Playing at Forever

by Michelle Brewer

  “I missed this.”

  “Me too,” she said, still breathless. She suddenly became very aware of how close he was.

  Once more, she was taken back to the night he’d left. How brave she’d been. Bold.

  “Do you ever think about the night you left?” she asked at last, her heart now pounding impossibly harder than just a few minutes before. His eyes shifted from hers, down to her lips. His hand cupped her face gently. Finally, he brought his eyes back to hers, his only response a subtle nod. “Which part?” she pressed.

  “Depends on my mood.”

  “Which part are you thinking of right now?”

  Tommy edged closer to her, his eyes holding hers. He didn’t have to speak the words—she could see them written clearly in his eyes.

  The anticipation in the air was almost tangible. Her body filled with longing, as if kissing Tommy Davidson was her one and only purpose in life.

  And the moment their lips touched, the longing grew exponentially stronger.

  It was exactly how she remembered it—no, it was better.

  She felt her heart fluttering wildly in her chest as Tommy stepped closer, deepening the kiss. Her entire body was alive, feeling as if it had been laying dormant somewhere—untouched, forgotten. But now…

  She couldn’t think. She didn’t want to. All she could do was feel.

  It ended abruptly, as a car of young boys passed, honking their horn and yelling hoots of encouragement at the obviously more experienced male. Tommy stepped away, clearing his throat as he mumbled something about kids under his breath.

  Penny agreed, if only to say something. She was trying to catch her breath, her entire body feeling flushed. “Walk me home?” she whispered, trying to keep the moment from becoming anymore awkward than it already was.

  “You didn’t even have to ask.”

  They remained quiet the whole way back, both lost to their own thoughts. It wasn’t until they reached Amy’s door that Tommy spoke again. “Well, thank you for a very…enjoyable evening.” He raised an eyebrow and Penny couldn’t help but giggle.

  “Good night,” she told him, watching as he began to back away.

  “Good night.”

  “Wait! Your jacket—”

  “Nah, you keep it. I think I could use a little cool air.” Penny giggled again, covering her mouth with her hand. “Remember to at least think about my little proposal, Penny Lane.”

  And as Penny crawled into bed, she found, for once, she was able to fall asleep without any problems whatsoever.

  She knew it was going to be a long day the moment she stepped through the door to find Kevin already there, waiting for her.

  “Where the hell were you yesterday? I was calling you all day.”

  “I decided to take the day off. Is that a problem?” Penny walked by her soon-to- be ex-husband, trying her hardest to remain steady. She had decided that, no matter what, she wasn’t going to let her emotions get the best of her. Not in front of Kevin, anyway.

  “It would have been nice of you to call or something.”

  “I’m sorry, but I wasn’t aware that I had to report to you.” She removed the leather jacket Tommy had lent her the night before and hung it on the back of the door. “Last I knew, we both owned this place. And I’m entitled to a day off here and there.”

  “That’s not your jacket.”

  “No, it isn’t,” she shrugged passed him, making her way toward the kitchen so that she could check on the cook and see if there was anything she would need to order.

  “What the hell has gotten into you these last few days?” Penny stopped short, turning around to look at him, her expression incredulous.

  “Maybe it has something to do with the way you’re forcing me to either give up my dream or go bankrupt trying to save it.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Just a thought.”

  “Penelope—”

  “I have work to do, since I’m pretty sure that neither you nor Gina even bothered to make an order yesterday. So I’d appreciate it if you’d give me just a little bit of space here.”

  When Tommy showed up just before the restaurant opened, Penny could literally feel the relief wash over her. A smile danced on her lips as she hurried over to the door, opening it slowly. “Sir, we don’t open for another three minutes.”

  “Really?” He looked at his watch for a moment, that million dollar smile already forming on his lips. “Think you could make an exception for a big star like me? I mean, I am on the wall, after all.”

  Penny laughed, rolling her eyes and holding the door open the rest of the way.

  “What are you doing here so early?”

  “Well, I just woke up…starving. Found that I’d done nothing but dream about this place all night…figured that had to mean something.”

  “It’s the pancakes. We use the mini chocolate chips. Makes all the difference in the world.” Her tone was playful as she led him to a booth near the kitchen.

  “Seeing as how I’ve never actually sampled the pancakes, I think it must be something else.” His eyes caught hers. “Someone else, maybe.”

  “Should I go get Kevin for you? I know how much you’ve been looking forward to catching up with him.” Penny took a few steps away and Tommy reached out, grabbing her wrist and tugging her toward him. She sat down beside him, enjoying the way his arm rested around her shoulders.

  “Don’t even think about it. You don’t even want me in the same room as that guy. Hurting my Penny Lane like that…” His lips touched the top of her head. “You sleep okay last night?”

  “Like a baby,” she told him, resting her head on his chest. “You?”

  “You girls really wore me out.” He stroked her hair casually. “Did you think about my offer at all?”

  “I still say thanks, but no thanks. This is my problem. I’ll work it out.”

  “Penny,” his tone was stern.

  “Nope. You worry about your own problems, Mr. Davidson. I’ll worry about mine. Besides, it sounds like you’ve got enough on your plate.”

  “You’re going to start sounding like Graham if you’re not careful.”

  “Well, we wouldn’t want that, that’s for sure.” She sighed.

  “I think we have an audience.” Penny opened her eyes to find Kevin staring from across the room. “Should I ham it up a little? Make him think there’s something going on here?” She felt his breath on her ear, drawing himself nearer to her. Her body reacted and she had to fight against every instinct to turn her head ever-so-slightly—because she knew, if she did, she would bring herself face to face with Tommy. And she wasn’t sure she would be able to resist herself if presented with that temptation.

  When she had woken this morning, she had lay in bed not dreading the day, but instead thinking about the night before. She really had thought seriously about Tommy’s offer. How easy it would make things for her. But then she had thought once more about Tommy’s current situation, a myriad of tabloid covers flashing through her mind rapidly.

  She wasn’t even in his world and she’d had her concerns. She could only imagine what those actually in the business would think. She had thought about the half empty bottle of whiskey she had seen on his nightstand at the motel.

  It was very obvious that Tommy Davidson was in a dark place. If anything, she should be the one trying to help him.

  Then again, they could help each other. But, Penny had thought better of it.

  She wasn’t sure she was a good enough actress to pull off such a task.

  She had spent a great deal of time thinking about their kiss and the implications of such an act. Sure, she had kissed him before. But that had been different. She knew she wasn’t going to see him again, though every fiber of her being had hoped for the contrary.

  Last night, though…

  She’d had a hard time justifying the kiss to herself. Finally, she had settled on the desire to see if she had imagined the feeling she had attached to their first kiss, or to see if it had rea
lly been there.

  And Penny had certainly gotten an answer.

  It was more than she had remembered.

  But still, where did that leave them now? They were friends—that was it. Nothing more, and certainly nothing less.

  In the end, a kiss was just a kiss. In the end, she had decided that she wasn’t going to risk her entire friendship for the sake of a couple of kisses, however intense they may have been.

  “Hey, where’d you go?” he asked, pulling back a little so that he could look into her eyes.

  “Just thinking,” she said quietly. “Have you spoken with Graham yet?” He shook his head.

  “He’ll be here later, I’m sure.” Penny nodded, suddenly feeling some vague sensation of sadness. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but she thought it might have something to do with the fact that, soon, whether she liked it or not, everything was going to be changing. “You okay, Pen?” She pulled away, nodding her head.

  “I’m great,” she told him, plastering a smile on her face. “Why don’t I go ahead and bring you some of those pancakes I was talking about earlier? I should probably be getting back to work.”

  “Can I get them to go?” he asked and she watched as his eyes darted around the room. One of the younger couples sitting at a table across the restaurant was leaning across their table, looking over in Tommy’s direction every few minutes.

  “Of course,” she told him, wondering how much longer it would be before he was found out. Penny hadn’t even thought about that aspect. He was a movie star now. People were bound to recognize him. “If you want, you can come back tonight for dinner.”

  “That sounds like something to look forward to,” he told her.

  It was right around the after-dinner rush when Penny found herself sitting in the office, going over the books. Kevin was on the floor, making his rounds.

  And Gina, apparently, was on the warpath. “Kevin said he talked to you about selling.” Penny nearly jumped, startled by the younger woman’s sudden appearance.

  “Not that it’s really any of your business, but yes, he did.” Penny felt her features harden ever-so-slightly. “I think you’re forgetting, Gina—this restaurant does not belong to you.”

  “Not yet, no,” Penny set her pen down on the desk, closing the workbook she was currently going over.

  “Not yet?”

  “Kevin and I are talking about buying you out.”

  “Well, that’s awfully funny, considering I’m not planning on selling.” Penny looked the girl over. She was so young—so naïve. Yet she was probably one of the most coarse people Penny had ever met. She hadn’t started out that way, though. No, when Penny had first hired her, she had seemed like such a sweet girl.

  “Did Kevin tell you we’re getting married, Penny?” For just a moment, the room swayed in front of her. “And if you can’t buy us out, then I’m afraid we’re going to have to take some drastic measures. I mean, you’ve done such a stellar job building this place. We can’t let a business like this just…fade away.”

  “I won’t sell,” Penny’s voice was suddenly much less firm than it had been before. Deep down, she knew that there was a strong likelihood that she would be forced to.

  “Well, I’m not going to continue to work with you. And neither is Kevin.” Penny was hardly hearing the girl anymore.

  Her head was swimming.

  The divorce wasn’t even finalized yet, and Kevin was already proposing?

  She couldn’t breathe.

  “You can tell Kevin that I’m not selling.” Penny pushed her chair back, suddenly needing to get out of here. “This restaurant is my dream. Neither one of you are going to take that away from me.”

  “I’ve already taken your husband, Penny. Don’t be so sure I can’t take this too.”

  It took every ounce of control that Penny could muster to keep herself from slapping the girl in front of her. “I’ve never been so sure about anything in my life, Gina.”

  With those words, Penny grabbed her things and walked out of the office. She looked at no one as she departed, knowing that Kevin was watching her from the other side of the restaurant.

  But she didn’t care. She had to get out of there.

  She didn’t even know where she was going until she was there, knocking on his door, with tears streaming down her face.

  “Penny? What’s wrong?” Tommy asked, pulling her inside.

  “I’ll do it, Tommy. I’ll go along with whatever Graham wants me to.”

  “Now that is music to my ears.” Penny looked over her shoulder to find Graham sitting in an armchair, a pleased smile on his face.

  Chapter Five

  Tommy looked between Graham and Penny, not exactly sure what he should do.

  “Just wait a minute, Graham—what happened, Penny? What’s wrong?” It was pretty obvious that, whatever it was, it had really upset Penny. Her eyes were red, her cheeks tear streaked.

  “It doesn’t matter,” she shook her head. “I’ll play whatever role you want me to, just so long as it means I can buy them out.”

  “Did Kevin say something?” Tommy was suddenly very angry. Who the hell was this guy, going around threatening Penny?

  “No,” Penny shook her head, sniffing quietly. “So what’s the plan, Graham?” she asked, sitting on the bed and wiping at her cheeks. Tommy watched her, her expression very serious. “How do we do this?”

  “Penny, I can just—”

  “I’m not taking anything from you unless I can do something for you in return.” She held his eyes for a long moment, pleading with him. He could see the pain there, the heartbreak. He could also see the determination.

  And so, finally, Tommy gave in.

  He sat down on the bed beside her, resting his elbows on his legs as he ran his fingers through his hair. “How do we do this?” he asked, feeling powerless.

  “We’ll play it slow.” But as Graham continued on, Tommy couldn’t bring himself to listen. It didn’t matter, really.

  This wasn’t supposed to be how this happened.

  He was supposed to help Penny, like she had always done for him. He couldn’t remember a time since he’d met her that she hadn’t been there for him when he needed her most. And how had he repaid her? By taking off, by disappearing for ten years. What if she had needed him then?

  He had wanted to make it up to her.

  “This is going to work, Tom. This is going to be good for you.” Graham was saying. “You’re doing a good thing here, Penelope.”

  “So now what?”

  “Now, I’ll leave you two to discuss your own arrangements. I’ve got phone calls to make.” Graham rose to his feet and put his sunglasses on. “I think I’m going to like doing business with this girl.”

  Neither Penny nor Tommy spoke until they heard Graham’s tires squeal as he pulled out of the parking lot.

  “You didn’t have to do this, Pen.”

  “Yes, I did.” She stared at the floor. “They’re getting married. She wants to take The Seaside from me, just like she took Kevin.” Tommy watched as the girl beside him wiped at her cheeks. “I need something from you, and you need something from me.”

  “I would have given you the money. You know that.”

  “I wouldn’t have taken it. The future of your career is unclear, Tommy. I can do this.”

  “And what is this, exactly?” Because it didn’t matter to him whatever terms Graham had set up for them. This was his relationship. This was his friend.

  Penny inhaled a haggard sounding breath.

  “We’ll act like a couple. Pretend we’re in love with each other.”

  Pretend. Tommy hated that word.

  “And how, exactly, are we supposed to do that?” he questioned. What was allowed? What wasn’t?

  “I don’t know,” Penny sighed. He felt the bed move and he looked up to find Penny reaching for the bottle of whiskey that was now on the floor beside the bed. She unscrewed the lid and brought the bottle to her lips, t
aking a long drink. He could tell from her reaction that she didn’t like the liquor, but that didn’t stop her.

  When she finished, she passed the bottle in his direction and he took it, following her lead.

  “Graham said we take it slow. A few dates here and there. Nothing out of the ordinary.”

  “What about the rest of it?” He couldn’t help it. Even now, all he could think about was kissing her. Ever since last night, it was almost impossible to think about anything else.

  “This is just business,” she told him at last. “I’m done mixing business with pleasure. Look where that got me last time.”

  “No mixing business with pleasure. Got it.”

  “And absolutely no kissing.” She told him, looking up to find his eyes.

  “No kissing. Got it.” Tommy lifted the bottle to his lips once more, taking another long drink.

  He passed it to the girl beside him, and she followed his lead this time.

  Suddenly, he wasn’t looking forward to whatever the future had to offer him nearly as much as he had been only a few short hours ago.

  Because, only a few short hours ago, Tommy had almost believed that, maybe, he could romance Penelope Lang for real. He knew it was a bad idea, and he’d told himself that repeatedly.

  He would only mess it up, like he always did—and instead of just losing a girlfriend, he would lose the one girl he’d ever really cared about.

  But he couldn’t shake the desire, no matter how hard he tried.

  At least until just now, in this moment.

  Now, he could see it all too clearly.

  When Penny woke in the morning, her head was pounding. She sat up, looking around the room only to find Tommy sleeping in the armchair, his feet propped up on the foot of the bed. “I feel like death,” she groaned, moving very slowly as she crawled out of the bed. The bathroom seemed like a mile away, but she made it eventually.

  She looked almost as badly as she felt, she thought as she glanced into the mirror.

  “Remind me to never, ever drink whiskey. Ever.” She told Tommy as she opened the door. On her way back to the bed, she picked up her purse and ran a brush through her tangled hair, dabbing on a bit of lip gloss. She had already done her best to remove the raccoon eyes sleeping in her mascara had given her.