“You’re not mad about me and Luke, then? You know, him answering my phone this morning?” Penny had asked warily at the third shoe shop they’d visited.
“Why would I be mad? You make my brother happy,” had been Cassie’s casual reply. She had no idea how wonderful she’d made Penny feel with those few words.
Penny flicked the pages of the album back and forth a few more times and ruefully shook her head. The dresses in the pictures all looked so delicate and fine, much too fine for her big frame. It wasn’t as though she’d never been to a formal event before; she’d been to many, but Selina had always chosen her outfits: uncomfortable, unflattering, uninspired creations that covered her pretty much from top to toe and gave away nothing of the woman beneath.
“Maybe Luke would be better off just taking you,” she muttered as she closed the album.
“Rubbish!” Cassie snorted.
“I’m not a model, Cas. I’m not one of those girls who could wear a potato sack and make it look fabulous. Stick me in a potato sack and I look like a sack of potatoes.”
Cassie sighed and shook her head sadly. “Nina, I think we need a fashion intervention here.”
“I agree wholeheartedly. Miss Royale, if you would please step behind the curtain and strip for me.”
“What?” Penny cried as she pushed herself as far back as possible into the replica Louis XIV chair she was occupying. “Oh, no!”
Suddenly Nina had one hand and Cassie had the other and they were hauling her to her feet and shoving her behind the heavy blue velveteen curtain.
“Strip!” Cassie and Nina commanded together. “Come on, love, we’re all girls here,” Nina added when Penny just stared at them, cheeks blazing and eyes wide. But she could see by the way they stood, arms akimbo and chins up, they weren’t taking no for an answer.
“Fine,” she conceded through gritted teeth. Five minutes later she stepped inside a mirrored cocoon that showed off every lump, bump, and dimple on her body, feeling more like a freak every moment she stood there, and more embarrassed than she’d ever been in her life.
“Bra off too,” Nina said.
Penny clenched her jaw but slipped her bra off, slung it over the top of the mirror and fought the urge to cover her breasts with her hands. Nina stood in front of her with her hands on her hips and scoured Penny’s nakedness with her shrewd designer’s eyes, her chunky black-rimmed half-moon spectacles perched on her nose and her orange lipsticked lips thinned in concentration.
“Well now, let me just say for starters...great boobs,” she said and gave Penny two thumbs up. “Fabulous legs, long and shapely.” She made Penny turn slowly. “There’s certainly nothing scrawny on you, is there, love? Hmm...”
Nina vanished but quickly returned with four different dresses for Penny to try on. She shoved the first one at her, a sea green gown with a short train, lace detail, and halter neck. Cassie and Nina ummed and ahhed, then screwed up their noses and shook their heads.
The second dress was a disaster from the start. Penny didn’t do frills. But after seeing her in the third dress, Nina dismissed the fourth completely.
“This one,” she said and Cassie agreed. “Simple, chic, stunning. The colour is very you. Not many women can wear Manhattan Red, but with your china-fine complexion and dark hair…beautiful. Simply beautiful.”
Beautiful? Her?
Penny took a moment to absorb the award-winning designer’s observations as she stared at herself in the mirror.
Beautiful! Her!
She turned to Cassie. “But do you think Luke will like it?”
“I think he’ll love it. You look just like his dream girl.”
“Who is that?” Nina asked as she began fitting the dress to Penny.
“Jessica Rabbit.”
“So that’s why he has all those posters,” Penny said.
“You’re kidding!” The designer laughed.
“Nope,” Cassie continued. “The red dress, the sexy curves, the long hair and kissy pout...he adores her. Luke won’t be able to keep his hands off you. In fact, we may have to keep you covered up until we get to the ball, just to be sure you arrive unscathed,” Cassie teased.
Penny laughed. She was happy, truly happy. It made her realise how empty her life was before Luke Hardcastle. Work and gardening and house renovations and staff barbeques had only filled up her time, not her life.
Try as she might, Penny couldn’t stop the tears that fell down her cheeks.
“What’s wrong?” asked Nina.
Cassie put her arm around Penny’s waist. “You’re in love with him, aren’t you?”
Penny nodded as more tears fell. “And it scares the hell out of me.”
But then the urge to laugh bubbled up again and her tears dried. How could this man make her feel so many things all at once? Fearful, lustful, happy—free.
She must be in love.
“I have a question,” Nina said. “If Luke’s dream girl is the very definition of voluptuous, why does he date all of those flat-chested, bony-assed stick insects?”
Luke’s deep voice echoed through the curtain. “Call it a hobby.”
* * * *
By five o’clock, Luke was bored out of his mind. An hour ago he’d thought to surprise Penny by whisking her away to a nearby hotel for an afternoon quickie; instead he’d turned up to overhear an interesting juncture in conversation.
Why did he date “those flat-chested, bony-assed stick insects”?
Oh, if they only knew—and Cassie did.
Still, his sister hadn’t appreciated the interruption to their conversation and scolded him accordingly. “How long have you been standing there?” she’d asked with an accusatory glare, her head alone poking out through the curtain that hid Penny completely from view.
“Long enough,” he’d replied.
Long enough, indeed. Long enough to hear Penny say she was scared. Scared of what? Of him? Still? Even after last night?
Soon enough the chatter had returned to outfits and accessories, and Cassie’s enthusiastic storytelling of her latest shopping spree with Penny had held centre stage.
By then Luke had pulled out his iPod, stuck the earphones in his ears, and cocooned his sanity in a protective layer of heavy metal.
But now the women were ready to leave and he was stretching the kinks out of his back. French furniture might look nice but it was a bugger on your spine. Of course, his slouching posture probably hadn’t helped.
“Come on, lazybones,” Cassie chided, smiling at his disgruntled expression. “We don’t want to be late for the party.”
At a quarter to seven, as Luke looked anxiously at his watch for the umpteenth time, two of the prettiest girls he’d ever seen exited Cassie’s room and graced him with their presence. Luke smiled with brotherly affection as Cassie struck a pose and showed off her emerald green satin sheath.
“Thanks for the earrings, big brother. I adore them,” she said as she flicked the onyx and emerald jewelry that dangled from her earlobes.
“You’re welcome.”
Next he took Penny by the hand and kissed her knuckles, admiring the strapless midnight blue cocktail dress she wore and the way it fit her voluptuous curves. He liked that she wore her hair up, exposing her slender neck and smooth shoulders to his amorous gaze. He liked that her bare flesh was the perfect backdrop for his gift.
“Now for you, honey. You were a little bit harder to shop for. But I do love a challenge.”
Luke produced a black velvet box and opened it for Penny’s inspection. He delighted in the way her hand flew to her chest as if to slow her heartbeat, and in the tiny gasp that escaped her perfectly painted pout.
Penny gaped at the silver marquisette heart that sat nestled in the box, a dark blue, heart shaped sapphire studding its centre, a fine black silk ribbon looped though its bail. Luke lifted the necklace from the box and tied it around her neck.
“It’s a locket,” he said. “I found it in that antique shop we went
to last week. It’s supposed to be more than a hundred years old.”
His fingers brushed the bare flesh along her spine and she trembled under his touch, just as she had when they’d made love last night, just as she would when he made love to her again.
“I love it, Luke. It’s beautiful.”
“My thoughts exactly,” he murmured against her neck.
Penny turned and stared up at Luke in a way that made the rest of the world vanish. He cupped her face and drew her to him for a tender kiss. A kiss that promised so much more, a kiss that would have easily burned up the air around them and consumed the rest of the evening in fiery passion—except for Cassie clearing her throat behind them.
“I believe we are officially late,” she said as she wrapped a black lacy shawl around her shoulders.
Luke winked at Penny. “I told you so.”
Chapter Thirteen
The party was a promotional affair, a product launch for a local winery. Kookaburra Queen, the paddle steamer that traversed the Brisbane River, was the evening’s venue and Luke stopped with Penny and Cassie to pose for photos before ushering the women onto the boat.
Luke was immediately greeted by the emcee and was introduced to the winery owner, Grant Bellows, a man no older than Luke with an easy manner and tanned skin that proved he lived his life outside an office.
The men shook hands before the women were introduced and Grant bent to kiss the hands of each of them. Luke noticed the man’s eyes lingering a while longer on Cassie before he stretched out his hand to beckon his date to his side.
“I believe you know Charlie York,” he said happily as a willowy blonde in a silver sequined singlet top and black sequined micro-miniskirt wrapped her arms around Grant’s neck and whispered in his ear.
Luke’s grip tighten on Penny’s waist as he pulled her closer, whether to protect himself or her he didn’t know.
“Luke Hardcastle,” she purred. “It’s so good to see you again. And you must be…Patty, is it?” she asked with a condescending sickly sweetness.
“Penny,” Luke corrected with forced politeness.
“Of course. And you must be Luke’s sister. It is so good to see you up and about.”
Luke grit his teeth against his ex’s sugary barbs. He was seething at Charlie’s forthright rudeness, but a warning look from Cassie made him keep his temper in check. Silence ensued, discomfit followed. Bellows cleared his throat as he spotted more guests arrive, and excused Charlie and himself to greet them.
Penny shifted by his side, tilting her head as she watched Charlie walk away. “Wow. I wonder if her head whistles in a cross wind.”
Luke looked down at her, momentarily stunned, before laughing out loud.
“You’re amazing,” he murmured as he wrapped his arms around her and shuffled her towards a table laden with hors d'oeuvres. He picked up a fat juicy prawn, dipped it in sauce and put it to Penny’s lips. He groaned as she accepted the prawn between her teeth and bit down, sauce covering her bottom lip. Luke leaned forward.
“Allow me.”
He licked the sauce away and kissed her. “By the way,” he whispered in her ear, “when we get home, I’m going to rip this dress off you with my teeth.”
He pulled back to enjoy Penny’s blush, slipped his arm around her waist again, and began to circulate in the crowd.
The party progressed as parties do. Food was eaten, wine was drunk, gossip was shared. Penny was never far from Luke’s sight, even while he danced with Cassie or chatted with business associates or just leaned back against the deck railing and pretended to watch the city lights dance on the surface of the Brisbane River.
He watched her constantly.
“I love your rebound girl,” sounded a familiar voice at his elbow.
Luke turned to see Charlie York by his side, her short blond curly hair bobbing in the gentle breeze, the scent of expensive perfume wafting from her throat.
“No, really I do. Lifeless hair, dull eyes, huge ass…I can see why you’re so interested in her.”
Luke sighed heavily and began walking away.
“You can stop torturing yourself. You can have me back anytime, you know. Just say the word, Luke, and I’m yours.”
Luke turned back to Charlie with a pained expression. “Please tell me you’re not using Bellows to get back with me, Charlie. I think I made it quite clear the last time we saw each other that I wasn’t interested in continuing our little affair.”
Charlie slid her hands up Luke’s chest and adjusted his tie. “And now I’m calling your bluff,” she said with a cocky self assurance.
She tried to press her body against Luke’s but he stepped back from her and removed her hands from his clothing.
“No bluff, Charlie. It’s over. It’s been over for months.”
“Grant is very successful, you know. He has boutique vineyards in South East Queensland and Western Australia. He’s so handsome. Aren’t you even a little jealous?” she asked demurely, her clear blue eyes twinkling with mischief.
“Nope.”
Mischief turned to malice in a second. “You can’t do this to me, Luke Hardcastle! You can’t just toss me aside like last month’s Cleo. I’m beautiful. And I want you.”
Luke clenched his fists. “I’ve neither the time nor the patience to put up with your childish tantrums. We both know what you want, Charlie, and it isn’t me.”
“But−”
“But nothing. You will stay away from me, you will stay away from my sister, and you will most definitely stay away from Penny.”
Charlie’s only reply was to flash Luke a perfect little smile before turning on her thousand-dollar heels and stalking away.
Luke watched her disappear into the crowd before turning to stare at the water. His hands clenched the railing so tightly his knuckles turned white, his thoughts were irritated, and his body tense. The last thing he needed was a gold-digging ex causing trouble.
Luke couldn’t even remember why he’d asked Charlie out. She was beautiful, there was no doubt about that, but she was also greedy, spiteful, and mean, and her friends were much the same. But at the time he’d not cared. For eighteen months he’d not cared what type of woman he dated as long as they weren’t Penny Royale.
What a fool he’d been.
He should have been rescuing Penny, not trying to eradicate her image from his mind with tawdry women and meaningless sex.
But none of that mattered now that he had her, his sweet, sexy, curvy, beautiful Penny. Penny, who didn’t expect Luke to pay for everything and even argued with him over the price of pizza. Penny, who wasn’t afraid to drink tea with full cream milk and sugar or eat pasta covered in creamy sauces. Penny, who wasn’t afraid to tell Luke off, to say no to him. Penny, who wanted, more than anything else, his friendship.
Luke turned around and walked in from the balcony and saw her. He flexed his hands, immediately calming at the sight of his lover. Her pretty face was animated as she chatted happily with Grant Bellows, the swell of her breasts showed just above the top of her dress, and the little heart-shaped locket he’d given her sat nestled in the hollow of her throat, twinkling under the lights. She beckoned him to her without having to say a word. And she didn’t even know it.
The music had slowed down as the night drew to a close and the paddle steamer made its way back to the quays. The guests gathered around tables, talking and laughing, or slow danced on the open dance floor. Luke shoved his hands in his pockets and watched Penny. She was sipping wine now, imitating Bellows as he swirled the golden liquid in the glass and held it up to the light. Luke couldn’t wait to get her home, to fold her into his arms and make love to her again.
Just then Charlie sauntered up to them. She draped herself over Bellows like a strangler vine, and took a sip from his glass before huffing and rolling her eyes at what he assumed she thought a dull conversation. Slowly he made his way over to the trio. Luke smiled to himself as he compared the women.
Charlie, for
all her traveling and hobnobbing and apparent sophistication, lacked maturity. While her face was considered one of the most beautiful in the world, the rest of her reminded Luke of a porcelain doll. Cold to touch, prone to damage if handled too roughly, and—empty.
Luke had had sex with her only once in the three weeks they were together. And that had been one time too many. The sight of her bony hips and barely-there breasts had turned him off entirely, and his size compared to hers was exaggerated by their nakedness, but they’d had sex anyway, as uninspired and unsatisfying as it was.
Not like last night with Penny, he thought.
Sex with Charlie had been harsh, painful even, for both of them. Sex with Penny had been a lesson in sensuality. He’d reveled in the fact that her soft body had accommodated his entire length without difficulty, especially her first time, and that when he’d lain on top of her, delighting in feel of her body still clenched around his cock and in the smell of sweat and sex, she’d held him close. She’d not insisted he was squashing her, actually laughed when he’d suggested it.
To a man who didn’t know better, Penny looked plain next to a top fashion model like Charlie, but the way her eyes would change from a pale silvery blue to a dark steel depending on her mood, and the way her lips formed such a perfect pout that begged to be touched and kissed, just like the rest of her with those delectable womanly curves begged to be touched and kissed, made her far more desirable than any other woman Luke had been with in the past ten years, and certainly the past eighteen months.
He locked his gaze on hers as he took her hand and kissed her knuckles, his hot breath searing her flesh with his desire.
“You should try this wine,” Penny said.
Without a word, Luke took the glass from her fingers and sipped the chardonnay. He sampled the flavour of the wine, savouring the crisp fruity notes and letting the chilled liquid slide down his throat.
“Magnificent,” he said, his eyes still locked with hers.
Charlie barked out a laugh of disbelief. Penny lowered her gaze but Luke raised her face again and winked, bringing a shy smile back to her lips.
“You make good wine,” he said to Bellows.
Revenge and Redemption Page 13