Imperfect Penelope (Wild Crush)

by Sami Lee

  Hope swung around with a scowl, ready to blast some inconsiderate teenager. Penny waggled her fingers, and Hope’s annoyance eased off into an eye roll. Penny pointed at Matt, her eyebrows raised. Hope shrugged in a hell if I know what’s going on gesture, tilted her head at Greg and hiked her brows. Penny shrugged back in much the same way Hope had.

  “You two can say a lot without talking,” Greg remarked.

  “It’s a sibling thing,” Penny said.

  When Greg didn’t reply Penny realized what she’d said. She might have a great relationship with her sisters, but that wasn’t how things had turned out for Greg. “I’m sorry. You still haven’t heard from Bryan?”

  Greg had confided in her that he’d lost contact with Bryan. He’d apparently moved out of the last address he’d been at, and his phone number wasn’t receiving calls, like maybe his account had been suspended. He had no idea if Bryan was still participating in any of the gambler’s anonymous programs he’d promised to join, and Penny knew the fact weighed heavily on Greg’s mind.

  “No, and I don’t know what else I can do to help him if he doesn’t talk to me.”

  “He has to be ready to help himself. It’s not on you.”

  He showed her a half smile, a sad tilt of his lips. “I know. But he’s my brother. I wish he’d let me help.”

  Penny’s heart ached for him. Screw the gossipers, she thought, as she leaned towards him, more than ready to kiss him right here in front of everyone. Greg certainly didn’t have a problem with it, because he cupped her jaw and drew her closer.

  “Sorry. Am I interrupting?”

  Penny froze and slowly turned her face towards Hope, who was standing beside Greg’s chair. She cocked a brow. “Of course not. What would you be interrupting?”

  Hope grinned, ignored Penny’s sarcasm and turned her attention to Greg. “I’m Hope.”

  Greg stood and shook Hope’s proffered hand. “Greg Danvers.”

  “I know who you are. You’re the one who disappeared from Summer’s wedding with my sister. Word gets around.”

  Blushing furiously, Penny rose to her feet as well. “Hope, do you mind?”

  “Not at all,” Hope said, shameless. “That’s your Alfa Romeo I’ve seen around town. Sweet ride. Don’t let Pen drive it. She sucks at reverse parking.”

  “I’ll be sure to remember that,” Greg assured her, his expression caught somewhere between befuddlement and amusement.

  “Hope,” Penny said pointedly. “I need to use the bathroom. Why don’t you join me?”

  She widened her eyes, all faux innocence. “Can’t I stay here and keep Greg company? I’d like to know his intentions towards my little sis.”

  “No,” Penny hissed and yanked on her sister’s arm until she chuckled and followed her to the bathroom. Once ensconced in the ladies’ Penny rounded on her sister. “Could you be any more obnoxious?”

  “I wasn’t even trying yet,” Hope said. “What gives? Are you dating him?”

  “I don’t know. I think so. I didn’t mean to. It’s complicated.”

  “Obviously.”

  Penny huffed in annoyance. “Why don’t you tell me what’s going on with Matt?”

  Hope narrowed her eyes. “Because nothing’s going on with Matt.”

  “He kissed you, Hope, and you looked pretty into it to me.”

  “Yeah, well.” Hope busied herself at the sink, washing an invisible spot of dirt off her hand. “Like I said the other week, it was time I moved on and got over Dylan.”

  Penny’s eyes bugged out. “You mean you slept with him?”

  “No, but I’m thinking about it. All the damn time, actually.” Hope met her eyes in the mirror. “Do you think that sucks?”

  “Are you kidding? I think it’s great. You and Matt would be perfect for each other.”

  “I’m not talking about a relationship. Just something to blow off a little steam, put Dylan well and truly in the past.”

  Penny scoffed. “Sure. Only thing is that can be easier said than done.”

  “We’re not talking about me anymore.” Hope crossed her arms and leaned her butt against the sink. “Tell me the truth, what is going on with the hot lawyer?”

  “The truth is…” Penny worried her bottom lip with her teeth. “Oh God, Hope. I think I’m in love with him.”

  “Whoa.”

  “Whoa is right,” Penny sighed.

  “Have you told him?”

  Penny cast her sister an incredulous look. “Are you insane?”

  Hope shrugged. “How do you know he’s not in love with you too?”

  “He’s not.”

  Penny thought of how Greg looked at her, like she was something special. She thought of how he’d been romancing her without her permission, worming his way into her heart. Why would he do all that if he didn’t think their affair was headed anywhere? Penny’s heart started thumping with an excitement she was terrified of feeling. What if he could love her? Could the two of them make something work?

  How long would it take him to get over what’s-her-face to even try?

  “Don’t throw in the towel before the fight even starts,” Hope said. “You have to put in a few years before you’re allowed to give up.”

  Five years Hope had been existing in a state of limbo with Dylan, and at last it looked like she was trying to move on. Penny for one would be glad to see her do it. Dylan was one of those dynamic people everyone wanted to be around, but inside he was a complete mess. He hadn’t given Hope the love or commitment she deserved, but Matt was a different proposition altogether.

  Penny put her hand on her sister’s arm. “I know you’re still hurting, Hope, but Matt has always had a soft spot for you. He’d never want to hurt you more.”

  “Believe me, nobody’s getting anywhere near my heart again,” Hope said, a determined gleam in her eyes. “If we do anything, it’s just sex.”

  Penny’s lips twisted. “That’s what I said about Greg.”

  Hope matched Penny’s wry expression. “I was right, wasn’t I? You two have been going at it like rabbits.”

  “I can’t help it. He’s incredible in that department. You can’t even imagine.”

  “Oh, I can imagine,” Hope said lasciviously as she pushed her weight off the sink.

  Penny hit her on the mermaid tattoo. “Stop that.”

  “Possessive,” Hope noted as they headed back out into the hall. “You are in love.”

  I am. I totally am, Penny thought as she returned to her seat. Greg watched her approach, his eyes taking in every movement of her body. Her blood heated. One look and she was putty in his hands. It was terrifying. But it was also undeniably thrilling.

  She took her seat, put her hands on Greg’s cheeks and planted one on him. It was quick but effective, and by the time she pulled back she was rewarded by his sharp intake of breath. “You should go to the bathroom more often,” he rasped.

  Penny giggled and made herself comfortable on Greg’s shoulder. The lights in the hall dimmed. Greg stroked Penny’s hair away from her forehead and kissed her there. She smiled, content yet idling in a low level of horny. Undoubtedly, there would be more making out done while the movie played. She could barely go five minutes in the man’s company without kissing him, and if she wasn’t mistaken, he was similarly afflicted.

  “I never asked you what the movie is,” Greg whispered.

  “Because you didn’t care,” Penny countered, grinning. “You wanted to spend the evening with me no matter what it was.”

  His lips curved against her temple. “You have me pegged.”

  “It’s something with Julia Roberts. Not the prostitute movie, one of the others.”

  “That clears it up. Thanks.”

  Penny’s hand was resting on Greg’s chest, and she felt the way his heart thumped when the ope
ning credits rolled. There was Julia, wearing a wedding dress and riding a horse across the meadow, her red hair flying behind her. The title of the movie came up.

  Runaway Bride.

  Greg stiffened and she could swear his flesh grew cold beneath her fingers. She’d brought a man who’d been dumped by his fiancée to a movie about a woman who runs from her own weddings. Penny fervently regretted not taking any notice of what movie was going to play beyond the fact it was an old rom com she couldn’t recall the name of. She’d only wanted to spend time with Greg. It hadn’t mattered what they watched.

  Now it felt like it kinda mattered.

  * * *

  “Are you sure you don’t want to go?” Penny whispered for the third time.

  Greg used his hand to settle Penny’s head back on his shoulder. “It’s fine. Stop worrying.”

  She fell silent and leaned into him, but Greg felt the tension in her shoulders. She was probably getting it from him. He’d been trying to relax for the last hour but it was damn hard, because the movie was excruciating.

  How many times could one woman flee from her own wedding before her supposed friends told her she should stop getting engaged already? The plot was ridiculous, and never had he found Julia Roberts less attractive. She changed herself into what each of her fiancés wanted, which was a stupid thing to do, but even more idiotic was that the men didn’t even see it. They didn’t even know the woman they were marrying.

  Greg hadn’t touched the popcorn in ages because he felt sick to his stomach. The truth was, he’d been that moronic. He’d had no idea Rochelle was even having second thoughts and had been completely blindsided at the church. Had she changed herself for him without him being aware of it, only to realize at the eleventh hour that he didn’t know her at all? He was the one who’d rushed the engagement—three months was a short time when you were planning who to spend the rest of your life with. Had he steamrolled Rochelle into something she wasn’t ready for? Or had she never loved him at all?

  He should have asked her, demanded answers, instead of fleeing to the first holiday house he found on the internet and spending a month in a haze of scotch. At the time it was all he could handle, and when he’d sobered up, he didn’t care what Rochelle’s reasons were anymore. He didn’t want anything to do with her, so he’d remained in Leyton’s Headland, rented office space because he could no longer sit idle. Work replaced the alcohol, until he’d worked himself into a state where his health was compromised.

  Which had brought him to Penny.

  After being jilted he’d sworn off romantic relationships, figuring that was the only way to ensure he’d never lose his heart. It hadn’t worked. He’d lost his heart the second he’d kissed Penny, if not before. He was in love despite his efforts to the contrary, and he still didn’t know what had made his last relationship implode.

  Logic said if he didn’t know what went wrong last time, there was no way he could prevent history repeating. Maybe when you marry Penny, you’ll elope. The thought didn’t bring him up short, as he might have expected. He wasn’t shocked to realize he wanted to marry her someday. He was crazy about her and he wanted to make her his.

  Make her his. It was such a controlling, possessive term. Was that what had gone wrong with Rochelle? If he’d been a jerk who tried to control her and rush her into marriage, why didn’t she say something sooner?

  And if a three-month courtship and a nine-month engagement was rushing, what did you call wanting to marry the woman you’d been involved with for less than two weeks?

  Greg had never been more relieved to see the end credits of a movie. Penny seemed to be of the same mind and stood before anyone else did. Greg followed her cue and walked out of the hall with her, not stopping to chat to anyone on the way.

  The ride back to Penny’s house was silent. Greg was still being assaulted by his thoughts, wondering if he was more messed up than he’d realized. He’d sworn off relationships but somehow he was in one up to his neck, completely losing his head. Perhaps it would be better if he cooled things with Penny for a while, just until he sorted himself out. He didn’t want to risk her falling in love with him too, only to find out he was…defective in some way. He couldn’t bear the thought of disappointing her.

  “I’m sorry about the movie,” she said when he parked in her driveway and killed the Alfa’s engine. “Dumb of me not to check what it was before I invited you along.”

  “I invited myself.” Like the controlling, bossy pain in the ass he was. “And it doesn’t matter about the movie.”

  That wasn’t entirely true. Or in any part true. A 3D version of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre would have been less disturbing.

  “It wasn’t like that, was it?” Penny asked. “You told me she ended it, but tell me it wasn’t that way.”

  Greg eased out a long, slow breath. “We were at Saint Thomas’s, a grand old church in North Sydney. There were one hundred and fifty attendees, an additional two hundred waiting at the reception. And when the priest asked if there was anyone who objected to the marriage, my fiancée said, ‘I do.’”

  “Oh God.”

  Greg tilted his lips, trying for wry humor. “Right words, spoken at the wrong time.”

  “That must have been awful.”

  “I’ve had better moments.”

  “I…I think I’ll head inside. Alone.” Her voice caught. “I think we can safely say the mood’s gone.”

  She opened the door and got out, and despite Greg’s recent decision to cool things down, watching her rush away made his gut clench hard. He hopped out of the car and followed her with hurried paces to the porch, where she was already fitting her key into the lock.

  “Penny, I’m sorry I ruined your night.”

  “You’re sorry? I’m sorry.” She whirled round to face him, and to Greg’s shock, the porch light revealed the glisten of tears on her cheeks.

  “You’re crying,” Greg said, distraught. “Dear God, why?”

  “Because I hate her!” she burst out. “I don’t even know her and I hate her. The perfect woman, my ass. What a perfectly horrible bitch. How could she do that to you?”

  Greg took a step back, further shocked by her outburst. At a loss, he offered, “The truth is I don’t know.”

  “Me either.” A murderous look crossed her features. “Oh, I could seriously wring her neck.”

  “You want to do Rochelle physical harm on my account?”

  “Yeah, well.” She shrugged and swiped at her cheeks. “You deserve better, that’s all.”

  Greg’s heart twisted. She was angry to the point of crying because another person had hurt him. It was so sweetly homicidal that all Greg’s sensible plans to take a step back from her flew out into the ether and disintegrated. How could he bear to cool things down when he loved her this much? When it seemed like maybe, just maybe, she felt the same way?

  He strode towards her, hauled her into his arms and suggested in a low growl, “Why don’t you show me what you think I deserve?”

  Penny kissed him full and hard on the mouth. The moment she did, she was lost and so was he. They fell into that swirling vortex of passion, kissing ravenously, clinging helplessly to each other. Greg shoved open her front door and they were in the hallway. The door closed as Greg pushed her against it, matching her rapacious kiss and bringing it up a notch when he shoved a hand inside her top and touched her breast.

  Penny was already tugging at his polo shirt, urging him to rip it off. He drew back far enough to do it. In the soft glow of the hall light she’d left on, his lean, hard form was magnificent. She loved every sleek line of his body, loved the soft tuft of hair in the center of his chest that traveled down his abdomen until it disappeared beneath his waistband. Penny reached for his fly and started working it open, wet and more than ready for him.

  He’d take her if she asked. Right up against the door
in a frenzy of movement that would have them both crying out within minutes. She wanted it that way, like the impulsive creature she was. But this was about more than satisfying her urges. She needed to show him what his ex-fiancée hadn’t—that he was wonderful, irresistible, worthy of love.

  He was worthy of her love, even though she knew he couldn’t return it, after all. Not when his heart was still broken. Maybe one day…

  Tamping down her impatience—and her hope—Penny hooked a finger through his belt loop and gently tugged as she headed for the bedroom. She was going to have to let him go soon, at least until he worked out how to feel, how to trust. At least until he could watch a movie about failed weddings without turning cold all over. But that time wasn’t now.

  Right now, she wanted to love him no matter how painful it would be if he could never love her back. She needed to heal him.

  “That’s one way to get a man to follow you,” Greg quipped when she’d dragged him all the way to her bedroom and shut the door to stop the cats interrupting. Maleficent had taken a shine to Greg, and grown into the habit of following him everywhere, occasionally hissing at Penny when she snuggled too close to him. She’d completely thrown her support behind the man. Not that Penny could blame her. He inspired that kind of devotion.

  The Siamese would probably never forgive Penny if, when she let Greg go, he decided not to come back.

  Penny held Greg’s gaze as, wordlessly, she undressed. She toed off her boots, slowly removed her top, then shimmied out of her skirt. Greg’s eyes were molten gold as they trailed over her form, covered only in brief white lace panties and a matching bra. When Penny reached for the front clasp and unhooked the bra, Greg reached for her.

  “Penny…”

  “Shh.” Naked save for her panties, Penny pressed her body to his, touched a finger to his lips. Everything inside her pulsed with awareness, both elemental and emotional. She adored him, and at last it was time for him to know it. “Let me love you.”

  He let out a sound that could have been a gasp or a groan. Penny swallowed it into her as she kissed his mouth, slower this time, keeping him at bay when he reached for her with impatient need and tried to take over. She broke the kiss gently, moving her lips to his throat, his chest. She lavished attention on his nipples before sinking to her knees and tracing the outline of his abs with her tongue.