Lucky Penny (29 page)

I stopped in my tracks, and my eyes found Blake. He smiled sadly and then dropped his eyes jolting me back into action.

“One day, she was just gone. No note, no paper trail, nothing. Everyone knew she’d left with Jason, but they wanted to disappear and all searches came up empty. Uncle Anthony never gave up, though. Fast forward seventeen years and after numerous PIs, he finally got the call he’d been waiting for. Except it wasn’t. Mom was dead, and I was in foster care.”

As Blake said the words, I realized just how much of our story I didn’t know. During the summer, at Camp Chance, we had both been too paralyzed, too scared to talk openly about things. Hearing it now was hard enough.

“Uncle Anthony is used to getting what he wants, Penny, and he wants me to carry on his legacy. He wants me to work my way up in his law firm. Britt-” He hesitated as if the words were difficult to say and I froze. “Brittany’s family and my uncle’s family are old friends, and in my uncle’s world, you marry your kind.”

Pain sliced through my chest, and I gasped. I hadn’t meant to, but it had happened all the same.

And I’m not your kind.

Blake pushed off the bed and walked over to me. His hand cupped my jaw and tilted my face to his. “I don’t love her. I will never love her, and I will find a way to fix this. I meant what I said, Penny. I’m not losing you again.”

M
orning light filtered through the blinds. The light was so bright; I figured it was the reflection of the snow that had fallen through the night. My eyes squinted at the clock on the nightstand. It was only just past eight. Blake stirred next to me, and my heart swelled just knowing he was here. With me. In my shitty apartment overlooking a back alley of a bar and a Chinese takeout.

After talking into the late hours, we’d finally fallen asleep. At some point during the night, Blake had rid himself of his jeans and t-shirt and was now sleeping next to me in just his boxer shorts. My eyes traced over his body. The dips and planes of his smooth muscles. The way his lips quivered as he breathed. My mouth dried, and my legs clenched together as I adjusted to the feelings he evoked in me.

I sat up and reached out to touch him. I didn’t want to wake him; I just wanted to feel his skin. His warmth. My fingers grazed his chest. Blake didn’t open his eyes as his hand came up to grab my wrist. He yanked gently pulling me over his chest. “Best morning ever,” he smirked, his eyes still shut.

Nose to nose, our lips were so close they were almost touching. “Good morning,” I whispered, and Blake’s eyes opened slowly. Drinking me in.

“I could get used to this.”

I ducked my head, stretching my legs out underneath me, and nestled into his neck. I was still unused to the way he just said whatever the hell was on his mind. Blake’s fingers hooked underneath my t-shirt and connected with my skin.

“Give me your eyes, Penny.”

I lifted my head to look at him, but Blake had other plans. Capturing my lips, he ran his tongue along the seam of my mouth, sucking my bottom lip into his mouth. I moaned softly, melting into a puddle against him. I needed more.
Always more
. I let him deepen the kiss, swirling his tongue with mine all while his fingers continued to stroke my bare skin and leave a blaze of sparks in their wake.

“Do you know how much I love you?” Blake said without taking his lips off me. How had the moment gone from light-hearted to heavy and suffocating in a matter of seconds?

“Let me show you.” Blake wrapped his arms around me, and then rolled us until I was underneath him, and he was peering down at me. “Let me love you, Penny.”

I swallowed hard unable to think.

Blake leaned in, and I closed my eyes as I anticipated his kiss; only his mouth didn’t find my lips. Warm air brushed my neck as his lips pressed against my skin. He licked and nibbled and sucked along my collarbone. The cold air of the apartment mixed with the warmth of Blake’s breath had my body shivering in the best kind of way.

Deft hands grabbed the hem of my t-shirt and slid it up and over my body. Blake caught one of my pebbled nipples between his teeth, and I gasped. “Ah, Blake. More, please.”

Always more.

Something about this time was different. Blake took his time with my body, caressing my curves, the rise and fall of my chest, stroking the soft muscles of my stomach. He kissed every inch of me until I was panting. I was so lost in the feelings running through me that I hadn’t realized Blake was kneeling between my parted legs. With his hands hooked underneath my knees, he dipped his head and kissed my inner thigh. My whole body went limp, pressed into the mattress. No one had ever been there. So close. Cal, my last boyfriend, had tried, but in the end, I freaked out and couldn’t go through with it. But now Blake was there, his tongue running along the curve of thigh up to my pelvis. With feather light touches, he alternated between licking and sucking, and each time he captured the burning skin in his mouth, I bucked off the bed. I felt him smile against me. But nothing compared to the way I felt when his fingers slipped between my center chased by his tongue. My whole body shuddered with pleasure as Blake slowly pushed one finger inside me followed by a second while his tongue glided over the sensitive bundle of nerves.

“Blake.” His name was a prayer on my lips.

I buried my hands into hair holding on for life as he continued his sweet torture of my body. Skilled fingers worked me, in and out, and his mouth pleasured me to the point of seeing nothing but bright white behind my eyes. I cried out; over and over, I panted Blake’s name. He crawled up my body and kissed me, my taste still on his lips.

“Penny.” He pushed inside of me stealing my response, filling me so completely I felt sure I would fall apart all over again. I wrapped my weak arms around his shoulders and held on for life.

After Blake had left the apartment on Friday at lunchtime, I didn’t see him again all weekend. I had back-to-back shifts, Friday evening through Sunday, serving dinner to stuffy business types at post-Thanksgiving functions in downtown Columbus. The whole time, I thought of nothing but my morning spent letting Blake love me. Nothing could dampen my high or the euphoric feelings flowing through me. Not even the reality of our situation. Maybe six months ago, I would have been waiting for the bubble to burst, for everything to crumble down around me, or I wouldn’t have risked putting myself in this kind of situation in the first place. But this time, I wanted to believe things could be different. That, finally, I was getting my shot to live out from under the shadows of my past. Blake didn’t want to marry Brittany, he didn’t love her, and I believed him.

I
had
to believe him.

Of course, I wasn’t foolish enough to think that the road ahead was going to be easy. Blake still had to find a way to tell his uncle without losing the only family he had left. He loved them—Uncle Anthony and Aunt Miranda—and it showed in his voice every time he talked about them. Although his relationship with his uncle was strained, I didn’t want to be the one who came between them.

You know you will be. Anthony Weston will never accept you.
I silenced the little voice in my head. Blake said he would handle it, and I had to give him the time and space to do that. As long as I didn’t cross paths with Brittany anytime soon, I could be strong for him.

For us.

I watched the city rush by in a blur of lights as I rode the bus back to my neighborhood. Three long shifts and I was ready for a break. My feet burned, there was grime embedded in my skin and hair, and I missed Blake. Forty-eight hours apart had felt like a lifetime. I now understood what people meant when they said they couldn’t stand to be without their partner. My heart was lost without him; a feeling I’d switched off for the last seven years.

Blake had awakened me, and I didn’t ever want it to end.

My cell vibrated in my purse setting off butterflies in my stomach.

I can’t get away tonight. Sorry. I love you. Blake x

Disappointment flooded me. Blake had said he didn’t know if he would be able to make it to see me tonight, but deep down, I had hoped he would find a way. I pocketed my cell, made my way off the bus, and started in the direction of The Oriental Garden. My pocket buzzed and excitement bubbled up. Maybe Blake had found a way to come.

“Hello,” I said not even checking the screen.

“What the hell is going on, Penny?”

“Marissa?” I asked taken aback at her stern words.

“Yes, it’s me. Tell me it isn’t true?”

“True? Is what true? You need to spell it out for me, Marissa, because right now, I have no idea what you are talking about.” I sighed picking up the pace. The snow had stopped, but temperatures were still well below freezing.

“You and Blake.”

Me and Blake?
My mind immediately went into overdrive wondering how she could possibly know.

“Why am I getting cryptic messages from Blake asking me to watch over you over the next couple of weeks? Watch over you? Penny, why the hell do I have to watch over you? What the fuck has he done?”

“Whoa, slow down, Marissa. It’s not what you think-”

“It’s not?” Her voice wasn’t calming down any. “So what is it then? Did that fucker hurt you again? Because I have no problem driving down there.”

“Marissa, calm down. Blake didn’t do anything to hurt me.”

The line went silent for a second, and then she said, “He didn’t? So why-”

“We slept together.”

“WHAT IN HOLY HELL’S NAME DO YOU MEAN YOU SLEPT WITH HIM?”

I held the phone away from my ear out of fear it might do permanent damage. Even slipping the phone into my pocket did little to reduce the sound of Marissa’s shrills coming through the line.

“PENNY? PENNY WILSON, ANSWER ME RIGHT NOW.”

“Hello.” I rounded the alleyway and dug into my purse to retrieve my keys.

“Did you put the phone down?”

“Maybe. You were really loud.” Treading carefully up the icy stairs, I balanced the phone between the crook of my neck and my ear. I quickly unlocked the door and hurried inside to get out of the cold.

“You can’t just drop something like that on me and expect me not to lose my shit. Christ, Penny, what were you thinking? You do remember he’s engaged, right? Betrothed. Promised to another. Shit, Penny.”

Guilt knocked at my conscience, but I refused to let her in. I would not feel guilty about what happened between Blake and me. It was real and pure, and even though Blake’s engagement overshadowed it, it was all I’d ever wanted. I couldn’t regret that—I wouldn’t.

“He loves me,” I said without hesitation.

“Now, she realizes that,” Marissa moaned. “Did I or did I not tell you that? What changed?”

“I love him too.”

“Has anyone ever told you that your telephone manners suck? Well, durrrr, of course, you love him. You’re like each other’s lobsters or something.” Her
Friend
s reference lifted some of the heavy, and I laughed softly. “He doesn’t love her, Marissa. It’s all a front. His uncle wants him to marry her. Family politics…” I inhaled deeply to give myself a second to collect my thoughts, but Marissa beat me to it.

“So how is it being the other woman?”

“Marissa!”

“What? I need to know this kind of thing. I’m your best friend. Was it good? The sex, I mean. Was it toe-curling, sweaty, heart-exploding good? Oh, tell me it was.”

“I’m really uncomfortable right now.”

She tutted. “Of course, you are. But back to the sex. It was good, right? I’m right, aren’t I? Blake looks like he’d be a sure thing in the sack.”

Everything.

It was everything.

The words were on the tip of my tongue, but I found myself saying, “Nice, it was… really nice.”

“Nice? Penny, we really need to work on your sharing skills. I need details, girl, not nice. Nice is bunnies and fluffy clouds. I want to know if your world exploded.”

I settled down on my couch and smiled. My life was finally falling into place. I had a job I enjoyed working at with people I liked. I had a good friend in Marissa. She pushed me to open up and trust her, and I loved her for it. My anxiety didn’t define my life anymore. It no longer controlled me; I controlled it. And then there was Blake. The one person who knew me better than anyone else did, maybe even myself. It all felt too good to be true.