Before she wondered for too long, she felt Pete’s stare upon her face and rose to meet his eyes. He chuckled nervously and bent slightly to join his lips with hers. His kiss was tentative as he fitted his lower lip slightly between hers with his upper lip melding to her own. He didn’t try to part her lips or push things any further. She wanted him to lead and see where things would go. But instead of embedding his fingers into her hair, pulling her toward him, or really moving at all, he just paused for a few moments in that position as he ran his hand up and down her arm in a nonchalant manner. As the seconds passed, Penny opened her eyes, blinked a few times, and tried to sink into the moment. Where were the fireworks? Wasn’t this when they were supposed to be exploding? When Pete pulled back, Penny recognized her own feelings reflected on his face.
“Well, that was…”
“Um, yeah,” Penny agreed, a sigh of relief coming from her core. While their evening had been nothing but pleasant, she now knew without a shadow of a doubt that Pete was headed to the friend zone.
“Why can’t I find anyone I can talk to like you that I actually have chemistry with?” Pete asked.
“I’d like to know the same thing.”
“I really enjoyed our time together, Penny. I hope we can be friends.”
“I’d like that very much.” While the date wasn’t ending on a romantic note as she’d hoped, it wasn’t for lost. Who couldn’t use another friend, right?
“Let’s get together for coffee sometime,” Pete suggested as he took a step back.
Penny nodded. “Definitely. Good night,” she said, for lack of something better to say.
“Night.” He waved a hand as she turned, unlocked her car, and ducked in.
…
“So, he kissed you, right?”
“Right.”
Penny had spent the last ten minutes recounting Pete’s stories and going over the date in detail with Quarter on the phone. She’d promised her sisters the ins and outs of every date before anything appeared in the magazine articles. Plus, if she was honest, she needed someone on her side.
“And how did it make you feel?” Q asked.
“Feel?” Penny paused. “I don’t know. Like I was kissing my brother?”
“We don’t have a brother.”
“It feels like we do now.”
“Well, that’s not a good thing.” Q sighed on the other end of the phone.
“You’re telling me. What’s it supposed to feel like, exactly?”
“You’re supposed to feel your toes curl. Or at least that’s what all the romance novels say.”
“Are you reading romance again? You know what that does to you.” Penny giggled.
“I know, I know, but I can’t help it. I have to find love where I can, even if it’s through other people.”
“Is that why you need these conversations?”
“You caught me. Hearing about your soft kiss with Pete is the best thing that’s happened to me all week.”
Penny rolled her eyes. The kiss may have been soft, but there was nothing wrong with that. And Pete was a gentle soul who would probably make a great partner—for some woman someday. Just because he and Penny didn’t have sparks didn’t mean his kiss hadn’t been pleasant enough. It just didn’t bring up any emotions.
…
Penny opened the door to find Geo on the other side for the second time that week. She shook her head. How fast times changed.
“Come on in.” She took a step back as Geo rushed by, his coat leaving his shoulders before he’d barely entered the room. He slung it over the back of the couch and turned to face her.
“So, how was it?”
“It?” she asked, pretending as if she was confused.
“The date with Pete?”
Penny chuckled. Geo had been friendly with her when their co-worker status first began, but that had quickly rolled into a rivalry. Now, he wanted to be her, what, girlfriend? Someone she dished everything out to? She’d already had a long talk with Q about her date, and she didn’t intend to tell Geo the whole story.
“It was…nice.”
“Just nice? That’s it?” Geo ran a hand through his hair.
“Is this on or off-the-record?” Penny crossed her arms over her chest.
“What do you want it to be?” Geo gave her a sly look.
“Off. Definitely off. Way off.”
“Fine.” He held up his hands in affirmation.
“Pete’s a nice guy. We had a good time.”
“That’s what you want off-the-record? Come on, what gives, Penny?”
“Okay, okay. We have a lot in common.”
“It’s the red hair, right?”
Penny snorted. “Yep, you got me. I’ve been after a guy with red hair all my life, and now I finally caught one.”
“I hear that sarcasm there.”
“Good call.” She shrugged. “I wouldn’t say it’s love or anything, but we had good conversation, a few laughs, you know.”
“Was there a kiss?” Geo leaned toward her position on the far end of the couch.
“What is this, a dating show or something?”
“That comes later, you know that. This is the dating itinerary.”
“Of course. But I’m not even on schedule. Pete’s from Speed Dating, and that was so last week.”
“But I bet you can still use it.”
“Are we back on the record?”
“Only halfway,” Geo said. “I still want to hear about that kiss. But don’t you think you can weave this success into the story somehow?”
“Perhaps.” Penny took a seat on the couch. “Would you sit down? You’re making me nervous.”
Geo sat on the other end of the couch, just as they had two nights ago. “So…the kiss?”
“Fine. There was a kiss.”
“Did it knock your socks off?” Geo fluttered a hand against his chest and spoke in a high-pitched voice.
“George!” Penny whapped him with a pillow. It was fun to see a new side to him—one she actually liked instead of the one she hated.
“Okay, fine, seriously. How was it?” He placed his hands on his knees and leaned forward.
Penny had to wonder why he cared so much. He was acting like he needed to live vicariously through her. He saw plenty of women and had every opportunity of his own for kiss after kiss. Why did he need to hear about hers?
“It was…” How to describe something like a kiss? Penny thought about what she’d told Q and decided to use the same wording on Geo. “Soft,” she completed.
“A soft kiss. Huh.” Geo sank back into the couch and studied the coffee table.
“Is there something wrong with that?” Penny genuinely wanted to hear what he thought. He certainly had more dating experience than her. If he had insights, she was willing to hear them. Though their contention made her wary of taking any advice he might impart.
“I don’t know. It’s just not how I would describe a kiss. Soft.”
“Well, what are your kisses like?” Penny blushed as she realized what she’d just said.
Geo raised an eyebrow at her. “You’d have to ask my dates.”
“I might just do that.” Penny chuckled. She was lucky he let her crawl out of that one.
“So, on the record now. Let’s get to work.”
…
Geo spent the next two hours bent over the coffee table, spinning phrases with Penny. They’d agreed to write two separate articles. Penny would help him with his, which would be in his name. And he would help her with hers, which she would submit under her name. He wasn’t sure what bothered him more during their collaboration, the “soft” kiss she’d had with Pete or the fact that her hair smelled like strawberries. How did women do that? It was the end of the day. Surely, she’d showered first thing in the m
orning. How did her hair still smell like she’d rubbed the fruit right onto her head just before he’d arrived?
“What do you think of that, Geo?” Penny waved a hand before his face. “Geo?”
Geo startled and leaned over the laptop and read the last line she wrote. “It’s perfect.”
“You really think so?”
“Couldn’t have said it better myself.”
Penny smiled and hit spellcheck on the document, correcting a few commas along the way. George was thoroughly enjoying working with her again. They had a good rapport—one he’d quickly forgotten when competitiveness got the better of him. If they’d stayed on good terms, they could have taken St. Louis Happenings to new heights.
“Okay, what’s going on over there?” Penny closed the laptop and turned to face him. “Are you thinking about that blonde again?”
“Blonde?” George had already forgotten the woman he took out the other night, and Penny had finally admitted to being stood up, though her encounter with his agent was the more memorable portion of the evening.
“Uh, I’m sorry, but she was hot, even by my standards.”
George shook his head, snapping himself back into the present. “Lacy? Yeah, she was all right.”
“We’ve talked a lot about my date, but we haven’t touched that much on yours. How did we get through both of our articles without downloading that?”
George stared into her green eyes. He was pretty sure he saw flecks of gold around the center. “Just lucky, I guess.”
“It’s not fair, and I won’t have it.” Penny stuck her lip out like a pouting child.
“Fine, you win. We’re back off-the-record, by the way.”
“Got it.”
“I matched with Lacy on Tinder, as you probably guessed. She sent me a message. I replied. We agreed to meet.”
“Not much on details, are you?” Penny commented. “Saving those for yourself?”
“You know what they say about gentlemen.”
“Do I?”
George ignored her and went on. “You saw us at dinner. Things went fine. She had a side salad. I enjoyed the lasagna and dessert.”
“Side salad?” Penny made a face.
“I know, but it’s more common than you’d think.” George didn’t know how often Penny dated, but women always seemed to eat light and cheap when he took them out. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but he didn’t want a woman to worry so much about appearances.
“How was the conversation?” Penny asked.
“Conversation?” George hadn’t really thought of it that way. They’d talked, of course, but it hadn’t been deep, if that’s what she meant. “Flirty, I guess?”
“Flirty?”
“If you can have a soft kiss, I can have a flirty conversation.” George poked his finger in her direction.
“Okay, fine, have it your way. What happened next?”
“We left.”
“Together?” Penny smiled her adorable little crooked grin.
“Well, sort of. I mean, I saw her back to her car and all.”
“Was there a kiss?” Penny imitated the way he’d said it earlier, clapping her hands with glee that she got to use his phrase on him.
“I can see why you were hesitant to answer that question.” George shifted in his seat.
“Oh, right, you’re a gentleman. You don’t kiss and tell?”
“Not usually,” Geo replied.
“But this is off-the-record so…”
“She kissed me, and then I opened her door and put her in the car.”
“Let me get this straight.” Penny scooted closer. “She kissed you and then you opened her car door and just shoved her in?”
“Not exactly.” Geo couldn’t believe how uncomfortable the conversation was making him. Normally, he’d brag about Lacy’s offer, but it didn’t feel right with Penny being the one listening.
“What, then, Geo? Spit it out.”
“Fine, she kissed me like she was a dying woman and I was the only man left on earth, and then she asked me to go home with her.”
“And that’s when you pushed her into her car?” Penny chuckled behind her hand.
“You’re having way too much fun with this.”
“Sorry.”
Geo could tell she wasn’t really sorry. He shrugged. “She just didn’t have something different about her.”
“So that’s your type—different?”
“I don’t know that I have a type. I’m attracted to all sorts of women.”
“And here I was beginning to think you were picky.”
Geo squirmed. The confidence on Penny’s face was telling. She was enjoying this way more than she should. “It’s just that, I don’t know, I want someone a little more challenging.”
“Ah, you want a chase.” Penny stood and rushed toward the kitchen. She glanced behind her as she opened the fridge and pulled out two bottles of water. “I can see you’re not after me.”
Geo stood and followed her into the kitchen at a slower pace. “You’re too fast for me to catch, I can tell. Plus, you like ‘soft’ kisses, and that’s not my style.”
When Penny emerged from the fridge, she had a look of surprise on her face. Her cheeks were red again, and Geo smiled. He liked embarrassing her. Her rosy cheeks were his favorite look on her.
“Just take your water and let’s get back to business.” Penny jammed the bottle into his chest.
Geo caught her wrist and covered her hand with his own. Instead of removing the water from her hand, he held her against him, captive on the other side of the bottle. The moment her eyes caught his, he knew his next move. He bent his neck, his body aching for him to do what came naturally to him.
The shocked noise she made and the widening of her eyes stopped him. For a moment, he wasn’t sure what to do. Was she going to slap him and ask him to leave? She probably should. He was about to kiss her, and they both knew it.
The moment only lasted a few beats as they stared into each other’s eyes, waiting for the other to blink. Finally, Geo released her wrist, removing one finger at a time, and took a step back from her stunned expression.
Penny’s cheeks were that same rosy red he adored every time he was able to embarrass her, even slightly. His advance had come out of nowhere, and he had no real excuse for what he started. If she hadn’t made a noise of protest, he would have finished the move, too.
“That was off-the-record,” he rasped as he turned, grabbed his coat, and headed out the door.
Chapter Ten
Tinder – It Could Easily Light a Fire
By Penny Coyne
This week, it was my task to try out the Tinder app, and I have to admit, it’s a tad addicting. Once I had a profile set up, I was swiping left and right like mad. Even one of my sisters caught the bug and did some swiping of her own. It’s easy to judge a book by its cover when you have no chance of actually opening that book any time soon. Just one swipe and it’s all over.
When I started to go deeper and read a few profiles after I got matched with some local men, I saw a pattern. They were all looking for different things, but in the same way. Is that really fair? One man wanted a woman who enjoyed skiing, just like he did. Another was a martial artist who wanted someone who could match him kick for kick. Their desires were all different, and yet they were all looking for love in the same place. Could anyone really find it?
My experience with Tinder didn’t go as well as I’d hoped. I did match with several men, but conversations were hit and miss. It made me wonder how frequently meetings actually work, and when they do happen, do they go well?
How often are women stood up when they try to meet a man they saw and liked on Tinder? How often, on the other side, is the man left waiting? Probably more often than you think. And Tinder opens up a whole host of
other issues. How can you tell, from a picture, what someone will really be like? Are they harmless or a danger? Are they the love of your life or another dud in the long list of dates you’ve had in the past?
If you’re willing to throw caution to the wind, Tinder can be a good outlet for you. Once you get some matches, it’s a nice ego boost. But at the same time, proceed with care. You never know what you’re going to get. Plus, there’s the whole fact that Tinder can be very addicting. Just one more swipe—it turns into twenty, beware.
My advice? Use Tinder to open yourself to the possibilities. There are men out there looking for a woman like you. Will you find “the one” on Tinder? Who knows? Lightning has been known to strike. It might be highly unlikely, but if you don’t expect too much, you never know what can happen. At the very least, you’ll be entertained.
But keep your eyes open at all times and don’t drive blind. People don’t always look in person as they did in pictures. You can’t tell what a person will act like by a picture. And your life is too important to take risks. Public places are key if you get to the point where you want to meet someone.
I wish you the best of luck with your love adventures. Until next time, I continue on with mine.
…
Penny’s mind had been on overdrive since she submitted her article to editing. Since before then, really. After Geo’s almost kiss, she wasn’t sure where her head was. They’d shared a lot that evening…their work, their dating experiences. Perhaps things had gotten confused and he’d just done what he always did. But she’d definitely been right to stop things before they got out of hand, right?
“They’re saying it’s your best work yet.” Josie stepped into the doorway and shook Penny from her fog.
“The article?”
Josie nodded. “This dating thing is really working out for you.”
“What do you mean?” Penny’s cheeks heated. She busied herself with papers on her desk, hoping Josie wouldn’t notice.
“You look so…flustered! But in a good way.”
Penny refused to make eye contact. No one could know what happened between her and Geo. Not even that she was working with him. They’d written two separate articles, but after their TV appearances, it was evident to everyone around them that there was no love lost between them. If people found out they were working together now, what would it do to their credibility? Plus, she wanted to get the cover on her own merit, not with Geo in the background, taking any of the credit. Penny touched her lips without thinking.
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