Imperfect Penelope (Wild Crush) (18 page)

He located his car, paid for parking and took off, exiting the car park with a screech of tires. He immediately got stuck in the snarl of Sydney traffic and cursed, wishing for the open roads of the north coast. He had to get back to his mother’s place—once the family abode—at Cremorne Point, repack his things in the bag he’d brought yesterday and hit the road to Leyton’s.

“Oh, fuck!”

Greg thumped the steering wheel when he recalled his promise to take his mother to the Cancer fundraiser tonight, the one she’d been supposed to attend with the now-absent Richard. She’d been so inconsolable about the Bryan thing yesterday that Greg had agreed to be her escort for the evening, thinking a night out might cheer her up. He’d already decided to see Rochelle today anyway and figured he could do with another decent night’s sleep before he made the eight-hour drive back home.

Home. Leyton’s was his home.
Penny
was his home. But his mother was still his mother, and he didn’t relish the thought of abandoning her at the last minute to attend an event she couldn’t bear to attend alone. He tried Penny’s number again only to get the same frustrating message. Was she ignoring him on purpose?

The thought hurt, and it angered him at the same time. Didn’t he deserve more trust than this?

An hour later he was back at Cremorne Point. He spent the next two hours working out in the state-of-the-art home gym that probably hadn’t been used since he was here last. He couldn’t imagine his mother bench-pressing one-fifty to work off her frustrations. By the time evening arrived and he was dressed in his formal gear—which he’d never bothered to take to Leyton’s Headland with him because what use did he have for a tuxedo there?—Greg was fuming.

He’d tried Penny four more times over the course of the afternoon. No response. She was behaving like a child having a tantrum, instead of the audacious woman she was. She was the type of person to demand answers when she had questions, not sulk. Why was she doing this? Had the thought of him with Rochelle hurt her so much she’d had a meltdown?

The notion slowed Greg’s angry pacing of the living room rug. He didn’t want that. She was the last person he’d ever want to hurt.

Of course, there was the possibility she’d simply turned her phone off at work. She might not care at all that he’d spent the morning with Rochelle. Perhaps when she’d told him to go see his ex-fiancée, that had been her way of getting rid of him. Maybe she didn’t love him as he’d begun to hope she did.

“Almost ready, darling.”

Greg turned to see Zoe Danvers gliding into the room. She wore a tasteful black dress with an emerald green wrap he figured probably cost more than Penny paid in rent every month. More than Bryan had stolen from her months ago.

Maybe Penny doesn’t want to be with you because you’ll always be Bryan’s brother.

“You look pensive,” Zoe noted as she went to the sideboard and poured herself a finger of genuine Russian vodka. “Something on your mind?”

“I’ll never understand women,” Greg groused.

Zoe laughed, a high tinkly sound. “Men never do, darling. We’re complicated creatures.”

“It’s very frustrating.”

“Does this have something to do with Rochelle?” Zoe arched one finely plucked dark brow. “You didn’t tell me how your visit went this morning.”

“It wasn’t a visit, Mum. It was coffee and…”
Throwing out the old baggage once and for all.
“Goodbye, I suppose. This has nothing to do with her.”

“Someone else you’ve met? Is she from around here? You know how I’d love it if you moved back.”

Greg barely managed not to groan. Not this again. “I’m not moving back. I live in Leyton’s Headland.”

Zoe clutched dramatically at her chest. “Oh dear. First Bryan and that
business
and now this.”

“Mum, that should not be a surprise. I’ve been telling you for months.”

“But I feel alone in this big old house sometimes.” Zoe looked wistfully around at the stylishly decorated but quiet, and yes, lonely, house.

“You don’t have to live here, you know,” Greg pointed out. “You could move anywhere you want. I’d even help you find a place near me, if you’d like.”

The thought of his mother living close enough for regular visits made Greg wince inwardly. He’d started to enjoy his solitude this past year. But what could he do? She was his mother, and she was standing there telling him she was lonely. If the clients who thought he was such a vicious shark could only see him now.

“I couldn’t do that.” His mother dismissed that suggestion with a wave of her hand. “Everyone I know is here.”

Greg rolled his eyes. “Everyone except me.”

“Exactly. Which is why you should come back here.”

Greg stared at her, dumbfounded by her tenacity. For a woman who claimed to have a weak heart, she was pretty darn steely. To his surprise, and Zoe’s, he started to laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

“Mum, you’re one in a million, and I love you. But I’m never moving back here. I’m in love with a vegetarian, left-wing-voting yoga enthusiast who you’re probably going to hate. But I intend to make her part of my life. I hope you can deal with it.”

“You intend to make her part of your life? What does that mean?”

Greg shrugged. “It means I have intentions towards her. But I might have my work cut out for me. At this point she’s not talking to me, and in truth I can’t even be sure she loves me.”

It made his stomach pitch to even say it.
Damn it, Penny, why won’t you even talk to me? Can’t you see I’m crazy about you?

“Don’t be ridiculous. What woman in her right mind wouldn’t love you?”

Greg smiled, walked over and kissed his mother on the forehead. In her own strangely manipulative way, she loved him. She loved Bryan too, and Bryan was going to need to know that in the next few months. “Promise me you’ll go see Bryan on every day he can have visitors. Don’t you dare let what anyone else thinks stop you.”

Zoe seemed surprised by the embrace, and it took her a moment to sink into it. She pressed her face into Greg’s shoulder and clutched his jacket sleeve a moment. When she spoke her voice was raspy. “I will, Greg.”

“I know there’s not much hope Dad will say it, so Bryan needs to hear from you that you love him, and that you’re proud of him. Okay?”

Her breath hitched, and for a moment Greg thought she was going to cry. But she stepped back out of his arms and thrust her chin out in a determined point. “You’re right. Bryan needs me. I’ll be here for him. I promise.”

Greg smiled and squeezed her shoulder. She smiled one of those soft motherly smiles that she gave rarely, but that meant the world. Then the doorbell rang and they broke eye contact.

“That must be the car service,” Zoe said. “Why don’t you get it and I’ll fetch my purse.”

Greg nodded and went to the door, glad the night was getting underway. A few hours of polite conversation and he could kiss these stuffy charity dinners goodbye forever.

All the breath left his body when he opened the front door and Penny stood there, bedraggled and overwrought and beautiful in a knee-length floral dress, her brown boots and a denim jacket. She looked him up and down, assessing his formal wear with surprise.

“Darling, I can’t find my purse. Have you seen it?”

It was his mother’s voice calling from the other room. From the look on Penny’s face, Greg figured she’d drawn a different conclusion.

The thought was confirmed when she drove the pointed toe of her boot into his shin.

Chapter Seventeen

“You bastard!”

Penny had never truly believed that Greg was down here in Sydney having cozy time with Rochelle. Not when the shock of hearing her name on the other end of the line had made her drop her phone in the street, only to have it subsequently run over by a kid on a skateboard, shattering it beyond repair. That had been
shock
pure and simple.

Neither had she truly believed it when Hope had sworn a blue streak and told her she had to get on a plane to Sydney and give him a piece of her mind. She’d agreed to let her sister drive her at speed to the Billings airport, which ran a lunchtime service daily between there and Sydney. She’d barely made the plane, her heart pounding a mile a minute, because she’d been worried, yes, about what Rochelle answering Greg’s phone could possibly mean, but she’d never thought he might be
sleeping with her
, not even once for old time’s sake. He wouldn’t do that to her. Not Greg, who took being a gentleman so seriously that he’d once apologized for fucking her against the bathroom sink.

A gentleman is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Where had she heard that saying? It didn’t matter, because it wasn’t accurate. What the saying should be is
gentlemen are full of shit
. They told you they loved you and then disappeared, only for you to find them squiring some other woman out on a Friday night.

“Son of a bitch!” Penny yelled, her rage renewing at the thought of Rochelle in the other room, waiting to be
squired
. It made Penny sick, and she kicked Greg in the other shin.

“Penelope! Jesus!” Greg said, grabbing his abused leg. “What the hell are you doing?”

“What am
I
doing? What do you think? I’m chasing you halfway across the damn state only to find you going on a date with your ex, that’s what.”

Greg straightened and glowered at her. “You told me to come see her.”

“I didn’t tell you to take her fucking dancing! God damn it, I’m so
stupid
!”

She was angry at herself for misjudging him, putting absolute faith in him all the way here in the plane, all the way through the terminal and during the taxi ride. She’d told herself there had to be a good explanation, and that when he gave it to her, she’d tell him she loved him, like she should have done the other night. Then she’d stood outside this fucking
mansion
in a waterside suburb, the address of which she’d gotten from his secretary, and asked herself a thousand times how she could ever offer anything to a man who’d grown up here.

She was as nervous as hell as she’d crept up the stairs to the front door, feeling sorta—no
completely
—inadequate, scared to death he’d changed his mind about loving her, when all along he’d been…

The rage revitalized itself, and Penny lifted the heavy shoulder bag on her arm, the only bag she’d brought with her, and aimed it at Greg’s head. He was too fast for her this time, and he stuck out his hand and grabbed the bag before it could reach its target. He pulled it out of her grip and dropped it to the ground behind him. “Would you please stop trying to maim me?”

“No. I feel like maiming you.”

He had that cross look on his face he got sometimes when he thought she was being unreasonable. “You’ve lost your damn mind.”

No, just my heart and my faith in mankind forever.
She should probably get out of here, flee before the numbing rage started to eke out of her and the pain came in to replace it. She was going to blubber for sure, and she sure as shit didn’t want Rochelle to witness it.

“I’m leaving,” she announced, trying to move around Greg to retrieve her bag.

He shot out an arm, banding it around her waist. He growled, “Like hell you are.”

The body contact seared her, made her remember what it was like to be held by him. Penny’s throat started to close over. Her voice rasped out of her. “Let me go.”

Greg’s tone lowered, but sounded more steely than before. “Never, you crazy loon.”

“Am I interrupting something?”

They both turned at the question. Penny saw an elegant woman who appeared to be in her late forties but might have been older. The honey-brown color of her hair was definitely a bottle job, albeit a very expensive one that looked more natural than naturally brown hair. The woman was glowering at Penny as though she’d peed on the rug.

“A little old for you, isn’t she?” Penny muttered to Greg, going for humor when a refrain of
oops, oops, oops
was
already throbbing a steady beat in her brain.

Greg straightened and released Penny. The loss of his touch made her sway on her feet. “Penelope Irving, I’d like you to meet my mother, Zoe Danvers.”

Of course this was his mother, who must be in her fifties after all, and who lived in this house where Greg had grown up. The woman was formally dressed, obviously on her way out somewhere. With her son. Who was apparently not squiring his ex around town, after all.

Big oops. Huge.

“Hello,” Penny croaked when Zoe didn’t speak. “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Danvers.”

For good measure, Penny threw in a curtsy. Well, she’d been traveling all afternoon and probably stank. She figured a handshake would be summarily rejected. Greg’s mother merely lifted a sardonic eyebrow, and Penny thought,
That’s where he gets that from
. Zoe transferred her gaze to Greg. “This one, Gregory? Are you quite certain?”

Penny’s gaze darted to Greg’s profile. He looked austere, except for the wry twist of his lips. He nodded once, and Penny wondered,
What did she mean ‘this one’?
“She’s quite lovely when she’s not committing assault.”

Lovely? Me?

“I’ll wait to make judgment,” Zoe said, but Penny got the feeling she was lying through her teeth. She’d already judged her, and harshly too. Shit. Way to make a first impression on the mother of the man you love.

Penny’s stomach twisted. Was it possible to screw up any more?

“Excuse me,” someone said from behind, and they all turned to see a man in a chauffeur’s uniform standing in the still-open doorway. “I’m here for the Danvers’ party.”

“That’ll be me, party of one,” Zoe said, and Penny read the surprise on Greg’s face. Zoe squared her shoulders and pulled her wrap more securely around her shoulders. “I might try attending one of these things on my own, after all. All the better to meet eligible men without my son hanging around, and clearly, you have your hands full, darling.”

Zoe rested a hand softly on Greg’s face as she passed. Penny only got a final, disapproving once-over. “Be gentle with him, dear.”

A moment later Zoe was gone, and the front door was shut behind her. Penny stood in the hall feeling awkward and clumsy in her cotton dress and fake leather boots and her airplane hair, which was flat and lifeless. She hadn’t thought about what she was wearing when she hastily changed at her house before the mad trip to the airport. It hadn’t occurred to her that Greg would be wearing a freaking tux.

She looked at him through sane eyes for the first time since he’d opened the door. Her knees almost gave way on her. Greg in jeans and T-shirt was hot. Greg in a suit and tie was hot. Greg in a tuxedo?

Dynamite.

“Are you going to tell me what that was all about?”

He was looking at her with that austere countenance and Penny’s legs wobbled some more. “Um…no?”

His jaw set in a tense line. “Wrong answer.”

The intent flashed in his eyes, but the warning came too late. Penny couldn’t evade him before he picked her up. No romantic Rhett Butler-style sweeping her off her feet this time. He hefted her like a sack of potatoes over his shoulder and carted her unceremoniously into another room.

“Hey!”

It was a wheezy protest at best, and before Penny could add any more words she was down, flat on her back on a big soft leather couch with Greg leaning over her, his eyes filled with exasperation. “Now do you want to tell me why you lost your mind?”

“I wanted to make a good first impression on your mother,” Penny quipped.

“Penelope…”

His warning tone made her shiver. “I thought your mother was Rochelle, okay? When she yelled out from the other room. I thought it was Rochelle and I went a little…nuts.”

If anything her explanation seemed to make him more furious. “You thought I’d cheat on you with the woman who jilted me. You think this of me?”

“No. Not really,” Penny answered. “But you did rush off for what you told Charlotte was
urgent
business, and I ring and
another woman
answers, a woman I thought you might have had residual feelings for—”

“I don’t.”

Penny looked up and saw no reserve, only truth, in his eyes. Oh, and still some serious aggravation aimed directly at her. “You don’t?”

“I told you I loved you, Penny,” Greg said crankily, not looking much like he loved her in that moment. “When I say something like that it means I love
you
and I don’t intend to sleep with any other women.”

“Oh,” she breathed, thinking that sounded very much like some sort of commitment. Her heart moved into triple time. “But Rochelle…”

“Rochelle was very presumptuous in picking up a call that was for me. And I was only talking to her because
you
asked me to.”

“I realize that, thanks. You don’t need to point it out, I feel dumb enough.”

“Penny, you’re not dumb. A little unbalanced possibly, and we might have to work on your violent jealousy, but you’re not stupid.” He brushed a wild hank of her hair back from her face, and Penny melted where he touched her. Some of his frustration softened. “You were right. I did need to see her. Our talk was illuminating.”

“It was?” Penny’s blood chilled. This was some rollercoaster she was on. “What did she say?”

Greg shook his head. “No. You’re the one answering the questions. I called you half a dozen times to try and explain. Why the hell didn’t you answer me?”

“My phone broke.” When he looked at her dubiously, Penny crossed a finger over her chest. “I swear. I dropped it, and a kid on a skateboard ran over it. You wouldn’t read about it.”

“You weren’t ignoring me?”

“No. I was flying here to see you. Why would I ignore half a dozen phone calls from you?”

“That’s right, you were flying here. On the spur of the moment if the fact you only have your handbag with you tells me anything.” He narrowed his eyes and dipped his head until his face was very close to hers. “Why? You thought you’d catch me in the act with Rochelle?”

“No. I told you I never believed that was going on until I saw you at the door and got the wrong idea,” Penny said. “I know you better than that.”

“Then why?” he repeated, his voice a soft, steely thread. “Tell me why you flew halfway across the state on impulse to see me, or do I have to kiss it out of you?”

Penny’s heart tripped. Her mouth dried out. He was leaning over her looking James Bond-level hot in his tux, threatening to kiss her, and every female cell in her body was thrilled at the thought of being interrogated. “You’d still want to kiss me after I went all crazy and kicked you?”

“If it’s for the cause,” he muttered, and dipped his head so close to hers that Penny held her breath. He stared into her eyes, and she saw the frustration of before had turned to a smug satisfaction. “You chased me all the way from Leyton’s Headland, and I want to know the truth.”

“I didn’t
chase
you,” Penny objected, not appreciating how pathetic that made her sound.

“You did,” Greg insisted, and lowered his body until it settled over hers, six feet of gorgeous, formally dressed man pressing her into the couch. Penny’s blood responded with a hot rush of relief and pure carnal desire. “Tell me, Penny. Tell me why you came here, damn it, before I lose my mind too.”

“I love you,” Penny said, and figured she’d be a pretty terrible spy if this was how easily she gave up the goods. But she looked into his eyes, this man who’d had his love rejected before, and knew he deserved to hear all of it. “I love you, and I was wrong not to tell you the other night. I was terrified you could never love someone like me, someone with a lot of weird quirks and a bad track record. I’m still terrified, because you’re too good to be true, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s that if it’s too good to be true, it probably is.”

“I’m not that good, Penelope.” He tilted his hips, proving his point by letting her feel the nudge of his big, bad erection. “
I
have a bad track record, and if you want to compare weird quirks, your violent attack upon my person appears to have turned me on.”

“Oh, that is bad of you,” Penny said, losing her breath. “And good to know for future reference.”

“I don’t think so. My shins can’t take another beating.”

“Just don’t let another woman answer your phone, like ever, and we won’t have a problem, mister.”

“I’ll have to warn Charlotte.” He framed her face with both his hands, stroking his thumbs over her cheekbones as his gaze bored into hers, a passionate light making his eyes glow gold and bright. “I love you too, my crazy yoga girl.”

He bowed his head, finally, and kissed her. Penny arched off the sofa, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding on to him, because it at last felt like she had him, for real, and no way was she going to risk letting him go this time. They clung to each other, kissing like their lives, and their futures, depended on it. Lips melded, tongues danced. Penny writhed beneath him, needing to be closer, wanting his flesh and hers bared so they could fully connect. She wanted to be
one
with him, and that sounded cheesy but was the only way she could describe the desperation to crawl inside his skin and exist there.

This true love was pretty heady stuff. She’d never felt it before, something she’d realized on the flight here. She’d never been truly panicked about losing someone, frantic to see their face and tell them how she felt. Penny Irving, unlucky in love. It wasn’t true. She’d simply never felt love before. Every other silly affair was mere preparation for this, the real deal. And because she had this, she felt like the luckiest woman on earth.