Glam Squad & Groomsmen

by Samantha Chase

  “Are you kidding me? I can’t wait to see you,” he said earnestly. “I miss you, Penny. I can’t wait for you to get here so I can show you around and have you here in my home for a change.” Then he looked around and realized he’d better do something to spruce it up a bit before she arrived.

  “I miss you too.”

  After they hung up, Spencer spent a lot of time sitting on the sofa, lost in thought. Besides sprucing up the place so that she wouldn’t be disappointed in it, he knew he’d also have to wrap up a lot of loose ends at work so they could actually spend time together and he could show her around. He still had well over a week to make that happen, but it wouldn’t hurt to start burning the midnight oil now to make sure he stayed a little ahead.

  Sitting up, he reached for his laptop and was just getting ready to look over some reports when his phone rang again.

  His father.

  Shit.

  “Hey, Dad,” he said pleasantly.

  “Hey, Spencer. I didn’t catch you at a bad time, did I?”

  “No, not at all. I was just…relaxing,” he lied. “What’s up?”

  “Well, I was a little hesitant to call you because you’ve been pretty vocal about the offer to come and work for me, but…”

  “What’s going on, Dad?” There was something in his father’s voice that wasn’t sitting well with him.

  “I’ve been approached by a large design firm. They’d like to buy me out and take over – use what I’ve built here over the years to expand their own company.”

  Holy. Crap. “Really? That’s…that’s great, Dad. How do you feel about it?”

  “Honestly, I don’t know. I was hoping you’d have some advice.”

  That was surprising. “Me? What kind of advice could I possibly give? I think this would allow you to retire comfortably – more so than you would if I were to come in and take over for you. You would probably have time to help work with the transition so it’s not like you’d be out right away…”

  His father laughed softly. “You realize that was advice you just gave me, right?”

  Spencer laughed with him. “I guess so.” He paused. “But how do you feel about it? I mean…this is your company, your baby. I know you’re disappointed that it wasn’t something I wanted to do, but…”

  “Spencer, I think you wanted to do it, but I made it too unappealing to you.”

  Well…shit. “That’s not true, Dad. Not really.”

  His father laughed again. “Believe it or not, I wouldn’t have wanted to work with my dad either.”

  “Grandpa was a lawyer. Of course you didn’t want to work with him.”

  “That’s not what I meant. It’s not easy to be expected to follow in somebody’s footsteps. There’s a lot of pressure there, a lot of expectations and I realize now that you had your own vision for what you wanted to do and I was trying to make you conform to what I had built. I was closed-minded about what you saw for the firm’s future and for that I’m sorry.”

  Raking a hand through his hair, Spencer let out a long breath. “You don’t have to apologize, Dad. Like I said, this is your firm, your baby, so of course you didn’t want to see it change.”

  “But it’s going to anyway,” he said wearily. “And I know it’s a good thing, but…part of me is just a little sad about it.”

  And Spencer could understand that. “When is all this happening?”

  “The proposal just came to me yesterday. I’ve been sitting here weighing the pros and cons and talking with my team to see if it was something they were on board with and…”

  “And are they? Is anyone opposed to it?”

  “Surprisingly, no. So many of my employees have been with me since the beginning and – like me – they’re going to be retiring soon or hoping too. The younger architects and designers? They’ll fit right in because I think I’ve held them back creativity-wise.”

  “I’m sure that’s not true.”

  “Believe what you want,” his father said with a trace of amusement, “but you’re not the only one I’ve been butting heads with.”

  Unfortunately, he did believe it, but he was trying to be nice. “I’m sorry I let you down, Dad. I feel like if I could have just…”

  “Bit the bullet?” his father teased. “That’s not what I wanted for you, Spencer. You should do what makes you happy. I have for forty years and I don’t regret it. It wasn’t always easy and the climb to have something of my own was hard, but I always loved my job. It made it possible for me to give my kids a good life and to spend time with your beautiful mother.”

  “Speaking of…how does Mom feel about all of this?”

  “She’s begging me to sign the papers now so that as soon as your sister’s wedding is over, we can leave on a European vacation of some sort. She’s dying to go to Italy and I have to admit, the chance to explore the architecture there is very appealing.”

  “Then you should do it. You only have another month until the wedding is over so…” His father was silent for so long that Spencer thought they’d lost the connection. “Dad? You still there?”

  “I am,” he said quietly. “It just struck me that in a month my baby girl will be married and moving out.” Then he laughed. “Finally. And I’ll be looking at retirement. That’s a lot of change for me – a guy who doesn’t like change.”

  Spencer knew that feeling exactly. He liked stability. Knowing what was coming. His schedule. It was all very…

  Boring.

  It was very boring.

  He thought of Penny and her ever-changing schedule – the way she always went with the flow with a smile on her face and had stories of the things she learned or experienced from taking a different path once in a while. Other than her negative interactions with Martin, she took everything in stride and he loved hearing her stories.

  She didn’t have stability; she had experiences.

  She didn’t have a schedule; she had dreams.

  A slow smile crossed his face.

  “Yeah, but…sometimes those changes take us to places that make us even happier than we ever thought possible.”

  When Penny stepped out of the Atlanta airport, she sighed. It was far more crowded than the Raleigh one.

  As they drove through downtown to Spencer’s condo, she noted how much traffic there was and how congested it felt compared to home.

  Stop doing that, she chided herself. It’s not supposed to be the same. It’s okay for it to be different.

  “I thought about doing like we always do when we’re in Raleigh and stopping for takeout on the way home, but I thought we’d bring your stuff to my place and then go out to eat. How does that sound?”

  She smiled. “Sounds like a plan.”

  Ugh…could she sound any less enthused?

  When they arrived at Spencer’s condo she was…shocked. It was huge but it was…stark. Bare. Void of any personality. White walls, black furniture, stainless steel appliances…definitely not her style at all. He showed her around and it wasn’t until they got to his bedroom that she saw any signs of the man she loved.

  In the large room was a king-sized bed, a mountain of pillows and floor to ceiling windows that looked out on the city. He had a picture of the two of them next to his bed and when she saw it, she turned to him and smiled.

  “I like looking at your face before I go to bed,” he said as he came to stand beside her.

  “We don’t have any dinner reservations, do we?” she asked, turning toward him and reaching for his hands.

  Spencer shook his head. “I figured we’d decide when you got here what we were in the mood for.”

  Best lead-in ever.

  “I’m not in the mood for food,” she said, pressing closer. “As a matter of fact, food is the furthest thing from my mind right now.”

  Without another word, Spencer lowered his head and claimed her lips with his.

  Thank God, she thought. Three weeks was far too long. She clung to him, releasing his hands so that she coul
d touch and be touched.

  And boy did he touch.

  Her hands raked up into his hair as Spencer reached down and squeezed her ass. She’d missed those hands, the feel of him, the heat of him…

  Just…him.

  “Too long,” she murmured when he lifted his head to nip at her ear. His warm breath on her skin felt delicious and she was practically vibrating with need. Not that she wasn’t primed for this – three weeks away from each other already had her on edge and then to take all of that pent-up energy and put them within a foot of a bed and she was ready to come undone.

  “Yes,” he said breathlessly as he tried to taste and touch her everywhere. “Too damn long.”

  Within minutes, Spencer had her stripped down to her panties and carefully guided her down to the bed. She lay back and watched as he tugged his shirt over his head and quickly discarded his shoes, socks and jeans. He stood before her in nothing but his briefs and she couldn’t wait to touch him. Reaching out a hand to him, she gently tugged him onto the bed to cover her.

  And then it was as if the universe righted itself.

  All of the sadness and frustration and disappointment vanished as they pressed skin to skin and he kissed her – long and wet and deep and exactly how she liked it. Limbs tangled, breath mingled and rather than the frantic rush she thought they were building, everything slowed. Hands that were grabbing, now caressed, untamed kisses now seduced. It was the sweetest of reunions and they sank into it – getting reacquainted with each other.

  And hopefully, this would be one of the last times they had to worry about being apart again.

  “I swear we’ll go out to dinner tomorrow night, but this is exactly what I wanted tonight.”

  Beside her, Spencer laughed softly. “I have to agree. All week I’ve been obsessing about where I wanted to take you, but this is damn near perfect.”

  They were sprawled out on his sofa watching a movie on Netflix while enjoying takeout Chinese.

  “I seriously think we need to just come to grips with the fact that this is our thing,” Penny said, shaking a chopstick at him. “We talk a good game about being the type of people who enjoy going out to fancy restaurants, but at the end of the day, there is just something about being comfortable on the couch and eating some lo mein.”

  “Well, there are some merits to going out to a fancy restaurant…”

  She shook her head. “Shoes, a bra, possibly some Spanx…too much work. This is much better.”

  “Believe me, I have no objections to you not wearing a bra,” he teased. “Any time you want to stop wearing one, I’ll support you one hundred percent.”

  She burst out laughing and had to put her carton of food down. “Support? Bra? Good one!”

  When he realized what he’d said, he couldn’t help but laugh with her. “Bad choice of words…” he said as he reached out and pulled her against him and kissed her senseless. “But a good visual.” Then he was cupping her breasts and dinner was all but forgotten for a little while.

  They resurfaced later to reheat their food and opted to sit at the kitchen table to ensure they would eat.

  “I swear I could eat another pint or two of this,” Penny said as she picked up more noodles. “Too bad we couldn’t have ice cream delivered.”

  “One step ahead of you,” he said around a mouthful of Moo Shu. “I stocked up already. I made sure I got all of your favorites.”

  “Careful…you’re spoiling me. At this rate I’m going to expect you to keep the freezer fully stocked even when I move here.”

  He choked on his dinner and it took a minute for him to catch his breath. “Are you serious? You…you’re really going to move here?”

  She nodded and gave him a bright smile.

  Or what she hoped was a bright smile.

  “I talked to Hailey and the girls before I left and told them that my mind was made up,” she said with a curt nod. Then she reached for one of his hands and held it tightly. “I missed you so much these last few weeks and with so much time on my hands, I was able to think about things – about us – and I know that I don’t want to do this long-distance thing anymore.”

  “But…what about your job? You love it at Enchanted,” he countered.

  She willed herself not to cry. Telling Hailey and Angie and Becca and even Ella – who happened to stop in with baby Devin – had been the hardest thing she’d ever done. Even telling her parents of her plans hadn’t caused such a gut-wrenching reaction as watching the look on her bosses faces.

  “I do…I mean, I did,” she quickly corrected. “But things have changed and I’m ready to move on. Try something new. And if I stay in Raleigh, I’m never going to want to leave Enchanted. I’ll always find a reason to stay. I love the girls and they’re really more like friends than bosses…and I’m sure it won’t be easy to find that kind of dynamic again. It’s not completely unheard of but…I don’t know…I’m sure there are bridal shops here that I can apply to and I’ll make new friends. I mean, maybe not with my bosses but…that’s okay, right? Are you friends with your bosses?”

  He didn’t get a chance to answer before she was talking again.

  “Who knows…maybe I won’t look at bridal shops. And maybe that would be okay…I mean, I enjoy what I do, and I know I’m good at it, but…it might be weird. I would almost feel like I’m competing against Enchanted even though we’re six hours away. Maybe I’ll apply at some salons and start doing hair again full-time. I can rent a booth or something to get started. Of course, in the beginning you need to build your client base so I’ll only get the walk-ins or the people no one wants, and I’ll have to see about getting my license here, but…I’m sure it will be fine.” She sighed. “It’s just time for a change.”

  Spencer wanted so badly to believe her and if she hadn’t sounded so unsure or if she hadn’t kept correcting herself he might have.

  There wasn’t anything he could say right now. There was too much to think about and to take into consideration. They only had the weekend together and he didn’t want to spend it making her upset.

  Which she clearly was.

  A change of subject was in order and he did just that.

  “So what flavor of ice cream are we starting with tonight?”

  Chapter Nine

  I hate goodbyes.”

  “Me too.”

  Penny took a shaky breath and slowly let it out. “Not too much longer though, right? Soon we’re going to be done with this.”

  Spencer nodded. “That’s right. All this back and forth will be over before you know it.”

  She looked at him and put on a brave face. “I hope so.” Then she hugged him. “I wish I could stay longer.”

  He held her tightly and kissed the top of her head. “You’d be bored. I’m swamped this week.”

  “I could have spent the time getting acquainted with the city and looking for a job.” She looked at their joined hands. “I was thinking more about it, and I’ll probably go back to doing hair. It will be easier to get started as long as I can transfer my license. There were a ton of salons that I saw when we were walking around downtown yesterday. I’m going to work on my resume and portfolio and hopefully I’ll get into one of the more upscale salons – better tips – rather than one of the chain ones. Although, beggars can’t be choosers, right?”

  Rather than comment, he pulled back and looked at the line of people heading toward the security checkpoint. “I think you need to join the masses or you’ll never get through in time.”

  Looking over her shoulder, she studied the line and sighed. “It’s never like this in Raleigh,” she murmured.

  Hiding his smile, he pulled her in close again and kissed her. “It will all be okay. Text me when you land and call me when you get home, okay?”

  She hugged him tightly. “What if I just stayed? Then when you have time off we’ll go back to Raleigh together and we can just pack up my stuff. What do you think?”

  Spencer laughed softly. “I think you�
��re trying to find ways to avoid this security line.”

  “It’s a really long line.”

  “I think you’ll survive,” he teased and cupped her face in his hands. “Go and I will talk to you when you get home.”

  She pouted slightly but did take a step away from him. “Fine. But if I miss my flight because this line took forever to get through, you’re going to have to come back and get me.”

  “And you know I would.”

  Shoulders slumped, she finally gave up. “I’ll text you when I land.”

  “And I want you to call me when you get home.”

  Nodding, she reached up and kissed him one last time. “When are you coming back to Raleigh?”

  He laughed again. “Penny, we’ve been over this. I’ll be there in two weeks. I promise.”

  She sighed again. “Okay. I guess I’ll just talk to you later.” Her eyes were already bright with unshed tears and she was killing him.

  “Hey,” he said softly before she turned away. Then he stepped in close, caressed her cheek. “This isn’t forever. We can hang on for two weeks, right?”

  Silently, she nodded.

  Studying her face, feeling the softness of her skin, he rested his forehead against hers. “I love you.”

  She nodded again. “I love you too.”

  And then she quickly turned and walked away – probably unaware that it was the first time they had ever said that to each other.

  As promised, Penny texted Spencer once the plane was at the gate and then called him when she got home. The call went to voicemail and she shrugged it off and figured that he was on another call – probably work-related. And while she was sad that they didn’t get to talk, there really wasn’t much to talk about. Her flight was only ninety-minutes long and even with the wait in line to get through security and her drive home when she landed, it had only been a few hours since they’d seen each other. The only thing she possibly had to talk about was the latest celebrity gossip she’d read about on the plane.

  It was too early for dinner and she wasn’t sure what to do with herself. Pulling out her phone she quickly checked the class schedule at the gym and opted to go for a Zumba class since she missed her usual one this morning. Julianne – her regular instructor – wasn’t leading this one, but at least she’d get a workout in.