Glam Squad & Groomsmen

by Samantha Chase

  “That wasn’t quite what I meant.”

  But he held out his arm to her in a dramatic fashion, while giving her – what he hoped – was a dashing smile. He felt a little chivalrous and was pleased when she hooked her arm through his.

  “You’re crazy,” she said softly, but she was laughing. It was a great sound. And for the next few minutes, they walked around the showroom while she pointed out different tuxedo styles and designers.

  Honestly, he was only half-listening to the information. He had no idea there were so many options and none of it really appealed to him – he was more focused on the sound of her voice and the feel of her arm in his. It was nice. Familiar.

  And yet a little new and exciting.

  “Your future brother-in-law should come in and take a look at them himself but really, unless he’s looking for something extremely specific, any of these could work. Tell him the most important bit of information he’ll need to know is the time of day for the wedding.”

  He stopped walking and looked at her. “That’s the most important piece of information?”

  She nodded.

  “Why?”

  “There are different styles of suits and tuxes for different times of day. Plus, we’ll need to know how formal or casual the wedding will be.”

  “Ah…so there’s really two important details you’ll need,” he teased again and smiled when she blushed. He was leaning in a little bit closer and could smell her perfume. It was a sweet scent with a hint of vanilla – just like he remembered.

  Penny pulled back slightly and cleared her throat. “Um…yes. Yes, those two are really key in helping a groom pick out what he wants.”

  They were at a standstill – literally – and when she slowly pulled her arm from his, he knew she was getting ready to leave. “So…”

  “So…” she said at the same time and then laughed.

  “Listen, I’m only here visiting for a few days with my folks, but I’d love to take you out for coffee or…something,” he said lamely. “Can we do that?”

  When she didn’t answer right away and seemed to glance away, he knew she was trying to come up with an excuse to say no.

  “It’s just coffee, right?” he asked quickly, nervously. “I’d just really like to sit and talk with you and catch up on what’s been going on in your life.”

  “I don’t know, Spencer…”

  “Maybe we can…”

  “There you are!” Great. Eva was back. They both turned toward her and he immediately noticed the excited look on his sister’s face. “Oh good! You found her!” She practically skipped over.

  Penny turned to him. “Oh…um…actually Angie – one of my bosses – asked me to help him look at some tuxes.”

  Eva looked at Spencer and he saw a hint of annoyance in her eyes, but she quickly masked it. “So? Did you find anything we can tell Brett about? Any great looking tuxes?”

  When he stammered and hesitated, Penny spoke up and shared the information she told Spencer earlier. “Tell Brett to call Martin at the tuxedo shop. Tell Martin I sent him and he’ll hook him up.”

  Eva beamed. “Perfect! Thank you!” Then she looked at Spencer. “I know you asked for dessert, but I’m kind of psyched to get home and call Brett to tell him about all of this. Why don’t you and Penny go grab something? I’m sure you have a lot to catch up on!”

  Smooth, he inwardly groaned. Real smooth. Could his sister be any more obvious?

  Then he did something he wasn’t too proud of, but…desperate times called for desperate measures.

  “I actually had just asked Penny to join me for coffee when you interrupted us,” he said smoothly and hoped his sister – who could be like a steamroller if you gave her a chance – would help convince Penny to accept his offer.

  “You had?” Eva said excitedly. “That’s great!” She looked at Penny with her biggest and brightest smile as she took one of Penny’s hands in her own. “I can’t thank you enough for all your help tonight! I had a great talk with Hailey and set up an appointment with her for early next week!”

  “That’s great, Eva. I know we’ll be able to find your perfect dress.”

  The look on his sister’s face was of pure happiness. “Well, besides the great help with the dress and hooking me up directly with Hailey, you also helped me get out of dessert with Spencer!” Then she laughed. “Not that I didn’t want to have dessert – I totally did! – but I’m just so excited to fill Brett in on all the details so we can keep moving forward with our plans. There is so much to do to plan a wedding on such short notice - I had no idea! And if I don’t leave and do it now and get him on the same page, I fear we’ll lose momentum!”

  He wondered if she had even stopped to breathe during that speech…

  Before he knew it, Eva was hugging Penny hard while making her promise they could get together for lunch soon. Then she turned and hugged him while murmuring something about not messing this up before practically skipping toward the door. “Have fun you two!”

  The room was noticeably emptier and all of the models were gone. They both looked around and Spencer couldn’t help but notice how it was only the cleaning crew milling around before he looked back at Penny. He couldn’t help the nervous laugh that escaped. You’d think by now, at his age, he would be beyond this kind of thing. The nerves. And this was Penny. They’d known each other for so long and shared so much, how could he possibly be nervous?

  Oh yeah, because you’ve broken her heart a time or two, or…three.

  “So…coffee?”

  “You have three minutes to give me the story of that sexy guy before I have to run,” Angie said as she began to help Penny out of the wedding gown. And if there was one thing she knew about this particular boss, it was that she was persistent. She wasn’t going to let up until Penny told her what she wanted to know.

  “I’ve known Spencer and Eva since I was five. We were neighbors. Eva and I would play dress up every day after school and we went through a wedding phase. Spencer was the first boy I ever kissed,” she said and couldn’t help but smile because to this day she could still remember that day so clearly. “I was six, he was eight.”

  “Okay, that is adorable…”

  “We were pretending to get married and Eva demanded that we kiss and make it like a real wedding.”

  “Aww…”

  “I know, right? I already had a bit of a crush on him, so it was perfect.”

  “Loving where this is going…”

  “Then he made a face and told me that kissing me was gross and I better not tell anyone that he did it.”

  Angie laughed. “And that just ruined all the adorableness…”

  “Talk about a mood-breaker, right?”

  “I hope you slugged him.”

  She shook her head. “Nah. I moved on and after that, Eva and I decided that playing wedding dress-up wasn’t our thing anymore and we moved on to being princesses.”

  “I remember my princess phase…” Angie said with a happy sigh. “So, then what?”

  “He asked me out when I was in the sixth grade and we dated for all of three months.”

  “At that age, that’s practically a lifetime,” Angie commented.

  Penny nodded. “It was. But we were young, and the age difference was kind of an issue. We didn’t have a lot in common – he was into academic clubs and activities and I wasn’t. He’s really smart – like crazy super smart,” she explained. “And I was just really immature. That’s what he told me at the time – I was a little too immature for him.”

  “Well that’s sucky.”

  She nodded again. “I know, but accurate.”

  “So then what happened?”

  “His dad got a new job – he was an architect – and it was a big deal. Big promotion for him. And they moved across town to a new house – a really big one in a very swanky neighborhood. Eva and I didn’t get to hang out as much and she started making new friends and…”

  “You guys started d
rifting.”

  “Yup.” Then she shrugged and stepped out of the gown and turned to help get it back on its hanger. Standing in her underwear, she continued the story. “The summer between ninth and tenth grade, Eva invited me over for a sleepover and of course, Spencer was there.”

  “So he was getting ready for his senior year?”

  Nodding, Penny zipped up the garment bag and turned to grab her jeans. “I spent most of the night talking to him instead of Eva – but that was because she was on the phone with her boyfriend,” she clarified. “Anyway, we talked and laughed, and I was still crushing so damn hard on him that when he kissed me, I was speechless.”

  “A good kiss should leave you that way.”

  “I agree, and it did,” she said with a sigh. “We dated that entire summer and I thought things were great but…I guess they weren’t. When school started we realized – again – how different we were and it just wasn’t working.” She slid her sweater on and then sat down on the dressing room bench to pull on her boots.

  “You were in high school,” Angie commented. “What wasn’t working?”

  “He was dealing with college applications and he was still involved in all of the academic and business clubs and by that point I was a cheerleader. He saw what I was doing as pointless and I saw what he was doing as boring.”

  “Ah…I can see that being a problem. Total opposites.”

  “It was and…we fought about it. He called me superficial and I called him…hell, something about him being boring and having no friends,” she said with disgust. The words were a blur, but she still remembered how much she had wanted to hurt him with them.

  And she had.

  And it didn’t feel nearly as good as she thought it would.

  “Is this the first time you’re seeing him since then?” Angie asked, her eyes a little wide.

  Standing up, Penny checked her reflection in the mirror and picked up her purse. “We saw each other at Eva’s graduation party, but other than that…yeah. This is the first time I’m seeing him.”

  “Did you talk to him at the graduation party?”

  “Um…yeah. I mean…sort of.” Her cheeks felt like they were on fire and she couldn’t bring herself to actually meet Angie’s gaze.

  “Oh my God! Did you hook up with him at the graduation party?” Angie cried out and then quickly covered her mouth. “Sorry.” Then she repeated her question in a much lower tone.

  Blushing, Penny moved in close and whispered, “Let’s just say we…did a little more than just talk.”

  And oh boy had they, she remembered.

  Spencer Buchanan was the one who got away. They just weren’t meant to be. And even as her cheeks continued to heat at the memory of what they had done that one night, Penny always regretted that it wasn’t enough to keep them together.

  Or even keep in touch.

  Yeah. That part had been a little awkward. Spencer had asked for her number, but she was getting ready to go off to college and didn’t see a point to taking things beyond…well, beyond. Seeing him now reminded her of just how much she wished she’d handled things differently. All the things. Every time.

  “So what are you going to do now?” Angie asked as they stepped out of the dressing room. She was carrying the wedding gown and when Penny offered to put it away, she waved her off.

  “It looks like I’m going to go and have coffee with him – thanks to Eva,” she murmured. If she didn’t know any better, Penny would think that the two of them had set her up. Eva had always said how she hated that Penny and Spencer couldn’t seem to get it together, but that was years ago. She needed to forget about the past and focus on the present.

  The here and now.

  After wishing Angie a good night, Penny gave herself a quick mental pep talk – It’s just coffee. And no matter what, do not give Spencer Buchanan the opportunity to break your heart again. You’re a good person with a lot to offer. Be strong. Stay strong. Your time with him is in the past and you can’t go back. Remember that.

  And when she stepped out of the bridal shop and found Spencer waiting for her by the main entrance, she knew she was lying to herself.

  She was never going to be able to forget about the past where he was concerned. He was a major part of it. And after seeing him again – even if it was only for coffee – she knew he’d be playing a major part in her current fantasies.

  And her future ones.

  Dammit.

  With a steadying breath, she walked toward him. “So…where to?”

  “Is that diner still in business? The one over by First and Main?”

  She nodded. They used to go to that one a lot during their summer together. It wasn’t the closest one to their present location, but it was kind of nice that he remembered it. “Should I meet you there?”

  “Oh…um…I thought you realized…”

  Penny looked at him curiously.

  “Eva was my ride so…”

  It looked like not only was she having coffee with Spencer, but she was driving him home as well.

  Then he smiled at her until those dimples appeared and it was official…

  It didn’t matter that it was just coffee. She wasn’t sure her hormones would be able to stand it.

  Chapter Two

  They drove and they talked about how much things had changed in Raleigh since they were younger and Spencer couldn’t remember the last time he had felt so relaxed and carefree. He’d followed in his father’s footsteps by becoming an architect and he was currently considering taking over the firm his father had started five years ago. Actually, considering wasn’t quite the term he’d use – being pressured to take it over? That was a little more fitting.

  Not that he was totally against it. It was just that his father had built something and it was all fine and well, but Spencer had bigger plans – plans his father wasn’t on board with. So they were currently at a standstill. And for far too long, it was all he had been thinking about – weighing the pros and cons of it all – and there seemed to be way too many cons at this point. It was becoming a mild obsession since it was all his father wanted to talk about, turning their once-a-week phone call into a three-to-four time per week thing. It was so consuming that he hadn’t had much time for anything else – certainly not a social life.

  And definitely not dating.

  He glanced over at Penny as she drove. She was chatting about the benefit to all of the new additions to the downtown area and pointed out the new Trader Joe’s where there used to be a bowling alley.

  “Did you ever think about moving away from here?” he blurted out.

  “Not really,” she replied and then gave him a small smile. “This is home. I love it here.”

  With a shrug, Spencer wasn’t sure what to say to that. It wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy living in Raleigh – or anywhere in North Carolina per se – but he just felt like he wanted something different. Something that was his and his alone and…

  “Plus, my whole family is still here – I mean, most of them,” she continued.

  Penny came from a large family. She was the youngest of nine kids. Spencer had to admit that he was more than a little surprised that she – more than anyone – wasn’t more interested in getting away and having a life of her own that was separate from…well…what she had grown up with. Hell, it was just him and Eva growing up and that felt stifling. How did Penny stand it with that many siblings?

  Thinking back, he realized that she never complained about it. Ever. Any time she had ever talked about her family, it was with a smile on her face and there was always a funny story to tell. When they were younger, he remembered looking at the Blakes as an oddity, but maybe it was his own family that was odd.

  “How is your family? Who moved away?” he asked.

  A low laugh came out first and then she took a breath before starting. “Okay, Steven and his wife now have four kids and live in Charlotte. Patti and her husband have three kids and are still here in Raleigh and so i
s Debbie and her family – she’s pregnant with her third child. They have two boys and are really hoping for a girl this time. Tina recently got divorced and has two kids and they’re currently living back with my mom and dad.” She paused. “Mark is married. He and his wife have one child and live up in Asheville. Kristen and Jill are both married and each have twins of their own – weird right? – and they’re local too. And Laura and her husband have two kids and they recently moved to Baltimore.” Letting out a breath, she glanced at him and smiled. “Just don’t ask me to name all the nieces and nephews because I don’t think I could do it all and drive at the same time.”

  He laughed with her and when she pulled into the diner’s parking lot, he realized how much he enjoyed talking with her. They never had a problem with that – conversation always came naturally to them – but it just hit him hard in that moment how much time really had gone by since they’d seen each other. Too much time, he thought.

  Their last conversation was years ago and Spencer knew that they had each gone on to live their lives. But…what had she done in those years? Where had she traveled? What had she ended up studying at school? Was there something specific that led her to her job at the bridal mall? For years she had been on his mind more than she wasn’t. If he had been braver – bolder – he would have reached out to her sooner. If nothing else, as a friend. All those years ago she had been so outgoing and confident, and he’d often wondered if she’d gone on to do great things.

  But most of all, he had to wonder if she had ever thought about him.

  Inwardly, he groaned. He was walking a slippery slope here. Maybe she had thought about him, but probably not too fondly. Spencer knew his strengths and weaknesses and Penny had a way of making him behave in ways that he never had with anyone else.

  And it wasn’t usually even remotely flattering.

  Looking back, he knew he should have fought harder to get her number and keep in touch. God, how many times had he thought about her? Wondered where she was and what she was doing? How many times had he fought with himself about looking her up on social media and just saying hi?