Imperfect Penelope (Wild Crush)

by Sami Lee

  Penny sighed, poured the boiling water into the coffee mix and slid it across the bench. The amount of coffee Hope drank was an ongoing source of bickering between the two of them. Something about the slump in Hope’s shoulders told Penny today wasn’t the day to start that old argument. There was no telling Hope what to do anyway, so Penny decided to enable her sister’s addiction in silence.

  “Something’s obviously up,” she said when the quiet stretched on. “You want to talk about it?”

  Hope shrugged a shoulder, making the tail of the mermaid tattoo peeking out from beneath the sleeve of her T-shirt look like it was waving. “Nah. I’m good. Heard a rumor you were doing yoga with a man yesterday.”

  “That’s what you came here to get off your chest? Questions about my yoga habits?”

  “No.” Hope’s expression darkened. “But it’s easier to talk about.”

  “Hope…”

  “So who’s the guy?”

  Penny let out an exasperated sigh. Sometimes trying to talk to Hope was like pulling teeth, and this morning she didn’t have the energy for it. “I’m giving Greg Danvers yoga lessons.”

  “Danvers? As in Bryan Danvers, your scumbag ex?”

  “Scumbagginess runs in the family,” Penny quipped. “Greg is his brother. You know, the lawyer?”

  “Oooh, that guy.” Hope tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. “I’ve seen him around. He’s hot, if you like that whole Christian Grey look. Does he like to tie you up in bed?”

  “Hope!” Penny exclaimed, her face flushing with heat. “I’m not sleeping with him. He’s Bryan’s brother. Why would you even say that?”

  “I don’t know.” Hope took a sip of her coffee. “Why did you just blush when I said it?”

  “You’re being particularly annoying this morning,” Penny said, blushing harder.

  “He’s a scumbag, you say?” Hope continued to probe.

  “Well, maybe not that bad,” Penny conceded, thinking of his loyalty to his brother, whom he obviously loved. It was going to suck for him when he realized she’d been telling the truth. “But he’s definitely misguided. Kind of onerous too, not to mention very, very uptight.”

  Hope smirked. “Sounds like he needs a good lay.”

  “Hope!”

  “Hey, I call it like I see it. And to me it seems like a case of she doth protest too much. You think he’s hot, he thinks you’re hot, you trade insults until one of you breaks down and kisses the other. Then you go at it like bunny rabbits for a month and a half without coming up for air.”

  “That is not going to happen.” Penny folded her arms over her chest and glared at her sister. “You’re trying to get a vicarious thrill out of my imaginary love life because you don’t have Dylan to spark off anymore. Perhaps you’re the one who needs a good lay.”

  Hope’s expression mirrored the same shock Penny felt. Immediately she regretted her harsh words. “Oh, Hope, I’m sorry.”

  “Forget it,” Hope said stiffly.

  “I can’t. That was the worst thing to say.”

  “Yeah, it kinda sucked,” her sister told her bluntly. “But hell, I don’t know. Maybe you’re right. He’s been gone almost three months. I need to get the hell over it and fuck someone else already.”

  Penny felt sick. Dylan Wakefield was the only man her sister had ever loved, and three months ago he’d told her their on-again-off-again affair was over and had taken off to Portugal to surf monster waves. Although she’d never seen Hope shed a tear for the man, Penny knew she was devastated. “That is not what I was trying to say.”

  “Don’t look at me with those pathetic eyes. I forgive you, all right?” Hope pushed the remains of her coffee aside and stood. “I’ll go and leave you to your yoga date.”

  Penny wanted to refute that her meeting with Greg was a “date” but decided a semantics argument wasn’t the best way to go. “You know I only want you to be happy, Hope. And if Dylan is gone for good this time… Well, I guess I would like to see you move on with someone else. But when it feels right for you, not because you feel you have to force yourself to get over him. And certainly not because I said something dumb.”

  “Thanks for that, Yoda. Have fun at yoga.”

  Hope laughed at her own rhyme, but it wasn’t a joyous sound. The nauseous feeling in Penny’s stomach intensified as she watched her sister exit the house. She was the worst sister, bringing up Dylan like that when she knew Hope was trying her best not to think about him at all. She might as well have punched her in the broken heart. She’d been annoyed when Hope had gone on about Greg like that, and she’d reacted badly.

  Why had she reacted badly anyway? It wasn’t the first time Hope had pointed out a man’s attractions. Hope rated guys on a scale of “doability” from one to ten. She wondered what number she’d assign Greg. To her surprise, Penny thought he’d rate pretty darn high on that scale, if she were inclined to use it.

  How ridiculous. The man thought she was a heartless witch, and she was sexually fantasizing about him and getting defensive when her sister brought up his name. She was so screwed up.

  Letting out a sigh, Penny gathered her things to head to the beach, promising herself she’d ignore how good Greg looked in his running shorts. She’d ignore Greg Danvers entirely, as best as she could manage that while teaching him yoga.

  Chapter Four

  “Thank you, Mr. Danvers.” The woman in the chair opposite Greg’s desk dabbed at her eyes with a tissue before tucking it back into the sleeve of her jacket. “When I first came in here I was so…lost. I just didn’t see how I was ever going to make it out of this okay. I never thought Todd and I would get divorced. But you’ve helped me see that there’s hope.”

  “That’s what I’m here for, Mrs. Burgess.”

  “Oh, call me Nicole. Or Nikki.” She smiled tremulously at him. “I won’t be Mrs. Burgess for much longer anyway.”

  She was gazing at him with a watery smile and big brown eyes full of hope, and maybe a little invitation. Greg returned her smile but kept it reserved and didn’t use her name as she’d offered. “I’ll have those papers delivered to your husband this afternoon.”

  Greg got to his feet, ignoring the twinge of remorse he felt at the woman’s crestfallen expression.

  “Oh. Okay.” Mrs. Burgess stood as well. “That’s fast.”

  “From what you’ve said, it won’t come as a shock to Todd.”

  “No, we’ve been growing apart for years. His affair was the last straw, you know? It just makes me feel…unwanted, I guess.”

  Greg could see that her eyes were welling up again, so he handed her another tissue from the box on his desk. He subtly pushed the button on his intercom and said in a quiet but no-nonsense voice, “Charlotte, could you come in and show Mrs. Burgess out, please?”

  He guided his client to the door, where she was met by his ever-efficient secretary and politely ushered out. Feeling drained from attending to the emotional needs of his client, Greg fell into his desk chair with a heartfelt sigh.

  Today wasn’t the first time Nicole Burgess had made a veiled suggestion that she was ready to move on, to find a new relationship. She might think she was but Greg doubted it, and in any event she shouldn’t be looking in his direction. She was an attractive woman but even if he was willing to get involved with a client, he wasn’t the right candidate for Nicole. He wasn’t sensitive enough to deal with a damaged divorcee looking for reassurance.

  If Penny Irving was any judge, he was an utterly insensitive jerk.

  The last couple of mornings had been tense to say the least. Penny showed up to give him yoga lessons as promised, but other than to issue instructions she barely spoke a word to him. It should have been a relief. All they ever did when they were on speaking terms was argue. But Greg was surprised to find he missed the fiery exchanges they had before because the cold sho
ulder was much worse. It made him feel like he’d wronged her, and from the twinges of guilt he kept experiencing whenever he thought about her throughout the day—which to his vexation was often—he was starting to wonder if he had.

  After opening his top drawer, he pulled out his personal mobile and looked up his brother’s number. He hit dial and waited, issuing a soft curse when he got voicemail yet again. He’d tried calling Bryan several times the last few days but he’d never picked up or returned any of Greg’s messages. Greg left another one requesting that Bryan call him back as soon as possible and pressed the end button.

  His brother was on the Gold Coast setting up a lawn-mowing business with an old friend from school. It seemed like a good fit for Bryan, as he’d always enjoyed the outdoors, and couldn’t stand being trapped in an office. The slew of short-lived jobs he’d had the past few years was proof of that. But Bryan had the gift of the gab. He’d always been more personable than Greg, more likeable. Greg had every faith he’d be excellent at running his own business, especially if he had a partner to help with the paperwork side of things, which admittedly was not Bryan’s forte.

  But if things were going along as planned, why wouldn’t Bryan call him back?

  There was a knock on his office door a moment before it opened, and Charlotte Roth stuck her head around the edge. “Hey, boss, you need anything before I head out to lunch?”

  “Nothing thanks, Charlotte.” Greg assessed the way his secretary was beaming from ear to ear and deduced, “You’re meeting Cody for lunch.”

  “Yep.” She grinned wider. “He got back in this morning. Flew out last night so we could have an extra day.”

  Charlotte’s fiancé was a fly-in-fly-out miner who worked in Central Queensland three weeks out of every four. That meant three weeks a month Charlotte was in a horrible mood and for one week she walked around like she was defying gravity. “I see.” Greg quirked his lips. “I suppose you’d better have the rest of the afternoon off.”

  Charlotte’s expression brightened further. “Really?”

  “Who am I to stand in the way of true love?” He may not have any faith in love these days, but Charlotte clearly did. Greg remembered what it was like to think your future was that full of promise and there was no way he could quash her enthusiasm.

  “Oh, you’re the best!” Charlotte clapped her hands together in excitement. “I’ve finished all that correspondence and there’s still some filing, but I can get onto it tomorrow. I can come in early—”

  “Don’t do that,” Greg said as he stood. “Cody will kill me.”

  Charlotte blushed and giggled. “I decline to comment on the grounds that my answer might incriminate me.”

  Greg lifted his brows. “You’re getting the hang of the legalese I see. Good job.”

  “After eight months here, I was bound to pick up something.” Charlotte stood holding on to the doorframe for a drawn-out moment as she studied him. “Are you sure I can’t get you anything? I can bring you back a coffee from the Beach Break.”

  The café that made the best double espressos in Leyton’s Headland. Greg indulged in them at regular intervals and was about to say yes when something stopped him. “No. I think I ought to cut back.”

  Charlotte’s dark brows hiked. “You? Cut back? On caffeine?”

  Greg was almost as surprised as she was. What was he thinking? Caffeine was how he got through his day, and his doctor hadn’t pointed it out as a possible cause of his high blood pressure. Withdrawing from caffeine could only increase his stress, as far as he was concerned.

  He recalled Penny once making a derisive observation about his caffeine use and scowled. Was he letting her get in his head? He wasn’t going to refrain from doing something because Penny didn’t approve. But the fact was he didn’t sleep well, and she’d somehow known that merely from looking at him. Perhaps if he cut down on caffeine, sleep might come easier. Dr. Stevens had said he needed more rest.

  “I might try it,” Greg muttered. “It can’t hurt.”

  “Whatever you say.” Charlotte was still looking at him curiously. She said none too subtly, “You know, I think Nikki has a crush on you.”

  Greg made a noncommittal noise, hoping Charlotte would drop the subject. Unfortunately the ploy didn’t work.

  “You could ask her out.”

  Greg gave her a warning look. “She’s a client.”

  “I mean after the divorce is through. She’ll probably be on the lookout for a transitional man.”

  Greg stared at Charlotte. “A transitional man?”

  Charlotte shrugged. “I bet all Nikki will want after what she’s been through with Todd is a bit of fun. And you certainly need some of that.”

  Hadn’t he been thinking along these lines himself the past week? He needed a woman with whom he could indulge in some commitment-free sex so he’d stop thinking about…

  Greg forced his mind away from the image of Penny that seemed all too ready to plague it lately. He grunted his dissatisfaction with the direction of conversation and muttered, “My secretary in Sydney would never have had the temerity to comment on my love life.”

  “You’re a small-town man now, boss. It’s about time you adjusted.”

  You need to relax. Do yoga, meditate. Slow the pace. Charlotte’s words seemed to echo Dr. Stevens’s, and a surge of irritation arose. Didn’t they all see he was trying? He was doing yoga as suggested—not that it was having much of a calming effect. Not with Penny as his teacher. Still, for all he knew it wasn’t Penny’s fault he didn’t feel relaxed. It could be that yoga itself was a crock.

  No, it was probably a bit of both. Yoga might well be bullshit but having a constant hard-on was only making him more tense than ever. Great idea, Dr. Stevens.

  “I thought you had a hot date,” Greg prompted Charlotte.

  Charlotte flicked a glance at her watch. “Oops. Yep. I gotta go. You’re sure it’s okay for me to take the afternoon off?”

  Greg gave her his best steely stare. “Only if you leave before I change my mind.”

  “Got it. See ya!”

  She was gone mere seconds later, causing Greg to let out a soft laugh. Despite her occasional tendency to get too personal with him, he knew he’d lucked out when Charlotte applied for the job as his secretary. She was efficient and personable, acting as the perfect buffer. While Greg was as efficient as a machine, it was the personable part of client relations he had trouble with.

  Like he did with Penny. Greg walked to the one window in his office and looked out to the street below. People were meandering everywhere, locals and tourists intermingling in the main street. Greg stared unseeingly through the Venetian blinds. That twinge of guilt returned as he remembered the shock and distress on Penny’s face a couple of days ago when he’d confronted her with what she’d done to Bryan. What she’d supposedly done, Greg corrected, facing for the first time the possibility that Bryan was the one who’d lied, not Penny.

  What else could he think, when Bryan refused to return his phone calls? He’d specifically mentioned Penny’s name on at least two of his voicemail messages, and told him her account of what happened. He’d wanted to give his brother a chance to defend himself against the accusations. Innocent men usually leapt to their own defense. But Bryan was dodging his questions. It didn’t prove his brother’s guilt, but it certainly suggested it.

  Greg’s unseeing gaze suddenly focused on something. A flash of green—mint green to be specific, the color of Penny’s work uniform—a short ponytail and a pair of endlessly long legs. He watched her look both ways before crossing the street.

  She’d head for Zebs, a health-food place that Greg himself had never been into because its entire menu was vegetarian and he enjoyed his red meat, thank you very much. She’d be inside for around five minutes, then she’d emerge carrying a container of something that looked like salad, or a bag
of something that might be a sandwich. She’d return to Summer’s Retreat, or maybe she’d take twenty minutes at a picnic table by the beach to eat her lunch.

  Today Penny was stopped on her way to Zebs by a tall dark-haired man who she greeted with a bright smile and a hug. Greg frowned as the man put his hand on her waist and kissed her cheek before eventually releasing her. They spoke for a few moments before Penny pointed to Zebs. The man nodded and together they disappeared into the shop.

  Penny had a lunch date. Why did that make his jaw clench and his chest feel tight?

  Greg was saved from having to examine his reaction further when his phone rang. He turned away from the window and went to pick it up, hoping it was Bryan. When he saw the name on caller ID, he held back a curse but answered as he knew he should.

  “Hello, sweetie. Did I catch you at a bad time?”

  “No, Mum, now is fine.”

  “That’s a relief. I can never seem to get a hold of you these days.”

  Greg closed his eyes briefly at the implied complaint in Zoe Danvers’s comment. “Sorry. I’ve been busy. Is something wrong?”

  “Why must you always think something is wrong when I call?”

  Because something usually is. Greg bit down on the words, knowing letting them out would only upset Zoe and have her reaching for her anxiety medication.

  “As it happens I do have some news.”

  Greg’s lips twisted. “And that is?”

  “Richard and I have parted ways.”

  Greg barely stifled a groan as he all but fell into his chair. He wasn’t surprised so much as filled with dread at the inevitable conversation that was to come. Zoe was an attractive woman in her fifties who never had trouble finding suitors. It was keeping them around she had difficulty with, a fact which caused her unlimited distress.

  “He said I was too needy. Can you believe that?”