“Yep, fine,” she said, rising and pressing the file to her chest, a pathetic armor. “I should get back to work now.” With a quick nod to Robert, and a tight smile to Ethan, she escaped Robert’s office.
As she left the office, she heard Robert tell Ethan they could leave soon. She walked down the hall, refusing to run. Holy shit, what had just happened? Deep breaths. Deep breaths. She repeated the mantra in her head as she briskly walked down the stairs—but not too briskly—that’s how accidents happened.
Heavy footsteps sounded behind her, and she knew it was him.
“You’re making a habit of running away from me,” he said. That stupid voice rolling over her, doing things to her body that it had no right doing. Fuck, this was not going to end well, but he kept popping up in her life, and she had to face him at some point.
She’d just wished it’d be some point in the future—the far-off future.
Karma was an evil bitch.
“Penny, stop.”
She paused in her flight and turned to face him, hating the tight line of his lips. Remembering the bright smile that he’d shot her when he’d sat down next to her at that vineyard all those months ago. The crooked grin, that playful laugh—no, that week had been a fantasy, and it was better to push it from her mind.
“Umm, hi, Ethan.”
“So, you do remember me?” His tone was irritated, his sharp eyes glaring.
Why the hell had he sought her out if he was just going to sneer at her? Sneer was a harsh word, but his expression was close.
“Of course, I remember you. I’m just in shock. How the hell are you related to my boss? How did I not know you were related to him? How is this happening?” she said, dropping her head, grasping the file closer to her chest.
“I was going to ask you the same thing. And he’s my mother’s brother, if you want to get technical. We’ve been estranged.” He paused. “Not that I need to explain myself to you.”
“No, you don’t. Crap, I’m pretty sure I complained about my job to you. This is a disaster. Please don’t say anything to him,” she said, looking back up at him.
“That’s all you can say to me?” he asked.
“I—I’m sorry. My brain isn’t fully functioning right now. I’m still in shock.”
“You said that already. I’m surprised you don’t have a list made up of possible responses for seeing me again.” His lips tilted up in the corner, the hint of a smile, before they flattened again.
“Of course I don’t have a list. I was never going to see you again.” She didn’t miss his flinch. She should’ve made a list. Should’ve been prepared for anything since running into him the other night—and running away. Plenty of time to make a list.
“That much was obvious when you left me in that hotel room, with a damn note,” he gritted out. “And now, here you are, working for my uncle. Hanging out at a bar owned by a guy I’ve known since I was a kid. How is that possible? The world is not that small.”
“Wait? You know Adam, too?” She tightened her grip on her tablet and folder to stop her need to fidget.
“Yes. We went to the same high school. Actually, he’d graduated before I started, but I used to go to the high school hockey games when he was playing.”
“Oh, yeah, small world.” Her laugh was pained. “Umm, he’s best friends with my best friend’s boyfriend, and they invited me. Can we not do this here?” she asked, wishing he’d just leave, but seeing that he wasn’t, she refused to have this conversation in the hallway, where anyone could walk by. She’d been office gossip fodder for long enough. It was just starting to die down, and she refused to feed the monster anything else.
“I would think you’d want everyone to see that you know your boss’s nephew. Pretty sure one of the few things you mentioned about work, when we were in Italy, was that you were due for a promotion,” he said. It’d been one of the few things he’d gotten out of her about their real lives. She’d wanted to keep reality off the table, but had let some aspects of her job slip. Too bad she also hadn’t mentioned she was an accountant or that she worked for his damn uncle.
He cursed his pride when the color drained from her face. God, he could be an asshole. He blamed it on his shock at seeing her in his uncle’s office.
He’d recognized her as soon as he’d walked into Robert’s office. Her curls pulled up in a twist, a few strands kissing the neck that he’d lavished attention on in Italy. Her skin softer than any he’d ever touched. His lips tingled to trace along her hairline, and he clenched his jaw.
Fuck. How was she here? What were the goddamn odds of her working for his uncle? Not that he planned to do background checks on women he slept with, but it was something to consider. He’d hadn’t thought that through—or anything through in Italy—when he’d found out she lived in his hometown. They may not have exchanged last names, but she’d told him she was from San Francisco the first day he’d met her. At the time he’d had no plans to leave New York, so he’d mentioned having some family there, but said that he hadn’t been home in years.
“How can you think that of me?” she gasped.
“I honestly don’t know what to think,” he said. “Where’s your office?”
“A few doors down, but you’re not coming into my office,” she said. The color was slowly coming back to her face, but she was still pale.
“I want answers…so we can do that here or in your office,” he said, unsure of what he wanted. He should turn around and walk back to his uncle. What did it matter that she worked for Robert? It’s not like Ethan had plans to visit an accounting firm that often. But he needed to know why she’d skipped out on him. That never happened. Call it ego, or anything you wanted, but he needed answers.
“Follow me,” she said, spinning on her heel and heading down the hall.
He should’ve walked away, but instead he trailed behind her, attempting to ignore the determined swaying of her hips and the tightness in her shoulders. It looked uncomfortable and awkward as hell as she power-walked toward her office. She opened a door and gestured for him to enter, shutting it quickly behind him.
She let out an audible sigh and turned to face him, her tablet and folder still clutched to her chest.
He plucked the armor from her hands and set it on the desk. “Why did you leave?”
“What?”
He dove right in. “That morning. Before I woke up. Why did you leave?”
“It was easier that way,” she said softly, her gaze on her hands, her cheeks starting to pink.
“You knew it was our last day. I had more things planned, and I woke up to a note reminding me that checkout was at eleven. Pretty cold, Penny,” he said, hating the bitterness in his tone. He’d never let a woman affect him the way she had—well, not in years. He’d been surprised that she had when he’d woken up in the cooling sheets, a crisp folded note on the pillow where her head had been only hours before.
“I’m sorry. It was just supposed to be a fun time, and I didn’t want to do the whole sad goodbye where we claim we’re going to call each other but never do. I mean, not that you had any intention of it being more than just that week, but…” she trailed off, and he read her loud and clear.
Not that he could fault her. They’d been honest from the beginning. A week of glorious sex, and they would go their separate ways—no phone numbers or last names or forwarding information. But it still stung waking up alone in her damn hotel room. She wasn’t supposed to linger in his mind during the rest of his trip in Italy or pop up in his brain when he found out he’d been traded to her hometown. That was not how this was supposed to work. And he was pissed at her and himself for even having those thoughts. Not that he’d let her know about that.
“I can’t believe I didn’t hear you packing or leaving. It was your room.”
She fiddled with her fingers, another sigh slipping past her lips.
“Could you at least look at me?”
Her gaze darted up, and her embarrassment wa
s vivid in her eyes. He just had no clue why she was embarrassed. Was it because of what they’d done? Not that five days of the best sex he’d ever had should be embarrassing.
“I packed everything the last night before you came back to my room.”
“Wow. So you knew you were going to bail before we slept together that night. Why didn’t you just kick me out of your room when you were done with me?” Jesus, he needed to rein in the bitterness. She couldn’t get the better of him, even if the signs blatantly pointed to that being the case.
“That’s not why I packed early. I thought it would be easier to be ready to go because I didn’t know what you had planned for my last day. I didn’t decide to leave that morning until later. I’m so sorry, Ethan. I thought it would be better that way.”
Her explanation did not make him feel any better.
“You keep saying that. So, you truly had no idea who I was? That Robert was my uncle?”
She glared at him, standing straighter. “Of course not. I didn’t even know you played hockey. I mean, you have all of your teeth,” she said.
His laugh was harsh. “Way to stereotype, Penny.”
“Sorry. I’m a little flustered. I never thought I’d see you again, and now I’ve seen you twice in the last week in places I never imagined running into you.”
“You’ve imagined seeing me again?” he asked, unable to stop the question from coming out of his mouth. He was mad at her—pissed—and yet he needed to know. It was ridiculous how she tied him up in knots. He needed to focus on his anger, get his answers, and get the hell out of this enclosed room before he did something insane like grab her and see if her lips were as sweet as he remembered.
Goddamn knots.
“No, I didn’t,” she said, and he refused to read more into her words. “Now, I do have to get back to work. Robert is probably wondering what happened to you.” She inched around her desk, probably wanting the large expanse between them.
“Yes, I should go. And good luck getting that promotion you wanted,” he said, turning to leave.
“Umm. Could you not mention to Robert that we know each other?”
“In general or carnally?” He couldn’t stop himself, and her cheeks flared red.
“Seriously? Just don’t tell him anything. You should go,” she said.
“Goodbye, Penny. At least I get to say that this time.” He wrenched open the door and stepped out into the hall, her gasp fading as the door shut behind him. The parting jab was unnecessary, but he apparently turned into a vindictive toddler around her. Fuck, he had issues.
He returned to his uncle’s office, catching the smirk on Robert’s face. “What?” he asked.
“Want to tell me what that was about?”
“What? I just had to run to the bathroom.”
Robert chuckled. “Right. The bathroom. You know I’m not a senile old man, right?”
“You are looking a little old,” Ethan shot back. Not that Robert looked that old. He was Ethan’s mother’s younger brother. The man’s smirk increased his wrinkles.
Damn. He’d been obvious running after Penny, but she hadn’t given him much of a choice.
“Bite your tongue. I’ll have you know that I work out five times a week, and I’m in the best shape of my life. I bet I could keep up with you on the ice,” Robert said, grinning.
“Yeah. I doubt that, but you’re welcome to come to an early morning skate with me,” Ethan teased, hoping to steer his uncle away from Ethan’s recent disappearing act.
“I’ll pass on that. Now, do you want to tell me why you ran out of here?”
“It’s nothing. You ready for lunch? I’m starved.”
“First time you’ve visited my office and you’re already hitting on my employees?” his uncle said, shaking his head. “That was fast.”
“I thought she was someone I’d met before,” he replied.
“Thought you said you had to go to the bathroom,” Robert said, his brow arched.
“Just drop it,” Ethan grumbled. “Now I thought you were taking me to lunch. Can we go?”
“You signed another multi-million-dollar contract, and you won’t pay for lunch. Ungrateful nephew,” Robert muttered.
“Come on. It’s on me, of course.”
“Damn straight.”
Ethan laughed and followed his uncle out of his office. Of the few family members he tolerated, his uncle was at the top of the list—the very short list.
Chapter 3
The tension flowed out of Penny’s body as her foot connected with the bag. It felt so energizing to kick something.
“Bad day at work?” Amanda asked as she bounced on the balls of her feet.
“You don’t know the half of it.”
“Jab, cross, jab!” the instructor yelled from the front of the room.
Penny turned away from Amanda to repeat the move, feeling the power of her punch vibrate through her arms.
Kickboxing always made her feel better. There was just something so relaxing about beating the shit out of the bag. You could imagine anyone’s face, and over the years that face had varied. Right now, it was Ethan.
Jab, right between his blue eyes. Eyes that reminded her of the Mediterranean Sea. She took in a shallow breath, willing the memory away.
Cross, right to his gut. But he didn’t have a gut. Just a stomach she could do laundry on. Probably because he was a freaking hockey player.
Dammit!
Uppercut, right to his crooked smile. Maybe she could straighten it out. But no, it just laughed back at her.
Uppercut, jab, uppercut, jab. The moves rolled through her head as she continued to punch. Sweat trickled down her back.
“Let’s move on to uppercuts,” the instructor yelled out.
Hadn’t they already been working on uppercuts?
What the hell! Focus Penny, focus. He was ruining her workout.
Today had been a disaster. After he’d left her in her office, her mouth gaping like a fish at his last remark, she’d been useless. Luckily, she’d gotten most of her work done before lunch, but that wasn’t the point. He was invading her every thought. Every time she heard a knock on her office door, or a low voice coming down the hall, her heart raced, and her nerves went haywire. She could not function like this.
She growled as she punched the bag again.
She couldn’t get a moment’s peace, and it was all in her freaking head. She hadn’t seen him since that morning in her office, but he hovered over her shoulder. Figuratively, of course. Which was almost worse than literally. She was a damn mess.
She felt the flush travel up her skin, as if he was standing right next to her. Felt his fingertips tracing a line down her back, instead of the sweat currently making the journey down her spine. Sweat. Oh, he had made her sweat. Under the hot Tuscan sun. It sounded like such a cliché, she wanted to vomit.
His hands travelling down her body as he’d made love to her over and over again. She could still picture his tongue skating across her skin. A moan crept up her throat, and she shook her head trying to clear it before it escaped through her lips.
“Punch, then a side kick.” The perky instructor was at it again. “C’mon ladies. Ten minutes left. Show me what you got,” she yelled.
Stop interrupting, Penny wanted to yell back. I’m having a moment over here.
An erotic moment that she should have stuffed into the back of her mind, never to be retrieved. She wished she could blame the hot flashes on her kicks, but as soon as she raised her leg, she felt the air conditioning waft over her heated core. And then she remembered how his breath had whispered over her flesh before his tongue had wiped all coherent thoughts from her mind.
Son of a bitch!
She was going to melt into a puddle in the middle of her class in about five seconds. Or maybe in six seconds. Six sounded like sex.
What the hell! She could even make numbers dirty. Numbers were not dirty.
If someone had access to her thoughts they m
ight lock her away. It was like a goddamn tennis match. Back and forth and back and forth. From one end of crazy to the next.
What move were they even on at this point? She quickly glanced around and noticed that the kicks had stopped. Only cross jabs.
Jab, jab, jab. She hit the bag repeatedly, her breath coming in short gasps as she tried to focus on the workout. She stared intently in front of her as she punched, her feet stabilized on the floor. She could feel the vibrations in her shoulder as the bag swayed.
“Whoa,” Amanda said.
“What?”
“Why do you look about ready to go a few rounds with something other than that poor bag?”
“It’s just been a rough couple of days.”
Amanda laughed. “Okay, Sugar Ray, how about we discuss it over Chinese?”
“Chinese? Doesn’t that defeat the entire purpose of the workout?”
“We have to replenish the calories we just burned. Do you know nothing about how exercise works?”
“Thank you, Jillian Michaels.” Penny rolled her eyes. “I must have missed that article in Shape magazine.”
“It was the cover story.”
“I’m not sure what kind of magical scale you have at home, but I don’t think mine works that way. But of course, I’m in. I’ve been dreaming of Chinese.”
“Right,” Amanda said slowly, “because that’s what it looked like you were thinking of before you started punching the shit out of that bag. Sure you weren’t dreaming about Ethan?”
“What?” She froze, and then the bag slammed into her, knocking her back and she lost her footing. Her knee twinged a little as she went down, and she shook her head, glaring at the swinging bag.
“Definitely about Ethan,” Amanda said with a grin, as she reached out a hand to help Penny up. “Still can’t believe he was at the bar. You know, he darted out after you. I’m assuming he never caught you.”
He did? Penny ignored the thrill that rocked through her. No. He’d just wanted to yell at her, which he’d done in glorious fashion earlier today. She was definitely not telling Amanda that right now. She’d fess up over dinner. In the quiet of her own home, where Amanda’s outbursts wouldn’t be witnessed by strangers.
Breakout (San Francisco Strikers Book 1) Page 3