Only…she had a feeling it wouldn’t be quite like that this time around. They were older, more mature and…
“Stop it,” she snapped at herself. She spent the rest of the drive singing to the radio to distract herself and fifteen minutes later, she pulled up to her condo. It was a rental and it was small, but it was home. Right now, she couldn’t wait to get inside and get out of her wet clothes and just…be. And with that thought in mind, she climbed from the car and made a mad dash to her door and then quickly slipped inside, bolting the door behind her.
“It’s good to be home,” she sighed.
But…was it? The warmth was great and knowing she was minutes away from being dry was even better but…she was alone. There was no one here to greet her and normally that didn’t bother her. Tonight, however, it did.
A lot.
And dammit if Spencer Buchanan hadn’t done it to her again.
For the next week, Penny agonized over what she should do and then realized that it didn’t matter. Spencer had mentioned that he was only in town for a short time so he was probably back in Atlanta by now. He lived there, had a life there, and from the things they talked about over dessert, he didn’t seem too anxious to move back to Raleigh.
And a long-distance relationship was not something she wanted to even consider.
They had enough trouble in the past with being together. Why add the extra stress of living two states away into the mix?
It’s better this way, she thought. And no matter how many times her brain tried to tell her otherwise, she simply kept reminding herself of that.
Over and over.
More times than she should have.
Why? Why couldn’t she just let this go and chalk it up to a moment of weakness? That’s exactly how she reasoned her giving in and kissing Spencer.
Weakness.
That was all. Nothing more, nothing less.
Maybe they should look at it as finally getting some closure. Okay, maybe she needed to look at it that way. She had no idea what Spencer was thinking.
But it still didn’t answer the question why – why was she still thinking about him?
Because you have no social life, no dating prospects – even within the state.
Oh, right. That.
Fine, so right now she wasn’t dating anyone. That wasn’t a big deal. It wasn’t for lack of trying, but her schedule just wasn’t conducive to having a relationship. She worked weekends and three out of four Friday nights a month were spent doing the fashion show, so really, when most couples were out on dates, Penny wasn’t available.
It had only taken three failed relationships for her to figure out that her job was the problem.
Not that it had deterred her. She loved what she did and knew there would eventually come a time when her hours would change. In the meantime, she would be patient.
And she had been until Spencer showed up.
Now she wanted…something. That one kiss had reminded her how she missed being in a relationship, missed the comfort of being held by a man, kissed by a man, desired by a man.
“Ugh…” she groaned, doing her best to try and focus on other things.
So she worked at Enchanted during the day and worked on her business plan at night because really, she had neglected it for too long. That was one thing she should be thankful to Spencer for – he had given her that little nudge she needed to get herself moving. Every night she looked over her plan and her sketches for what she wanted her space to look like before going over her ideas for logos and web designs. It was all overwhelming and yet she knew if she could take that last step and do the presentation in front of Hailey, Becca, Angie, and Ella she’d be okay.
They were a lot less intimidating than the bank and she knew they’d be the ones to really make her take that final step.
It was Friday night and the one Friday a month when they didn’t hold a fashion show. Penny couldn’t contain the sigh of relief that came out at the thought of there not being a show. She loved them; she really did, but they were a lot of work and she was looking forward to getting out of work by eight and having the weekend off.
Yeah, it was her weekend off and she had zero plans.
Other than laundry.
This so wasn’t how she imagined her life being.
She was working on pulling gowns for tomorrow’s bride appointments when Hailey approached her.
“Hey, you got a minute?”
Nodding, Penny put the dress she was holding back on the rack. “Sure. What’s up?”
“I know it’s seven-thirty and almost time for you to leave, but I have a favor to ask,” Hailey said, and it was clear she was hesitant to go on. That normally meant that she wasn’t going to get her weekend off and she mentally braced herself for the news.
“O-kay…”
“Martin had to leave because his daughter caught what his son had last week, his wife is ready to lose her mind, and he got a last-minute call about a groomsman coming in for a fitting. I’m swamped here with paperwork and Angie’s already gone and…would you mind going down to the tuxedo shop and manning the desk and helping the groomsman out? It’s just the one guy and Martin’s already pulled the tuxes so it’s really just a matter of you standing there and taking his info. What do you think?”
Relief almost had her weeping with gratitude. Her weekend was safe! Again, not that she had any plans, but she was looking forward to the down time. “Not a problem. Any idea what time he’s due to arrive?”
“Martin said any minute. He tried to get the guy to reschedule but apparently this was the only time he was available to come in.”
“It’s no big deal. Really. If it’s all right with you, I’ll grab my purse and jacket and run down there.”
“You are a lifesaver, Penny. Thank you.” She handed her the spare set of keys so she could lock up when she was done and praised her as she walked away.
Five minutes later, she was putting her purse behind the desk at the tuxedo shop and hoping this groomsman wouldn’t keep her waiting too long.
Off in the distance she heard the main doors in the lobby open and close followed by voices calling out a greeting. She looked over at the rack by the fitting rooms and saw that Martin had indeed already pulled a couple of tuxedoes and with any luck, she wouldn’t be out of here much later than her usual time.
Chinese takeout was calling her name and she couldn’t wait to curl up in her yoga pants and a sweatshirt while she enjoyed some dumplings and maybe binge-watched something on Netflix.
She looked toward the front of the shop because if that had been her groomsman walking in the lobby, he would have been in here by now. With a shrug, she decided to get a jump on her dining plans. Bending down, she quickly reached into her purse and pulled out her phone. And when she straightened, she found herself face to face with Spencer.
For a minute, he thought she was going to scream and the expression on her face said that she certainly hadn’t been expecting him. Actually, he hadn’t been expecting her either. His plan had been to come in for a tuxedo fitting – something he was seriously jumping the gun for Eva’s wedding – and figured it would be a legit excuse to see Penny. He’d casually stop in at the bridal shop and say hello and then…
“Spencer? What are you doing here?”
He gave her a lopsided grin. “Doing a test run on tuxedoes to help Eva and Brett out.”
At first he didn’t think she believed him, but then she visibly relaxed. “Oh. Okay.”
“So what are you doing in the tuxedo shop? I didn’t think you worked in here too.”
She quickly explained about the owner needing to get home to a sick child – again – and then she stepped away and began to explain to him about the tuxedo options that had been pulled for him.
If he didn’t know any better, he’d swear she was nervous and that pleased him a little. If she was nervous around him, that meant that she wasn’t unaffected by him – or by their kiss.
Good to kno
w.
Because kissing Penny had been all he could think about all week. He should be back in Atlanta right now.
But he wasn’t.
He should be working on reports for the building he was designing.
But he wasn’t.
What he was doing was trying on tuxedoes when he didn’t need to just on the off-chance he could see her again. How twisted was that?
By now Penny was standing next to a dressing room and holding a tuxedo hanger in her hand. “Martin already placed a shirt and shoes in the fitting room for you,” she said, “and this is the first tux he pulled for you to consider based on your measurements.”
“I never gave him my measurements,” Spencer said.
“Um…what?”
He nodded. “All I did was call and ask if I could come in and try some on,” he explained. “No one asked for any sizes or measurements. I guess I can try this on and we can go from there, right?”
Then he watched as her shoulders sagged and she sighed. But she immediately went back into sales mode and gave him a nice but professional smile. “Okay, we’ll need to get your measurements first. No need for you to try to fit into a suit that isn’t your size. That’s just crazy.” She stepped away and hung up the suit she had in her hands. “Why don’t you step up on the platform over there by the mirror and I’ll go get the measuring tape.”
Wait…measuring tape? Couldn’t he just tell her what size he normally wore? That would certainly make things easier – especially since Brett hadn’t made any decisions on tuxedos and he wasn’t planning on ordering anything tonight. Then again, if he did happen to go in that direction, there’d be no need for him to stand up on the platform for measurements. And that would mean…
“Just step up on there and face the mirror,” she said. “I’ll need to make a note of your shirt and sleeve size, waist, outseam…”
Then he felt bad for giving her extra work. “Wouldn’t it be easier to give you at least some of my sizes so you don’t have to go through all of this?” he asked and hated that he was quite possibly depriving himself of some extra time with her.
“Under normal circumstances, yes,” she explained. “But for this sort of thing, we require specific measurements. Every designer is cut just a litter differently so it makes everyone’s job easier to just go by what the measuring tape says.”
“Ah…gotcha.” Doing his best to hide a grin, he simply stood and did as he was told as Penny’s hands roamed all over him – in a completely professional way – as she took the needed measurements.
Best. Friday. Night. Ever.
At first, he felt all kinds of wrong that even though there was nothing sexy about what she was doing, it was still mildly arousing – her hand skimming down his leg…her arms wrapped around him to get his waist measurements…
He cursed the fact that they were in the middle of a tuxedo shop and that he had on so many damn clothes!
Once she was done, she moved around the shop and pulled tuxes in his size and then sent him back to the dressing room to start trying them on.
They didn’t talk about much – she kept all of the conversation focused on Eva and Brett and their wedding and tuxedo style questions. Not that he cared. Basically, this was all going to be Brett’s decision and right now, Brett had no idea that Spencer was even looking at tuxes.
No one did.
If his sister caught wind of what he was doing, he knew he’d get her approval and possibly her help. And as much as he knew he was going to need some of that where Penny was concerned, he wanted to do it in his own time and in his own way.
He just never thought trying on tuxedos was a length he’d ever have to go through in order to spend time with a woman.
“Let me know how that first one fits,” Penny called out to him.
And as he closed the dressing room door, he figured he had at least an hour to try to break down some of her defenses and convince her to go out with him again.
Chapter Three
It was one thing to fantasize about touching Spencer.
It was quite another to actually be doing it.
I love my job.
“How does the jacket feel?” she forced herself to ask as she continued to smooth imaginary wrinkles. “Is it too tight? Too loose? Can you move comfortably?”
Spencer’s expression was serious as he took in his reflection. Stepping back, she let him move his arms and shoulders to get the feel of the suit jacket. It looked good on him. Really good on him. But then again, Penny had a feeling that anything would look good on him. He was tall and lean, she noticed, with just the right amount of muscle – he’d filled out in all the best ways in the last ten years. And as much as she hated to admit it, he was just…
Perfect, she inwardly sighed.
“It feels all right,” he said, his voice deep and just a little gruff. “Can we try the next size up? I think it’s just a little snug in the shoulders.”
“No problem,” she replied softly as she went to pull another jacket from the rack. After taking all of his measurements – neck, sleeve, waist, outseam, and shoulders – she had been fairly confident that she picked the right size for him. But if he wasn’t one-hundred percent comfortable, who was she to argue?
Stepping over to him, she helped him remove the jacket he had on before handing him the new one. He was mesmerizing to watch. Some guys could come in and try on jackets and it would register zero on her radar, but watching Spencer Buchanan try on a jacket was borderline porn for her right now.
Quickly, she turned away, hung up the jacket and placed it to the side in case he wanted it back for comparison. She seriously needed to compose herself before going any further. If she could, she would have stepped outside to fan herself or grab something cold to drink because it suddenly felt very warm in the shop.
Pull yourself together!
Stepping back up on the platform with him, she began her tasks of smoothing and gently tugging and adjusting and helping him get the true feel of the garment. She wanted to smack herself because she knew she was being a little excessive in the touching department but…she couldn’t seem to help herself.
“How about this one?” she asked, smiling at him in the mirror and hoping he didn’t hear the slight tremor in her voice. “Is this one more comfortable?”
“This one definitely feels more comfortable,” he said, interrupting her thoughts. “I’m not crazy about these trousers, though.”
Her heart kicked a little and she felt a slight flutter in her belly at those words. It was one thing to be able to touch his back, his arms, his shoulders…but to be kneeling down and running her hands over his legs and waist? Well…it had been a little awkward when she was measuring him a few minutes ago and she wasn’t sure she’d survive it a second time.
Clearing her throat, she forced herself to focus. “All of your measurements will go to our warehouse and everything will be custom-tailored for you. The inventory we have here is just the basics, so they won’t necessarily fit you like this.”
He nodded but didn’t really look at her; he was still studying his reflection. “I think the measurements on the outseam weren’t quite right. I’d like to try a pair of different shoes and then measure again if that’s all right with you.”
Um…yes please, she thought and immediately wanted to smack herself. Honestly, she had no idea if any of this was the norm for getting a tuxedo fitting – she’d never had to do quite so much before, but right now she couldn’t find the will to stop any of it.
“No problem,” Penny replied. “Would you like to go pick out another pair?”
For a few minutes, Spencer walked around and tried on shoes while Penny made notes in his file. When he stepped back onto the platform, she was ready with her measuring tape. Standing to his left, she carefully kneeled – not an easy feat in her navy pencil skirt and heels. Doing her best to stay balanced, she carefully measured the outseam with minimal amounts of running her hand along his muscled calf. Standing sl
owly, she went and did the same on the right.
This time when she went to stand, Spencer stopped her.
“Isn’t it customary to measure the inseam as well?”
Oh. Right. The inseam.
“Um…yes. Yes. You’re right. Sorry about that,” she nervously stammered. “I’m not fully familiar with all the procedures.” With a steadying breath, she moved until she was in front of him. “Can you…um…just widen your stance a little?”
His gaze was a little intense as he looked down at her. Doing as she requested, he asked, “Like this?”
Was it wrong that she could barely remember how to speak because she was eye level with…well…what was a rather impressive part of him?
“That’s fine,” she murmured and did her best to hold the tape measure at the top of his inseam as she ran her other hand down his leg. By the time she got that measurement and did his other leg, she was practically sweating.
Mentally, she was about to congratulate herself on doing the job without embarrassing herself, but as she went to straighten, she lost her balance and cried out as she felt herself about to fall. “Oh!”
Spencer quickly swooped down and banded an arm around her waist to catch her and pulled her to her feet. Chest to chest, her heart racing, Penny looked up at him and knew she was blushing.
“You okay?” he asked, a small smile tugging at his lips.
She couldn’t speak. Up close, he was even more handsome than she wanted to admit. His jaw was rough with a day’s worth of stubble. His lips looked incredibly soft, and when she looked into his eyes, she noticed just a hint of gold in those clear blue depths. Swallowing hard, she nodded.
But he didn’t release her right away. And Penny certainly didn’t feel any rush to move.
Glam Squad & Groomsmen Page 4