He watched her go back to Bryn and Mia’s table over the course of the next hour, bringing drinks, chatting. Sometimes she just stood, other times she sat for a minute. But each time they were all smiling.
When Bryn and Mia stood, they took turns hugging Penny. Seth called to Penny and she said one last quick good-bye. She took off toward the kitchen to pick up an order for one of her other tables. Bryn and Mia headed for the door.
“Thank you, Thor,” they sang in unison. He held the door for them as they walked out.
“You’re not driving, right?”
“Nope,” Mia said. “Walking to my place so Bryn can sober up before she drives home.”
He looked at Bryn. “If you need a ride, just let me know. It’s really no big deal. I have to go that way anyway.”
“I will. Thank you.”
They walked away and he headed back inside. Penny breezed by with a kiss to his cheek, the smile still plastered on. She tidied up one table then headed over to Bryn and Mia’s table and the signed credit card slip they’d left there, her smile quickly fading.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. If they’d shorted her a tip, it surely wasn’t on purpose. Drunk girls can’t do math. “Didn’t they leave enough?”
“Uh, they left too much.” She turned to him and held up the slip. “Way too much.”
Thor scanned the credit card receipt, and in the gratuity section Bryn had printed $100.00 with a smiley face and a little note: “Love you! Thanks for a fun night! Buy yourself something pretty!”
“Can you believe the nerve of her?”
Thor was confused. She was mad that they’d tipped too much? “I don’t understand. Why are you so mad?”
She cocked her hip, hand perched on it, all traces of happy drunk girl gone. “Because she’s treating me like a charity case. I’m all for earning a hundred bucks by working at the shop or serving food and drinks, but the nerve of her to just give me money like that?”
Thor knew enough about women to know he needed to tread lightly here. “I know her intentions were good. Can’t you just look at it for what it is? A friend trying to do something nice for another friend? Maybe she feels guilty about everything that’s been going down at the shop lately.”
Penny just shook her head. “This is just another thing for them to hold over my head. Another way to show they’re better than me.”
“I don’t think that’s what it is.”
She massaged her temples with her fingers. “I have a headache, and since it’s pretty dead in here, I’m going to ask Seth if I can leave.”
“Then I’ll leave, too.”
“No. Stay. It’s fine.” She turned and headed toward the bar.
He followed her, coming up behind as she sorted through the signed papers and cash from her apron pockets. He put his hands on her shoulders and rubbed circles with his thumbs, hoping to relieve some of her tension.
“I’ll leave with you. We’ll go to my place, like we planned. I’ll draw you a bath and we can just relax. Okay?”
She leaned against his chest. “That sounds really great. Thank you.”
While they gathered their things, Seth calculated Penny’s credit card tips, including the hundred bucks, and handed her the cash. They clocked out and climbed into Thor’s truck. He turned out onto the road, anxious to get home and rid her of her stress.
Maybe a mile down the road, his cell phone rang. No one ever called him at midnight. He checked the screen. Bryn.
“What’s up?”
“That offer still open to drive me home?”
Shit. That wasn’t going to go over well with Penny. But he’d told Bryn to call if she needed a ride. He couldn’t renege on that now. “Yeah, I’ll be there in a minute.”
“What was that about?” Penny asked.
“I told Bryn I’d drive her home if she needed me to.”
Penny stared out the front window.
“I’m sorry. They were drunk and stumbling when they left. I told her I’d drive her if she needed it, since I have to go that way anyway.”
“It’s fine. I get it. You’re just being a good guy.”
“It’ll only take an extra few minutes to drop her off and then we’ll be at my place.”
“I said it’s fine. No big deal.”
But it sure as hell seemed like a big deal.
He pulled up in front of Mia’s building. Luckily Bryn was standing there waiting. She opened the passenger-side door and Penny reluctantly slid to the center of the bench seat.
“Thank you guys so much! You’re the best!”
Bryn chattered away as he drove, Penny silent, but then he noticed her digging through her purse. She took out a few bills and set them on Bryn’s lap.
“Here’s your tip money back. I don’t need it,” she said.
“But that was for you,” Bryn said, genuinely sounding deflated.
“I don’t want your charity.”
“That’s not what it was.” Bryn’s voice now held a little edge. She took the money and put it on Penny’s lap. “I gave it to you because we’re friends and I thought you deserved it. I know how hard it is to be a waitress.”
“That wasn’t about friendship or me deserving it. It was about you thinking you’re better than me. Or maybe you feel guilty or sorry for me. Whatever it is, I don’t need you to just give me money. So take it back.” She held the money up, maybe an inch from Bryn’s face.
“Get that out of my face.”
“Not until you take it.”
Bryn took it all right, and threw it on the floor of the truck. This was not what Thor had envisioned when he bought those rounds of shots for the girls. Not at all.
CHAPTER Twenty-Three
Thor lay in bed, Penny beside him, both of them still awake, still silent. When he’d pulled up in front of Bryn’s house, she muttered a quick “Thanks” before jumping out and slamming the door. Penny didn’t say a word. Not then. Not when they arrived at his place. Not after she crawled in bed in just her Red Brick tee.
Should he say something? But he didn’t know what to say.
“Tonight was pretty shitty, huh? You want to talk about it?”
“Nope.”
“You sure?”
“Yep.”
Okay. One-word sentences. That was a great sign. Maybe a good night’s sleep would help. And maybe it would give him some perspective on the female mind.
“You wanna know what really pisses me off?” she said.
So much for not wanting to talk. “What?”
“She hopped in your truck like nothing had happened. Like she hadn’t just completely insulted me.”
“I don’t think she meant to insult you.”
An audible sigh.
Thor continued. “I’ve known her for a long time and I’ve never seen her be malicious about anything. I mean, come on . . . you’ve known her for how long? Do you honestly think she has one nasty bone in her body?”
Penny was silent for a moment. “No, but that doesn’t mean she can’t change.”
He rolled to her, her back flat on the mattress, gaze on the ceiling. He cupped her cheek and turned her face toward him. “I truly think she was just trying to be nice.”
“Of course you think that. You’re not at Classy ’n’ Sassy. You don’t see what I do.”
“I don’t, but it’s gotta be a misunderstanding. She’s not a nasty person.”
“Seriously? Whose side are you on?”
“I’m not on anyone’s side.”
“Whatever.” And with that she turned away from him, presumably to go to sleep. So he turned over, too, his back to hers. This was fucking perfect.
Thor closed his eyes, breathing deep, an attempt to calm himself enough to fall asleep. But his brain wouldn’t quit.
Why is she
being like this? What am I supposed to do? I’m not going to bad-mouth my lifelong friend. I should’ve known this relationship thing was going too smoothly. Maybe being single is easier. But I really like her. How can I make this up to her? How can I help her overcome her insecurities?
He tried to brainstorm ways to help Penny, but came up with nothing.
Thor glanced at his cell. Shit. Just past 4 a.m. Friday mornings were always rough after working the bar the night before. It was the only day during the week that he had to manage on less sleep. But at this rate, he’d be lucky to get an hour, compared to the four he normally got.
This day was going to suck.
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PENNY JOLTED as Theo’s alarm blared from the nightstand. He silenced it immediately, then was up and out of bed. A few seconds later, the shower started.
It was 5:45 already? At least she didn’t have to be at Classy ’n’ Sassy for a few hours yet. She’d barely had two hours of sleep. She’d spent the better part of the night trying her damnedest not to sob out loud. She couldn’t let Theo know she was crying about how badly it hurt that he was siding with Bryn.
Okay, maybe he wasn’t siding with her exactly. But he sure was defending her. And maybe Penny had overreacted about the money, just a tiny bit. It was possible that Bryn was feeling guilty about denying her raise and that Penny had to work a second job.
Was she just being nice? Being a friend?
Ugh. What an asshole Penny had been. No—worse. She was acting like a crazy person. She wouldn’t blame Theo if he broke up with her. But, oh my God, she so did not want that to happen! Tears were back. She might have just screwed up the best thing to happen to her in probably forever.
The water stopped. He toweled off and brushed his teeth. She cried some more. He came into the room and slowly opened a few drawers, then went to his closet. He was being careful and quiet. Even after she’d been such a bitch, he was trying not to wake her.
She didn’t deserve him, but she wanted him. She never wanted to let this wonderful man go.
She listened to him get dressed then head back to the bathroom for another minute—the three seconds it took to put a smidgen of gel in his neatly cropped hair.
Then his footsteps came closer to her. She could sense his presence near her, the scent of him swirling around her. His hand brushed away a stray hair, his finger tracing the line of her eyebrow, a simple touch that warmed her whole body. He placed a kiss on her forehead, an action so tender, so loving, that she almost couldn’t contain her emotion.
Why am I containing my emotion?
He stepped away. He was leaving. She couldn’t let him leave. Not without telling him.
“I love you,” she said.
She couldn’t see him, as her eyes were still closed, but could tell he had stopped walking. Then the weight of him pressed down on the mattress next to her.
“What did you say?” he asked, his voice quiet.
Penny opened her eyes. She’d only told one other man she’d loved him, and it had meant nothing to him. She wasn’t sure she’d ever really been in love with Jack—now that she knew what it was like to be in love for real. And she needed to say it to Theo’s face.
“I love you,” she repeated, a tear slipping down her cheek.
He sat there for a few seconds, and they seemed to drag by like hours. She didn’t know how to read his expression and her heart began to race in a panic.
Theo reached for her and his features softened, the right side of his mouth curling slightly. He bent to kiss her. This all felt like a good sign, but her anxiety spiked anyway.
He pulled back, smiling, his thumb brushing over her lips.
“I love you, too,” he finally said.
“You do?”
“I think I have for a while now.”
“Really?” She had a hard time containing herself and the tears just kept coming.
He wiped them away. “Why are you crying?”
“I don’t know. I guess I just . . . I’ve never been in love for real before and I can’t believe it’s happening.”
“This is real. I promise you that.”
He leaned to her again, kissing her, deeper this time. Penny wrapped her arms around him tighter then she ever had before, needing him as close as humanly possible. He snaked his arms around her and lifted her up, repositioning her in the middle of his bed, their lips disconnecting only when he yanked her shirt over her head.
Theo took off her bra, then pulled away from her hungry kiss, tasting her body as he made his way to her panties. He hooked a finger under the black lace, an outfit she’d been excited to show him last night, before everything had gotten messy. But now she didn’t care. She’d rather they be on the floor next to his boxer briefs.
After inching them down her thighs and off her body, he took his time kissing a path from her ankle to her shin, her knee to the ticklish spot on the inside of her thigh.
He looked up at her. “God, you’re so beautiful.”
Penny’s breath hitched and she willed herself not to cry. Jack had never once said that to her in five years of marriage. But now she had this amazing man that was all hers. And he loved her. Life couldn’t be any better.
Theo rose to his knees, towering above her, and stripped off his shirt. Life was about to get much better.
The belt and pants were next, joining Penny’s clothes on the floor, the boxers the last to go. He didn’t give her much time to enjoy the view before those delectable lips connected with her heat.
As she lay there blissed out, spent from another fabulous orgasm, he crawled to her, kissing a trail through her breasts, then a gentle peck on the tip of her nose. He rested on his forearms and she wrapped her legs around him, caressing his skin with her fingertips.
“I want you to know,” he started, “you’re the first woman I’ve ever loved. I don’t have a clue what I’m doing and I’m so worried I’ll screw it up.”
“Trust me. You’re doing a really great job.”
“You’re only saying that because I just got you off,” he said with a laugh.
“Regardless of how good the orgasm was—and it was fantastic, by the way—I really mean it. You know how my marriage was. There was no love there. What we have is so different in so many ways. This is what I’ve been waiting for my whole life.”
“Me, too. I’ve been waiting for you.”
Once again Penny fought tears. It all felt like a dream. But this was actually her life. And she couldn’t wait to find out what happened next.
---------
THOR LAY with Penny, her petite body tucked into the crook of his arm. The sun had fully risen now. He glanced at his cell: 7:13. He should have already been on his way to work. If he got up now and left right away, he could still get there on time. The first bell wasn’t until 7:50. The kids got a tardy slip after eight.
But when he looked at the woman lying so peacefully in his arms—the woman he loved, whom he’d just made love to—how could he leave her?
He kissed the top of her head, golden waves messy from sex. It was a good look on her.
“I need to make a call, okay?”
“Sure, I’ll be here.” She lifted off of his arm then lay back down, pulling the comforter tight to her. It sounded corny as hell, even just inside his own brain, but she looked so angelic. He hated to walk away.
Grabbing his phone, he stepped into a pair of basketball shorts and headed to the living room. He dialed the school’s office, since it was too late for the automated system.
“Kenville High School. This is the front office. How can I help you?”
“Hey, Sue. It’s Theodore.”
“Hello. Shouldn’t you be here already?” she asked.
“Yeah, but I need to take a sick day today.”
“Again? Didn’t you call in once already t
his year? We’ve barely been in session a month. Mr. Smitherson is not going to be happy.”
Thor was well aware of that. He’d never been on the principal’s bad side, but he was quickly making his way there. He knew he should go in, but the thought of leaving Penny, after this new step forward in their relationship, he just couldn’t do it. “Tell him I’ll do detention duty for a month.”
“Well, that should help your case. Feel better soon.”
Thor ended his call and headed back to bed. Penny was in the exact same position as when he’d left, snoring softly. So friggin’ cute. He shed his shorts and climbed in next to her, the warmth of her naked body pressed to his, the scent of her on his pillow.
He could get used to this.
CHAPTER Twenty-Four
Saturday morning was a workday for Penny, game day for Theo. She’d never played hooky before yesterday, but it’d felt damn good. Especially since she spent the day in his arms, naked, only leaving the bed a couple of times for food and bathroom breaks. It had been the single most relaxing day of her life. Perfection.
Penny glanced at her phone. Seven thirty. She really needed to get moving if she was going to have enough time to get home, change, and get to Classy ’n’ Sassy by nine. And she was so high on love, the thought of seeing Bryn and Mia didn’t even faze her. She’d long forgotten the incident from the other night and felt complete indifference when it came to them and the shop. The only person who mattered now was Theo.
The first to arrive at the shop, Penny unlocked the doors and flipped on all the lights and the stereo, too, with its sexy playlist. It was a proven fact that consumers purchased more when the music fit the retail environment. Penny had done a ton of research a couple of years ago and convinced Mia to let her create the perfect lingerie shop playlist.
Fun times . . . She sighed, thinking of all the nights they danced around the shop to those songs. But that was all over now. Her time at Classy ’n’ Sassy would be spent working only. Get in and get out. So she’d have more time to be with Theo, the one person in her life who mattered. Who made her feel like she mattered.
One Size Fits All (The Classy ‘n’ Sassy Series Book 3) Page 18
