Remember Me Always: A Contemporary Romance

by Angela Snyder

  Fuck. I'm instantly hard. I walk over to her before I can stop myself. She's like a siren, always drawin' me in even though I'm treadin' on dangerous territory. My fingertips graze her pink cheek and wipe off the flour that's there. "Always covered in flour," I whisper to her.

  She stares up at me with those big, beautiful, stormy gray eyes, and I melt a little inside. "I'm an enthusiastic baker I guess," she whispers back with a shy smile.

  Her comment makes me grin. My thumb caresses her soft cheek, and it takes all of my willpower to pull away from her before I kiss her. And, damn, do I want to kiss her right now. "I'm gonna go get ready," I say, taking a step back to create some distance between us before I do somethin' I'll regret. "You ready for the fundraiser?"

  "Almost. I'm going to finish up some things here, and then I'm going to go back to my apartment to shower."

  Picturin' her naked in the shower makes me take a few more steps back before she sees the physical evidence of my wicked thoughts. "I, uh…I'll see you later then." She smirks, and I suddenly want to go runnin' back over to her. But I force myself to stay where I am. "Oh, and don't worry about haulin' those heavy boxes down over the hill. I'll do it."

  "Thanks, Colt." She stares at my biceps and grins. "I knew those muscles would come in handy some day," she says with a wink, before turnin' back to her mixer.

  Her hips shake a little as she starts dancin' to the music again, and I almost groan out loud. I have to force myself to pull my gaze away and go upstairs.

  This is gonna be a long day.

  * * * * *

  COLTON

  THE FUNDRAISER IS going well, although I have one problem --- Penny is wearin' a tiny, yellow bikini. She's sittin' on top of the dunk tank, waitin' to get wet, and my cock is instantly hard every time I lay eyes on her. I have to keep goin' into the bar to calm myself down. I feel like a teenager again, gettin' a ragin' boner every few minutes over a girl I have a crush on.

  But this feels like more than a crush. This feels like somethin' else entirely. I want Penny…in a bad fuckin' way. But I know I can't have her without openin' up a big can of worms. Because I know once I have her, I'll never want to let her go. And that scares me more than anything.

  I could strangle Buddy with my own bare hands for thinkin' that a dunk tank would be a good addition to this fundraiser. But I have to give him credit for his reasonin' behind it, because the line is almost half-a-mile long with grown-ass men waitin' for their turn to get her wet. We're makin' money hand over fist between her pies and her bein' on top of that damn tank, but I'm not happy about it. I'm glad Shelby Rae is gettin' the money she needs, but I wish it were Buddy in that tank and not Penny.

  I'm steppin' out of the back of the bar when I overhear a conversation between two guys I have seen a countless number of times in the bar. Supposedly we all went to school together; but, of course, I don't remember them.

  "Did you see that yellow bikini?" Luke asks in a hushed whisper.

  "I wish someone would dunk her soon. I can't wait to see her all wet," Grady says with a big grin.

  They're near the back of the line to the dunk tank as I walk past, and my steps slow when I realize they're talkin' about Penny. My Penny.

  "Have you tried her pies yet? My mama can't stop talkin' about them. She said they're the best in the county."

  "I would love to try Penny's pie," Grady says, and Luke chuckles. "In fact, I'd love to try her pie more than once."

  Anger flares through me, and I'm suddenly in Grady's face. "Watch your fuckin' mouth," I hiss at him.

  He puts his hands on my chest and roughly shoves me backwards. "Back off, Colt. Last I heard you were datin' Ruby Sue, so what business is it of yours who's talkin' about Penny?"

  "It's my business because ---." I pause and try to think of a plausible excuse. "Because she's my employee."

  "Well, you and Penny ain't together anymore, so I don't see why you would get mad over me talkin' about her sweet…juicy…pie…that I'd love to sink my teeth into," he says tauntingly with a smirk on his face.

  All I see is red. And before I know it, I have my hands wrapped around Grady's throat.

  * * * * *

  PENNY

  THE SUN IS pounding down on me as I'm sitting --- no --- as I'm baking on top of the dunk tank waiting for someone to put me out of my misery. The only reason I volunteered for this damn thing was because I thought I would be swimming in the cool water all day long. So far, no one has dunked me. The throws have been too short, too long or not hard enough. The damn thing must be rigged. And I'm tired of waiting for someone to push my button, so to speak, just the right way.

  As a boy, who can't be older than six, steps up to the plate, I have to force myself not to roll my eyes. There's no way he's going to dunk me, and I feel like I'm on top of a barbecue pit, slowly cooking to death.

  I look at him encouragingly. "You can do it!" I cheer him on.

  After three tries, he doesn't, unfortunately, and I'm sighing as the hot sun continues to beam down at me.

  A man steps up to the plate, and he looks promising…and muscular. He has blond hair and piercing blue eyes, and there's something about the way he looks at me that makes me think that I know him. But I have never seen this hunk of man before. Surely I would remember someone like him.

  He's grinning at me with perfectly straight white teeth. I smile back, and this seems to please him immensely. He tears his eyes away from me as he sets his gaze onto the target to the left of me. Just as he's winding up to throw, I hear a commotion coming from the back of the line.

  My eyes steel over to see Colton and Grady Parrish wrestling on the ground. I hold my finger up to the stranger in the line and say, "Wait a minute. I'm sorry." I scurry down the ladder, and I'm running as fast as my legs will take me to Colton.

  Grady is on the ground and getting the shit pounded out of him. Blood is pouring from his nose and his mouth. "Colton!" I scream.

  Colton doesn't stop. He just keeps swinging and kicking.

  Grady is begging for mercy. "I'm sorry! Make him stop! Make him stop! I'm sorry for what I said!"

  Without even thinking about the consequences, I jump up and grab onto Colton's fist with both of my hands before he has another chance to swing. I pull his fist towards me and look him dead in the eye. "Colton James! Stop!" I scream at him.

  The look on his face is murderous. I don't know what the hell Grady Parrish said to him, but he obviously shouldn't have said it. Seething, Colton finally focuses on me and begins to relax. His muscular chest rises and falls in desperate pants as he tries to catch his breath.

  "Go home, Grady!" I tell the man on the ground. I don't have to tell him twice, because he quickly picks himself up and hightails it to the parking lot.

  Then I pull Colton into the back door of the bar. As I'm looking for the first-aid kit, Colton paces around the room, fuming. I return with the kit and look at his bloody knuckles. "Is that your blood or his blood?" I ask carefully.

  He glances down at his hands and shrugs. "Probably both," he answers.

  I guide him over to the sink, and I wash his hands for him. The sound of his panting breaths fills the room, and I'm scared that Colton can go off the handle like that so easily. "What the hell did Grady say to you anyway?" I feel his hands tense up under my ministrations, and I regret asking the question. "Never mind. You don't have to tell me," I assure him.

  After his hands are washed, I see that one of his knuckles is cut pretty badly. "Come over here." I guide him to a chair and push on his shoulders to make him sit. I hunker down and carefully clean his wound and wrap up his hand. I notice that Colton hasn't stopped staring at me the entire time. My eyes meet his, and we have our own little staring contest.

  After a few minutes, Colton's other hand moves towards me, and I stop breathing. His palm touches my cheek, and I lean into his touch, closing my eyes, savoring the contact.

  "You," Colton mutters, his voice hoarse.

  My eyes snap open,
and I stare at him in confusion. "What?"

  "He was talkin' about your pie."

  I narrow my eyes at him. He's upset over food? "What about my pies?"

  "Not your pies, Penny. Your pie," he says, and his dark gaze flickers down my body.

  "Oh." My heart stutters. Colton, back in the day, would kick anyone's ass just for looking at me wrong. He was very protective, and some would say, namely my parents, that he was overly protective. Colt always made me feel safe when I was with him, though, like he would come between me and anything and everything in this world that ever threatened to cause me harm. And maybe I always kind of loved that he wanted me all for himself. That protectiveness made me feel wanted. "And what exactly did he say about my…pie?"

  "Doesn't matter."

  I stand up quickly, glaring down at him. "It doesn't matter? Of course it matters, Colt. You were beating the shit out of him over something he said. Tell me what he said!" I demand, stomping my foot to the concrete floor. Now I'm the angry one. "I'll kick the shit out of Grady myself!" I exclaim.

  And then Colton does something I haven't seen him do in five years. He laughs. And it's not just a quiet chuckle. It's a loud, boisterous laugh that fills the entire room. He's laughing…at me. He's laughing at me!

  Furious, I step back and snap the first-aid kit shut. "You think I couldn't take him?" I ask seriously. And then a grin slowly breaks out on my face as I realize what I'm saying. I guess it is pretty funny to picture me, five-foot-three Penny Preston, up against six-feet tall Grady Parrish.

  Colton stops laughing and smiles up at me. "I think you could." He stands and stalks over to me. His palm returns to my cheek, and, damn it, if I don't want it to stay there forever. "You're quite the little firecracker when you want to be," he says with amused eyes.

  The old Colton did always call me a little firecracker, and, boy, did he love getting me riled up. That was our thing, though. We would fight. He would make me mad. And then we would make up. Hard. Everyone always said he liked to break up so we could make up. I think that was totally true.

  Colton's thumb brushes over my bottom lip, and my breath hitches in the back of my throat. I gaze up at him, completely mesmerized and beguiled. He hasn't shown me any real affection since I returned to Willowbrook. Why now? I start to wonder if he hit his head during the fight.

  And then his mouth is coming towards mine, and all thoughts and reasoning go right out the window. Our lips touch. At first, it's just a tiny spark…and then it's like an inferno igniting between us. Suddenly, he grabs me and pulls me hard against him, making me gasp, and he steals the opportunity to invade my mouth with his tongue. He tastes sweet like cinnamon and smells so damn good. I can't get enough of him.

  My hands wrap around his neck, pulling him down to me as his hands explore my skin…and there's a lot of skin to explore with this bikini. His touch feels so good that I find myself moaning into his mouth as his tongue tangles with mine, completely possessing me.

  The door opens, and it kills the mood instantly. I quickly break the kiss and turn to see Buddy walking into the room. He always has the worst timing.

  "There's a line for the dunk tank and ---." Buddy stops talking and stares slack-jawed at us in amusement.

  Growling, Colton pulls away from me. "See somethin' you like, Buddy?"

  Buddy leans against the counter and smiles a shit-eating grin. "Oh, yeah. I could watch you two all day." He chuckles and then says, "I wondered where the two of you disappeared to." Turning his attention to Colton, he says, "Someone just told me you beat the shit out of Grady Parrish."

  "Yeah. So what if I did?"

  Buddy suddenly grows very serious, the smile long gone from his face. "So what? This is a fuckin' fundraiser, Colt. You couldn't keep your hands to yourself for just one day?"

  Colton looks to the floor as if embarrassed by what Buddy said. I begin to wonder if Colton gets in a lot of fights. He was always a make love, not war type of boy growing up. He would rather make peace with someone than fight. But maybe that's just another part of his personality that has changed since the accident.

  "He was talkin' shit about Penny. So I shut him up."

  Buddy's anger quickly recedes, and he nods in understanding. "Okay. Well, I can understand your reasonin' then. I would have beat his ass for doin' that too."

  I'm positively beaming. I can't help it. It's nice to know that people will stick up for you when you need it. "I'm sorry about disappearing, Buddy. Colt broke his knuckle open, and I was just bandaging it up for him."

  "Did he hurt his mouth too?" Buddy asks with a smirk. "Because it looked like you were givin' him CPR." Colton glares at him, and Buddy puts his hands up in defense. "Okay. Sorry, Colt. I don't want you to kick my ass, too." He hooks his thumb and motions out the door. "If you two are done, I could really use your help runnin' this thing."

  I let the two of them leave while I linger in the bar just a moment longer. My knees feel weak as my fingertips graze my lips, reliving what just happened in my mind. That kiss with Colton was…incredible. It almost felt like all the time we had apart had vanished in that moment. If only it were that easy to make the past five years disappear.

  Running my fingers through my hair and taking a deep breath, I slowly walk out the door. I return to the dunk tank, expecting to see the blond-haired blue-eyed stranger, but he's no longer in line. My eyes scour the crowd for him, feeling bad that he paid money and lost his turn because of me. When I don't see him, I continue my climb to the top of the ladder and sit on the platform.

  The sun feels even worse this time around since I was just in the cool air conditioning in the bar. After about twenty minutes and no one hitting the target just the right way, I see Buddy approaching.

  He stands to the side of the tank and grins up at me. "So what happened in there?" he asks.

  I shrug. "You tell me. You were watching," I say with a sarcastic tone.

  He chuckles. "Well, it was quite the show," he quips.

  I roll my eyes. "I've been sitting here all day, Buddy, and no one has dunked me."

  "You actually want to be dunked?" he asks.

  "Yeah. Haven't you noticed it's like two-hundred degrees out today?"

  "Well, darlin', all you had to do was ask."

  I watch in horror as Buddy goes over to the target and hits it with his fist. The platform collapses under me, and I immediately go down into the cool water. I stand up, sputtering and glaring at Buddy. "You know, I kind of hate you and love you at the same time right now."

  Buddy fluffs the collar on his shirt and grins. "All the ladies love to hate me, baby."

  Giggling, I climb back onto the platform, finally feeling cooled off. A few men in line whistle as I realize my little yellow bikini is suddenly wet and clinging to me. Embarrassed, I hurry up and sit down on the platform, crossing my arms in front of me to cover as much as I can.

  My eyes catch a glimpse of Colton off to the side. He's staring at the men who whistled, looking like he's fixin' to kick some ass again. Yeah, maybe a little of the old Colton is finally coming back to me. The notion sets my heart sailing.

  Suddenly, things are starting to look up.

  * * * * *

  COLTON

  I KISSED PENNY, and it felt…incredible. It felt right. She fit so perfectly in my arms, and I couldn't think of anything else in that moment that we shared together. It was as if the past didn't matter, nor did the future. I just wanted to feel her with me in that span of time with no distractions. Of course, the moment was ruined when Buddy interrupted. I wonder how things would have progressed if he hadn't walked in the room. Would she have let me keep kissin' her? Would she have let things go further?

  The thoughts of what could have been crowd my mind, and I have trouble concentratin' on takin' money at the baked goods table. Mrs. Benfield has to correct me five times before I finally give her the right change for the twenty she handed me ten minutes ago for a pie and a couple of cookies.

  "It's all rig
ht, dear," the old woman coos with a knowin' look.

  She probably thinks I can't count worth a damn because of the accident. I'm surprised myself really that I have any sense with all the swellin' I had on my brain. The doctors didn't even think I was gonna walk again, but that gave me even more incentive to prove them wrong. I did everything they said I wouldn't…and then some. It was a long, hard road; but now that I look back on it, it was worth it.

  After the line for baked goods has dwindled down, my eyes immediately stray over to the dunk tank. I watch as Buddy and Penny talk. Then Buddy walks over and hits the target, dunkin' Penny into the water. She spits and sputters as she comes up, lookin' madder than an old, wet hen. But she quickly starts to laugh and joke around with Buddy all over again. He's easily forgiven. For some reason, I have a feelin' that Penny doesn't hold grudges all that well. That's a good thing for me, because I'm usually a grade-A dick with her. I'm sure I'll need that easygoin' forgiveness sooner or later, because I'm bound to fuck up a time or two…or ten.

  Penny resumes her place on the platform with that tiny yellow bikini…which is now wet and showin' off her pert, little nipples. Some men in the line catcall, and it takes everything in me not to march over there and punch them in the throat.

  I glance back to Penny, and she's starin' at me with a dreamy look on her face. My eyes dart down to that tiny bikini, and I turn away with a growl.

  Looks like I'll be takin' another cold shower tonight.

  CHAPTER 7

  PENNY

  IT'S THE NIGHT of Colton's birthday, and Buddy and I have organized quite the birthday bash at the bar. I made a giant four-tiered cake for the hundred or so guests, and Buddy hired a DJ. It took us almost four hours to decorate the bar with streamers, balloons and confetti, but it was all worth it to see the look on Colton's face. Buddy said he hasn't celebrated his birthday in years, so it was the perfect surprise party. Colton didn't seem like he was too keen on the idea of celebrating at first; but once his friends started pouring in and the beer started flowing, he seemed to lighten up and actually start to enjoy himself.