He reached out and patted her head. "If you care about it so much, why didn't you just take the opportunity to make a promise?"

If she were somebody else, she would have agreed immediately.

Instead, Penelope began to play dumb.

"I don't long for marriage. I long for you."

She raised her chin slightly with little pride and cuteness.

Her parents' marriage had left her with too many bad feelings about marriage. She didn't like marriage and even hated to use a piece of paper to tie two people together in a legal relationship.

But she liked Warren, liked to hug him, kiss him, and rely on him. As...