Favorite Coffee, Favorite Crush

by Pinder, Victoria

  Chapter Thirty Two

  After dropping Sandy back off at home, Penny pulled into the parking lot with Jay sitting beside her. He hadn’t said much, but the scowl on his face kept him quiet. When she switched off the engine, he mumbled, “I’m going to need five minutes with my tablet.”

  She understood this had to do with his mother, and she could use the minutes to tell him what hers did. “I’ll leave you alone.”

  Getting out, she intended to help him, but he held the frame firm in his grip and stepped down. His grimace softened her heart. He deserved better than that physical pain.

  Walking backward, she kept an eye on him until they reached the door. She swung around to open it first. Looking back, she watched his nose turn upward. “You don’t have to take care of me, Pen. I’m not a cripple.”

  She leaned closer. “You just left the hospital, Dimples.”

  Holding the door, she pushed back to let him pass. His wrinkled nose didn’t scare her off. She held back a smile, though, staring at his thick crop of blond hair.

  Following behind him, she sped up to pass him when the doorman, McCarthy, stepped in their way, stopping them. Taking his hat off, he held it at his chest when speaking to Jay. “I’m sorry for what happened, sir. The doorman who let people into your condo has been fired, and is facing pending criminal charges. He’d been hired only last week, and we’re looking deeper into his background now to see what the check missed.”

  Penny covered her hand with her mouth. What had her mother done? And what should she do? Jay kept his voice confident and steady, touching the man’s arm. “I’m sure you’re doing everything possible.”

  McCarthy nodded. “The police have all the videos and pictures of your assailants.”

  A chill ran down her body. More than one. Biting her lip, she stopped moving. Jay didn’t look fazed. Her gaze shifted to his clear blue eyes. He knew more.

  Jay smiled at the man. “I appreciate everything you did.”

  He sounded nice. Her eyes darted back and forth between the men while the doorman went back to his post. Blinking, she missed something. But what?

  Putting his hand on her back, he told her, “Let’s go upstairs, Pen.”

  Gulping, she nodded. Finding what to ask took more effort than four years of education. She hit the button for the elevator. Tapping her finger on her face, she asked, “What did McCarthy do?”

  He looked down and his entire face darkened. “He saw the tapes in the back room and sounded the alarm downstairs. He is the reason I’m still in Miami. Walking in on men intending to find my business records.”

  The doors closed in the elevator. She came closer to him to look in his eyes and ask, “Is Penelope Financial on the up and up? Or are you involved with illegal people and things, Jay?”

  Stepping back, he flinched like she had hit him. She bit her lip. She’d clearly asked the wrong way. He shook his head. “I’m not, but I’m shutting down a business that was.”

  “You’ve been nothing but great to me. And I’ll sound like a brat, but I have to ask anyhow. Does this involve your mother?”

  He let out a deep breath before coughing. Putting her hand on his arm, she hoped she’d help him with that pain. Pulling back, he closed his eyes and focused. “Yes. You should call a cab, go get your car, and leave town.”

  The doors opened into their home. She stepped out first. “Let’s go in. I’ll make us dinner, and I’m not leaving because of your mother. What my mother did, maybe, but yours doesn’t scare me.”

  As he followed behind her, she stepped into the kitchen. He stopped at the counter and put his hand down. “Penny, this isn’t a game.”

  After taking some baking powder and butter out of the refrigerator, she set up her ingredients on the counter.

  When had her last period been? Her breath caught in her throat and she refused to stare at him in his eyes. Instead she gazed past him and tried to breathe. “No, my life is not a game. I won’t be a pawn to my mother’s plot. And neither are you. Go do your thing with the tablet. I’ll make dinner, and then you tell me some more.”

  Going back to the fridge, she found hard bread. She’d pick out parts to make breadcrumbs.

  From across the room, she heard his low voice. “What else do you want to know?”

  Putting her supplies on the counter, she gazed up. His pained expression eased her questions. “What were those men after? Why did you get me to move in here to begin with? What’s going on?”

  Walking to the kitchen, he stepped past the counter and came close before asking, “The truth?”

  She stared up, her lips opened. “Yeah.”

  His face turned white before he turned around. “Follow me into my office.”

  After brushing her hands on her jeans, she fixed her hair and did what he asked.

  In his office, he took a seat on the stairs leading up to the second-floor patio. She stopped moving and opened her arms. “What’s here?”

  He pointed out the staircase and his eyes became stormy. “Go behind the staircase.”

  Laughing, she asked, “What are you pulling here, a secret room? I don’t see anything”

  Standing up, he gripped the banister and put his hand on her back. Taking her hand, he put it on the wall. “Push on that panel.”

  A door opened when she pressed her palm there. “I’ll give you the extra remote. If you are going to stay here, we need to make some new rules for the next few days.”

  “Jay, you’re scaring me.”

  “This is a safe room.”

  She couldn’t blink for a moment. “I’d prefer locks and a door.”

  “In three days, maximum, everything will be settled. I should have acted sooner. But if someone comes here and you can’t get out, go into that room and close the door.”

  “And the computer’s in here?”

  He rubbed his neck and his face darkened again. “It’s what my mother’s men are after. I have files linking Mueller Enterprises financially to organized crime.”

  Covering her mouth, she gasped. “Wait, I almost worked there.”

  “I know.”

  Dropping her hand, she touched his arm. “That’s why you chose me?”

  Offering a small smile, he asked, “For my date or to live with?”

  “Date first.”

  His smile grew. “No. You can think on your own. That was the biggest part. And you’re too genuine to lie to me.”

  Heat rose in her cheeks. She needed to tell him her mother’s plot. “And to live with?”

  He shook his head and paced back and forth. “I hoped I could spare my dad. I figured if you saw my mother there, you’d tell me. Then I’d have to buy out his business and put him in early retirement, ending any connections to my mother’s friends.”

  Fumbling for the right question, she couldn’t form the words. “Your mother?”

  Leading her out of the small room, he sat in his office chair. She couldn’t let him leave. She needed to know. Following him, she pulled herself up to sit on his desk. He held his head up with both hands. She scooted over and picked up his chin, petting his hair. His shoulders released tension. “Remember sophomore year when I went on the ‘summer abroad’ trip and couldn’t talk online?”

  Fixing his hair, she listened. “Yeah?”

  Fury entered his eyes fast. His body stiffened. “I wasn’t studying. She had me kidnapped for the insurance money.”

  Her body ached for him. She could hold off telling him about her mother for now, giving him space. She told him, “You’re safe, here with me now. But I’m confused.”

  Pulling his head back, he held her hand. “You’re not like her, Pen. She’s controlling and owed these people money for investing. I was insured. She paid them off with the insurance money, ensuring everyone lined their pockets on Dad’s dime and getting her favors that she needed to ensure she owned everything Dad touched.”

  He rolled his chair over to his laptop on his desk, his nostrils flaring. “I’m going
to shut Mueller down now. I want you to leave and be safe.”

  Standing up from the desk, she crossed her arms. “I’m not going anywhere. I trust you, and I have to explain about my mother.”

  Opening up a program, he focused on his laptop. “Fine. Later. In the next few days, if something happens in the middle of the night, get in that room and wait it out.”

  Her heart plummeted and her hands went clammy. “You’re trying to scare me now.”

  He gazed away from his work and stared at her. “Look at me, Penny. You shouldn’t stay here.”

  Part of her agreed. She should leave. “You’ve a black eye, a few nasty bruises, and a cracked rib.”

  His arms flailed. “Let me ask a question. Would your mother kill you?”

  She couldn’t breathe. She had to tell him the truth. “No, but she’d have no qualms about using me to get what she wants—”

  He gave her a slow, secret smile that stopped her short. When silence clung in the air, he drew his lips in thoughtfully. “It’s why I have a hard time saying no to you. You understand.”

  She forced a demure smile on her face. She’d tell him about her mother once he typed out whatever he needed to on his computer. “So, what are you going to do exactly?”

  Lines of concentration embedded in his brow, he went back to work. “Buy out her connection with Mueller Enterprises. I’m hoping this means the rats flee the ship, and my parents can take the money they get and retire.”

  She eyed him thoughtfully. “You’re not looking to take some of the nefarious contacts.”

  Without looking at her, he kept his head down. “You shouldn’t be here. I don’t deserve someone like you.”

  “I’m going to make dinner. Do the right thing, Dimples.”

  Chapter Thirty Three

  She took the glass baking pan out of the oven, noticing her breaded chicken shone a perfect dark brown color. She pushed into cleaning up the mess with her wrists, hoping to stop the panic attacks. With an oven mitt, she put the pan on the counter top before heading back to her pot with the potatoes.

  The slamming of Jay’s door told her enough. Her heart palpitations left her fighting off faintness, but she’d muddle through. She was checking on the green peas and carrots when his arm went around her waist.

  Wiping her brow with her hand, she stifled her sigh at his nearness. Stepping backward, he put his hands in her back pocket and asked, “How did it go?”

  Her nerve endings tingled.

  “I bought the company. I have a favor to ask you.”

  Smiling, she relaxed her shoulders. She could help him. “What?”

  “I need you to find mechanical design problems in the latest project. I need to tell investors the plans were structurally unsound, and it’s why I’m canceling everything.”

  The fluttering in her stomach stopped. “You were looking to hire someone with my skills. I’ll take the job if you’re still offering.”

  “It’s been yours all along.”

  He stepped into her bubble and froze when his lips met hers. The kiss was a smoldering heat that stole her words. The warmth of his arm was so male, so deliciously safe. Closing her eyes, she let a small shiver pulse through her. Putting her hands on his waist melted her insides even more, but she pushed back. “We have to talk, Dimples.”

  “Penny, you’re the one person who doesn’t run. I can’t fight it anymore, because I am falling in love with you, more every day.”

  Jerking away, she almost fell. Her clumsiness was another reason to run away. Tears formed while she turned to turn off the oven. “Vegetables are done. And we have to talk. You can’t love me. You shouldn’t.”

  She turned, falling into his arms, where she fit into his chest. He rocked her, kissing the top of her forehead. “We can talk. You did mention something about your mother. I’ll set the table with the plates and serve the chicken.”

  In unison they finished and put everything into bowls. She flicked her wrist, buying precious moments where she didn’t have to tell him.

  “Smells delicious, Pen. Thank you.”

  Sitting across from him, she put the last plate of food down and unfolded her napkin. Biting her lip, she glanced up to see the curiosity in his eyes. Tapping her foot on the ground, she opened her mouth. “When will everyone know what happened?”

  “Tomorrow, when they go to work. A few people will know tonight, but Mom will know tomorrow. Dad won’t tell her bad news. He’s afraid of her.”

  His confidence only added to her legs jittering. “I’m scared right now to say what I need to say.”

  “Just spit it out. I told you about my mother.”

  Putting her hand on her leg to stop the bouncing, she met his eyes. She had to tell him. Her chest tightened before she spoke. “Yours and mine are similar in controlling behavior, but mine is far more single-minded.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Swallowing didn’t stop her neck from getting unbelievably hot. Looking down, she forced herself to tell him. “She didn’t just steal your tablet, Jay. I was heartbroken and sick that day.”

  “What happened?”

  Her chin trembled when she stared up, seeing his clear blue eyes. “She broke in before.” She pushed her head back, the tears flowing now. “She drugged me. She drugged you. She switched out the condoms. She tried so hard to turn me into her.”

  He stood up and scooted his chair next to her. “What? I’m not following.”

  Coughing, she tried to stop crying. It didn’t work. Sucking in her cheeks didn’t work either, because tears wet her cheeks. “I studied mechanical engineering to never be her.”

  Offering her a hug, he whispered, “I know, Sexiness. You’re a good person.”

  This can’t be happening. Pressing her lips together, she forced the words to come out. “No. I decided we could have sex and I wouldn’t expect more. I let you buy dinner. I wore that fancy dress to impress you, and I wanted to come back here and steal those pretty shoes you bought me before I disappeared.”

  His knees touched hers. “I don’t want your shoes. Penny, you’re the most stable person I know. Explain what happened. Let me help fix this mess.”

  Her hands curled around her sides when he put his hand on her lap to hold her. “She drugged us. At this moment, I could be pregnant because she came in here and switched your vitamins for a sexual-enhancement drugs.”

  His brow curled. “Pen, I wore a condom.”

  She cleared her throat and stuttered, “Made…of lamb…skin…with holes…she dug.”

  Her breathing became heavy, but she’d told him.

  “What?”

  Didn’t he understand? She swallowed again while her head became hot. “And she pumped my pills full of hormones to ensure I had lots of eggs to fertilize. If she gets her wish, we could be having quintuplets in nine months, Dimples.”

  His mouth fell open, but he said nothing.

  Penny buried her head in her hands. She needed to finish this. He needed to know everything. “I was at a gas station in Jupiter when Sandy called me about you. I had finally stopped crying, but I wanted to keep on driving, never coming back here.”

  Brushing her arm with kindness, he asked gently, “You came back because of me?”

  Her toes curled up. They were impossible. “Yeah. And that she took all my money in my account. Every last dime. I have nothing left.”

  He nodded at her. “Did you want to leave me? I’ll give you whatever you want.”

  Her shoulders curled into her body and her nose ran. The napkin didn’t clean up her face, and nausea hit her hard. Closing her eyes, she told him, “At that moment it would have been easier to never tell you. I’m so ashamed in becoming her.”

  With a deep sigh, he met her gaze. “You are not making any sense. You’re not her. First of all, you told me, which is more than she’d have done—”

  “Don’t. I need a job and to pay my own way, Jay. I will work for you and find every detail in the plans for you, and I’ll
stay here, if you’ll have me.”

  He nodded. “Of course.”

  Tightening her fists, she uncurled her arms to her side. “But don’t tell me you love me. You can’t. We’re a huge lie.”

  He held back to take her hand, but she stayed rigid. “Pen, don’t hold yourself to her standard.”

  Standing up, she put her chin in the air, and her napkin on the table. “I’m not hungry anymore. I’m going to bed now.”

  Chapter Thirty Four

  After her shower she couldn’t get warm. She listened to Jay put the dishes away and her skin crawled. The freezing cold inside her didn’t go away when she put her hand on the glass window. Miami’s humidity baked coldness off the skin in most people, but even that didn’t work.

  What if someone came in the place in the middle of the night?

  Her glance swept across her room, looking for anything that might move.

  Jay opened a bottle. She heard the clink.

  Biting her lip, she changed into her flannel pajama bottoms and raced out.

  Spotting him with a beer sitting on the couch without a shirt made her mouth drop open. “What are you doing?”

  Stretching his arms on the back of the sofa, he gave her a half-smile. “Settling down, Pen. I need to relax.”

  Stepping ahead, her legs wobbled a little, but she drew closer to him. Running her hands down her legs, she gave him a hesitant smile. “I’m scared.”

  He patted the seat behind him, and his clear eyes made her heart lurch for an entirely different reason. He kept his voice low. “I don’t like playing ‘what if’ games in my head. In a few days everything will work itself out. I still think you should go.”

  She nodded, eying the seat, though stood rubbing her arm. “No, I’ll find what you need, and even if you put me up in a hotel somewhere, I’ll still be scared and humiliated. It’s better if I stay.”

  He sipped his beer then leaned forward. “I can’t tell you no, even though I should.”