The Dating Itinerary

by Brooke Williams

  Penny wasn’t sure what to make of Geo, their conversation, or his slimy agent. In the end, it didn’t really matter where the idea had come from. Geo had it now. And she could tell by his lack of apology that he wasn’t backing down. They were in this side by side, like it or not.

  Well, may the best man—or woman—win.

  You got it, he replied.

  Chapter Eight

  George went through the motions of the date, and he had even kissed the woman on the cheek before leaving her at her car after dinner. She’d wanted there to be more to the date, but he just wasn’t into it. After seeing Penny, the evening went downhill for him. When his agent got water dumped on him, he watched Penny and her sister leave abruptly. Geo had trouble thinking of anything but what happened at the other table. Michael had indeed come by the dating list idea in a less-than-above-board manner. It had come through Penny’s sister, whom Penny had confided in. While Geo certainly wasn’t okay with the method, what could he do now? He was in too deep to back off, and money for Her Heart was there for the taking. His sister’s charity could make an impact on hundreds of lives if he was able to secure the new job and pass the funding along to her.

  He spent the day after the date stewing over what had happened between Penny, Michael, and her sister. His only break from the fog were the two hours he spent at the park with his nephew after school. Maggie had errands to run, and Geo was only too glad for the fresh air and the youthful perspective on life.

  “Do you know what I want to be when I grow up?” Eliot asked.

  “What?” Geo stood below him as he swung out onto a high set of monkey bars.

  “A monkey.”

  “You were born a monkey, little man. Has your mom ever told you about the time she found you on top of the fridge?”

  Eliot grinned as he made it to the landing on the other side of the bars. “Uh huh. She only left the room for a minute.” It was obvious he knew the story word for word.

  Geo shook his head. “I think you’ll make a good little monkey. Do you plan to live at the zoo?”

  Eliot scratched his armpits like a monkey. “Chase me, Uncle G!” He took off across the playset and threw himself down a slide.

  Geo deftly moved to the end of the slide and caught him at the bottom, and they landed in a heap among the sticks.

  “Having fun, Geo?” Maggie tilted her head to look at the two on the ground.

  “Always.” Geo gave Eliot a push to the upright position.

  “Let’s get going, Eliot. Thanks, Geo. We’ll see you soon.”

  Geo stood, brushed himself off, and watched his nephew reluctantly follow Maggie across the grass and to the parking lot. Their fun was over for the day. He sat on a bench and opened Tinder. He had a dozen new matches and some fresh messages to answer.

  His finger lingered over the messages as he decided which one to open first. He tapped on Penny’s picture and re-read what she’d said about their match. He knew he should close it and reply to a woman who was more willing, but instead, he typed: Can we talk? He hit send and waited.

  They’d already discussed his agent and his shady dealings, but he didn’t feel like things were resolved between them. If they had to appear on TV again together soon, he wanted a better, more united front, if at all possible.

  About what? came her reply after a minute had passed.

  George leaned his head back against the bench. Good question. And one he didn’t know how to answer. He hesitated, staring at his phone, hoping a solution would arise before him. Before he could answer, another message materialized.

  Are you out? Why don’t you stop by?

  George blinked at the exchange from Penny. He hadn’t answered her last question, and now she was inviting him over. It was the second invitation he’d fielded from a woman in two days, albeit one of a completely different nature than the previous one.

  Penny’s address appeared on the screen next after George replied with his consent. See you soon, George typed as he walked to his car and pocketed his phone. He knew the street she meant, and he memorized the numbers quickly. They were going to get to the bottom of their feud, whether she liked it or not.

  …

  Penny paced her kitchen, unsure of what she was feeling or what she should feel. Geo bugged her—rubbed her the wrong way. And yet the second he’d reached out, she’d invited him over. Was she vulnerable after being stood up? Did she want to hear details on what happened with him and his agent? Or did she just want to tell him to his face that she hadn’t swiped right on him? That must be it. She’d get satisfaction from seeing the look in his eyes when he recognized she didn’t desire him like other women seemed to.

  It would be fun for her to put him in his place, like he had done to her a few years back in the office. He’d been underhanded in getting the promotion over her, though she was the only one who had seen his true colors at the time. They’d been congenial before the competitive side came out when they were vying for the same job. She even thought they might be friends—until the promotion came up and all heck broke loose between them.

  From that moment on, Geo was an enemy—a competitor—and nothing more. Penny rushed to her bedroom and tore off her business suit. She’d been wearing it all day at work, and it was wrinkled and used. She grabbed a pair of well-worn jeans and her softest T-shirt. She didn’t need anything special for Geo. She ran a hand through her short hair and inspected herself in the bedroom mirror. After using a wipe to free her face of makeup, she heard a knock at her door.

  Penny slowly exited her bedroom and took her time walking across the living room to the door. He could wait. When she opened it, her breath caught in her throat as Geo stood before her in the light of the dusk.

  “Hey,” he said, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

  Penny opened the door a bit wider. “Come on in.” She didn’t mean for her voice to sound so quiet, but she felt like she’d been punched in the chest for no apparent reason. She shook her head and reminded herself of her goal: find out more about his agent.

  “I went to lunch with my sister the other day,” she began.

  Geo stepped into her living room and turned to face her. “I heard.”

  “I told you it was her who swiped right on you, and it really was. She played with my Tinder account,” she explained as Geo took a few steps in her direction. “She must have swiped right on you when I went to the counter to get our lunch.”

  George stopped. “That explains it.”

  Penny sighed. Telling him to his face didn’t have the effect she’d hoped. He looked unfazed. “Have a seat.” Penny chose a seat on the couch, expecting Geo to sit in the chair closest to him. Instead, he plopped down at the other end of her couch, his leather jacket close enough to her that she could smell its natural scent.

  Geo slung his arm around the back of the couch and turned in her direction.

  “Why did you want to meet?” Penny asked.

  “I just felt like we should clear the air. There’s a lot more to all of this than you know.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Your magazine had the idea for this dating feature. You told your sister. She told Smathers. He set me up on the assignment. Do you believe me when I say I didn’t know where the idea came from?”

  Penny tilted her head. “Should I?”

  “It’s the truth.”

  “You never asked?”

  “I did, but Smathers wouldn’t say. And, to be honest, I didn’t want to know.”

  “And now that you know?”

  “I can’t exactly back out now.”

  Penny frowned. She wasn’t expecting him to, but it would have been nice, given the circumstances.

  “I have a lot riding on this,” Geo admitted.

  “What do you mean?”

  Geo took a deep breath. “Off-the-record?”
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  Penny nodded. In a way, she was like a lawyer. If a source told her something off-the-record, it was her secret to keep.

  “This whole dating game thing is deeper than you might realize. My agent, you know, the guy whose lap you filled with your drink the other night—”

  Penny smiled. She enjoyed that part of the evening.

  “Well, he got me a huge opportunity, but it all hinges on these dating columns going well.”

  “What kind of opportunity?” Penny was thinking about her own chance at the cover on St. Louis Happenings.

  “A syndicated column and a network TV show—in New York.”

  “Wow.” Penny knew Geo’s freelance profile had risen since he left the magazine, but this was above and beyond what she expected.

  “Still off-the-record, right?”

  She nodded again.

  “I’m not doing it for fame or fortune. You know my sister, Maggie?”

  Penny remembered him talking about her when they worked together.

  “She started this charity. It’s called Her Heart.”

  “I’ve heard of it.”

  “She’s a single mom, always struggling to make ends meet, yet she does everything she can for these women. I really want to see the charity take off, for her sake, you know?”

  Penny found herself admiring his commitment to his sister, but she shook it off quickly. She couldn’t admire Geo. That wasn’t the way their relationship worked.

  “Well, if I can get this job, she won’t have to worry about begging for grants anymore. Let’s just put it that way.”

  Penny didn’t know what to say. He wanted to make this major career move, not for himself, but for his sister?

  Penny blinked. She was still trying to sort out how she felt about Geo’s agent stealing her magazine’s idea right from under her, using her sister as the unknowing catalyst. She didn’t owe Geo anything. In fact, if anything, he owed her. But this? It was the last thing she expected. He wanted to support a good cause with his success? That’s why he was working so hard? Why he wouldn’t give up on this dating track even now that he knew where the idea originated?

  “We got off to a bad start with this whole thing.”

  Penny chuckled. “That’s an understatement.”

  “Actually,” Geo corrected, crossing one leg over the other and resting his ankle on his knee, “that’s not really true. I feel like when we first met, we really hit it off.”

  Penny nodded. She didn’t want to agree with Geo on anything, but he was right. They had been assigned to work on articles together, and their styles flowed well. She took part of the research while George did the interviews. When they got together to write the piece, it was seamless. They’d enjoyed witty banter in the office after that. It was a few months into their working relationship that rumors of the promotion came up, and it all changed.

  “But when we met again, the other night, and then again on TV, well, things didn’t go quite as smoothly as they could have.”

  Penny snorted. Was he trying to call her off the trail or something? An idea was forming in Penny’s mind, and she wasn’t sure she liked it.

  “Are we still off-the-record?” she asked.

  “Way off.” He held three fingers to his heart like a Boy Scout.

  “I’m all in on the dating itinerary.”

  “What does that mean, exactly?”

  “It means that I could get a cover from it,” Penny explained. She didn’t like confiding in Geo, but if her idea was going to work, she had no choice.

  “Well, that would be big.”

  “I know.”

  “You just have to write the column and they’re going to give you a cover?”

  Penny made a face. “Well, I have to provide a, let’s just say, a happy ending.”

  Geo frowned.

  “Remember that puff piece we wrote together?” Penny asked.

  “The one about the clown college starting up in the city?” Geo chuckled.

  “That’s the one. And they made you get in full costume to do the interviews.” Penny couldn’t help but stifle another laugh. The photographer on staff had gotten some golden shots of George in full makeup, complete with a red rubber nose and giant shoes.

  “Hey, I did what I had to do.” George chucked his fist against her shoulder, now close enough to lean against her on the couch.

  “Anything for the story.” Penny spoke in a quiet voice again, her mind turning to the last piece he wrote—the one that included hints to her identity as his mystery woman. And the fact that he was planning to continue down the same dating path she was taking.

  “We worked well together, don’t you think?” she asked.

  “I was just thinking that, actually.”

  “I have a proposition for you.” Penny wasn’t sure she liked the way that came out, and the interest that sparkled in Geo’s eyes. “Let’s start over, you and I—from the beginning,” she continued.

  “What does that mean, exactly?” he asked.

  “Well, we’re both going to do this dating game thing. Neither one of us is giving up, right?”

  “Seems that way.”

  “You need it for your goals, and I have my own. And we already agreed we work well together.”

  “Okaaay.” Geo watched her intently.

  “What if we, I don’t know, collaborate?”

  “Are you saying you need a wing man?” Geo nudged her with his shoulder.

  “I don’t need any help.”

  “I didn’t say you did.”

  Penny tried to relax her shoulders. This was harder than she thought. What if he didn’t like the idea? Rejection from her nemesis would be humiliating.

  “I’m suggesting we become writing partners. Maybe help each other reach our goals. Competing is just going to sink us both.” Penny thought about the way she’d acted on the TV show. It certainly didn’t do Geo any favors.

  “So we write together, and with any luck, we both get what we want in the end?”

  “It’s a win-win.” She watched as he processed the idea.

  “It could work. But are you actually going to go on dates? Get your own material?”

  Penny thought about the empty chair across from her at dinner—the one Roger was supposed to fill. Was Geo suggesting that he would have to bring all the research?

  “For your information, I have a date with Pete from Speed Dating tomorrow night.”

  “Oh, really?”

  “You don’t have to look so surprised.”

  “I’m not. You’re a beautiful woman, Penny.”

  Penny thought she saw confusion cross his expression, like he hadn’t meant to say that out loud. He turned away from her, ran his hand through his hair, and focused on the window behind her like he was seeing something highly interesting outside.

  “Thanks,” she uttered. A chill coursed through her, sending sudden goose bumps up her arms.

  “I like your idea. I think we should do it.” Geo brought his gaze back to her. “And I’m sorry for what Michael did. He shouldn’t have used your sister like that.”

  Penny felt Geo’s hand move over hers on the couch between them.

  “I didn’t know until it was too late.” Geo pulled his hand away, and Penny’s fingers felt cold where his warmth once was.

  Penny nodded. She was willing to get past it. There was nothing she could do about his columns anyway. But his success and hers didn’t have to exclude one another. Working together, they could get what they wanted. Plus, they always said to keep your friends close and your enemies closer. With Geo’s talent and her creativity, who knew what they could come up with together?

  Geo stood. “Why don’t we get together again? Maybe after your date with Pete? See what we can come up with?”

  “Yeah, let’s do that.”
>
  “Okay, why don’t you text me? You know, since I lost your number and all.” Geo winked as he headed for the front door.

  “I’ll get a burner phone, so you still won’t have my number.”

  Geo laughed. “You do that, Miss Coyne.”

  She opened the front door, and he stepped out.

  “Back on the record,” he said. “Do we have a truce?”

  “Truce.” Penny agreed, sticking a hand out for him to shake to their pact.

  “Sorry, Penny, this is a Dating List…or Itinerary rule…no handshakes, only hugs.” Geo pulled her into his embrace so tightly her cheek rubbed against the soft material of his leather jacket.

  She inhaled deeply as she wrapped her arms around his back to return the hug. It might have been a bit awkward, but it wasn’t all unpleasant.

  Chapter Nine

  Penny leaned against Pete as he guided her through the parking lot. His coat was scratching against the material of her jacket. She laughed as he finished a story about his first day managing the restaurant.

  “We ended the day with a bus boy in a pile of noodles in the back room, a small kitchen fire, a medical team on the scene for an allergic reaction, and two waitresses quitting.”

  Penny shook her head. “How did you recover from all that?” she asked.

  “One day at a time.” Pete grinned.

  She turned to face him as they approached her car. “This is me.”

  “It was so nice talking with you. I feel like I could tell you stories for hours.”

  “And I could listen to them.” Penny felt comfortable with Pete, like he was a long-lost friend catching up on the time they had missed together.

  “Next time, I want to hear more of your horror stories, okay?”

  “There are plenty,” Penny agreed as she internally pumped her fists in the air. He’d said, “next time.” That meant he was enjoying things between them.

  Pete shifted, and Penny lowered her eyes. While the evening had been easy, the end of a date was often filled with awkward pauses. How to walk away from the night of laughter and stories? Should she hug him? Lean in to see if he would kiss her?