The Blogger and the Hunk (11 page)

“Why do you want to ruin my life? Why can’t you just leave me alone? Why the hell did you have to be her friend?”

“Hey! Wait a minute!” Jack started. “Wait just a damn minute. I’m here because Celeste wants me here. Celeste wa—”

“Celeste doesn’t know what kind of friend she really has!” Penelope whispered emphatically. She was trying her best not to make a scene, to keep herself in control, but Jack could see past her controlled persona. He had the urge to push all her buttons, to see the utter wreck Penelope could be when she wasn’t hiding behind her composure. It made her all the more appealing, even if she was an unusual woman.

Before he could form a retort, Celeste came back to the table, taking the seat across from them again.

“Bad news, I have to leave you guys hanging here,” she said, taking out a few bills from her clutch and placing them on the table. “That should be enough for the bill. Have fun planning!” She was getting ready to leave when both Jack and Penelope called after her.

“Wait! What?”

“Bryan arranged a spa appointment and I am so not going to pass it up. If you need me, just send me a text. Can’t wait to see what you guys come up with!” And with that Celeste was out the door.

The table was silent again. Penelope started to get up and leave, but Jack stopped her.

“Hey, don’t leave on my account,” he said, cutting into his steak. “Might as well finish your meal.”

Jack could see her hesitation, but noticed her eyes drifting back to her unfinished food.

“Come on, I’ll even move to the other side of the table if it makes you feel more comfortable.” Jack took his plate and drink and walked over to Celeste’s seat.

Penelope sighed and sat back down, digging in to the steak she’d ordered.

“Not afraid of digging into a good piece of steak, eh?” Jack began, trying to make polite conversation.

Penelope looked up at him, a chunk of steak drizzled with sauce halfway to her mouth, and blushed a little. “I guess I just like food.” She chuckled awkwardly.

Jack’s eyes went wide. “Oh God, I-I-I didn’t mean it in
that
context. I meant it as an admirable thing. You have a healthy appetite. Means you’re not afraid of getting what you want.” Jack felt like he was talking in circles. He stuffed in a forkful of steamed vegetables to stop himself from talking.

Penelope smiled at him. “Don’t worry about it. I’m not some fragile flower that will lose its petals at a single touch. I’m built like a tree, with the height of a stump,” she added, poking fun at her barely over five-foot height.

That got a laugh out of Jack. Unfortunately, he had taken a sip of his wine when she said it and was currently choking on the alcohol. “Oh God... it... burns!” he barely managed to wheeze out. Penelope quickly handed him a glass of water, urging him to drink a little, all while reaching over to pound his back.

Jack was finally breathing normally again. “Thank you for that. I think I might have bruises all over my lungs now,” he joked, taking another sip of water. His eyes were still watering, and Penelope reflexively grabbed a napkin and began dabbing his eyes, wiping away the tear streaks on his cheeks. Jack froze at the action; he held his breath, not wanting to disturb Penelope’s concentration. She had a gentle touch. It reminded him of that night many weeks ago. She could be a hellion, but when she was naked underneath him with her guard down, she was as sweet as candy.

There was a light clearing of a throat and Penelope jumped, pulling her hand back and looking up to find the waiter standing with a bottle of wine in his hands. Jack took a moment to take a deep breath and looked up at the waiter. He wore a small smile.

“Any more wine for either of you?” he asked.

“We’ll actually take the bill now, thank you,” Penelope replied.

“I’ll be right back.”

Jack looked down at his glass of wine. “Don’t you dare make another joke,” he warned.

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Penelope smiled.

“Here you go.” The waiter placed the bill on the table. “Thank you for coming in, and have a wonderful day.”

“Well, I guess we can thank Celeste for lunch,” Penelope replied. Jack could tell from the high tone of her voice she was masking her discomfort. He only nodded and stood, placing the cash inside the booklet and starting for the exit.

* * *

H
ow could she be so stupid? Why did she have to be so obvious about her attraction to the guy? Yes, he was handsome, and yes, he had the ability to arouse her, but geez. You’d think the girl would get a fucking grip. Penelope was berating herself in silence when Jack spoke up, catching glances of her from the driver seat.

“So, what is a maid of honor in charge of when they plan a bachelorette party? I thought booze, chips, and salsa would be a great idea for a night in.”

Penelope scoffed. “Uhh, I don’t think so. What you just described is a sports gathering for men. Booze is a good start. God knows Celeste loves her alcohol. A few games, maybe some bar hopping, funny gifts, and maybe a few strippers,” she mumbled the last part.

“Strippers? I thought women were ‘above’ all that? I thought it was too taboo to even discuss.”

“Yikes, you’ve obviously forgotten it’s the twenty-first century. Well, just to clue you in, women work high-end corporate jobs, become their own bosses, and yes, they watch porn and own vibes too,” Penelope sarcastically explained.

Jack lost control of the steering wheel for a second and the car swerved a bit. She supposed he was a little surprised at her outburst.

He swallowed before responding. “Would it be safe for me to assume that you’re included in the modern women category as well?”

“Yeah, I am. And damned proud of it.”

“So, you watch p-porn and own a v-vibrator?” Jack asked, stumbling over the words.

Penelope froze. Did she actually say that? “Uhh, no. I don’t do that.”

“But you just said—”

“I know what I
said
. It doesn’t mean that I’m included in the generalization.”

“What color is it?” he pressed, a smirk on his face. Penelope sputtered, trying to form a coherent sentence. “Come on. You were the one who brought it up,” Jack coaxed. “What color is it?”

Penelope thought she was about to have a heat stroke. Her body temperature had risen, and her palms were sweating. She was glad he was too busy watching the road to look at her. She looked out the window and realized they were on her block.
Saved by the bell.
“You can stop here. I’ll just walk to my building.”

“I’ll walk you, no problem,” Jack replied.

“No! Just stop the car. I can walk myself, thanks.” Penelope fiddled with her seat belt. Her hands shook and the buckle kept slipping from her grasp.

Jack noticed her dilemma and parked right outside her building. He shut off the car and reached over to help her unbuckle the seat belt. She immediately pulled back. “What are you doing?”

Jack laughed a little nervously. “Hey, relax. I’m just trying to help you out here.” He went ahead and unbuckled her.

“Thank you.” Penelope immediately got out of the car and slammed the door in a hurry. She started to run up the stairs to her apartment, until she saw Jack coming right behind her.
Oh shit.
“Thanks for driving me back home. I appreciate it, very much. I’m sure you’ve got plenty more things to do on a Sunday afternoon,” she babbled while attempting to unlock her door. When she finally opened it, she turned to say her last thank-you and tried to shut the door.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t as easy as she expected. Something was blocking the door from closing, and she looked down to realize it was Jack’s foot. He shimmied through the crack.

“Did I do something to upset you? Because I promise I was only teasing back there. Although I’m very interested in knowing what color that vibe is,” he added with one of his sexy smirks and a lift of his eyebrow.

Penelope gave him the death stare this time. Jack immediately raised his hands in defeat. “Okay, I was just kidding. I’ll see you later then, I guess, since we’re now bachelorette party partners in crime.” He reached into his pocket and grabbed his wallet. “Mind handing me a pen please?”

Reluctantly, Penelope walked to her coffee table and grabbed a pen, handing it to him.

“Here’s my cell phone number, since you’d most likely not give me yours,” he teased, handing her a business card.

Penelope chuckled and nodded. “I’ll send you a text to see when and where we should start first.”

“I look forward to it.” Jack smiled, saluting her and walking down the steps to his car.

“My God, he has a gorgeous ass,” Penelope mumbled, watching the way his jeans fit his form ever so snugly. She shut the door before she got the urge to run down and pinch his butt. Penelope sighed and turned around, only to see she wasn’t alone.

“What was that about a vibrator?” Jasmine nearly screamed in Penelope’s ear. Stephanie had dropped the popcorn from her excitement. Both of them waited for Penelope to answer.

“Oh God, you guys! Weren’t you supposed to leave ages ago? What are you still doing here? And eating my food, too!” she said, looking at the living room table covered with bowls of food from her pantry.

“Oh no you don’t! You don’t get to change the subject. We want to know what you guys were talking about on your way here,” Stephanie demanded.

“And don’t forget to tell us why Celeste called you guys in the first place!” Jasmine added.

Penelope walked over to the couch and threw herself on it. Too much was happening too soon, and she really didn’t know what the hell was going on herself. She explained what had happened at the restaurant and the ride home with Jack. Her friends drank up every detail like it was the last margarita on Earth.

“Oh, he totally wants to bone you again.” Jasmine spoke first.

Penelope laughed. “No way! I think the guy just wants to work things out with me because I’m his best friend’s sister. They’re close.”

“Wait a minute. How close are we talking?” Stephanie asked, stuffing a handful of popcorn in her mouth. Penelope had always envied the fact that the girl could eat junk food as much as she did and still maintain her supermodel figure.

“I don’t know. I’m guessing pretty close, if she asked the guy to be her maid of honor. She chose him over her own sister. Which is fine. I’m slowly getting over it,” Penelope responded.

“I don’t know, Penny. I’d have to agree with Stephanie. It’s like there’s a gravitational pull between you two.”

Penelope scoffed. “You and your fairy tale talk. The only gravitational pull I have is the one that keeps me from falling off the face of the Earth. Why are you guys so interested in this anyway? Don’t you have your own love lives to keep you entertained?”

“Penny, it’s not every day that our bookworm of a friend has a one-night stand with a man who can only be described as sex on legs. Not to mention that the same man is our friend’s sister’s best friend and is now playing MOH.”

“Thank you for that detailed explanation, Steph,” Penelope answered, a little annoyed. She felt like a fish in a glass bowl with no artificial cave to hide in.

“Penny, your love life sounds like one of those books with the half-naked men on the cover. Don’t you get it? You’re finally one of those heroines in the books you edit!” Jasmine exclaimed a little too enthusiastically.

“You guys are on crack. This is real life. How that one-night stand happened weeks ago, we will never know. Call it luck, call it fate... whatever it was, it was just one time. I’m back to being me. Never in a million years would a guy like Jack even think of going out with someone like me. He’s not the commitment type.”

Stephanie sighed. “I just hope you come to realize the real you soon instead of this watered-down vision you have of yourself.”

T
here are two gifts a man could give me that will make me fall hopelessly in love with him forever: Chinese takeout and Coke. It’s as simple as that. Of course, I’ve never met anyone who has unknowingly fed my vice.

DIARY OF A WALLFLOWER: Entry 151

She was so close to throwing it all in and giving up on the bachelorette party. It had been two weeks already and it felt like every day was filled with white lace, salmon or steak, and strippers. Jasmine and Stephanie, who couldn’t wait to find out what Jack and Penelope had in store for Celeste, always brought up the last topic.

Penelope and Jack’s relationship... friendship... acquaintanceship? God, she didn’t even know what the hell to call it. They were civil to one another, which was good. They hardly fought, even though they butted heads at every decision made. If Penelope wanted white, he wanted black. If she said up, he chose down. Nevertheless, they hadn’t killed each other, which had to be a good thing, right? Stephanie kept insisting it was all part of their own kind of foreplay. Their fighting was all pent-up sexual energy vibrating between them.

When Penelope heard that, she burst out laughing. She didn’t think of herself as an ogre’s twin, but she also knew that she didn’t stand a chance against the leggy supermodels Jack loved to date. Or take to bed. She wondered if they ever took any of his clothes home with them. She felt a little pathetic when she decided to wear his hoodie when she was snuggled up on the corner of her couch watching a BBC show.

Yes, it was pathetic, but at least no one was around to witness her creepy attachment to Jack’s clothes. Darcy was right in the middle of professing his love to Lizzie when there was a knock on her door. Penelope checked the time on her cell phone.

2:00 a.m.

Who the hell was visiting her so late? She got up from the sofa and walked over to the door, looking through the peephole. Just her luck, it was the owner of the hoodie himself.

“Penny, I know you’re still awake. I can see the shadows under the door,” he stated. She caught a little smirk on his face. The man and his stupid smirk.

She looked down at her state of dress: her Chip ‘n’ Dale pajama pants and his hoodie.

Yikes, that won’t do.

“Just a second!” she replied, slipping off the hoodie and stuffing it behind one of the throw pillows on the couch. Once it was safely hidden, she opened the door. “Hey,” she said breathlessly. No matter how many times the guy came by her house to pick her up, he always took her breath away just by standing outside her door with that lazy smile and those happy eyes.