Imperfect Penelope (Wild Crush) (7 page)

Life was so unfair sometimes.

Penny gestured towards the men on each of Emily’s arms. “There’s also the fact you have two dates when I couldn’t manage to scrounge up one.”

“Aw, poor Pen.” Emily chucked her on the chin like she used to when they were little, making Penny grimace. “Cheer up. There might be a hot eligible bachelor at Summer’s wedding.”

“Fat chance of that.” Penny knew better than anyone gorgeous single men were as rare as hen’s teeth in a town the size of Leyton’s Headland. Which was why it made her sick that her sister had nabbed two of them. “Instead of encouraging me to dream the impossible dream, you should lend me one of your dates.”

Emily arched a brow and looked about to tell Penny to blow it out her you-know-what, but Jet stepped forward before she could utter a word. “I’ll walk you in if you like, Pen.”

“Why thank you, Jet. Such a gentleman.”

Penny sent a smug look Emily’s way as she linked her arm through Jet’s. Her sister stuck out her tongue, making Brand chuckle.

Not only had Emily seemed more happy with herself lately, Brand laughed more easily. As the four of them walked towards the tiny chapel overlooking the town and the magnificent shoreline, Penny realized a lot of it was due to the man walking at her side. Penny was thrilled to get another unofficial brother-in-law. She got on well with Jet, even had lunch with him on Tuesday when she’d bumped into him in town. She saw why Emily had fallen hard for him, and why Brand had never stopped loving him.

“Where’s Hope?” Emily asked her.

“Oh you know how she is. She said she’d come to the reception for the free booze but—”

“She doesn’t do ceremonies,” Emily finished. “I know. I hope she at least buys them a gift.”

Penny flashed a grin over her shoulder. “She’s donating a hundred dollars to the Sand Dune Conservation Society in their name.”

Emily laughed. “Actually I think Summer and Ty will like that.”

“I liked it too,” said Penny. “So I did the same.”

“Oh, man,” Jet said. “Our breadmaker is going to look lame.”

“Told you we should have gone with the voucher for a spa day,” Brand said.

Penny giggled at the thought of tough guy Brand suggesting such a feminine-sounding gift. It might be unconventional, but the three-way love connection Emily, Jet and Brand had was obviously working for them. All jokes aside, Penny really was just a smidgen jealous of her big sister.

Okay, maybe more than a smidgen. Emily was not only getting some, she was getting some times two. When Penny took her clothes off, men ran screaming from the building.

Penny tried to shove the morose thought from her mind. She’d decided not to think about Greg Danvers anymore. She definitely didn’t want to relive how it had felt to be in his arms, how all-encompassing and fiery his kiss was, or how the sure touch of his hands on her breasts had felt, how she’d shuddered with pleasure when his thumbs had teased her nipples to life. When she thought about it she got warm and gooey inside, and that was dangerous.

Because she also remembered him throwing her off his lap like she had something contagious and telling her he’d only kissed her because he was sex-deprived.

They entered the church and found an empty pew third row from the back. As they settled in, a few people turned their way. Penny recognized several of them, including Ty’s parents and Summer’s father, who was out of a wheelchair, but still required the use of a cane due to the stroke he’d suffered several months back. As such he’d opted not to walk his daughter down the aisle. Ty Butler stood at the altar looking uncharacteristically nervous while his best man Aaron Sanderson spoke encouraging words into his ear.

At a few minutes after four o’clock, a guitarist began to play. Everyone turned to the back of the small church to see Summer walking arm in arm with her sister Jasmine. Summer wore off-white, a simple silk dress with a scooped neckline and a drop waist designed to accommodate her growing stomach. Jasmine’s dress was of a similar style but in slate-gray silk and with a fitted waistline. Penny couldn’t stop the tears from brimming as a beautiful haunting song about soul mates finding each other filled the air and the two sisters, who’d once been estranged, walked together towards the altar. Jet took her hand in his and gave it a squeeze. Penny transferred her gaze to his and smiled gratefully.

As she was returning her attention to the ceremony, Penny froze. On the other side of the chapel sat the man who had plagued her thoughts since Wednesday—and for a long time before that if she was honest with herself. Greg was looking right at her, his forehead scrunched in a scowl that made his handsome face look forbidding.

Penny’s heart started galloping. She should have realized Summer and Ty might invite Ty’s new lawyer to their wedding, but for some reason she was totally unprepared. She didn’t want to respond to him in any way that wasn’t cool or detached, but her heart rate and suddenly sweaty palms had other ideas.

The minister began to speak, and the sound brought Penny out of her daze. Seemingly it had the same effect on Greg. Their gazes unlocked, and they both turned towards the front of the church. Penny listened to the timeless words, knowing Summer and Ty would live up to them. They were clearly in love, and with a baby on the way, she could only see their devotion to each other growing stronger.

Penny listened and watched, but the whole time she was aware of Greg on the other side of the church and her heart pounded in an agitated rhythm.

* * *

The reception was a casual, intimate affair held in the Leyton’s Headland Surf Club, where once upon a time Ty Butler had learned his chosen sport. There was no assigned seating for the around sixty guests, no stodgy choice of chicken or steak. Instead everyone was generously supplied with tasty appetizers and drinks from an open bar. As a waiter wandered past with a tray of champagne, Penny grabbed a fresh glass, placing her empty back on the tray.

“Are we going to have to pour you back in the car tonight, Pen?” Emily asked, her eyebrows arched over green eyes.

“I’ve only had a couple.”

“And that’s your third,” Emily pointed out. “I haven’t seen you have more than two drinks since you were sick as a dog at Hope’s twenty-first and you swore off drunkenness for the rest of your life.”

“Do you think you could stop being a big sister for five minutes and let me enjoy my champagne?”

Emily held up her hands. “Whoa, girl. No need to bite my head off.”

Penny squelched the urge to apologize and took a defiant gulp of her drink. She actually didn’t love the taste of champagne, but she’d hoped the alcohol would make her more mellow. From the way she’d just snapped at her sister, it wasn’t having the intended effect.

It was all Greg’s fault. He was across the room talking to some woman Penny recognized. Her name was Nikki Burgess, and she was a long-time client of Summer’s. In fact she’d been Summer’s first-ever client, and they’d remained friendly over the years. Perhaps Summer had invited her.

Or perhaps she’d come with Greg. Penny hadn’t noticed if they’d been sitting together at the church, too focused was she on trying to ignore Greg’s presence altogether. But now they were standing close like they were more than acquaintances, and Nikki’s body language told Penny that the woman wished she was standing even closer.

Nikki was getting a divorce. Was Greg her lawyer? Were they involved? Was Nikki the reason he’d shunned Penny’s embarrassing seduction attempt the other morning?

It should make her feel a little better to think there might be another woman involved, and that Greg’s rejection wasn’t due to him being disappointed with what he saw when she’d brazenly yanked her shirt off. It didn’t. It made her angry as hell to think he was that two-faced.
Sex-deprived indeed.

He was as bad as his brother.

No, Penny thought, realizing even in her anger and tipsiness that she was being unfair. Greg had never made her any promises. He’d kissed her once, which meant he owed her exactly nothing. She was the one who’d taken it too far and thrown herself at him.

“Hey, Pen.” Jet chucked her on the chin until she turned towards him. His dark eyes were perceptive. “Something
is
wrong.”

She showed him a tremulous smile. “I guess I’m just sick of playing the fool,” she admitted. “A fool for love, that’s what I am.”

Not that love was the right word to describe anything that had transpired between her and Greg, but for a few moments on her couch it had felt like something that could have been
something
. Whatever that meant. All she knew for sure was she’d never been kissed like that before, and even days later, her lips still tingled when she thought of it.

“Your time will come,” Jet assured her. “Have a look at Brand, Emily and me. I would never have dreamed we’d all get together, but here we are. You keep your heart open, and you’ll be ready when the right person comes along. If that means playing the fool occasionally, I reckon it’s worth it in the end.”

“Aww.” Penny reached up and patted him on the cheek. “You are sweet. Have I told you how glad I am to have you as my unofficial brother-in-law?”

Jet laughed. “You are a little tipsy, aren’t you?”

She held up her thumb and forefinger a couple of millimeters apart. “Only this much. Don’t tell Em.”

“I won’t. Come on and dance with me, unofficial sister-in-law. It’ll burn off the effects quicker.”

Penny wasn’t overly sure she wanted to burn off the effects. She was enjoying the numb buzz the alcohol was giving her. But Jet tugged her to her feet and led her to the dance floor before she could object, and once she was there she didn’t mind at all. Jet was a great dancer.

He led her expertly through an old Rob Thomas hit, making her giggle with his show-off moves. When he dipped her as the song ended, she laughed herself silly.

From her inverted position, she saw a pair of shiny black shoes, topped by dark trousers. Her gaze trailed up over a crisp white shirt, blue tie and well-fitted suit jacket until it finally landed on Greg’s face. He was looking down at her, his ever-present scowl fixed firmly in place.

“May I cut in?”

Jet lifted Penny to a standing position. She tried to subtly poke him in the ribs, but he ignored her SOS signal. “Sure, mate.”

Penny gave him a sour look as he released her. Jet only leaned down and whispered in her ear. “He’s hot, give him a chance. You have to keep the faith, Pen.”

Keep the faith. All good in theory but how could she keep having faith that her Mr. Right would come along if she kept making such colossal mistakes? She stared at Greg and knew he was definitely not Mr. Right.

Yet when an Ed Sheeran song drifted out of the speakers and he opened his arms, Penny went into them.

Chapter Seven

Penny’s stupid heart beat like crazy. Her idiotic breath faltered and her slutty hormones did a jig. She kept her gaze fixed firmly on a spot past Greg’s shoulder. As he moved her around the dance floor, she caught a glimpse of Nikki Burgess watching them with disappointment written all over her face.

“You’ve abandoned your date,” Penny said.

“Yours abandoned you,” Greg countered.

“He’s not—” Penny cut herself off before she admitted the truth. At least if he thought someone else wanted her, it might save her some face. “He’s not the jealous type.”

She felt Greg scrutinizing her profile and couldn’t stop herself blushing. She wasn’t the most accomplished liar at the best of times. Under Greg’s watchful gaze she was ready to crumble and admit her every secret.

At length he said, “Mrs. Burgess is my client. We’re both here alone so I spoke to her for a while. Does that answer your question?”

“I didn’t ask a question.”
No way is he having a red-hot affair with someone he still calls Mrs. Burgess,
a little voice in Penny’s head whispered excitedly. She ignored it. “Your love life is none of my business.”

“Nor is yours mine.” His hand flexed on her hip, and his voice lowered an octave as he bent his head to her ear. “I still want to know who that guy is.”

It was arrogant of him to assume he had the right to know who she was or wasn’t dating, but his statement made Penny’s heart flutter. She tried to tamp down the reaction. “His name is Jet,” she provided evasively.

“Jet,” he repeated.

“You say that like you’re spitting a wad of gum into the gutter.” Not that Penny could imagine Greg ever doing that. It would be littering. She very much doubted he chewed gum anyway. “He’s a nice guy, you know.”

“But he’s not serious about you.”

Penny shot him a withering look. “Why? Because I couldn’t get a guy like him to fall in love with me? Not with my inconsequential assets, right?”

He looked at her like she was speaking gibberish. “Pardon?”

“It’s fine, Greg,” Penny said tautly. “No hard feelings. But just FYI, I kinda like my boobs. I don’t have to wear a bra all the time and I never have trouble finding clothes that fit. Emily’s always complaining that she has to buy tops two sizes larger than her jeans. That’d be a pain.”

“What in God’s name are you talking about?” he demanded.

What indeed. Had she lost her mind bringing up the thing she wanted to talk about the least? “Nothing. Forget I said anything.”

“Impossible,” Greg drawled. “Talk to me, Penny.”

“It was a moment, okay? The other morning. It was a stupid spontaneous moment, I know that. But when a girl spontaneously rips off her shirt for a guy, the very last thing she wants to happen is for him to run from the building like his hair is on fire.”

She saw a muscle tic in Greg’s jaw. He stared at her while Florence and the Machine sang about the heart’s language. When had the song changed? Penny hadn’t meant to give Greg more than one dance.

When he spoke, he enunciated his words with fine precision. “You kicked me out of your house. I assumed it was because I had so much trouble controlling myself.”

“You have trouble controlling yourself? That’s a laugh. You’re the most controlled, restrained, uptight man I’ve ever met. If you were any more restrained, you’d be in a straitjacket.”

“That sounds like a complaint,” he observed in a way that would have been casual if it weren’t for the thread of steel underpinning the words. “Am I to assume you’d rather I acted on my every impulse?”

“That’s generally how spontaneous things happen, and I tend to find they’re the times in life you remember most fondly.” Penny wondered if Greg had ever behaved spontaneously in his life. She doubted it. He was too rigid, too scheduled. “But that moment has definitely passed for us, so don’t be impulsive on my account.”

Penny stopped dancing and extricated herself from his arms, blaming the cold chill that washed over her on the air conditioning and not on the stark look on Greg’s face. She turned away from that look because it made her chest feel tight and sore. Whirling around on her heeled sandals, she stormed off the dance floor, past the bar and out to the car park.

Outside, the cool night air brushed over her hot face. Penny walked along the fence that bordered the car park from the beach. A half-moon cast its silver-blue light onto the roiling ocean below. She inhaled a lungful of fresh, salt-scented air and willed herself to calm down.

What had gotten into her? She’d argued with Greg in front of everyone. She’d used the word boobs. That was not normal behavior. Admittedly, neither was showing him her boobs so freely a few days ago. She could call it impulsive or spontaneous or whatever, but ultimately it had been abnormal. And Greg had rejected her so it had also been humiliating.

She was embarrassed, that’s why she’d acted like such a crazy person. And now she was going to have to be embarrassed all over again when she went back in there to face everyone. Emily was bound to grill her like a B-grade cop-show detective about what had happened. No way did Penny want to admit the truth.

What a mess.

“Penny.”

She whirled around to see Greg standing there, his shoulders a tense silhouette against the lights beaming out from the club. He held up her silver purse. “Your unofficial brother-in-law thought you might need this.”

She heard the accusation in his voice and flushed at having been caught in the lie.
Nice work, Jet,
she thought, immediately feeling bad for mentally berating him. There was no way he could know she’d lied. That was all on her.

Declining to make admissions, Penny went to take her handbag. Greg held it out of her reach. She huffed in irritation. “Well that’s mature.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You said my love life was none of your business, remember?” Her skin tingled, the way it had inside when she’d lied about being involved with Jet. There was no longer any value in avoiding the whole truth. There was a point where you couldn’t be any more mortified. “And because I didn’t want you to think I was some pathetic ninny who threw myself at lawyers because she couldn’t get a date for her friend’s wedding. There. Are you happy?”

He dipped his head, and Penny flinched, her heart hammering. Instead of kissing her he merely peered into her face to more closely examine her expression. Penny could see his face, too, and the way one eyebrow arched. “Not really. Are you drunk?”

“I was getting there but arguing with you seems to have sobered me up.”

“Good.”

Abruptly, he grabbed her hand and started walking. He didn’t drag her along after him, exactly, but Penny had to maintain a brisk pace to keep up. She thought he was taking her back inside, but when he passed the entrance to the club Penny spoke up. “Hey.” When he said nothing she tried again. “
Hey.
”

He took a set of keys out of his pocket and pressed the fob. The orange lights on his Alfa Romeo lit up. He yanked open the passenger door. “Get in.”

Penny’s jaw dropped. “I will not.”

He moved like lightning. Before Penny knew what was happening, he had her up against the side of his car, his lean, solid body pressing her into the cool steel. He speared one hand into her hair and kissed her.

Penny sucked in a breath at the shock of contact, at the primal need that arrowed through her when his tongue brusquely entered her mouth. The kiss was raw and unpolished and so unlike Greg’s exceedingly polished surface that she was too surprised to pull away. Actually, it was more like she didn’t want to. She’d wanted his kiss since the moment he’d ended their last one.

Penny felt drunk once more by the time Greg relinquished her mouth. He kept a hold of her head, kept it still, while he left a trail of kisses over her cheek, her jaw, her earlobe. He tilted her head, burying his face in the curve of her neck and inhaling the scent of her skin in one long, deep breath.

The tension radiated off his body. Beneath her fingers, his shoulders were as hard as rocks. Other parts of him were hard too. The ridge of his erection was unmistakable where it pressed against her mound. Penny’s clit pulsed with the need for closer contact. During the kiss, her nipples had grown stiff, and they pressed into the lace of her push-up bra, begging for attention.

When he spoke, Greg’s voice was thick and raspy. “Just so you know, I’ve decided to make it my business.”

Penny’s brain tried to reengage. “Huh?”

“Your love life.”

For some reason those three words stole her breath more effectively than his ravenous kiss had. “Oh.”

He drew back to look into her face. “Any objections?”

About a hundred and fifty,
Penny thought. She looked into his eyes, which were dark and determined and glittering with steely desire. Desire for her. Her pulse leapt and she said, “No.”

Since when had her clit started talking for her?

“Good,” Greg said gruffly. “Now, get in the car before we get arrested.”

Greg shifted until she could move, and on wobbly legs Penny all but fell into the soft leather passenger seat.

Greg shut his door with a thud. The soundtrack of waves tumbling onto sand was suddenly muted, while Penny’s rapid breaths—and his—grew preternaturally loud in the confined space of the Alfa. It remained that way, silent save for their breathing, for long moments while Greg gathered his thoughts.

Who was he kidding? He didn’t have a hope of finding coherent thought when he could smell the gentle drift of Penny’s perfume underpinned with the tangy scent of her arousal. He’d kissed her, and she’d responded with such fire that he could barely remember his own name.

“What’s the plan, lawyer man?”

Greg stared out the windscreen, not game to look at her. If he looked at her and the moonlight was caressing her face in just the right way he’d lose his mind and kiss her again before he said what he needed to. “We talk.”

“Really?”

He did look at her then, because he couldn’t decide if her tone was sarcastic or surprised. She was sitting with her back to the passenger door, studying him. The moon cast its beams only far enough that he could see the right side of her face, the lean length of her bare right arm and the gentle swell of her cleavage. The dress had a deep V neckline, deep enough that he’d seen a flash of white lace inside it while they’d danced. He saw it now, that tantalizing glimpse of white against her creamy skin, and it made the ache that had taken up residence inside him intensify to a sharp pang of unadulterated need.

“Come here,” he rasped, and that hadn’t been what he’d planned to say at all.

“Fat chance. I’m not going to throw myself at you again.”

Such an annoying woman. Greg shouldn’t have enjoyed her objection but he felt his lips curve as he slid a hand around her wrist and tugged until she tilted forward. The pose made the V of the dress expose more of her cleavage, of that white lace. It was a demi-bra if he didn’t miss his guess. Barely enough flimsy fabric to cover her nipples.

He groaned.

“I think I should clear something up,” he said as he touched a finger to her throat and trailed it downward, all the way into that deep V until he encountered the underwire of that bra. “When I kissed you the other morning, it was the hottest, sexiest kiss I’ve ever experienced.”

She held her breath as Greg outlined the swell of her breast with his finger. “You expect me to believe that?”

“Yes. I have my faults but I’m not a liar. I wanted you, Penny. I wanted you badly, and I had to stop myself or I would have taken you.”

“Oh. Well, since we’re being honest with each other…I’ve never been kissed the way you kissed me. I kind of lost my head.”

Greg traced the line of her lace bra and enjoyed the way Penny’s breath quickened. “I liked it. Hell, you almost made me lose mine.”

“Almost doesn’t count.”

“It does to me. I don’t go crazy like that. I’m not impulsive. You do something to me.” Like make him want to shuck all his gentlemanly principles and indulge in something he simply wanted for once, without thinking it through all the way. Like make him crazy jealous because she’d danced with some other guy. He hadn’t experienced jealousy like that before, and he hadn’t liked it.

She wasn’t in another man’s arms now. She was here with him. Greg decided it was high time he took proper advantage of the fact.
Do something impulsive, without thinking it through all the way.
He slipped his hand fully inside Penny’s dress and cupped her neat little breast in his hand.

Penny gasped. Greg had to close his eyes on the pleasure of touching her that way, of knowing she liked it because her nipple grew rigid in his palm. God he wanted her. Determination filled him, and a strange possessiveness too. “Are there any other fake or real suitors I should know about?”

“Suitors?” Her lips twitched even as her breaths fell hard and fast. “You say the funniest things, Dan—”

Greg swooped across the scant space separating them and covered her mouth with his. He liked her acquiescent whimpers better than her smartass remarks, although to be honest he kind of liked those too. As much as a man could like being teased, aggravated and aroused at the same time.

Penny parted her lips, and Greg kissed her deep and hard, massaging the flesh in his hand as he did. He drew her forward, needing her closer, pulling her until she was lying across his lap, wedged between him and the steering wheel. She didn’t complain about it, not that he gave her a chance to. He devoured her mouth, his hunger relentless.

Her fingers went to his scalp, digging in as she accepted his invasion. Her rough eagerness added a sharp edge to Greg’s lust. That at last gave him the motivation to drag his mouth from hers because he didn’t know how far that edge would take him. He groaned as he released her lips because it almost killed him.

He dropped his forehead to hers and drew in huge lungfuls of air. “Dear God, Penelope. You’re torturing me, you know that?”

“Is this your way of talking?” she panted. “You kiss me, then complain about it?”

Greg thought about kissing her to quiet her annoyingly accurate observations. But her words also reminded him that he
was
supposed to be talking. There were things he had to clarify. “Answer my question, damn it, woman. Are there any other men you’re dating, or pretending to date, or kissing in cars or—”