I can feel your eyes on me.”

Chuckling to himself, Colin began to sit up and then slowly rose to his feet. People was right. She did always tell him that she could feel him looking at her. He could often feel her looking at him too, but not as well as she could. It was a little disconcerting. Closing the distance between himself and Penelope, he sat down on the edge of her sun lounger and ran his hand up and down her leg. Moving her book to the side, she looked across at him, an eyebrow raised.

“What?”
“Nothing, just thought I’d come over here.”

With a little smirk playing on her lips, Penelope placed her bookmark into her book and set it aside. She opened her arms to him and he moved over her, his arms draping around her as he rest his head on her chest.

“You’re such a baby.” Giggled Penelope.
“Your chest makes the best pillow ever.”

Shaking her head, Penelope exhaled as she wrapped her arms around her husband, her fingers carding through his hair.

“You know…” Colin began as he looked up. “Seeing as your tan is now starting to even out, I would think you want to spend your time topless so that your boobs would tan evenly too.”

Raising an eyebrow, Penelope looked down at him, knowing exactly what he was playing at. Regardless, she gave him a thoughtful nod and then shook him off of herself as she sat up and reached behind her. Colin watched, his eyes darkening as she undid the tie of her bikini and then pulled it away. Biting his lip, Colin attempted to reach out for her, to touch her but she swatted his hand away.

“This is so that my tan evens out remember. No touching.”

Colin groaned in response and Penelope couldn't help but grin as she leaned back again and picked her book back up. Moving off of her, Colin grumpily went back to his own sun lounger and picked up his phone in an attempt to find something to do. Sometimes his plans worked, but sometimes his wife didn’t indulge him.

It was okay though because life was good and nothing was about to change that.

*****

When Colin and Penelope’s time in LA finally came to an end, they really didn’t want to go back home, didn’t want to go back to reality. Penelope knew she was going back to a tonne of meetings about her book that was about to go into its publication stage and Colin had a fair amount of meetings for his next movie before he started shooting for it.

On their last day, as they got into their car, they thanked the hotel staff for their service and for being discrete. They hadn’t had any issues and they appreciated everything that the hotel staff had done to make that happen.

At the airport, when their bags were on the trolley ready to go, Colin dipped into his wallet and withdrew some cash that he had set aside and handed it to Dave. The elderly man blanched as he saw the number of notes that Colin was holding.

“I cannot… This is far too much.”
“Please take it, consider it a thank you for ferrying us around during our stay. And we also know you have had to turn a blind eye a number of times while we’ve been… Well we weren’t always your best passengers to have in your back seat and so we just wanted to thank you for that. We really appreciate everything you’ve done for us during our stay.”
“It was my pleasure. You both have my personal card, please fell free to contact me if you are ever in LA again.”
“We absolutely will reach out to you. Thank you again for everything.”

As they said their final goodbyes to Dave, Colin and Penelope made their way into the airport and began their journey home.

———

Deuxmoi: * posts a photo of Colin and Penelope from SAG night, leaving the awards together with Colin's arm firmly around Penelope’s waist *

Exclusive! Colin Bridgerton seen leaving the SAG awards early with author of ‘Romancing Mr Mayfair’ Penelope Featherington. The pair looked extremely familiar and cosy with each other. Is there a romance budding between the author and the actor?

———

Neither Colin nor Penelope had checked social media while they had been away and it seemed that their close friends and family had chosen to keep the news that they had been spotted and outted at the SAG awards away from them. But as soon as they arrived home, all hell broke loose. Colin received a screenshot of the original the post and links to subsequent articles.

Running his hand through his hair, Colin called Michaela. She answered on the first ring.

“Hey…”
“What the hell?”
“I’m so sorry, I’m so, so sorry. We all wanted to keep it away from you and Penelope for as long as we could because we didn’t want to ruin the remainder of your holiday, but we needed you to be aware of what’s going on because obviously, the British public are all over this news and because the execs at Universal are livid.”

Sitting down, Colin ran his hands over his face and he watched as Penelope went through her phone, her thumbnail between her teeth as she scrolled.

“How bad is it?” He asked Michaela, dreading the response.
“It’s really bad. Really, really bad. And then there’s the post about Penelope being seen wearing your clothes too. It’s all… Well it’s not good.”
“Fuck.”

There was nothing else for Colin to say.

“How the hell did this even happen. We thought we’d been careful, especially at the awards so…”
“And you guys had. No one took pictures of Penelope waiting for you on the carpet, nor was there any footage of you two together inside the ceremony itself. It seems that the picture that was taken of you guys was taken by someone from the general public who was still hanging around the venue even though everyone should have cleared out. And the post of Penelope too, it seems like someone recognised her and photographed her but it’s zoomed in so they must have been quite far away from her.”

Colin pulled his phone away from his ear and looked at the second set of posts and links that Michaela sent across.

———

Deuxmoi: * posts a photo of Penelope with what looks like an iced latte and phone in hand, wearing what is clearly a men’s hoodie. The second picture of the post is Colin at Heathrow, wearing the same hoodie *

‘Romancing Mr Mayfair’ author Penelope Featherington spotted in LA by fans, walking the streets in what appears to be actor Colin Bridgerton’s hoodie! This comes just days after the pair were seen leaving the SAG awards together. What is going on between the two?

———

Running his hand through his hair, Colin brought the phone back to his ear.

“What the hell do we do now?”
“The Universal execs want to see you as soon as possible.”
“Fuck.”
“Whatever you and Penelope do, don’t read the comments. I… Nothing good will come of it, so don’t read the comments and just hang tight, we’ll all work out how to get through this.”

Michaela carried on talking, explaining stuff to Colin but he was barely listening. His eyes were fixed on Penelope who was slumped in the armchair across from him, scrolling through her phone. How the hell had things gone to shit so quickly? Only a few hours ago, they were blissed out after an incredible break, ready to set their teeth into whatever was coming next and now this…

Realising that he wasn’t taking in anything Michaela was saying, Colin decided to excuse himself, telling Michaela that he would speak to her soon once he got his head straight. Getting off the phone and throwing it aside, he went over to Penelope and attempted to take her phone out of her hands. But she maintained a vicelike grip on it and carried on scrolling.

“Penelope please, even Mic said it, we really shouldn’t be going through the comments.”
“Have you seen what they’re saying about me?”
“We really shouldn’t…”
“They’re calling me all kinds of names. They’re calling me a home-wrecker and a whore and a cheat!”
“Baby…”
“They think we’re having an affair and I’m cheating on my husband and because of our affair, I’m taking you away from Marina.”
“We’ll find a way to deal with it…”
“And then there’s all the comments on my appearance.”

It was clear that Penelope was too far gone and she wasn’t listening to a thing Colin was saying. Reaching for her phone again, Colin managed to take it out of her hands and put it aside as he gathered her into his arms.

“I know it’s all shit, but we’ll work through it. The execs want to see me and when they do, I’ll make it clear that I want to put out a statement about us. To hell with promo for the movie, none of that is important. You and me though, we’re real, we matter and I won’t stand for people talking shit about you and about our relationship.”
“You can’t…”
“Things were different before, but it’s changed now. I won’t stand for this. I won’t stand for people saying all kinds of nonsense. We have no reason to hide our relationship, we’re married for goodness sake. I married you in front of the lord, our families and our marriage is valid in the eyes of the law. I won’t… I won’t stand for people trying to sully the sanctity of our relationship because they think they know otherwise.”

Colin’s words were doing an immense amount to calm Penelope’s heart, but at the same time, she couldn’t stop thinking about his contract, about the negative implications of announcing their relationship to the public. And then there was the fact that people now believed something about them. They believed they knew what was going on and so even after an announcement, there was always the possibility that the public would still look down on them. And considering they both were public figures whose success relied on people wanting to support them and their work… It all just felt like a big pile of mess.

“I don’t know what to do Colin.” Penelope whispered, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Wrapping his arms tightly around her and lifting her onto his lap, he wiped her tears aside.

“I don’t either, but we have an incredible group of people around us who have our backs. They’ll work out what the right thing for us is.” Giving her a squeeze, Colin kissed the top of her head. “Everything is going to be okay, I promise you baby.”

*****

Later that night, Penelope had finally fallen asleep after crying in Colin’s arms, but Colin himself was struggling to find peace. He couldn’t understand how the hell things had gotten so out of hand. He had told Penelope not to look at the comments, but he couldn’t help himself and he had to look at them. The more he read, the worse it got and part of him was so angry because a lot of the hate was coming from people who wanted him and Marina to be together. And while he knew Marina had meant no harm when she had posted so many pictures of them together on set, he couldn’t help but wonder if that had made it worse. Maybe if they had just left it to the production team to post pictures, people wouldn’t have gotten so invested. But because she too had posted pictures of them, maybe she had fed the fans and so they were now angrier than they would have been had she not posted those pictures.

Shaking his head, Colin locked his phone and put it aside. No, this wasn’t about Marina and he had no right to be angry with her. The issue was the media, the paps who had taken pictures of him and Marina and who had posted them, presenting them as something more than innocent work related meetings. And he was mad at the people who breached his and Penelope’s privacy. Just because they were in the public eye, it didn’t give anyone a right to take photographes of them when they didn’t know what was going on.

He was going to put an end to all this nonsense though. He wasn’t going to put up with it any longer, enough was enough.

*****

After a restless night with little sleep, Colin was even more confused about what to do. When he’d finally been about to drop off, he told himself that he would post a picture of himself and Penelope from their wedding day onto his instagram account and silence everyone once and for all. But in the light of day, he was feeling unsure if he should really do that. He needed to talk to Michaela and Will, and potentially his legal team, to review the details of his contract. He knew that announcing his relationship would be a direct violation of his contract, but he needed to know exactly what the repercussions would be. He knew Universal wouldn’t work with him again and he’d probably get a bad name with other major production companies too, but he also needed to know if there would be a monetary consequence. He feared there would be. And while he and Penelope were living comfortably, they couldn’t really afford to just hand back a chunk of money to Universal should he be breaching his contract. There was a lot to think about and Colin felt like his head was exploding.

Sitting in the living room, Colin watched as Penelope sat at her laptop, working away. She’s stayed completely off her phone and while she looked better than she had the night before, he could tell that she was worried and she was only working today instead of recovering from their holiday because she needed to keep busy, to keep her mind off things.

Just as Colin went to turn on the telly, his phone rang. Checking the caller ID, he noticed that it was Will and so answered it.

“Hey man.”
“Hi Will, you alright?”
“I’m good, I’m good. How was LA?”
“Yeah, LA was really good. Pen and I had a great time away, it was just what we needed.”
“That’s good. I know you really needed that break so I’m glad you got it. Is now a good time to talk about…”

Will trailed off but Colin knew exactly what he was going on about. Getting to his feet, he caught Penelope’s eye and gestured that he was going to take the call outside. She just nodded in response before going back to her work.

“Listen” Will carried on as Colin shut the living room door and walked through to the kitchen. “I’m not going to pretend I’ve called for a general chat about your holiday. As much as I do want to know all about the awards and how you’re feeling after all the meetings, I’m calling to check in on you.”
“I have to be honest, I’m not doing too great. This is… I’d never fathomed things could spiral so badly out of control and the comments… I know, I know we shouldn’t read them but seeing my wife being called all kinds of names…”
“No, I get it. It’s easier said than done when it comes to ignoring comments but you really do need to.”
“Pen went into her professional instagram last night and her comments section… God, Will, it was even worse than under the actual Deuxmoi posts. Under those posts, at least some people who were commenting were saying stuff like we looked good together, but the comments under her page were just really brutal.”
“Have you guys turned off comments?”
“She has and her DMs have been completely switched off too but again, this is all so insane. Aside from the fact that we got pictured in the first place, the comments…”
“I know and I’m so sorry you guys are going through this. Mic, I and the rest of the team have been on it since the posts came out but we’re having little luck doing anything. Deuxmoi won’t take the posts down and it’s too late anyway, people have already seen them and other media pages have picked up on it. It’s a mess, I’m not going to sugarcoat it, it’s a fucking mess.”

Colin massaged his brow, pacing from one side of the kitchen to another.

“Have you spoken to my lawyer? What did he say?”
“I haven’t but Michaela has and the long and short of it is, there’s not much we can do. Deuxmoi hasn’t done anything illegal by posting the posts and she won’t reveal where the pictures came from so we can’t really do anything else.”
“What would happen if I just made it known that Penelope and I are actually married?”
“It would be more of a mess at this point. And aside from that, you’d owe Universal a shit tonne of money for breaching your contract.”
“How much is a shit tonne?”
“Enough that you won’t be able to pay off your house by next year like you planned to and you’d probably have to sell off some stocks and shares.”
“Well fuck.”
“Yeah. It’s not great.”

Groaning, Colin slumped down onto a chair.

“I know Alice has been in touch with the rest of Penelope’s team and her lawyer and they were talking about trying to get a defamation suit against Deuxmoi for posting the post about Penelope wearing your clothes, but they don’t think it would get them anywhere. I know they’re still going to bring it up to Penelope and see what she wants to do, but I know her lawyers probably going to advise against it because they won’t have enough of a footing.”
“Thats… That’s really fucking shit. She didn’t ask for any of this, didn’t consent for her pictures to be taken and used in that manner and still she won’t be able to do anything about it?”
“I know, and I’m so sorry Colin. It’s… It’s a fucking shit show.”

Colin hummed in agreement and paused for a moment as he gathered his thoughts.

“Do you think Universal would budge on their stance about me revealing my relationship if they saw how much of a negative impact all this was having on Penelope?”
“I mean you could try to appeal to their human nature, maybe try to get them to empathise, but I’m not sure it’s going to get us anywhere.”

Colin felt a surge of anger and helplessness course through his body. How the hell was this even happening? When he’d signed his bloody contract, while he’d thought it all a bit weird , he had never anticipated that they’d be in a situation like this. This was… It was just next level.

“I have to do something Will! She’s my wife, I vowed to protect her and this, this isn’t protecting her!”
“I know, I know. But Colin, we really have to just wait it out. Let’s take this meeting with Universal and see what they say, but it’s my opinion and that of the rest of the team that we just ride this out. We don’t say or do anything. The general public will get bored and they’ll latch onto whatever scandal takes place next week. If we try to retaliate, it’ll just keep going on. The best way to make it go away is by ignoring it.”
“That’s easy to say, but…” Colin lowered his voice then and moved further away from the kitchen door. “You should have seen Penelope last night. She was distraught. Do you know how hard it is to be calm and sit on your hands when your wife cries herself to sleep in your arms? I can’t… I can’t do nothing.”
“Colin listen to me, I’m literally begging you mate, don’t do anything. We’re going to talk to Universal and then we’ll get the team together and see what they think, but I really need you to not do anything rash.”

With a sigh, Colin finally relented.

“Okay, fine, I won’t do anything.”
“Just… You’ve got few weeks left now before you start shooting for your next film, just spend your time with Penelope, be there for her and keep her away from the internet.”

Grumbling some form of response, Colin put the phone down as Will ended the call and went back into the living room to find Penelope exactly as he’d left her, working away at her laptop. Sitting down beside her, he wrapped his arm around her and kissed the top of her head.

Maybe Will was right, maybe this would all blow over on it own. Maybe…

*****

Universal finally agreed on a time and date for their meeting with Colin and it was safe to say, he was bricking it. He had met with his team ahead of the meeting, talking through what his contract required of him and they talked through ways he could get around certain points. With Michaela and Will by his side, Colin felt somewhat ready to get into the meeting but he was still nervous as hell. Regardless of what his team had come up with, he knew what he wanted to ask for and he was going to ask for it regardless of the fact that he’d been advised against it.

The trio didn’t have to wait long before they were shown into a large boardroom, execs sitting ready, some with their laptops open, others with pen and paper in front of them. Everyone in the room greeted one another before settling into their seats and getting to business.

“Right well, firstly we’d like to congratulate your SAG award win. We are immensely proud of you. While you didn’t win the award for a project you did with us, we are still proud, and you’ve just confirmed to us that we made the right decision when we chose you for this role.”
“Thank you. That means a lot to me.”
“But of course, you know the real reason for this meeting.”

Colin nodded solemnly, unsure what else to do or say.

“We’re sure your team may have made you aware, but your relationship coming out into the open is a direct breech of your contract. As a result, you have put everything we have been trying to work towards at risk.”

The execs hummed in agreement but Colin knew there was no way he was going to let them say something like that and get away with it. He had expected something from them, but this was outrageous.

“I’m sorry, I don’t agree with what you’ve just said.”

Under the table, Michaela caught ahold on Colin’s arm, squeezing to get him to stop speaking but he shook her off and carried on.

“You make it sound like I orchestrated this, that it was my decision for my relationship to go public in that manner.”
“We are not saying that. But we had told you from the very beginning that you needed to keep your marriage on a low profile.”
“And I had! I haven’t taken my wife out on a date in months. We had to travel to and from the airport separately just to ensure that no one saw us together.”
“Yet you were seen together in LA.”
“We can’t control what people do when they recognise us. It is unfortunate that we got photographed, but at the same time, it wasn’t our fault. If anything, we are victims in this more than anyone else because our privacy was invaded. And my wife… She has been harassed and attacked on the internet when she has done nothing wrong! She isn’t my mistress nor am I having an affair with her nor is she having an affair with me! We’re married and yet she’s being treated like a criminal. It’s not… It’s just not on.”

Will and Michaela shot each other nervous looks, unsure what the hell they were meant to do because Colin was going ahead with full gusto now and there was no way they could stop him without talking over him.

“We understand you’re upset Colin but…”
“Just put yourself in my shoes for a moment. You’re all married, imagine how you would feel if you were me. Not only are you having to hide your wife away, you have to sit back and do nothing while she gets viciously attacked by strangers. How would you feel if your wives lay in your arms, crying because they couldn’t understand why people were saying such horrid things about them?”

The execs looked away, clearly beginning to sympathise with Colin. One of them cleared his throat and looked up.

“You are right, none of this has been your fault and it is certainly not your wife’s fault. And for that reason, we shall not penalise you.”
“Thank you. Would you consider allowing me to go public with my relationship? I feel it will help to end the hate.”
“We cannot allow that.” Another executive said firmly. “That would cause more backlash. The fans would then begin to realise that we were pushing yours and Marina’s relationship for attention. We cannot have that.”
“Nothing incriminating has been posted about me and Marina by the studio. All that has been posted is a few photographs of us while working. There is nothing in those to suggest anything more than an amicable working relationship. The pictures she has posted also simply show we are friendly. There is nothing to suggest that we are in a relationship and if questioned, we can say that. We can say that the public came to their own conclusion and it was not of our doing. It can be easily solved. Please, please let me just confirm my relationship with my wife so that people leave her alone.”

There was a pause as the execs looked between one another. Colin could tell that some of them were beginning to see what he was trying to say and he had a good feeling that they were going to let him handle things his own way.

“No, that’s not going to happen.” One of the execs finally said, his tone firm. “We need this film to bring people into theatres around the world and all this drama and controversy is simply drawing more attention to the project. We need this attention, this is all good. We can’t bring it to an end now. So no, you cannot announce your marriage.”
“But…”
“It’s a no Colin. We are being reasonable by not penalising you for the leaked content about you and your wife, but we cannot allow you to go public about your relationship.”
“But my wife…”
“She is the wife of an actor. She will need to learn to deal with the press and fans being all up in her business. Just tell her to stay offline if it bothers her so much.”
“My wife is a public figure! She has a career which puts her into the spotlight too. She cannot simply stay away from the internet. She might be my wife but this is… She didn’t sign up for any of this!”
“I don’t know what you want us to say. You cannot issue a statement about your relationship status.”

Wanting to protest again, Colin opened his mouth to speak but Michaela caught his knee under the table and gave him a warning squeeze. Shooting her an annoyed look, Colin shook his head but he stayed quiet.

“Look, I understand your feelings, and I respect that you are looking out for your wife, truly, I get it. But I think you’re worrying too much. The public have short attention spans. Tomorrow, something new will happen and people will divert their attentions over to that. As long as you and your wife maintain a low profile and are not seen together again, it will all blow over. And in the meantime, it might be a good idea for you and Marina to be seen together and we can arrange for the paps to photograph you.”

Before Colin could respond, Will cut in.

“No, absolutely not. Colin’s original contract does not allow…”
“Colin’s contract doesn’t allow for unauthorised personnel to arrange for Colin to be papped, but we can.”

Shaking his head, Colin truly felt speechless. This was… This was just insane. How could they possibly think he would be okay with this when he had just expressed his concerns around it all? Did making the film a success really matter more to them than anything else? Slumping in his seat, Colin tuned out of the rest of the meeting, allowing Michaela and Will to take over. He had nothing more to say because clearly, regardless of what he had to say, no one was going to listen to him.

*****

Back at the house, Penelope was curled up on the sofa and as much as she had tried to resist the urge, she’d started looking through comments on instagram and had then gone into twitter where she had fallen down a rabbit hole. The general consensus was that she was an awful person for trying to rip Colin and Marina apart and an even worse person because she was married. People had linked the fact that she had been seen with him at the wrap party and decided that she and Colin had been having an affair the whole time, right under Marina’s nose. It was all insanity and Penelope couldn’t believe what she was reading. She had noticed that a few fans had pointed out that Colin had been papped wearing a wedding ring and they had floated the idea that perhaps Colin and Penelope were married but other fans seemed to have shut that idea down pretty quickly.

Penelope also noticed that there were some people who appeared to be fans of her books, who were defending her. They were trying to tell people that they had no idea what was going on and that they shouldn’t take everything at face value but their comments were being torn apart and dismissed by the fans who wanted Colin and Marina to be together.

She carried on scrolling, reading comment after comment, telling herself that she needed to stop but unable to do so. There were so many comments from people going on about how they felt Colin and Marina would make a beautiful couple and how she and Colin just didn’t look good together. There were other people who were just outright rude about her height and her weight, saying she didn’t compliment Colin. It was those comments that hurt her more than anything else because that’s how she felt when she stood beside Colin. She often felt like she wasn’t good enough, wasn’t pretty enough and now to see so many people saying it too…

Tears rolled down Penelope’s face as she finally put her phone aside and tried to turn her attention back to her laptop but she had lost all willpower to work. She really struggled to understand how things had spiralled so out of control. When Colin had signed his contract for the film, she had known what it would entail, had known that content would be put out so that people would root for Colin and Marina as a real life couple as well as an onscreen couple, but she hadn’t expected the reaction towards them to be so intense. And she truly hadn’t thought that people would be photographing her and talking about her too. It was just a lot more than she had expected and now she had no idea what she was supposed to do.

Truthfully, she didn’t really care that people shipped Colin with Marina, but the way people were talking about her and trying to make her feel like she wasn’t good enough for Colin was what she was struggling with.

Just as Penelope found herself drowning in her thoughts, there was a knock on the door. She really could not deal with company so she was willing to ignore it when the doorbell went off. Groaning, Penelope picked up her phone and checked the ring doorbell live stream and she saw that it was Eloise at the door. Jumping to her feet, Penelope rushed to the door and threw it open, attempting to put her most convincing smile on her face. The moment Eloise looked at her though, she knew that Penelope was faking it.

Regardless, Eloise smiled back as she wrapped her arms around Penelope and entered the house.

“Hey you.” Eloise finally said as she shut the door behind her.
“Hey.”
“I wasn’t sure if I would find you at home or not so I thought to just drop by and see.”

Gesturing for Eloise to come in, the two of them made their way towards the kitchen where Penelope pulled a chair out for Eloise and gestured for her to sit down as she turned the kettle on.

“Tea or coffee?”
“I’ll have a cup of tea please.”

As Penelope went about making drinks, Eloise got settled and asked Penelope how LA had been. Penelope spoke animatedly about all the things that they had done together and how amazing the hotel had been before finishing with just how proud she was of Colin and his SAG award win.

“Have you seen pictures of him at the awards? He looked so good.”

Bringing the drinks over, Penelope handed Eloise hers and then unlocked her phone and pulled up pictures of Colin at the awards and handed her phone to Eloise. Eloise had already seen the pictures of Colin at the awards, but it didn’t change the fact that she was impressed at how good her brother looked. While she would never admit it to Colin’s face, he did look every bit the movie star he was.

“He looked really nice.”

Turning the phone to herself, Penelope smiled as she flicked through the pictures.

“He’s so handsome.”
“You looked beautiful too.”
“Thank you.”

Blushing, Penelope locked the phone and took a sip of her drink.

“So, how have you been holding up?”
“I’ve… It’s been hard.”

Penelope knew she could just lie and say everything was fine, but Eloise knew her better than that.

“Where is Colin today?”
“He’s got a meeting with the studio about the photos of us that came out.”
“Oh shit.”
“Yeah.”

The two women were silent for a moment as they simply regarded one another. Eloise waited for Penelope to say something because she didn’t know what to say.

“It’s just… it’s been a lot more than I ever expected. I never expected things to get so messy and now… and I don’t even know how I’m supposed to feel. I mean I do, but also, I just…” Penelope groaned in annoyance as she shook her head. “My emotions and hormones are just all over the place and I want nothing more than to just curl up with Colin and never let him go.”
“It’s really sweet that my brother is your comfort person but at the same time, ew, my brother is your comfort person.”
“El, I’ve been with him almost five years, I really need you to just accept it and be normal that I love your brother.”
“But it’s my brother!”

Giggling, Penelope shook her head, instantly feeling some of the weight coming off her shoulders.

“You said your hormones are all over the place, maybe you need to change your birth control. I remember you said years ago that the pill you were on was fucking with your system. Maybe you just need to try something different.”
“Do you remember that? It was crazy! The pill I was on back then had me having the most insane mood swings.”
“I do remember, it was intense.”
“I’ve actually never been back on birth control since then. I just realised it wasn’t worth it at all. Any pill I tried, it was just too much so I decided to just do without and honestly, that was probably the best decision I ever made for myself.”

Eloise paused as she regarded Penelope, taking in the new information.

“You’re not on birth control?”
“Nope.”
“So you and Colin…” Eloise felt her cheeks heat but she carried on. “So you guys use condoms?”

Looking down at her cup, Penelope felt herself flush.

“We… No, we haven’t… We haven’t used protection since about six months into our relationship. Maybe even less than that.”

Eloise and Penelope almost never spoke about Penelope’s sex life for the obvious reason, but Eloise couldn’t help but feel curious now.

“So if you guys don’t use any kind of protection, how have you… You’ve never even had a pregnancy scare, how… How have you managed that?”
“We just cycle track. My cycle has always been super consistent so I can always track when I’m ovulating and stuff. So we just know when during the month we need to be a little more careful.”
“That’s actually really impressive.”

Shrugging, Penelope took a sip of her drink, not feeling the need to add anything. She could understand why Eloise found it impressive, but for her and Colin, it was just normal.

“I can’t believe you sleep with my brother and leave yourself susceptible to pregnancy each time.”
“This might be crazy for you to fathom, but the idea of your brother getting me pregnant doesn’t scare me. Of course we have a plan of when we’d like to start trying for a baby, but from the moment we started having sex without protection, we knew there was always a real chance we could get pregnant and if that happens, we’re okay with that.”
“That’s crazy behaviour. I still can’t believe you like my brother that much.”
“Your brother is literally the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
“Okay, I need you to stop because I feel like you’re very close to saying some crazy shit like sex with my brother is the best thing to ever happen to you.”
“Well…”
“Shut up!”

Giggling, Penelope wrapped her arms around herself, amused at how easy it still was to annoy Eloise. Just as her amusement began to subside, the reality of everything that had been happening came back to her and her smile fell away.

“He’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me but sometimes I think… I don’t think I’m the best thing that happened to him and I think he’s going to start realising it now, especially with all the recent comments we’ve had.”

Shaking her head, Eloise reached across the table for Penelope’s hand.

“You will always be the best thing that’s ever happened to him. He knows it, we all know it, and that’s all that matters. Strangers on the internet have no right nor do they actually know anything about you and Colin to decide whether or not he can do better than you. Because those of us that know you both know you’re way too good for him. I know you think I’m just being mean because he’s my brother, but genuinely, sometimes it baffles me that you fell in love with him.”
“He’s the best man I’ve ever met.”
“And I get that, I know Colin is the sweetest, he’s definitely my kindest brother, but I just know, if you wanted, you could have had any man in the world and I need you to know and accept that too. People can say whatever they want, but the truth is, Colin could never have done better than you but you could have done better than him.”

“She’s not wrong.”

Penelope turned her head to find her husband leaning against the doorframe, an amused look on his face.

“When did you get home?”
“Just now, when my sister was so kindly trying to convince you to leave me because you can do better.”

Grinning, Eloise got up and gave her brother a hug before slapping his arm.

“I never said that but also, you know it’s true.”
“It is.”

As Eloise let go of her brother and sat back down, Colin came around the table and gestured for Penelope to get up. She did and he sat down in her seat and then pulled her down into his lap. Eloise rolled her eyes as she took another sip of her drink. Wrapping her arms around him, she pressed a gentle kiss to his lips.

“How did the meeting go?”
“It… We’ll talk about it later.” He murmured against her ear.

Nodding, Penelope leaned further into Colin’s lap, her hands stroking his arms as Eloise and Colin made conversation. Resting her head on his shoulder, Penelope tuned out of Eloise and Colin’s conversation and closed her eyes, just letting herself be held by her husband. She could hear Colin asking Eloise about Philip and how he was doing, inviting them both round to the house, but Penelope couldn’t find it in herself to actually partake in the conversation.

Unsure how long Penelope was zoned out for, she was brought back to the present by Colin gently nudging her. She slid off his lap and he got up too, following Eloise to the door.

“You sure you’re not going to stay a little longer?”
“No, I should head back. I only came for a bit to see how you guys were doing and I feel like you need some time alone to just talk about stuff so I’ll get out of your hair.”

Nodding in agreement, Colin gave his sister a hug.

“Thank you for checking in on us. And I was serious, you and Philip should come round soon. It’s been a while. And you should come before I have to head off to Rome.”
“I’ll go home and talk to him and then I’ll let you know when we both have some time.”

Bidding Eloise goodbye, Colin and Penelope shut the door behind her. Taking his hand, Penelope led him into the living room and they sat down on the sofa.

“What happened?” Penelope asked, unable to stop herself from just doing what she wanted to know.

With a sigh, Colin began to explain all that had transpired and Penelope felt her heart dropping further and further into her body. She hadn’t necessarily wanted for them to have to make their relationship public, but she had hoped that perhaps Colin would be able to put a break on all the PR content with Marina. So hearing that Colin would have to ramp it up instead…

“I didn’t argue with the execs but I don’t have time to be seen with Marina because I’m off to Rome soon to film the next film and after that we’ll start getting busy with promotions for 'Romancing Mr Mayfair' and that’s very much a whole cast thing so she and I won’t have time together alone. And also by that time, I hope things start to calm down on their own anyway.”

When Penelope stayed quiet, Colin reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze as he shuffled closer to her.

“I know this isn’t what you wanted to hear and I’m not happy with it either but I… And Will and Mic too felt like there was nothing much else we could do. Trust me Penelope, if I could have it my way, I’d go on instagram now and post our wedding pictures and shut everyone up. But the fine I’d have to pay for breaching contract would mess with our finances and…”

Sighing, Penelope nodded as she covered his hand with her own. She understood what he was trying to say. While they were doing well financially, both with his income and hers, if he had to return money, it would mess with their financial plans and their house, their dream house that they had worked so long and hard for, they would probably start struggling to make ends meet.

“We’ll be okay.” Penelope finally said as she curled into Colin. “Everything will be fine, we can make it all work out.”

*****

After Colin’s meeting with the execs, he decided to maintain a low profile, spending time either at home or with his siblings at their houses. It was annoying and he felt like he was hiding out, but he really didn’t want to get papped again and he really didn’t want to subject Penelope to more harassment if they were seen together.

Soon enough, Colin was deep in his script, getting ready for his next film and he found himself not minding that he wasn’t going out much. He needed the time at home to just focus on his script so that he could be prepared before he arrived in Rome.

While Colin was preparing for his next role, Penelope was busy, working away on her next book. As she threw herself into her writing, she found herself forgetting about all the people out there who were speaking negatively of her and her affiliation with Colin.

A week before Colin was set to fly out to Rome, Penelope had a book reading and signing event at the Piccadilly Waterstones store and she was quite excited for it. She had only done a signing at the Piccadilly store once before and so she couldn’t wait to do it again, especially because she was going to read the prologue of her next book as a surprise.

On the day of the event, Colin leaned against their bedroom door as he watched Penelope get ready, a small smile playing on his lips as he watched his wife. Excitement was oozing out of her body and he was glad to see that because it had been a while since she’d looked so excited and carefree.

Smoothing down her skirt, Penelope turned this way and that, trying to get an all round look at herself.

“You look beautiful baby, from every angle.”
“My butt doesn’t look big does it?”

Tilting his head, a dirty grin played on Colin’s lips.

“Your butt looks incredible.”
“Colin!”

Walking into the room, he closed the distance between them, his hand reaching for her arse and giving it a squeeze and then a slap. Practically moaning, Penelope’s eyes locked on his.

“Yup, looks and feels amazing.”

Laughing, Penelope stepped away from him as she went back to the mirror, fluffing up her hair as she picked up her lipgloss.

“Are you excited?” Colin asked as he sat down on the edge of the bed.
“So excited. I love doing signings and to do a first read of my new book is also so exciting.”
“Your fans are going to love it, I just know it.”
“I really hope so. But if they don’t, that’s okay too because I still have time to switch things up a bit before it goes in for publishing.”
“You won’t need to change anything about it, trust me, it’s so good.”
“Thank you.” Penelope beamed as she threw her lipgloss into her bag.
“Is Alice going to be with you?”
“Yup.”
“Okay, that’s good. And your sure I can’t come with you?”

Tilting her head to the side, Penelope gave Colin a knowing look and he sighed as he nodded. He knew he couldn’t go with her because they ran the risk of people seeing him, but he really wanted to go with her. He wanted to support his wife but he also wanted to make sure that she would be okay.

“I appreciate the thought but honestly Colin, you being there may do worse than it would do good.”
“I know, I just worry about you.”
“I know baby, but you don’t have to worry. I’ve done stuff like this plenty of times and besides, Alice will be there anyway.”
“Alice is a force, I know she’ll make sure everything runs smoothly.”
“Exactly. Alice is the Will to my Colin, just like how nothing gets by Will, nothing gets passed Alice either.”
“We really did hit the jackpot with those two. Who could have ever imagined that our family friends would be agents in our chosen industries and would end up being the best friends and the best agents we could have ever asked for.”
“The universe definitely is on our side.”
“I like to believe that too baby.” Colin confirmed as he got back up to his feet and draped his arms around his wife.

Shrugging out of his hold, Penelope went about grabbing her things as she left the bedroom, Colin following her out.

“I need to get going, Alice is going to be waiting for me.”
“Are you guys sure you don’t want me to drop you off?”
“It’s so much easier to just take the tube.”
“I know but…”
“Stop worrying, everything is going to be fine. Will you be at home when I get back?”
“I don’t have any plans to leave the house at all so yeah, I should be here when you get back.”
“Okay, I’ll see you in a couple of hours then.”

Colin nodded as Penelope rose up onto her toes and kissed Colin goodbye. Wrapping his arms around her, he attempted to deepen the kiss but Penelope pulled away, giggling quietly.

“You’re going to mess up my lipgloss.”
“Just redo it.” He replied huskily, trying to pull her back into himself.
“You’ll get it all over and around my mouth and it’ll mess up the rest of my make up.”

Groaning, Colin let her go and stepped back.

“Okay fine, I won’t make a mess of your perfect face, but promise me, if you need anything, you’ll call me or you’ll get Alice to call me.”
“Nothing is going to happen, but yes, I promise I’ll call.”

Pulling her into himself one more time, he gave her a hug and kissed the top of her head before walking her to the door. Part of Colin knew he was being overly cautious, but he couldn’t help but feel worried. Things had calmed down, but this was going to be the first time Penelope was going to be out and about in such a public manner and he was worried that someone would say something. But maybe he was worrying for no reason. After all, the people who would want to see her would be fans who care about her work. It would all be okay, he just needed to relax.

*****

About an hour later, Penelope and Alice had arrived at Waterstones and were met with a few members of her regular security team and Will.

“Will! What are you doing here?”

Penelope gave her friend a hug, letting herself be engulfed by his large frame before pulling away.

“Alice was getting security organised and I thought, I might as well join you guys seeing as I didn’t have anything else on today. And an extra pair of eyes and arms is always good to have.”
“Well thank you for coming, I appreciate you.”

The manager greeted them at the door and then had them waiting in the staff room, enjoying a quick drink while they got the fans in and settled. Excitement was coming off of Penelope in waves as she read over her prologue, just familiarising herself with it so she didn’t stumble with nerves later. She didn’t usually get nervous at events like this, but with everything else that had been going on, she felt a little on edge.

“Relax Penelope, I can literally see the tension in your shoulders.”
“I’m fine I just… Just a little worried someone is going to mention the Colin stuff.”
“That’s why I’m here Pen, I’ll handle it. But I don’t think you have anything to worry about, these events are usually nice and calm and we usually only get people who read your work so I think it’s going to be a pretty normal affair.”
“I hope so.”
“You’ve got this Pen, just relax, it’s going to be fine.”

*****

Just as Alice had said, the event started off great. Penelope started with a reading from her favourite chapter of ‘Romancing Mr Mayfair’ and then went onto reading the prologue for her next novel. Alice kept an eye on the crowd the entire time and it looked like she had been right, that everyone who was in attendance was there because they loved Penelope and her work. Penelope had the crowd completely captivated, they were listening to every word she was saying. It was all going great.

And then they went into the Q&A portion of the event. The questions she got initially were all very much about her books that were already relaxed and that people had already read. They asked her things like where did the ideas come from, or who was the book inspired by etc. it wasn’t until they were reaching the end of the Q&A portion that someone finally asked about ‘Romancing Mr Mayfair.’

“Hi, so I wanted to ask, with ‘Romancing Mr Mayfair’ becoming a film, how much involvement did you have with the writing process for the film? Or were you involved in any other way?”
“Great question and truthfully, I have no involvement with the film at all. That was a choice that I made. They did offer to have me on the project as an executive producer but I discussed with my team and I just didn’t think it was for me, at least not at this stage in my life. When Universal first proposed that they would like to turn 'Romancing Mr Mayfair' into a film, my team and I had to look at a lot of their initial drafts and things to ensure that we were happy to go ahead, but after that, we’ve had no involvement in the process. If I am lucky enough to have another one of my books turned into a film, I think I would like to join the project as an EP, but for this one, I think I was just happy to see the wonderful people at Universal take my story and turn it into a film.”
“Does that mean you have no involvement in the casting either?”
“That’s right, I had nothing to do with casting.”

The girl who had asked that question thanked Penelope and then sat back down. The manager of the store asked if anyone else had any other questions and someone else put their hand up. The manager called on them and the lady stood up.

“My question is, and I think a lot of people are thinking this, are you really having an affair with Colin Bridgerton?”

There it was, the thing she was dreading the most. The event had been going so well, her guard had been down, she truly believed that the people who were there were there only for her work. But of course she was wrong. Of course.

Before Penelope could reply, Alice stepped forward, a firm hand on Penelope’s shoulder.

“Please can we keep the questions relevant to Ms Featheringtons work and we would appreciate if you did not indulge in rumours about her. Do you have another question?”
“If it’s not true, why can’t you guys just say it isn’t true.”
“We do not feel it is necessary to give air to mindless gossip.”

The lady raised an eyebrow, a look of amusement on her face.

“I’m not having an affair with Colin Bridgerton.” Penelope said quietly, because it was true.

Colin was her husband so why couldn’t she openly tell people that she wasn’t having an affair with him. Penelope’s response didn’t seem to do it for the questioner though.

“If you’re not having an affair with him, why were you with him in LA, leaving the awards with his arm around you?”
“I…”
“And we saw the picture of you wearing his hoodie. And I’m sure you and your team will argue that it wasn’t Colin’s hoodie but it wasn’t a normal Gap hoodie, it was designer. What were the odds of us seeing Colin travel in it and then seeing you in the location he traveled to wearing that same hoodie.”

Penelope had nothing to say because she knew the person had a point. She hadn’t even thought about it when she’d slipped Colin’s hoodie on to grab a coffee. She did it all the time at home, she hadn’t even thought twice not to wear his clothes.

“Your silence is answer enough. You’re having an affair with Colin Bridgerton.”

The room erupted with noise and Penelope felt herself beginning to panic. This couldn’t be happening. This shouldn’t be happening. Alice and the manager of the store were trying to do their best to get the situation under control but they were struggling. The event goers were riled up now, talking with one another, taking pictures and just being generally overwhelming. Feeling it all beginning to get out of hand, Penelope’s security team stepped in in an attempt to calm the crowds.

“Wait I know you!” Someone said upon seeing Will. “You’re on Colin Bridgerton’s team!”

If the crowd hadn’t already been riled up, that did it. Now they were all looking at Will, taking his presence as confirmation that Penelope and Colin were having an affair. As Will closed the distance between himself and Penelope, he could hear people muttering about how his presence there was basically confirmation that Colin and Penelope were together. As much as he knew he should keep his mouth shut, he turned to the people in the room.

“I am not here because of Colin Bridgerton, I am simply here because Alice, Penelope’s agent, is my wife. So can everyone please settle down otherwise we will need to bring this event to an end.”

Alice nodded appreciatively at Will before turning her attention back to Penelope, dropping to her knees beside her and placing a gentle hand on Penelope’s arm.

“Pen, are you okay?”
“I can’t… I can’t breathe.”

With all the chaos, Alice hadn’t noticed that Penelope was hyperventilating, but she could see it now and she felt herself beginning to panic.

“Will!” Alice called over.

Springing into action, Will held Penelope’s arm as he and Alice helped her up and quickly rushed her towards the staff room. A member of staff noticed what was going on and unlocked the staff room for them and shut the door behind them to give them privacy.

“Pen, listen to me, you’re okay now. We’ve got you, you’re safe. We’ll get this all under control.”

Spotting the water cooler on the other side of the room, Will quickly crossed the room and grabbed Penelope a glass of water. Handing it to Alice, she helped Penelope take small sips, reminding her over and over again that she was safe and it was all going to be okay. When Penelope’s breathing finally evened out, she realised just what happened and tears slowly began to stream down her face.

“I’m going to call Colin.” Will said to Alice as he back to pull his phone out of his pocket.

Shaking her head, Penelope brushed her tears away and got to her feet.

“Please don’t call Colin. If you do that, he’s going to be here in a heartbeat and all he’s going to do is make everything worse. Please, don’t tell him.”
“Penelope…”
“I promise, I’m fine now. Please don’t call Colin, he’s just worry and then he’ll come marching down here.”

While conflicted, Will knew Penelope was right and so put his phone back into his pocket.

“What do you want to do now?” Alice asked Penelope. “If you don’t want to go back out there, I can go and tell everyone that we’re done for the day.”

Thinking about it for a moment, Penelope shook her head.

“No, no. I don’t think we should do that. Just give me a few moments to sort myself out and then we can get back out there and finish the book signing.”
“Are you sure? No one expects you to go back out there. What happened today… It shouldn’t have happened Penelope and I’m so sorry. I told you it would be okay and…”
“It’s not your fault Alice! You have nothing to say sorry for. You didn’t make this happen, so you have nothing to worry about.”
“I know but…”

Shaking her head, Penelope downed her glass of water and then looked around. Spotting the bathroom, she got to her feet, grabbed her bag and let Will and Alice know that she would be right back after sorting herself out.

With Penelope in the bathroom, Will decided to take the opportunity to check that the situation outside had been sorted, leaving Alice on her own to wait for Penelope. In the bathroom, Penelope looked at herself in the mirror and told herself that she could do this. She just had to calm herself down, put a smile on her face and just get back out there for another hour or so to sign some books and then she could go home. With a little nod, Penelope braced herself and got back out there.

*****

Many hours later, hearing the door open, Colin got to his feet and rushed out of the living room to meet his wife at the door, a wide smile on his face.

“Babe you’re home! I’ve got to hot tub going so give it a few minutes and it’ll be ready for you.”

As Colin approached the door and he laid his eyes on Penelope, he knew something was wrong. For one thing, Alice and Will were stood in the doorway with her, looking a little tense.

“Alice, Will? Good to see you both but what are you…”

Penelope turned to Alice and Will and gave them a hug in turn before telling them that she really needed to just sit down. They said goodbye and she walked off, taking her hair down as she went. Turning back to their friends, Colin raised an eyebrow and waited for someone to tell him what was going on. Will explained to Colin exactly what had gone down, and he felt every muscle in his body tense as he looked over his shoulder to see where Penelope went.

“We got things under control by the time she went back outside for the signing, but she was clearly shaken up. She put a brave face on through it all but by the time she got back into the car, she just deflated.”

As much as Colin wanted to rant about the situation, he knew that now wasn’t the time. For now he just needed to go to his wife and be with her.

“I appreciate you guys bringing her home. I would ask you to stay for a cup of tea but…”
“No, no it’s fine. We need to get going so we can let the babysitter go and we know you and Penelope need some time, so we’re going to head out.”

As Colin said goodbye to the Mondrichs and shut the door behind them, he rushed through the house and our into the garden. The hot tub was situated at the back of Colin and Penelope’s garden, in a little outhouse which didn’t have much except the hot tub and a bathroom. Stepping inside, Colin found his wife, completely naked and her face scrubbed of her make up as she lowered herself into the tub. The moment her body hit the water, he could hear her sigh and he watched as she shut her eyes and leaned back against the headrest. Hastily removing his own clothes, Colin contemplated making the short walk to the little chest of drawers where he and Penelope kept their swimwear, but he decided it wasn’t worth it, he’d just get in in his boxers. Doing exactly that, he slipped into the water beside her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her into himself.

Opening her eyes, Penelope gave him a small smile as she melted into his side.

“Hey.”
“You okay?”
“I don’t know.” Penelope replied honestly. “Did Alice and Will tell you what happened?”
“They did. Do you… Do you want to talk about it?”

Shaking her head, Penelope wrapped her arms tightly around his torso as she rest her head against his chest. They stayed like that for a while, Colin running his hand up and down her back, letting the bubbles and the jet streams massage their bodies. Colin could feel Penelope’s muscles easing up under his touch until she finally let him go and sat back on her seat properly, pulling her knees up underneath her.

“I just wasn’t expecting it. I never thought… I just didn’t expect to be ambushed at something like that. I thought everyone that was there would be there for me. I hadn’t thought…”
“I’m so sorry baby.”
“It’s not your fault! It’s… People are just… Why can’t they just leave us alone? Why does it matter so much to them whether you’re with me or whether you’re with Marina? It makes no difference to their lives so why…”
“I know, people are just heavily invested I guess.”
“I hate it. I’m not even doing anything to take away from their delusions. I’m not thrusting it anyone’s face that you’re my husband. I’m not screaming and shouting and constantly posting about you, so why can’t they just leave me alone.”

Pulling her into himself again, Colin kissed the top of her head, not sure what to say but wanting to make it all better. He ran his hands along her flushed skin, murmuring sweet nothings as he went along.

“I was thinking, maybe you should come to Rome with me.”

Moving away from him, Penelope looked up at him, her eyebrows raised.

“What?”
“Come to Rome with me. I don’t feel comfortable leaving you home on your own with all of this happening and I know Michaela will be able to sort your tickets and stuff in no time.”
“Colin, you can’t be serious.”
“Of course I am.”

Shaking her head, Penelope moved further away from him, suddenly feeling very naked and covering her chest with her arms.

“I can’t just keep dropping everything and flying to wherever to be with you. I have my own career Colin, I have meetings and deadlines and… I can’t! Not to mention if anyone sees us, it’ll be a scandal all over again.”
“I know all that but Rome isn’t the same as LA or London, no one’s going to be stood around with a camera ready to catch us out. As for work, you said it yourself, for the first week while I’m away, you don’t have much going on, hence why you were going to spend time with El. So why don’t you come with me and we can get a little break out of it.”

She knew he had a point because he was right, for that first week while he was supposed to be away, she didn’t have much on. She only had one meting, but other than that, it was just using the time to get ahead on her writing. She could write in Rome while he was at work and then they could spend their free time together. But at the same time, did she really want to risk being seen with him again. She was still dealing with the aftermath of being seen with him in LA, could she really add to that?

Scooting closer to her once more, Colin wrapped his arm around her as he pulled her into himself.

“Please think about it Penelope, I think.. I think it could be okay. I think we could make it work.”
“You keep saying that but something keeps going wrong each time and I don’t know if I have it in me to keep going doing in circles.”
“Baby please, at least sleep on it.”

With a sigh, Penelope nodded because she knew, she was going to think about it and she also knew she was probably going to agree, but perhaps she shouldn’t. Could she really deal with any more harassment and scrutiny? Did she want to deal with any more of it?

“Okay, I’ll think about it.” Penelope said after a long pause and Colin grinned, pulling her in for a kiss.

Chapter Text

Despite telling herself she’d made the wrong choice, as soon as their plane landed in Rome, Penelope was struggling to see why she had been fighting it for as long as she had. As they slipped into the car that was waiting for them, Penelope curled into Colin’s side, her head resting against his chest. For a week, she had debated whether or not she would join Colin, but ultimately, she gave in. She would only stay in Rome for about 6 days and she had to work while he was working, but at least they could spend their evenings together.

Unlike when they went to LA, Colin didn’t bother to seek approval from Universal before going ahead with Michaela sorting out Penelope’s ticket. He didn’t feel it necessary because he knew they were just going to cause a fuss anyway. He and Penelope knew what they needed to do in order to keep themselves out of the public eye and they intended to do that.

Once checked into the hotel, a far more humble suite than what they were used to on account of the production company for this movie being a relatively small one, Penelope quickly began to unpack their bags.

“Babe, there’s no rush.”
“There is! There’s so much for us to do and so little time.”
“You know, anything we miss off this time, we can always come back again.”

Shaking her head, Penelope pulled out a flowy maxi dress out of her case and draped it over the sofa.

“We only have today when we can actually go out while the sun is still out, so I want us to do some of the major tourist spots. After that, we can start working through your list of restaurants you want us to try together.”

She had a point and he knew that, so he agreed, making his way over to his own case and began to unpack. They didn’t have time to unpack everything, but Colin pulled out his outfit that he wanted to wear out and grabbed his bag of toiletries and put them aside. Taking out her own bag of toiletries, Penelope began making her way towards the bathroom.

“I’m just going to take a quick shower to freshen up and then we can start getting ready.”
“I think I’d quite like a shower too. Mind if I hop in with you?”

Raising an eyebrow at her husband, Penelope placed her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes at him.

“You can, only if you promise that you won’t try anything.”
“I shall keep my hands to myself for the entire duration of the shower.”
“And your mouth.”
“And my mouth. Scouts honour.”
“You weren’t a scout so that means nothing.” Laughed Penelope as she opened the bathroom door and gestured for Colin to join her.

*****

As Penelope suspected, her husband had been incapable of keeping his hands to himself but she also decided she wasn’t going to complain about it. She loved knowing that he found her so irresistible, that he always wanted her so much. And despite the fact that they had gotten handsy with one another and fooled around, they hadn’t got each other off. Penelope wasn’t sure if Colin did that on purpose, but now she was on edge, unable to keep her eyes off of her husband as he got dressed.

“Stop staring at me, we have things to do remember.”
“You are a menace Colin Bridgerton.”
“But I’m your menace.”

Rolling her eyes, Penelope went back to getting dressed, forcing herself to take her eyes off of her husband. She’d have her way with him later, but right now, he was right, they did have things to do.

*****

Colin and Penelope spent the day enjoying everything that Rome had to offer, only stopping momentarily to grab a bite to eat. They’d been around to all the staple sites including the Colosseum and the Pantheon and planned to end their day at the Trevi fountain. It was still insanely busy, but it wasn’t as busy as they had thought it would be. Colin handed Penelope a coin and for a moment she had to think about what she wanted to wish for. Everything she could have ever wanted, she had. She had the dream that she had always dreamt of, what more could she possibly wish for? Actually, there was something…

Closing her eyes, Penelope stood before the fountain and made her wish.

“I wish for peace in my life and in our marriage.”

Tossing the coin in, Penelope opened her eyes and turned to Colin who still had his eyes closed and she watched as he tossed the coin into the fountain. As he opened his eyes, she took his hand into her own.

“What did you wish for?” Penelope asked.
“I can’t tell you that, it won’t come true if I tell you.”
“Tell me.” Penelope urged playfully, giving him a nudge.
“Only if you tell me.” Colin countered.

Shaking her head, Penelope turned away from him.

“Okay fine, I won’t ask what you wished for and I won’t tell you what I wished for.”
“That’s for the best.”

After quickly snapping a selfie and giving way to other people, Colin and Penelope began to make their way back towards their hotel, hand in hand. It wasn’t the shortest of walks, but they decided to make an evening of it, talking and laughing as they watched the sun going down. The sky was tinged with red and purple, the moon rising and illuminating everything around them. Penelope had to take a snapshot of this moment in her mind because she knew, this was the perfect backdrop for the ending of one of her books. The moment was simply perfect.

*****

When they finally arrived back at the hotel, they were both absolutely exhausted, barely able to brush their teeth and wash their face before collapsing into bed. Draping an arm over her, Colin pulled Penelope into himself, her nose only a hair’s breath away from his.

“Did you enjoy today?”
“It was perfect.”
“I agree, it was absolutely perfect.”
“Are you excited for your first day on a new project?”
“I am, but at the same time, I’m not. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever done before and I don’t know what to expect. An entirely CGI set is definitely going to be very interesting.”
“You’ll do amazingly, you always do. I believe in you baby.”

Trailing his fingers along her cheek, Colin smiled at at her.

“It’s because I have you in my corner, always cheering me on and telling me I can do whatever I set my heart on.”
“You’ve always done the same for me.”
“That’s what a marriage is I guess. We always have each others back, without question and without limits.”

Taking his hand into her own, Penelope gave his fingers a squeeze as she shuffled closer to him.

“Always.” Colin confirmed.

They smiled at one another, their natural gravity causing them to lean into one another. Cupping the side of Penelope’s neck, Colin drew her into himself, his lips finding hers in a gentle kiss. Penelope sighed into the kiss as she moved closer to him, her own hand cupping his face and she drew him closer. What started as a slow, lazy, almost innocent kiss instantly heated up, Colin’s hand rubbing up and down her body before settling on her ass and pulling her flush against himself. Lifting a leg over her, he used it and his hand to pull her even closer to himself, bringing her groin flush against his own.

Deepening the kisses, Colin began rolling Penelope onto her back, his hips rolled into hers, making his desire for her known. Groaning into his mouth, Penelope wrapped both arms around his neck, her own hips rolling against his. Even with layers of clothes between them, Penelope could feel his hard length, hot and heavy, against her. Placing her hand on his chest, she broke the kiss and looked up at him.

“I’m ovulating.”

Colin nodded, understanding what she meant as he lowered his mouth to hers again, his hands sliding into her cami top, his fingers locking on her breasts. He trailed his kisses down from her lips to her cheeks, her chin and then down her neck, to the tops of her breasts…

He undressed them both in record time and brushed his length against her folds, making her shudder with need. Trailing kisses down her body again, his hands caressed every inch of her until his lips latched on one of her nipples and his hand slid between her legs. A strangled moan left Penelope as her fingers laced into his hair, keeping his head in place.

Feeling on edge almost instantly, Penelope attempted to squeeze her legs shut around his hand. Moving over her more fully, Colin used his body to keep her open to himself, as his fingers plunged into her over and over again while he used his thumb to keep pressure on her clit. Her hips rose against him, unable to keep up with his ministrations, moans leaving her over and over again. He sucked firmly on her nipple, his own hips moving on their own accord, thrusting into the bed.

“Colin please.”

He release her nipple with an obscene pop, his eyes dark as he looked down at her.

“Please what?”
“I need you.”
“What do you need baby?” He asked, hand moving more slowly now, barely caressing as he waited for her response.
“Inside.”

With a smirk that Penelope could only describe as downright dirty, Colin nodded eagerly as he pushed himself up onto his arms, nudging Penelope’s legs further apart. He ran his fingers through her folds one more time before brushing his cock against her. Penelope moaned at the feel of his hooded length passing against her clit, her legs moving on their own accord to rest on his lower back. In one easy motion, Colin was inside her, his eyes locked on hers as he began moving right away, unable to stop himself. Penelope urged him to go on, her feet locking tightly around him, her nails digging into his upper arms. Their coupling was urgent and frantic with panting breaths against each others mouths. Between incoherent moans, Penelope urged for more, her fingers pressing into his skin as she rolled her hips to meet his. They kept going, him pushing into her harder and faster until he could feel their releases brewing.

Groaning against her ear, Colin turned his face into her.

“One day, I’ll spill inside you when you’re ovulating, and our baby will take root inside you.”

Moaning, Penelope held him closer to herself, her muscles fluttering at the mention of their baby.

“You like that don’t you, the idea that it would be so easy for me to get you pregnant right now.”
“Colin…”
“One day baby, one day. Soon.”

She was beginning to clamp around him tightly, making it harder for him to pull out each time. When she finally came, her muscles spasming almost painfully around him and Colin hastily had to pull himself out and take himself into hand. Penelope watched as her husband vigorously worked his length and then spilled onto her stomach. There used to be a time, before Colin, when she would have been absolutely grossed out by a man coming on her in such a manner, but with Colin… God, it was so fucking erotic.

When he stopped coming, Colin collapsed onto the bed, half on Penelope, half off. Running her fingers through his hair, she murmured sweet nothings into his ear until he finally turned to her, his eyes still dark with desire.

“Talking about getting you pregnant really gets you going doesn’t it?” Colin asked with a lazy grin.
“Shut up.” Penelope slapped his arm playfully as she felt her cheeks heat.
“Nothing to be shy about. Thinking about getting you pregnant really gets me going too.”
“You have a breeding kink, Mr Bridgerton.”
“If I do, then so do you.”

Laughing to herself, Penelope let out a contented sigh because maybe her husband was onto something. Feeling some strength return to him, Colin reached for the box of tissues on the night stand and made light work of the mess that he’d made on his wife and then cleaned himself off before tossing the tissues into the bin. With both of them cleaned off, Colin lay on his back, pulled Penelope into his chest and she wrapped herself around him, kissing his chest.

“I’m only this way with you.” Penelope said finally as she pulled the covers around herself.
“Good, because I don’t intend to let you go anyway.”
“You and me forever and always.”
“Forever and always baby.”

*****

After a blissful week under the Italian sun and after multiple servings of pizza, pasta and sex, Penelope finally packed her bag as she got ready to go home. Colin watched her from the other side of the room, feeling his heart sink further and further into his chest as Penelope loaded her suitcase up with all her stuff.

“Are you sure we can’t extend your stay?” Colin finally asked, getting to his feet.
“Colin, we’ve been over this so many times, I can’t.”

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Colin edged closer to Penelope, handing her her dress that was on the bed.

“Anything you’re going to go home and do, you can do from here. You said it yourself. You don’t have many in person engagements between now and when I get back so…”
“I know, but the couple I do have are really important.”
“Surely you can find a way to move them along a little.”

The first few times that they had had this conversation, Penelope had laughed it off, feeling warm that her husband wanted her to stay close to him. But the more that they talked about it, the more annoyed she was beginning to feel. Putting down the item of clothing that she’d been folding, she looked up at Colin.

“I’m not some groupie, I can’t just follow you around and put my own life on hold.”
“I’m not asking you to! I’m just asking you to stay a little longer.”
“And I’ve explained to you time and time again, I can’t. I can’t just move my meetings or not turn up for them because I don’t want to leave you. My career is just as important to me as yours and by asking me to stay with you and push my meetings, you’re asking me to prioritise you and your career over my own.”
“I’m not saying that! Don’t put words in my mouth Pen.”

Colin and Penelope rarely argued. They always found a way to settle whatever it was before things came to head. But this argument had been brewing between them for a couple of days now and it seemed they were going to have to address it.

“I just don’t understand why you’re getting your back up about this. You said it yourself, you had wiggle room with these meetings so why don’t you…”
“Because as much as I could probably dial in remotely, these are important meetings about the future of my books and I’d quite like to look people in the eye so that I can get the best deal for myself.”
“You would be able to look them in the eye, just through a screen and Alice would be there in person and you know she would always fight tooth and nail for you.”
“But I want to have a fair shot at fighting for myself too! And besides, even if I did stay, you’re going to be super busy and we won’t even have time together any way. So what difference does it make if I’m in England or if I’m here.”
“The difference is, I can’t look out for you if you’re at home alone! What happens if you go to Sainsbury’s and someone makes a shitty comment and it upsets you? I won’t be home to comfort you!”
“I can handle myself Colin, I always have! I was fine handling myself before we got married and I’ll still be fine now! I get it, you’re worried, but I can manage.”
“I know you can but I want to be there for you, I want to be able to protect you.”

Feeling her anger dissipate slightly, Penelope’s shoulders dropped as she closed the distance between herself and Colin.

“You can’t always be there to protect me Colin, you can’t be my shadow and I can’t follow you around so that you can be my shadow. We are our own people as much as we are a couple. That’s what we love about each other, it’s what has helped us make our relationship what it is.”
“I’m just… I just don’t want you to have to deal with something while you’re alone.”

Wrapping her arms around him, she pressed her body close to his.

“It’ll be fine, I’ll be fine. And you’ll be home again in no time.”

Nodding, Colin simply leaned in and rest his forehead against Penelope’s. He knew what she was saying was correct and fair and he knew he was being a little unreasonable wanting her to stay, but the idea of not having her near was making him uncomfortable. There was also the fact that Marina would be coming out to Rome in a few days for the purpose of getting some staged papped content out and Colin was worried how that would have an impact on Penelope. She had said she was going to be fine with it, but he was still nervous. The drama that had followed on from their LA trip had only just died down and he was worried that if people saw him and Marina together again it would just bring everything back up again. But the studio were adamant that this would be a good idea and he couldn’t really argue it, not when he was already on thin ice with them.

Pulling away, Penelope tucked her hair behind her ears and gave him a little lopsided smile.

“It’s all going to be okay and then you’ll be at home with me again in no time.”
“Just promise me you won’t be home alone the entire time.”
“I won’t, I promise. Philippa has already said that she and Philomena will come and stay with me for a few days and then Hyacinth and Francesca were more than excited at the idea of having a few girls nights, so they’re going to be staying over. Eloise had said she’ll see what she can do and your mother has said she’d love to come and spend a few days with me. And I’ve already said to my mum that I’m going to hers and stay with her because it’s been a really long time since I’ve lived under the same roof as my mother and I kind of miss her. Even Alice offered for me to go and spend a few nights at theirs, but she and Will are so busy and they’ve got kids, I don’t want to intrude on the little time they get as a family.”
“Sounds like you’re not going to have time to miss me.”
“I don’t think I will! I’m actually quite excited to spend so much time with everyone.”

With another heavy sigh, Colin simply nodded as he took another step back towards her.

“Do you ever think that it might have been easier if I had just never taken that very first role?”

Contemplating it for a moment, Penelope shook her head.

“You were still travelling loads for work. Given, you were taking shorter trips, but you were still away a lot. I don’t think… I think we’re exactly where we’re supposed to be.”
“I just worry…”

Reaching for him, Penelope gave his arm a squeeze.

“Don’t worry about anything. We’re fine babe, everything is fine. We’re literally living the life we’ve always wanted for ourselves. Now, should we get into bed and watch a film?”

Grinning, Colin helped Penelope with the last of her packing and put her suitcase aside as they got into bed. As Penelope loaded up the film and Colin wrapped his arm around her, he couldn’t help but feel unsettled. As much as she’d said everything was alright, it didn’t feel like it. He felt unsettled and uneasy but he pushed his feelings aside and focused on the woman in his arms.

They were going to be okay, he was sure of it.

*****

The following morning, Penelope was up bright and early, ready to catch her flight and get back home. Colin was moving extra slowly, still not entirely on board with the fact that Penelope was going home. He wanted to appeal to her one last time, to ask her to stay, but the last thing he wanted was to piss her off just before she left. He knew there was no way in hell she was going to stay and so there was no point having another argument about it.

When they finally arrived at the airport, Colin handed Penelope her suitcase and her bag. One look at him, and she felt her heart crack as she took in his sad face.

“I know this isn’t what you want, but five weeks will pass in no time. And like you said, if you have a long enough gap, it’s a short flight home. You can come home, spend some time with me and then be back.”
“I will definitely try because I don't think I can be away from you for five whole weeks. That’s far too long.”

Giggling, Penelope shook her head as she wrapped her arms around Colin and pressed the gentlest of kisses to his lips. Just as she was ready to pull away, he held onto her more tightly and pulled her into himself, kissing her more urgently, his hands running up and down her body, needing to feel every inch of her so that he could commit the feel of her to memory. Not that he needed to do that, he knew how she felt, but still. He didn’t want to let her go just yet.

“Colin…”
“Just give me a moment baby.”

Nodding against him, Penelope melted into him, wrapping her arms tightly around him as she tucked her face into his chest. She wasn’t going to cry. It wasn’t necessary to cry. They were going to be in continuous contact with one another the whole time and five weeks would fly by, even if he couldn’t come home. There was nothing to get upset about, they could do this and they would. As they finally pulled away from one another, Penelope grabbed ahold of her suitcase once more.

“I should…” she jerked her head towards the terminal.
“Yeah you… Text me when you’re all sorted.”
“I will.” Penelope promised with a nod.
“I’ll see you soon Pen.”
“I love you Colin.”
“I love you too baby.”

With a nod, Penelope began to back up towards the terminal, waving to Colin as she went. He stood there and watched as she went inside and still stood there until he couldn’t see her anymore.

They were going to be okay, it was going to be fine.

*****

The flight was short and easy but by the time Penelope arrived on the doorstep of her mothers house, she was exhausted. Knocking on the door, she waited for her mum to open up and quickly shot Colin a text while she waited, just to let him know that she was home.

Throwing the door open, Portia Featherington grinned from ear to ear upon seeing her youngest daughter.

“Penelope dear, come on in.” Taking Penelope’s suitcase from her, Portia ushered her daughter in and shut the door behind her. “I thought you were going to call me and I was going to pick you up from the airport.”
“I decided to take the train. The tube ride from the airport to here is nice and easy so I thought I might as well.”
“I would have been happy to pick you up.”
“I know, but I didn’t want to trouble you and like I said, it’s such an easy tube ride I thought I might as well.”

As they entered the living room, Portia left Penelope’s suitcase to the side and she plopped her bag down on top of it before sitting down on the sofa.

“I have tea ready, I’ll just grab the tray and then you can tell me all about your time in Rome.”
“Can I just quickly go to the bathroom?”
“Of course. You can change out of your travelling clothes too if you want.”

With a nod, Penelope grabbed her stuff and headed up the stairs to her childhood bedroom. As she opened the door and stepped inside, she couldn’t help but smile as she looked around. Nothing had changed, her mother hadn’t done anything to her room in all the years that she’d been moved out. Putting her stuff down, Penelope flopped down onto her old bed and smiled to herself. If her walls could speak, they would remind her of the young girl who used to live in that room before. The one who hated her home life and who yearned for the attention and love of the boy who lived across the square. It felt so strange to know that years later, she was a completely different person. She now loved being around her family and in this very house, and the boy she yearned for was now the man she was married to. It felt surreal to think that there was once a time when she lay in her bed, replaying everything that Colin had said to her while she tried to work out if his words had a deeper meaning.

Shaking her thoughts aside, Penelope went about her business so that she could go back downstairs.

*****

“Mama Vi?”

Penelope was surprised to find her mother and her mother in law in deep conversation when she went downstairs. Turning to the doorway, Violet smiled widely as she got to her feet and closed the distance between herself and Penelope.

“Penelope dear, how are you?”
“I’m good, thank you, you?”
“I’m wonderful.”

As the two women parted, Violet gestured for Penelope to sit down. They got settled and Portia began pouring the teas and handing each person their cups.

”I called your mother to ask her to come over for tea at mine, but she said you’d just arrived home and that I should come and have tea with the both of you. Is that alright?”
“Of course! The kids didn’t come too?”
“No, Gregory is out with his friends and Hyacinth and Francesca have gone to Daphne’s.”

Nodding in understanding, Penelope turned her attention to her tea as her mother and mother in law went back to the conversation that they had been having before she had come downstairs. Sipping on her tea, she couldn’t help but think back to a time when her mother wasn’t necessarily fond of Violet Bridgerton. But then she and Colin had gotten engaged and a friendship had started to form between the two of them and now it was hard to believe that there was ever a time when they weren’t in each others pocket. Taking her phone out, Penelope shot Colin a quick message, just letting him know that she was chilling with their mothers. She waited for a moment, to see if he would reply. When he didn’t, she put her phone back into her pocket and carried on with her tea.

“So how was your trip?” Portia asked Penelope as she put down her cup. “Italy has always been such a special place for the both of you…”
“It was good, it was nice! We’ve not done Rome together before so we tried to do all the touristy stuff on the first two days we were there. After that, he had to start getting ready for the new project and I spent most of my time at the hotel.”
“Were you able to spend your evenings together at least?”
“We were. Some evening started a little later than others, but we did have dinner together every night.”
“I’m glad.” Portia concluded. “Remind me again how long Colin is going to be in Rome?”
“The initial schedule is for five weeks but they did tell him ahead of time that it could stretch to just over six. They can’t extend it much further than that though because almost soon after those six weeks are done, he’s going to have to start getting ready for the press tour for ‘Romancing Mr Mayfair.’”

Hearing this, Violet perked up and put her teacup down.

“Will you be a part of the press tour too considering you’re the author of the book that film is based on.”
“No, I won’t. When my team and I okayed for the movie to go ahead, we said that I wouldn’t be involved with the production of the film and so I have no part in the press and stuff.”
“Ah yes, of course. I do remember you and Alice telling me all about it at the time.”

The mothers quizzed Penelope on what the press tour would entail and what was next for her before Penelope began to feel really tired. When she struggled to hold back a yawn, both Portia and Violet became very aware of the fact that Penelope had been travelling and that she was probably really tired.

“Anyway, thank you for inviting me round Portia, and Penelope sweetheart, I hope you’re coming to stay with me sooner rather than later.”
“I’ll check with Fran and Hyacinth if they want to stay at mine first or if they would like me to stay with you guys first and then I’ll let you know.”

Wrapping her arms around her daughter in law, Violet kissed the top of Penelope’s head.

“You don’t have to let me know, just turn up. You know I always love having you to stay.”
“I know mama Vi.”
“And while staying here with your mother, I hope the both of you join me for tea.”
“We will.”

As they said their goodbyes, Penelope struggled to hold back a yawn as they shut the door behind Violet.

“Get to bed Penelope. Would you like me to wake you up in a few hours for a bit of dinner?”
“No, it’s alright mama. If I wake up, I’ll find myself something to eat but I’m so tired, I feel like I’m just going to crash out to be honest.”
“Okay, well get some rest and I’ll see you in the morning.”

The sun was still very much out but Penelope bid her mother goodnight and made her way up to her room, shutting the door behind her. Pulling her phone out of her pocket, she checked to see if Colin had replied to her but he hadn’t yet. With a sigh, Penelope put her phone aside and quickly got changed into her pyjamas and slipped into bed. Almost as soon as her head hit the pillow, she was out like a light.

*****

Over the next few days, Penelope spent a significant amount of time with her mother. Be it just hanging around when her mum was preparing meals, or spending time in the living room watching television together. They hadn’t really ventured out because they hadn’t needed to, and Penelope was just enjoying being in her childhood home and working on her book.

She hadn’t been able to speak to Colin much on account of him being super busy, but they made it a habit to check in on one another before they went to bed. But even then, their phone calls seemed to be getting shorter and shorter and Penelope was beginning to feel uneasy about it, not that she would ever admit that to anyone.

As Penelope spent her last day at Portia's house, she was talking to Philippa while playing with Philomena. Penelope had been pleasantly surprised to have survived almost a week with Portia without her mother bringing up the fact that she and Colin didn’t have a baby yet. She knew her mother meant well, but it was tedious having the same conversation over and over again. Philomena gurgled excitedly as Penelope pretended that the teddy bear was getting into the car and driving off.

“Don’t tell Pru this, but you are definitely Philomena’s favourite aunt.”

Grinning, Penelope scooped her niece into her arms and gave her a cuddle.

“Am I your favourite?”

Philomena babbled excitedly again, thrashing her arms and grinning happily at Penelope.

“I’m going to take that as a yes.” Laughed Penelope.
“Because you and Colin babysit her, she’s definitely more comfortable around you. She likes being with Prudence too, but she definitely seems more herself with you.”
“I love that for us.”
“Speaking of Colin, have you been speaking to him regularly?”
“We try to get a call in every night before bed but the last couple of nights, he’s had late shoots so we’ve not really been able to. And well…” Penelope trailed off, her cheeks turning pink.
“Well what?”
“Nothing, it’s just…”
“Penny, what’s going on?”

Sighing and realising that she’d backed herself into a corner, Penelope knew she needed to tell her family the truth.

“Universal have sent Marina out to Rome to get some promo in.”

Brows furrowing, Philippa looked between Penelope and her mother.

“What kind of promo content?”
“Just some pictures of the two of them around Rome, doing tourist stuff.”
“You mean like the stuff you and Colin did together.”
“Yeah.”

Portia shook her head, getting to her feet to leave the room before she said something that she knew Penelope would not approve of. But Philippa remained seated.

“How are you alright with this?”
“I don’t want to get into this.”
“I know you don’t, but I think you need to because I don’t get it. I know you Penelope and I know you can’t be alright with this. Even when we were all kids, you hated other girls fluttering around Colin because you’d decided he was yours. Now he really is yours, how are you so okay with the world thinking he’s dating someone else? How are you okay with having to do things in secret with him but then having him do the same things with another woman?”
“Because I know it’s not real! It doesn’t mean anything! He doesn’t actually have feelings for Marina, nor is there actually anything going on between them. I’m secure enough in our relationship to know what he’s doing right now, is just a part of a job. I gave him my blessing to pursue this role and all that it entailed. I can’t suddenly tell him I’m not okay with all of this when I told him at the start, that it was all okay and that I had no issue with it.”

Little Philomena looked between her mum and her aunt, unable to understand why they were speaking with their voices raised all of a sudden. Her little chin wobbled and Penelope scooped her up into her arms and gave her a cuddle, rocking her gently. Philippa scooted closer to her sister, resting a gentle hand on her arm.

“Are you unwilling to say anything because you’re truly alright with what’s happening or are you pretending to be alright so that you don’t have to go back on your word? You are allowed to change your mind about something. You are human, feelings change, and I don’t think Colin would ever resent you if you admitted that while you were alright with it all in theory, you’re feeling uncomfortable about it now. He loves you Penny, he’ll understand.”
“I don’t want to be that kind of insecure and flakey wife. I don’t want him to go forward thinking that I’m going to change up my mind about things after I’ve already said I’m alright with it.”
“This isn’t something small. I know he won’t think you’re a flake.”

Shaking her head, Penelope gently handed Philomena over to her sister.

“It’s all almost over anyway. The press tour will start soon and then in no time, it’ll be over and we’ll never have to deal with Marina and any of this nonsense again.”
“But what if his next role requires him to something similar?”
“I don’t… surely they wouldn’t? It wouldn’t work a second time round, people would see through it.”
“But what if they do?”
“I don’t know, alright?”

Beginning to feel really frustrated, Penelope got to her feet.

“I’m going to grab us some more snacks.”

*****

Later that evening, as Penelope got ready for bed, she couldn’t stop thinking about what she and Philippa had talked about. When she’d returned with the snacks, her sister had dropped the topic, but it didn’t change the fact that Penelope couldn’t stop thinking about it. She knew her sister had a point and she knew she probably had to be honest with her feelings about it all, but at the same time, it felt pointless. There was nothing Colin could do about it and if she said anything, he would want to make it all better for her but he wouldn’t be able to do anything about it because of his contract. It was all such a mess and all she wanted was to bury her head in the sand and wait until it was all over.

As Penelope slipped into bed, she checked her phone, curious to see if Colin had texted her while she’d been in the bathroom. Nothing. Letting out a frustrated sigh, she pulled the covers up around her and closed her eyes.

*****

Penelope was awoken the following morning not by the sound of her alarm but by the sound of her phone notifications going off. Still feeling groggy, Penelope blindly reached for her phone and looked at her Notification Centre. It was an endless stream of people tagging her instagram handle but there was no messages. Slightly confused, Penelope rubbed her eyes as she sat up. She never got this many tags on instagram. When she posted book content, she often got a fair few comments at a time, but she usually turned notifications off at that point so her phone wouldn’t go mad. But she hadn’t posted anything recently so to have this many comments coming in in quick succession… Curious Penelope went into instagram and clicked on the first comment and it took her Deuxmoi’s post.

———

Deuxmoi: * posts a carousel of photos of Colin and Marina at different locations around Rome looking happy and cosy together *

Exclusive! Colin Bridgerton and Marina Thompson of upcoming blockbuster ‘Romancing Mr Mayfair’ were seen traipsing around Rome, hitting all the tourist spots and looking adorably cosy while doing it. Bridgerton is currently filming his next film in the city and it seems his co-star from his previous project was down to visit him.

What do you think is going on between these two and what do you make of the fact that Bridgerton was previously seen looking cosy with a certain author?

———

It was all for show, it was all for show… Penelope had to remind herself that this was all for show, that all of this was a cleverly put together PR stunt but it didn’t change the fact that the whole thing stung ever so slightly. Despite reminding herself that Colin and Marina were actors by profession and they knew that they needed to play the part of a pair who could potentially be dating, Penelope couldn't help but zoom into Colin’s face and looking at his expressions. He didn’t look like he was playing up his interactions for the camera, it genuinely looked like he was enjoying Marina’s presence and that they were having fun together. Penelope refreshed the post and another influx of tag notifications came through. It seemed people really wanted her to see these pictures. Some of them were beginning to actually leave comments with her tagged in, saying things like how cute Colin and Marina looked together and that they were glad he wasn’t going around with Penelope anymore.

It stung.

These people didn’t know her or her relationship with Colin, yet them drawing such conclusions hurt.

Refreshing the post once more, she saw that the comments were coming in thick and fast, many of them no longer tagging her but just expressing how much they “ship” Colin and Marina. There was the odd comment here and there that said they thought Penelope and Colin were cute together too, but those comments were met with an influx of replies from other people, tearing down their opinion.

She kept scrolling, unable to stop herself.

Penelope wasn’t sure how long she was scrolling for, but she was forced to stop when an incoming phone call from Colin took up her screen. She let it ring for a moment, just looking at the picture she had saved for him. It was one of him asleep on her chest, his dark hair flopping over his eyes, his mouth slightly gaping. Bracing herself, Penelope finally answered the call.

“Hey.” Penelope tried to sound as normal as possible but she knew she failed.
“Morning babe. I… I had a night shoot last night and I’ve just got off work and I… Are you okay?”

She knew he was calling because he knew the post had gone live and that he was checking in on her, and she knew she should just tell him that she was okay so that he wouldn’t worry, but she just couldn’t bring herself to lie and say it was okay when she knew it wasn’t.

“Pen?”
“I’m guessing you you saw the post.”
“I did. Penelope, I’m so sorry. I knew what they were going to do, but mentioning you was never the plan and the public… I’ve only had a look at some of the comments but… Don’t look at the comments, please.”
“Too late.” Penelope replied with a depreciating laugh. “People really don’t hold back too they.”
“Don’t listen to them. It doesn’t matter what they think or say, you and me…”
“Hey babe, you’ve just got off a night shoot, you should get some rest before your next call time.” Penelope cut him off because she really wasn’t in the mood to have this conversation with him.

She knew what Colin was going to say and she just knew she wasn’t in the headspace to listen to him placate her. She had never expected all this to get to her as much as it had, but right now, she was feeling so many feelings and the longer she stayed on the phone with him, the more of a chance that she would say something she shouldn’t.

“What can I do to fix this?”
“There’s nothing to fix Colin, this was all part of the greater plan and it’s going ahead as everyone wanted. People are firmly rallying behind you and Marina and they’re invested in the two of you, just as the studio wanted. It’s all… It’s all fine.”

There was a pause on the other end of the line as Colin gathered his thoughts. He knew his wife well enough to know that she was pissed beyond anything but he also didn’t know what to say. No matter what he said, it wouldn’t really change anything. He couldn’t get the tabloids and the gossip columns to take down what they had said nor could he get the general public to change their tune. Especially not now when the whole point of all these pictures was to get the public to get behind Colin and Marina as a couple.

“I’m so sorry Pen. But I hope you know that no matter what, you’re the one that I choose, the one that I want. And regardless of what random people on the internet think, nothing is going to change that.”

Feeling herself getting choked up, Penelope did her best to force down the lump in her throat.

“I know.”
“I love you Penelope Bridgerton, I hope you know that and I hope you know nothing is ever going to change that.”
“I know.” Penelope replied quietly.

There was another long pause, neither of them sure what to say but also not ready to put the phone down yet.

“Are you staying at your mum’s again tonight?”
“I think so. I might go across the square at some point to see your family because Fran and Hyacinth have come back from Daphne’s, but I think I’m staying here tonight and then taking the girls back to ours tomorrow.”

Leaning against the headboard, Penelope settled back on the bed as Colin asked her her plans for the rest of the day and what she planned on doing over the coming days. It was a mundane conversation, but it helped to ease her mind. This was normal, this was the life she shared with Colin. Despite what people thought and wanted, this was how things were and her had to remind herself that this was what was real. That was all that mattered.

*****

After getting off the phone with Colin, Penelope tossed and turned for what felt like an eternity before finally giving up and deciding to just go downstairs. It was still relatively early but Penelope was met with her mother already fluttering around the kitchen.

“Oh Penelope, you’re up?”
“Yes I… My sleep broke and then Colin called so I was on the phone with him. I couldn’t get back to sleep so I decided to come down.”
“I see… And was there a reason for Colin calling so early in the morning?”

Portia narrowed her eyes at Penelope as she waited for a response. Unsure what to say, Penelope shrugged as she reached for the kettle.

“He had a night shoot so he’d only just got back to his hotel.”
“I see. And his call had nothing to do with the picture that made an appearance in the middle of the night?”

Freezing, Penelope looked at her mother who was leaning against the opposite counter, her arms folded across her chest.

“How did you…”
“Philippa called me, asking to check in on you. I didn’t want to wake you if you weren’t awake yet but I’m assuming you know anyway.”

Making her coffee and pulling out the cereal and milk, Penelope sat down at the kitchen table as she got her breakfast together. Portia sat down opposite her and waited.

“Penelope may I speak frankly with you?”

Taking a sip of her coffee, Penelope gave her mother a slow nod, already feeling exhausted. She just knew, whatever her mother said next, the conversation was probably going to either emotionally gut her or take out whatever little energy she had.

“Is this truly the life you want for yourself?”
“What do you mean?”

Leaning forward, Portia hesitated a moment before carrying on.

“You know I adore Colin and I am so proud of the life that you both have built for yourselves. But all of this now, this business of him being seen with other women, having the world speculate the nature of their relationship while you have to stay in the background despite being his wife, is this truly the life you want for yourself?”
“Mama…”
“At what point does everyone involved just say enough is enough and you stop playing these games and let yourself be seen as his wife? Or is the plan for you to always stay hidden away so that he can go around pretending to be this unattached and attractive actor?”
“It’s only for this specific film, after that…”
“But what if his next production company also feel it would be beneficial to have everyone believe that he is in a relationship with another of his costars?”

Looking down at her bowl of cereal, Penelope shrugged because she truly didn’t have the answers. She had been thinking all of this herself anyway, but to hear it from her mother, it helped to validate her concerns but also reminded her that these were real concerns and real possibilities of things could happen. Penelope didn’t really care that other women were being perceived as being in a relationship with Colin, her issue lay with the fact that people were being so hash towards her because they believed she was getting in the way of Colin and the woman that they believed he was with. And while she would never vocalise it, part of her was beginning to feel a little worried that Colin would realise that he could do better than her. While he reassured her over and over again that he only wanted her, what if he realised he had made a mistake? When Anthony had found out that Colin had proposed, he had tried to dissuade Colin from getting married. He had argued that Colin was too young to get married because he hadn’t experienced the world yet, that he hadn’t met enough people in his life to conclude that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Penelope. Maybe Anthony had been right? Maybe they had gotten married too young and maybe now, Colin would come to regret his decision.

“And what happens when you have a child?” Portia carried on. “Do you carry on as you are, hiding yourself and your child away? Will your child have to grow up seeing their father schmoozing other actresses while hiding their mother away?”
“Mama that’s not… No, of course not!”
“Are you sure about that Penelope?”

Penelope didn’t know how to answer that because in her heart, she knew Colin would never do that but at the same time, if that’s what a production company demanded of him, there wouldn’t really be anything they could do about it, they would have to comply. But even if they did, would it make a difference? But at the same time, would she want their children to grow up having to be hidden away like that? Her being hidden away was one thing, but their children?

“I say this, not to be harsh but because I care about you. You need to take a stand Penelope. After this film is all done and dusted, before he signs on to another project, you need to make it clear that you will not do this again. I know, you have told me multiple times that you pushed Colin into doing this, that you were okay with the terms of his contract etc etc, but this has not been a walk in the park and if and when there are children involved, it will only get more complicated.”
“I know.” Penelope said quietly.

Both Portia and Penelope fell silent, simply regarding one another.

“Penelope what if… What if you allow yourself to become pregnant?”
“What?”
“You both want children, why don’t you speed up the process. Allow yourself to fall pregnant and then Colin will have to put a stop to all this nonsense because -“
“Mama no!” Penelope objected. “That’s… No absolutely not! I will not baby trap my own husband.”
“It’s not baby trapping if you both want that anyway! When Colin was showing me around your house, he was telling me exactly which bedrooms he planned to be for your future children. You are both already prepared for it, it’s what you both want so why don’t you allow it to happen?”
“We both want it but we also have a plan and a baby isn’t our plan right now.”

Portia threw her hands up, struggling to understand Penelope’s point of view.

“Sometimes children just happen, you can’t always plan for it. No one would ever have to know you purposely allowed yourself to get pregnant.”
“Mama, I’m not doing that.”
“Plus, you’re not getting any younger. By the time I was your age I’d already had both your sisters and you!”
“I’m 25! I have time mama, there’s no rush!”
“I don’t understand…”
“I won’t deceive him like that. I know if it happened on it’s own accord, he would never have an issue with it, but if I purposely allowed myself to get pregnant, if I orchestrated it, I wouldn’t be able to live with that guilt, knowing I did that to him. I can’t…”

Portia’s expression softened and she gave Penelope’s hand a squeeze.

“I love you sweetheart, and I know how much Colin means to you, how much he has always meant to you. And I also know how much he loves you. I just don’t want to see the two of you get lost in all this. Maybe my suggestion isn’t the correct way to go about things, but I just don’t want to see anything come between the two of you. I don’t want to see you struggling to deal with any of this. I just want to see you both settled the way you were.”
“I know mama, I know you mean well, but baby trapping Colin isn’t the way forward. I know he wouldn’t see it as being trapped but I don’t want to do that to him regardless. When we finally have a baby, it will be because we’re both finally ready for that step.”

Nodding in understanding, Portia gave Penelope’s hand another squeeze.

“I shall trust you to know that you are doing what is best for your marriage. And I shall try to stop worrying but…”

Chuckling, Penelope nodded because she knew what her mother was saying. While her mother may no longer suggest such absurd ideas, there was nothing Penelope would be able to do to make her calm her mind.

“Everything will be okay mama, I am sure of it.”

*****

After breakfast and after speaking with her mother, Penelope took a long shower and then decided to go across the square to the Bridgerton house. Part of her had been reluctant because she really didn’t want to have to talk about Colin and Marina but at the same time, she wanted to spend time with the Bridgerton siblings. As soon as she was let into the house, she told her in laws that she had no intention to speak about the pictures that had come out and they respected her wishes. Gregory proposed that they play a rousing game of Monopoly and while Hyacinth rolled her eyes, Francesca and Penelope agreed with him and let him set the game up. Soon, the four of them lost themselves in the game, Gregory and Hyacinth frequently arguing when one of them owed the other rent.

All the stress that Penelope had felt building inside her before, began melting away as she watched the Bridgerton siblings bicker, giggling with Francesca as the two youngest threw verbal punches at one another. She wasn’t sure how long they were playing for, they had all lost track of time completely but were dragged back into the real world when the door behind them opened and someone cleared their throat. All four of them turned and gasped to see Colin stood in the doorway, a beaming Violet by his side.

“Colin!” Exclaimed Hyacinth and Francesca as they got to their feet and gave him a hug.

Gregory hung back as he waited for his sisters to let go of Colin before he too gave his brother a hug.

“Did you have a decent flight?”
“Decent enough, I can’t complain. You okay bro?”
“I’m good.”

Penelope hung back, her jaw still on the floor as she watched the siblings exchange pleasantries. What was he doing here? He hadn’t said anything about coming home, but here he was, very much at home. There was a lull in the conversation between the four siblings and they all turned to Penelope, waiting for her to do something. When she didn’t, Colin closed the distance between them, a soft smile on his lips.

“Hi baby.”

Feeling herself finally crack, she closed the distance between them, throwing herself into his arms. She’d only seen him about a week ago, but god, it had felt so much longer.

“Hi.” Penelope whispered, her face pressed into the crook of his neck. “What are you doing home?”
“I’ve got the day off so I decided I wanted to come home and spend it with you.”
“How did you even know I was here?”
“I checked on find my friend and then I got Gregory to keep you busy so you’d still be here when I got home.”

Penelope looked over her shoulder at Gregory who gave her a sheepish smile. She should have known something was up, Gregory hadn’t suggested monopoly on his own accord in years. He didn’t have the patience for it anymore even if it did mean crushing everyone at the game.

Giggling, Penelope turned back to Colin and tightened her arms around him.

“I’m just so glad you’re here.”
“I am too.” Colin murmured as he lifted Penelope’s face to his own and lowered his mouth to hers.

Realising what was happening, the Bridgerton siblings made a hasty exit, Hyacinth catching her mothers arm and pulling her out with them. Catching the action out of the corner of his eye, Colin laughed as he closed his mouth over Penelope’s, pulling her flush against himself as his hand settled on the base of her spine, dangerously close to the dip of her ass. Penelope melted into her husband, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him close to herself as she kissed him back. Her lips parted beneath his, his tongue sliding into her mouth easily as he pulled her head back slightly, licking into her mouth. His hands dropped back down to her butt and he squeezed, pulling her up against himself, his aching cock pressing into her soft stomach.

Penelope broke the kiss and pulled away marginally. Colin groaned in annoyance, trying to close the distance between them, his eyes opening ever so slightly. Noticing Penelope pulling further away, he opened his eyes and frowned.

“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong, I just think we should go upstairs.”

Grinning, Colin nodded eagerly as he grabbed hold of Penelope’s hand and all but ran through the house, up the stairs to his childhood bedroom and shut the door loudly behind them…

*****

As the sweat dried on their still heated skin, Penelope curled into Colin, tucking her face into his side as she tightened her arms around his torso.

“I really hope no one heard us.”
“The walls are thick but the way you moan Pen, anyone who’s also upstairs definitely heard you.”

Groaning, Penelope pulled the covers up over her head as Colin chuckled, pulling her closer to himself.

“Hopefully they would’ve known to clear out.”
“And if they hadn’t?”
“That’s on them. They should’ve realised that I’d come home for my wife, so obviously I was going to make you moan.”
“Oh my god!” Penelope squealed as she covered her face again.

Pulling her all the way into himself, Colin kissed the top of her head as he ran his hands over her naked body.

“This is the hardest part of marriage and monogamy.” Colin said finally.

Raising an eyebrow, Penelope pulled back ever so slightly, pulling the covers close to her chest.

“What does that mean?”
“It means, that I’m only hot for one woman and when I’m feeling horny, I have to come home to you, even if it means you’re across the world.”

Feeling her body relax slightly, Penelope leaned back against Colin, tucking herself back where she was.

“Oh.”
“Yeah. Like when I was working on ‘Romancing Mr Mayfair’ I know a few of my costars were getting a little too friendly with some of the extras and while I don’t know for sure if anything happened beyond that, sometimes I think about me during my exploring phase before we got together and I think, what if we hadn’t got together, would I be behaving like my costars too?”
“Hm maybe. But you did say the empty hook ups were starting to feel emptier and emptier every time so maybe by now you would have realised…
“I agree. I don’t think casual sex is for me.”
“Well, I’m not going to pretend I’m not glad about that, because I am. Knowing you come home to me when you need me…”
“I’ll always need you Pen, only you.”
“I know. And I feel exactly the same.”
“I know that baby.”
“Should we get out of bed? I’m sure your siblings and your mum want to spend some time with you.”

Colin thought about it for a moment and then shook his head.

“I came home for you and I want to stay here with you.”
“I’m okay with that, I have no qualms with not sharing you. What time do you have to head back?”
“I’ve only got today off so I’m going to take the first flight out tomorrow morning.”
“I hate that you’re home for such a short time but I’m so glad to have you home anyway.”
“I know, and I’m so glad to be home. I have to be honest…” Colin stopped what he was saying and looked down at Penelope, unsure if he should proceed.

Raising an eyebrow, Penelope waited for him to carry on.

“I was worried you’d be pissed with me about the pictures.”

Penelope had completely forgotten about that. Between having the best day with her in laws and then being surprised by Colin, she completely forgot that rhe morning had started with her seeing pictures of Colin and Marina. But now she remembered and she could feel the tension creeping up her spine again.

“I… I’d kind of forgotten about that.”
“So I’m guessing you’re not upset with me then?”
“I… I’m not.”

She may have said she wasn’t upset, but from the way she wasn’t meeting his eyes, he could tell there was something niggling at her. Sitting up, Colin leaned against the headboard and pulled Penelope into his chest.

“You know you’re lying Pen. So why don’t you just tell me what you’re thinking and feeling and then we can deal with it and move on.”
“It’s not…” Penelope sighed as she gathered her thoughts. “I don’t know how I feel. Seeing those pictures got me feeling some kind of way because you both looked so comfortable together, but I think it’s people’s reaction towards me and our relationship that bothers me more. They’ve seen a handful of pictures of you and Marina and they think she deserves to be in your life and I don’t? I… That’s what’s getting to me.”
“And I’ve told you, ignore what people have to say. They don’t know us or anything about us so what they think really doesn’t matter.”
“I know that! But at the same time, you don’t know how it feels to have tonnes and tonnes of strangers telling you that you need to stay away from your own husband because he deserves to be with someone else.”
“You’re right, I don’t know how it feels and I’m sure if the roles were reversed, I would be far less composed than you are, but at the same time, I really need you to stop stressing about this baby. I know it’s easier said than done, but Pen, please.”

He was right, it was far easier said than done, but she would try, for him. Not just for him, but for them. No good would ever come from her getting into her head about all of this and the last thing she wanted was to put distance between herself and Colin over something that he had no control over.

“And I know you feel Marina and I looked extra cosy in those pictures, but I promise you, that’s not the case. I’m sure the photographer would have taken a shit tonne of pictures of us and then just used the best and most suggestive looking ones to post. I can’t even tell you what she and I spoke about because I don’t feel we talked about anything of any value at all. Marina and I, were barely friends, let alone anything else. So let the public think what they want, but i promise you, it doesn’t mean anything. You’re all that matters to me and nothing is ever going to change that.”
“I know, I know…” Penelope replied finally as she gave him a squeeze.

She may still have had some doubts in her mind, but with Colin looking at her with sincerity in his beautiful blue eyes, she knew she had to believe him and take his word for it.

In one easy move, Penelope moved onto Colin’s lap, cupping his face as she ran her thumbs along his cheeks, the blanket slipping off of her naked body and pooling on his legs behind them.

“Pen…”
“If you’re only here for today, we should make the most of it.”

Grinning, Colin ran his hands along her thighs, pulling her slightly closer to himself.

“Now that babe, is the best idea I’ve ever heard.”