by Jenny Frame
“Let’s not go upstairs. Let’s stay here.”
Penny didn’t give her a chance to reply. She kissed her frantically and pushed her hands under her T-shirt, scratching her with those nails that drove her crazy.
Quade loved this woman so much. She seemed to instinctively know how to touch her, make her feel good about herself, which was proven when Penny rubbed her strap-on. Quade could have never imagined that something not part of her could feel connected to her, but it did, and when Penny touched her there, it was like she was touching her clit.
She was on fire and pushed Penny back onto the table and pushed up her dress. She went straight to Penny’s sex and found she was so ready for her.
“You’re dripping wet.” Quade groaned.
“For you, baby. You’re all I’ve ever wanted,” Penny said.
Quade was about to question again if Penny was okay. She’d seemed to have something on her mind all night, but Penny kissed her and started to unbutton her jeans and pushed them down her hips. She couldn’t think any more, so she just went along with what Penny wanted.
She pulled off Penny’s underwear, and Penny released her strap-on. Penny looked at her like she wanted to devour her. She rubbed and squeezed the strap-on for a minute, and Quade loved the feel of her touching it.
“I want you, baby,” Penny said. “I just want to be as close to you as I can.”
Quade nodded and pulled Penny closer to the edge of the table. She held the head of the cock at her entrance and said, “Yes?”
Penny rested her forehead against Quade’s. “Yes.”
Quade eased the tip in and Penny gasped. “Are you all right?”
“Yes, it’s big, but it feels good,” Penny said.
Quade rocked her hips and eased in a little bit more each time, so as not to hurt her lover. Penny held tight around her neck, and rested her forehead against Quade’s, keeping them connected.
Soon she was in all the way, and they both gasped. Penny hooked her legs around hers, locking them in a tight embrace. Quade rocked slowly, in no hurry to get to their destination. This felt like nothing else. Being inside Penny like this was closer than she had ever felt to another human being. She felt so connected, emotionally as well as physically.
Quade fucked Penny slowly for the longest time, giving her what she needed, but as Penny’s gasps and moans got louder, Quade’s thrusts got faster, until Penny looked right into her eyes and said four words that nearly made Quade’s heart explode.
“I love you, Sammy.”
Penny dug her nails into her neck and Quade pushed her head into Penny’s neck, thrusting wildly as she came.
“I love you, I’ll love you always,” Quade shouted out.
Penny loved her. Penny actually loved her. She was the luckiest person in the world.
Chapter Twenty-four
The next morning a limousine was sent to pick Penny up for the book signing. As soon as Quade got into the car with Penny, she felt out of place. Flash cars and book signings weren’t her.
“Are you sure I should be going to this, Penny? I’ll get in the way,” Quade said.
“Of course you won’t be in the way. You’ll be there for me. I need you.”
Quade had noticed Penny had been very tactile since they got back yesterday. As if she was frightened she would disappear. Perhaps it was because she told Quade she loved her.
Quade got a warm glow every time she thought about what Penny had said for the first time last night. To have someone who actually loved her was a dream come true, but to have Penny, her perfect woman, the woman she loved with all her heart, return that love was more than a dream. She was the luckiest person alive.
“I’m sure Olivia doesn’t want me there,” Quade said.
“Olivia doesn’t get a say in my life.” Penny was serious all of a sudden.
Quade turned around to face her girlfriend. “Penny, Olivia—”
“Besides,” Penny interrupted her, “my fans will get such a kick out of seeing you.”
They arrived at the bookshop and Quade saw a line of people from the front door, right along the building, and around the corner.
“Wow, you really are popular,” Quade said.
Penny smiled and kissed her on the cheek. “I think some of them are here to see you too.”
* * *
Quade stood behind Penny as she signed books. She had offered to get out of the way, but Penny insisted she stay right by her side. Quade didn’t mind, but she felt particularly embarrassed when women looked at her, giggled, and asked for a selfie with her.
It was strange as well to watch her Penny be Penelope Huntingdon-Stewart. She was very different to the woman who said she loved her.
Penny turned to Quade and said, “Baby, could you ask Olivia to have some more books put out?”
“Okay.”
Quade looked around the shop floor and saw Olivia talking to a member of staff by a book display on the other side of the room. Lots of eyes followed her as she walked past the line of fans.
“Hey, Sexy Farmer. If Penny’s not enough for you, come and see me,” one woman said, and then the others next to her giggled.
Quade felt the heat spread across her cheeks. She wasn’t used to being the centre of attention—or female attention, more to the point.
As she got closer, Olivia put on what was clearly a false smile. Probably because of who she was—just a farmer. It became clearer every day how different Penny’s life was to hers. Penny’s family had been so welcoming, but it was hard to forget the social differences between them.
Olivia’s false smile was testament to that. “Olivia, Penny thinks she’s going to need some more books shortly.”
Olivia turned to the bookshop staff member beside her. “Could you take care of that for us, Jamie?”
Once he left Olivia said, “I was hoping I’d get a chance to talk to you on our own. A bit of a chin wag, you know?”
Why Olivia wanted to talk to her she could not imagine. “Oh, okay.”
“I wanted to thank you for coming along today. This whole Sexy Farmer thing has really magnified the interest in Penny at the moment, and she really needed it after the live TV debacle. Fitting on live TV did terrible things to her brand.”
Quade liked Olivia even less now. To reduce Penny’s suffering and embarrassment to a debacle, to something hurting Penny’s brand, made Quade really angry.
“Olivia, I don’t think—”
“Yes, that’s why Pen went to the country, to repair the damage that had been caused. When she first posted that video of you showing her how to make a fire, the IT team saw a huge spike in interest. I said to Pen, get this new friend of yours into as many of your pictures, blogs, and videos as you can. It’s a good gimmick.”
“Gimmick?” Quade couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Quade’s mind was racing. This couldn’t be right. Olivia had advised Penny to get close to her? Not Penny, she wouldn’t do that. But the seeds of doubt were sown.
She looked over to the table where Penny was signing books. She wasn’t the Penny that Quade knew in front of these people. Could what they had really be an illusion? When Quade thought back to when they first got closer as friends, Penny had seemed to change overnight from hostile to friendly.
When Quade didn’t continue, Olivia said, “Oh, I’m sorry. Have I said something wrong? You didn’t really think that you and Penny had something between you, did you?” Olivia laughed. “Oh dear, oh dear. She has gotten you to believe, hasn’t she? Pen would do anything for business, honestly.”
Quade rounded angrily on Olivia. “You have no idea of what we’ve shared with each other. I don’t believe you.”
Olivia sighed and opened her briefcase. “Quade, don’t be a fool all your life. Read this.”
Quade read over the front page of a contract for a TV show in America. She felt like she had been kicked in the guts.
“Preproduction starts in one month. She’ll be over there for at least two ye
ars to get her brand going.”
Quade looked up from the contract and looked again at Penny. “When did Penny find out about this?”
“Yesterday when you left us at lunch. You were a means to an end, Quade. Nothing more.”
Penny knew this when they made love last night, when Penny told her she loved her. Everything fell into place. It was all a lie. Quade’s heart shattered into a million little pieces, and all the air was stolen from her lungs.
Olivia patted her on the shoulder and said, “Did you ever really think, deep down, that you were in her league?”
“No,” Quade said honestly.
She couldn’t breathe. She had to get out of here. Quade slammed the contract in Olivia’s chest and left.
* * *
A few hours later Penny finally got down to the last person in the line. She signed the book and said, “Thank you. I hope you enjoy it.”
Olivia approached her with a big smile on her face. “Well done. Everyone had a great time.”
Penny stretched her arms and yawned. She couldn’t wait to get back to Axedale with Quade and have a quiet night.
“Have you seen Quade?” After sending her to talk to Olivia, she hadn’t seen her since.
“No, she just went out for a breath of air and I haven’t seen her since.”
She got out her mobile and called Quade’s phone, but it just went to voicemail. Penny started to have a bad feeling inside.
She called her parents’ house and Mrs. Parson answered. “Hello? It’s Penny. Is Quade back at the house, Mrs. Parson?”
“She is, but she’s packing up her belongings. She looks upset.”
Penny’s eyes sought out Olivia who was talking to someone a few yards away. What have you done, Olivia?
“Thanks, Mrs. Parson. I’ll see you later.”
She hung up and walked over to Olivia. “Could I have a moment with my business partner?” They were soon left alone. “What did you say to Quade?”
Olivia furrowed her brow. “What are you talking about? She went out to get a breath of air, I told you.”
“But why did she leave, Olivia? Mrs. Parson says that she’s at my parents’ house packing. She isn’t doing that for nothing. I asked her to find you, and the next thing I know, she’s left me. So tell me what you said. Now,” Penny demanded.
Olivia sighed. “Just a few home truths.”
“And what were those?”
“That she was very good to help rebuild your brand after everything that happened, and that I advised you to get close to her, to exploit the interest in you both, and you did. Also that you were going to America. I showed her the contract and told her I told you about it yesterday. It was only fair to put her out of her misery. It was never going to be the romance of the century. Not with you in America and her farming cows in Kent.”
Penny clasped her hands to her mouth. Sammy knows I knew last night, when I told her I loved her. Oh my God. What had she done? Penny shook her head in shock.
“It’s only business, Pen. You’re leaving, and this little fling was in the way,” Olivia tried to explain.
“This wasn’t business, Olivia. This was jealousy. I have waited all these years to find someone who I could love and enjoy a normal relationship with, and you have destroyed my chance.”
Olivia looked very worried all of a sudden and reached out to touch her. “Pen, I—”
“Don’t touch me. Even if you were the last woman on earth, Olivia, I wouldn’t be with you. You’re not my type. You never, ever were, and I’ve tried to tell you that gently over the years, but now the gloves are off. I will never, ever forgive you for this.”
Penny grabbed her bag and ran out into the street, tears flowing down her cheeks. She was in a panic. Some of her fans were gathered outside and pulled their phones out to video her. Yet again she had made a public spectacle of herself, and maybe lost the love of her life.
People were right to laugh at her. She was a joke.
Penny flagged down a taxi and headed back to her parents’ as quickly as she could.
* * *
Mrs. Parson told Penny that Quade was in the garden. She ran out and found her by her father’s vegetable garden.
In the taxi on the way home she thought of lots of things she wanted to say, but now that she was here standing just behind her, everything vanished, and her mouth dried up.
Quade must have sensed her presence because she said, “Your father will need to get his gardener to separate this mint plant or it’ll take over.”
“I don’t want to talk about mint, Sammy. What Olivia told you, Sammy—she’s just jealous. She’s been interested in me since school, but I never took her interest seriously. It’s all lies, you have to believe me.”
Quade stood and brushed her hands on her jeans. “I know she’s jealous. I knew as soon as we met at the restaurant.”
“You believe me then? I promise all that rubbish about using you for publicity—it’s not true, it’s all lies.”
Quade turned and said, “It hurt so much to hear someone telling me those things. I was angry and hurt, but by the time I got back here, my head cleared. I knew it wasn’t all true.”
“What do you mean not all true? None of it is. I love you, Sammy.”
“Really? What about America?” Quade said.
Penny’s heart sank. She lowered her head, unsure how to explain herself.
“You knew about that for a while. You knew when we made love last night, when you told me you loved me. Why didn’t you tell me?” Quade said.
Penny knew she had been wrong. It was true, but how could she explain? “I wanted to gather my thoughts, process it before I talked to you about it.”
“You thought about it, Penny, and that means you are considering it, which means you were never committed enough to our relationship.”
Penny was panicking now. “No, I wasn’t, Sammy—”
Quade touched Penny’s cheek and wiped away a tear. “Listen, Penny, I realize now that this relationship was always doomed to fail. Your heart would never quite be fully in Axedale, and I’d be holding you back to expect that. Penelope Huntingdon-Stewart was never going to be a farmer’s wife.”
This couldn’t be happening. But she could see Quade’s shutters had gone up. She was going to walk away from her.
“That’s not true. Give me a chance to explain, Sammy.”
Quade gulped hard, then gave her a forced smile. “You don’t need to. Olivia was right about one thing—I was never in your league. Go and chase your dreams, Penny. Good luck in America.”
She gave her a chaste kiss on the lips, then walked back towards the house.
What have I done. I can’t lose the love of my life without a fight.
How could she prove to Quade what Olivia had told her about their relationship wasn’t true, and that her heart was in Axedale?
“Think, Penny. Think.”
Penny’s phone beeped with an email from her IT team about her website, and then the answer hit her. Business had always driven her, and business could make her dreams come true.
Chapter Twenty-five
The gloom of the evening was settling on the grounds of the Axedale estate as Quade leaned on the fence, looking over the alpaca pen. Knowing her farm was being taken care of, she walked straight from the train station to Axedale to pick up Dougal from Riley. She managed to avoid questions from Harry and Annie since Riley was there, and went on her way, but as she walked away from the front entrance, going back to her farmhouse lost its appeal.
Her farmhouse had gone from a lonely place to one full of laughter and love since Penny had come into her life, and now all of that was gone. It had all been an unattainable dream. So she found herself walking over to the alpaca pen, while Dougal trotted around.
One of the friendliest alpacas, who Riley had annoyingly called Doris, came over to the fence for some attention. When she was feeding them, Quade didn’t half feel a fool shouting for Doris. She patted her nose.
<
br /> “Evening, Doris. I wish all I had to worry about was when my next feed was coming.”
“Talking to the animals now, Quade?” a voice said behind her.
It was Annie.
Quade tried her best to smile. “Sometimes animals make more sense to me than humans.”
Annie leaned against the fence and said, “Harry and Riley are planning medieval day for the millionth time, so I thought I’d come out and visit the girls.”
Annie didn’t ask, but Quade knew she wanted her to talk about Penny. “I don’t really want to talk, Annie.”
“Would you rather talk to Harry or Finn?” Annie asked.
“No, I feel like enough of a fool as it is,” Quade said.
“Surely it’s something that can be fixed. I know how much Penny cares about you.”
“Do you really?” Quade said sharply. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I don’t mean that.”
“That’s all right. Quade, whatever’s happened between you two, let Penny have a chance to talk to you. I nearly lost Harry because I wouldn’t give her another chance.”
“Penny’s going to America. She’s leaving and I’m not going to stand in her way.”
She saw realization hit Annie. “I’m sorry, Quade.”
“Yeah, well. She was never going to be a farmer’s wife, was she?” Quade pushed herself back from the fence. “I’ll be off.”
Back to reality. Back to the loneliness of the farmhouse.
* * *
Two days later Penny’s driver drove her back to Axedale. It had been torture staying away so long, leaving Quade thinking the worst of her, but if she wanted to convince Quade where her heart truly lay, she needed time.
By the time she arrived at Quade’s farm, it was five o’clock. Quade would probably be back in the cottage by now. Her driver stopped at the bottom of Quade’s drive and said, “Are you sure you don’t want me to leave the car, Ms. Penny? I can get the train back.”