“Penny, this is Alex,” he said, performing the introductions with slow reluctance. “And these guys are my colleagues from the States. They’re over for an awards ceremony. Alex, this is Penny. She owns an antique shop in the city, and she’s furnishing my house.”
Alex stood in the road, regarding Penny and Kurt in a speculative way which only increased her sense of awkwardness. With a reluctance that equalled Kurt’s, she indicated the group of friends hustling behind her, agog.
“You already know Tehmeena. And these are some friends from schooldays. We were just—”
“We were just persuading Penny to come to Belinda’s,” Tehmeena broke in. “Why don’t you come with us?”
Penny whirled round, astounded. It was supposed to be a girls’ night out. No Men Allowed. It was so unlike Tehmeena to break their unwritten rule that Penny stared at her in silent vexation, but Tehmeena merely returned her look with the blandest of cheerful smiles. In the babble of talk that erupted, somehow it was agreed by somebody—and then eventually by everybody—that the two groups should indeed join forces and head for the cocktail bar. Penny looked at Kurt in dismay, but he had turned away to say something to one of his colleagues.
“Sure am glad we fell in with you girls,” Alex said, swiftly taking the opportunity to step in beside Penny. “Me and the guys were headed back for a quiet night in the hotel bar. And don’t tell anyone I said this,” he lowered his voice and gave her a conspiratorial wink, “but me and the rest of that bunch have got eight hours together on a plane tomorrow, and we’re already sick of each other’s company. I’m real glad we met up with you. You’ve saved our lives.”
Alex had boyish, open features and such a mischievous grin accompanied his words that Penny couldn’t help but smile back. Then she caught Kurt’s eyes on them both. From the look on his face, he didn’t share Alex’s enthusiasm at their joining forces. He looked unhappy. Annoyed, even. But there was no time to puzzle it out, because the whole, chattering group moved as one, and the next minute Alex took her arm, and she found herself propelled firmly in the direction of Belinda’s.
* * * *
Kurt propped himself at the crowded bar and took another sip from his bourbon. The music was loud, but he didn’t need to bend his head to follow what people were saying. He looked past Tehmeena to where Alex was deep in conversation with Penny. The music wasn’t so loud a guy had to put his lips to a girl’s ear, for example. If Alex’s mouth got any closer to Penny’s head, he’d be eating it. And what on earth were they talking about? Whatever it was, every time he bent his head to hers, she laughed in that cute way she had, lifting her chin, her eyes crinkling up at him. Didn’t she realise what a creep that guy was around women?
He felt a soft touch on his shoulder and turned to find Tehmeena gazing up at him, a worried expression on her face.
“I’m just going to sit down.” She indicated a table where her friends and Kurt’s were engaged in animated conversation. “Are you coming?”
Kurt shook his head, feeling a little guilty. He knew he was acting like a bear. Tehmeena was probably sick of trying to make conversation with him.
“I’ll be going on home after I’ve finished my drink.” He raised his glass. “You go on ahead.”
“Well, see you in the shop tomorrow.” Tehmeena stepped up on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. She nodded in Penny’s direction and added something else, but her words were lost in the mix of music and chatter. Kurt just smiled back. Tehmeena stood, staring at him anxiously for a while before turning to rejoin her friends.
After she’d gone, he took another swig from his glass, trying not to look in Penny’s direction, but it was damned hard to keep his eyes off her. In the past week or so, he’d begun to think of Penny as pretty, but the way she looked this evening, pretty wasn’t the word. No, pretty definitely wouldn’t begin to cut it as a vocabulary choice. The only word he could find for her was hot. So hot that when he first saw her standing with her friends outside that restaurant he’d stood staring at her like some sort of country goof. From a distance, he hadn’t even realised at first it was Penny, with her long legs and her hair all piled up like a princess. She was wearing a short silver fake fur jacket and had some silvery diamonds in her hair that glittered in the streetlight. She looked a million miles away from the tired, ordinary girl he’d first met in her shop. Why had he never noticed until now she had legs like that? It was no wonder Alex had stopped to stare at her.
He glared at Alex again. What did a guy like that find to talk about incessantly? Penny caught his eye, and he glanced away quickly. Kurt had never been one for small talk and found bars such as this one a strain. Everybody just chattering, chattering...
He closed his eyes momentarily. If he were alone with Penny, now... If they were alone, with her in that short dress, he knew damn well he’d have other things on his mind than making small talk. He drained the rest of his bourbon. The ice did nothing to kill the heat that was eating through his veins. He felt a tug on his sleeve and found himself gazing into Alex’s perspiring face.
“Where’s Penny?” Kurt asked, glancing round.
“She’s gone to the restroom.” Alex twisted his head to see if any of Penny’s friends were listening then lowered his voice. “Dude, that girl is something, isn’t she? Why’d you keep her such a secret?”
“She’s no secret. Anyway what’s it to you?” Kurt pushed his empty glass across the bar. He knew he was angry and tried to lighten his words. “I mean, you’re heading home tomorrow, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, but come on. I’m over here twice a month. And a girl like that would add some fun to a lonely hotel room. Know what I mean?” He broke into a grin before catching Kurt’s murederous expression and held up his hands. “Hey, hey. Why the bear look? She said there’s nothing going on between you two, so what’s your problem? And not likely to, either, she told me. Those were her exact words. So there’s no harm in me getting her cell number.”
Kurt pulled himself upright. “Did she give you her cell number?” he asked, not bothering to hide his incredulity.
“Nah, but it’s only a matter of time.” Alex swallowed the last of his Manhattan, missing the thunderous flash in his friend’s eyes. Kurt and Alex had worked together a long time. Kurt liked the guy, but he knew only too well how many women Alex had on the go and in how many cities around the world. As far as Kurt was concerned, his friend could have as many women as he liked, but he was going to make damn sure Penny wasn’t one of them.
* * * *
Unaware of the seething emotions brewing in their corner of the bar, Penny was weaving her way a little unsteadily through the tables. She’d retrieved her fur jacket and was planning on saying her goodbyes. The evening hadn’t ended as much fun as it started out. Although she’d enjoyed Alex’s conversation—he was a wicked flirt and some of the things he’d said made her laugh out loud—she wasn’t so naïve she didn’t recognise a serial womaniser when she saw one. In any case, it was hard to enjoy an evening when every time you looked up, you saw an unfriendly pair of scowling grey eyes. She was starting to feel quite on edge and even a little cross. She began doing the rounds of goodbyes with her friends, relieved the evening was finally over. She’d just given a final hug and a promise of meeting more often when she felt a warm hand clasp her elbow. Kurt was behind her. His expression hadn’t lost any of its unfriendliness.
“I was just coming to say goodbye—” she began.
“Fine. I’ll help you find you a cab.”
“Oh, but I haven’t said goodbye to—” Penny looked over in Alex’s direction, but he had his back to the room and was ordering another couple of drinks at the bar.
“I’ll make your excuses.”
Penny felt her arm firmly gripped, with no way to wriggle out of it without causing an embarrassing scene. She looked at Tehmeena for support, but her friend just gave her an airy wave of the hand and a wide grin.
“See you in the shop tomorrow,” she called with
a wink. “Bright and early.”
So much for friends, Penny thought bitterly. The next minute she felt herself propelled quite inexorably up the steps of the cocktail bar and out into the silent street. Kurt acknowledged the bouncer’s goodnight with a curt nod of his head.
Kurt by name and curt by nature. Penny was suddenly overwhelmed with the urge to giggle. The fresh air in the street outside was doing terrible things with the cocktails inside her head.
“I don’t need a taxi,” she said, trying to tug her arm out of Kurt’s grip as he manoeuvred her along the pavement. She wasn’t happy with the way he’d propelled her out of the bar, and suddenly, it was vital to assert her independence. “I’m quite happy getting the tube. The station’s just round the corner.”
“Yeah? And how about when you get off the tube? I bet it’s a dark walk to your home.”
Penny didn’t say anything. She didn’t want to admit it, but the walk from her tube stop to her front door always made her a little apprehensive at night. It was a quiet residential area, and the lack of nightlife made the leafy streets particularly creepy. Kurt was right to look for a taxi for her, and her silence told him so.
“See? You need to get yourself a cab. And besides, I’m not about to let you freeze to death on the sidewalk.”
“Pavement,” she muttered.
“What?”
“I said pavement. We’re in London not New York. It’s pavement.”
“Whatever,” said Kurt, his eyes scanning the street.
“I say tom-ah-toes, and you say tom-ay-toes….” Penny started singing in a gently mocking, tuneful way that she was quite proud of until Kurt swung her round to face him.
“Are you drunk?”
She raised her eyebrows and swayed a little. “Kurt, shall we just call the whole thing off?”
“You’re drunk. Hell, if you were my kid sister, I’d be giving you one hell of a scolding right now.”
His words had the sobering effect of a bucket of cold water. There was a momentary frigid silence before Penny brought her face up close to his. “Well I’m not your kid sister. Alex doesn’t talk to me as though I’m a stupid kid sister. So stop going on about it.”
“I know damn well how Alex was talking to you. Why do you think I got you out of there?”
“You got me out?” Her eyes blazed, and she edged dangerously closer. “I was leaving anyway. I might have had a couple of drinks, but I know how to look after myself. So stop treating me like your kid sister, because I’m not.”
Penny’s eyes glittered with anger and something that looked suspiciously like tears. Kurt stared into her face.
“Okay, okay.” He caught hold of her, and she flinched beneath his touch. “It’s just I know how Alex is with women. We go back a long way. He’s my friend, and when I saw you with him, I felt responsible. I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry if I seemed high-handed.”
Penny’s breathing was still shallow and coming in rapid breaths, her chest rising and falling beneath the thin fabric of her dress. With his back to the streetlight, Kurt’s face was in shadow. She could make out only his eyes, which gleamed with sudden heat in the dark mask of his face. His hands tightened on her shoulders, and she felt the warmth of his breath flutter across her lips. She began to tremble, and he pulled her into his arms.
“You’re cold,” he said quietly, although her body was warm in his gentle embrace. He kissed the top of her head. “Here, here’s a cab coming.” He released her, holding her away from him with a jerky movement, and she stepped back unsteadily. He lifted his hand, and the car pulled in to the kerb. “Let’s get you home.”
The cab’s headlamps lit Kurt’s features with a cold, yellow glow, revealing a mouth set in a harsh line. A small lump formed in Penny’s throat.
He opened the cab door, and she stepped in, averting her gaze from his.
“I’ll be at the shop tomorrow,” he said.
He gave her a small, reassuring nod and half a smile. Their gazes locked, and for an instant, he lifted his hand as though to touch her cheek. She held her breath, and then he withdrew, stepping back swiftly to push the car door shut. The taxi pulled away from the pavement, and she saw him turn and depart for home, head down.
Penny covered her face with her hands. Her shoulders lifted and fell soundlessly. She felt as though she had been physically torn from Kurt’s arms. She couldn’t understand why—if everything felt so right there—instead of holding her and kissing her, as she had longed for him to do, he had pushed her away and sent her home. As if she really was his kid sister. And she had been so dangerously close to lifting her head to press her lips to his. She shut her eyes with a groan. How humiliating that would have been. Her imagination was only too quick to fill in the scene: the embarrassment that would have crossed Kurt’s face, how he would have put her away from him and told her she should get home to bed, like a little kid. Like a little kid sister. She winced again.
If she were an actor, she would know exactly how the scene should play out. How the hero would sweep the glamorous girl into his arms. How his warm mouth would feel on hers, his hands, the heat of him under her fingers…
Penny dropped her hands from her face. That scene hadn’t been for her. It was played by a different actor. It was played by someone poised, someone stunningly beautiful, someone who said all the right words and played the part Kurt wanted her to play to cold perfection.
Penny just wasn’t right, and she knew it. The thought of having to carry on in the kid sister role was getting too much to bear, though, and she felt a feeling akin to dread at what the next few weeks might bring.
* * * *
Penny and Tehmeena were both a little pale when the shop opened next morning. Penny had lain awake for what seemed like hours, and when she finally fell asleep, she was haunted by dreams in which she’d won the starring role in a play. Each time she’d been massively excited. But no matter how many times she applied her stage make-up, each time she looked in the mirror, instead of a glamorous beauty, she found she’d been made up as a schoolgirl in pigtails. She woke up several times in a cold sweat.
“So,” said Tehmeena, all agog. “How did it go?”
Penny looked up from her cup of tea. “How did what go?”
“You know—last night? You left with Kurt.” Tehmeena saw the blank look on Penny’s face and continued, aghast. “Don’t tell me you don’t remember?”
“Of course I remember. I was stone cold sober. Well, pretty much,” she added truthfully when she saw the sceptical lift of Tehmeena’s brows. “But there’s nothing to tell. Kurt saw me into a taxi outside Belinda’s, and we each headed home to our own beds.”
“Oh.” Tehmeena fiddled with her bracelet for a moment. “I thought he might…”
“Well, he didn’t. He looked pretty cross the whole evening, to be quite honest. And then he couldn’t wait to hustle me home.”
Her friend eyed her doubtfully. “That’s not how I saw it,” she said. “I thought…”
The shop bell jangled to announce the first customer of the day. Tehmeena turned reluctantly, but before moving away, she made time to whisper, “I thought he was jealous of you and Alex.”
Penny stared after her, almost dropping her tea-cup. Jealous! A jealous lover doesn’t tell you off for being drunk and bundle you into a taxi like a naughty kid. Tehmeena was suffering from Penny’s own wishful thinking. She dropped her eyes to her desk and the day’s post. As difficult as it was, she needed to concentrate before the shop filled with customers. Kurt would soon be arriving, and she still had to sort out her bank paperwork for him.
She picked up the first couple of letters. Invoices. Luckily, the shop now had enough cash flow to pay the most pressing. She laid the invoices aside and picked up the next envelope. It was hand-written and had no stamp. It had obviously been hand-delivered, and Penny had a good idea who by. She tore it open with a feeling of foreboding.
Penny, it said. I may have left the partnership, but we still have
business to finish. I will call in at the shop today (Saturday) at closing time. Please make sure you are there. David.
Penny put the letter down with an anxious frown. There was something intimidating about receiving a letter through the door. As though David had been lurking. Why couldn’t he just e-mail or phone like normal people? This was all she needed. She’d been trying her best to keep David away, as Kurt advised, but she couldn’t hold him off forever. In any case, David was right. There were final odds and ends to tie up regarding dissolving the partnership, and he had every right to insist on following them through. It was just Penny sensed he was intent on causing some sort of trouble.
“Everything okay?”
Kurt. She looked up with a smile of relief. She hadn’t realised until now how much she had grown to rely on his support. It wasn’t until she saw the faint constraint in his face that the previous night and the way it had ended came flooding back. She felt her cheeks warm. She laid David’s note down on the table and stood up.
“Hi,” she said shyly. “Did you get home all right?”
“Yeah. How about you? You feeling chipper this morning?”
“Yes,” she protested. “I wasn’t drunk.”
He grinned, and Penny realised she was being teased. There was such frank humour and openness in his smile, and she couldn’t help but smile back.
“Well, maybe a little,” she conceded. “Thanks for finding me a cab.”
“No problem.” He gave the courteous nod of the head that caused her stomach to backflip. Then his eyes fell on the paperwork on her desk and David’s scrawled signature. He lifted his head, expression hardening. “What’s this?” he asked.
“David wants to come over after closing tonight. I’ve tried to hold him off, but at the moment, he’s quite within his rights. The partnership isn’t legally wound up yet.”
“Yeah, he has a point.” He furrowed his brows in thought for a moment. “But it shouldn’t be a problem. I’ve got all day here. That should give me plenty of time.”
The Antique Love Page 9