The Antique Love (11 page)

“Well, Kurt said something strange.” Penny continued. She put down her needle and began to fiddle with the discarded buttons. “And it was out of the blue. He saw Mum on a television screen, and he said we look alike.” Penny lifted her eyes to give her granddad a searching look. “Do you think that’s true?”

Daniel laid down his magazine. Is this what had been bothering her? Or was it merely the fact that it was Kurt who’d noticed the similarity? Once again, he longed for a woman’s intuition, but Penny was looking at him expectantly. All he could do was what any other parent would do in his situation—open his mouth and hope he found the right words.

“I suppose it was clever of Kurt to notice.” He watched with dismay as Penny’s eyes lit up. It pained him that Penny had grown up continually comparing herself to her mother and finding herself wanting. Her mother was still admired as one of film’s great beauties, and the thought that a man like Kurt had seen some similarity between them obviously meant the world to her. Her grandfather could have let the conversation go at that, but that would have been the easy way out. He forced himself to say what he had been thinking for a long time.

“Penny, after your mum died, everybody put her on a pedestal. Even your grandmother. Your mum became somebody she never was in real life. The person she became didn’t exist except in people’s imaginations and on a film screen. It’s not true that you look like your mother.” Penny’s head bent, and she began picking at the stitches she’d just made. Her grandfather’s heart went out to her. “But you can’t expect to be your mother. You’re your own person. I told you, you’re not second-best. You never have been, and I want you to promise me never to accept second-best from anyone.”

She lifted her head at that to give him half a smile. Daniel reached over and patted her hand.

“You’re the best granddaughter anyone could want.” He lifted his hand to look at his watch. “And I bet you’ll knock them dead in town tonight—but shouldn’t you be getting your clubbing gear on?”

Penny leapt up, scattering buttons. “Is that the time? And it’s not clubbing gear, Granddad. That went out in the sixties.”

“What goes around comes around.” He indicated her cocktail dress with approval. “And you look beautiful. Make sure you don’t get chatted up by any strange men.”

Penny pulled a face and made a dash for her room.

* * * *

It was a fun evening. Because the demands of the shop took up so much of her time—especially since David had left—Penny didn’t get out as often as she would have liked. It made a change for her to get dressed up and relax with Tehmeena and the rest of her girlfriends. They met at an Italian restaurant, where they were all shamelessly flirted with by the waiters, and they laughed themselves silly and enjoyed a great time. Now they were standing on the pavement outside, discussing where next to go.

“Let’s go to Belinda’s,” someone suggested.

Tehmeena, always the liveliest of the group, chorused her approval. Penny stood back and held up her hand with a laugh.

“I have to get back,” she said. “I’ve had too much wine already. Us shop-workers have to be up early on Saturdays.”

“Boo,” said Tehmeena. “I’m getting up early, too, and we hardly ever go out together. Just one more?”

“Come on, Pen. We never see you.”

There were several loud cries of friendly encouragement, interrupted when one of the girls stopped to let out a sudden wolf whistle. The girls turned round as one to see a dozen men, each dressed in formal tux and bowtie, making their way toward them on the pavement. They were a loud, cheerful bunch, and they returned the chorus from a group of pretty girls with exaggerated pleasantries. As they drew nearer, it was obvious from the accents that most of them were from the States.

The man in front caught sight of Penny as they passed and stared frankly before lifting his fingers to his lips and blowing her a kiss. Penny gave him an embarrassed wave, and her friends erupted into giggles. The group of men passed by with a mixture of laughter and loud greetings until only one was left. He was standing quite still in the shadows, looking at Penny. Her heart missed a beat.

“Hey,” he said quietly.

She stepped forward. Her friends seemed to have fallen silent all of a sudden. Unless the rushing noise in her ears was drowning out all sound.

“Kurt.”

He looked devastating. A dark silhouette in the gathering gloom. And he was staring at her, eyes gleaming in the light from the street lamp.

“Do you two
know
each other?” One of the men from the group—the one who’d blown Penny a kiss—had returned and was standing in the road beside them, his eyes on Penny. There was a short silence before Kurt turned.

“Penny, this is Alex,” he said, performing the introductions with slow reluctance. “And these guys are my colleagues from the States. They’re over for an awards ceremony. Alex, this is Penny. She owns an antique shop in the city, and she’s furnishing my house.”

Alex stood in the road, regarding Penny and Kurt in a speculative way which only increased her sense of awkwardness. With a reluctance that equalled Kurt’s, she indicated the group of friends hustling behind her, agog.

“You already know Tehmeena. And these are some friends from schooldays. We were just—”

“We were just persuading Penny to come to Belinda’s,” Tehmeena broke in. “Why don’t you come with us?”

Penny whirled round, astounded. It was supposed to be a girls’ night out. No Men Allowed. It was so unlike Tehmeena to break their unwritten rule that Penny stared at her in silent vexation, but Tehmeena merely returned her look with the blandest of cheerful smiles. In the babble of talk that erupted, somehow it was agreed by somebody—and then eventually by everybody—that the two groups should indeed join forces and head for the cocktail bar. Penny looked at Kurt in dismay, but he had turned away to say something to one of his colleagues.

“Sure am glad we fell in with you girls,” Alex said, swiftly taking the opportunity to step in beside Penny. “Me and the guys were headed back for a quiet night in the hotel bar. And don’t tell anyone I said this,” he lowered his voice and gave her a conspiratorial wink, “but me and the rest of that bunch have got eight hours together on a plane tomorrow, and we’re already sick of each other’s company. I’m real glad we met up with you. You’ve saved our lives.”

Alex had boyish, open features and such a mischievous grin accompanied his words that Penny couldn’t help but smile back. Then she caught Kurt’s eyes on them both. From the look on his face, he didn’t share Alex’s enthusiasm at their joining forces. He looked unhappy. Annoyed, even. But there was no time to puzzle it out, because the whole, chattering group moved as one, and the next minute Alex took her arm, and she found herself propelled firmly in the direction of Belinda’s.

* * * *

Kurt propped himself at the crowded bar and took another sip from his bourbon. The music was loud, but he didn’t need to bend his head to follow what people were saying. He looked past Tehmeena to where Alex was deep in conversation with Penny. The music wasn’t so loud a guy had to put his lips to a girl’s ear, for example. If Alex’s mouth got any closer to Penny’s head, he’d be eating it. And what on earth were they talking about? Whatever it was, every time he bent his head to hers, she laughed in that cute way she had, lifting her chin, her eyes crinkling up at him. Didn’t she realise what a creep that guy was around women?

He felt a soft touch on his shoulder and turned to find Tehmeena gazing up at him, a worried expression on her face.

“I’m just going to sit down.” She indicated a table where her friends and Kurt’s were engaged in animated conversation. “Are you coming?”

Kurt shook his head, feeling a little guilty. He knew he was acting like a bear. Tehmeena was probably sick of trying to make conversation with him.

“I’ll be going on home after I’ve finished my drink.” He raised his glass. “You go on ahead.”

“Well, see you in the shop tomorrow.” Tehmeena stepped up on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. She nodded in Penny’s direction and added something else, but her words were lost in the mix of music and chatter. Kurt just smiled back. Tehmeena stood, staring at him anxiously for a while before turning to rejoin her friends.

After she’d gone, he took another swig from his glass, trying not to look in Penny’s direction, but it was damned hard to keep his eyes off her. In the past week or so, he’d begun to think of Penny as pretty, but the way she looked this evening, pretty wasn’t the word. No, pretty definitely wouldn’t begin to cut it as a vocabulary choice. The only word he could find for her was
hot
. So hot that when he first saw her standing with her friends outside that restaurant he’d stood staring at her like some sort of country goof. From a distance, he hadn’t even realised at first it was Penny, with her long legs and her hair all piled up like a princess. She was wearing a short silver fake fur jacket and had some silvery diamonds in her hair that glittered in the streetlight. She looked a million miles away from the tired, ordinary girl he’d first met in her shop. Why had he never noticed until now she had legs like that? It was no wonder Alex had stopped to stare at her.

He glared at Alex again. What did a guy like that find to talk about incessantly? Penny caught his eye, and he glanced away quickly. Kurt had never been one for small talk and found bars such as this one a strain. Everybody just chattering, chattering...

He closed his eyes momentarily. If he were alone with Penny, now... If they were alone, with her in that short dress, he knew damn well he’d have other things on his mind than making small talk. He drained the rest of his bourbon. The ice did nothing to kill the heat that was eating through his veins. He felt a tug on his sleeve and found himself gazing into Alex’s perspiring face.

“Where’s Penny?” Kurt asked, glancing round.

“She’s gone to the restroom.” Alex twisted his head to see if any of Penny’s friends were listening then lowered his voice. “Dude, that girl is something, isn’t she? Why’d you keep her such a secret?”

“She’s no secret. Anyway what’s it to you?” Kurt pushed his empty glass across the bar. He knew he was angry and tried to lighten his words. “I mean, you’re heading home tomorrow, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, but come on. I’m over here twice a month. And a girl like that would add some fun to a lonely hotel room. Know what I mean?” He broke into a grin before catching Kurt’s murederous expression and held up his hands. “Hey, hey. Why the bear look? She said there’s nothing going on between you two, so what’s your problem? And not likely to, either, she told me. Those were her exact words. So there’s no harm in me getting her cell number.”

Kurt pulled himself upright. “Did she give you her cell number?” he asked, not bothering to hide his incredulity.

“Nah, but it’s only a matter of time.” Alex swallowed the last of his Manhattan, missing the thunderous flash in his friend’s eyes. Kurt and Alex had worked together a long time. Kurt liked the guy, but he knew only too well how many women Alex had on the go and in how many cities around the world. As far as Kurt was concerned, his friend could have as many women as he liked, but he was going to make damn sure Penny wasn’t one of them.

* * * *

Unaware of the seething emotions brewing in their corner of the bar, Penny was weaving her way a little unsteadily through the tables. She’d retrieved her fur jacket and was planning on saying her goodbyes. The evening hadn’t ended as much fun as it started out. Although she’d enjoyed Alex’s conversation—he was a wicked flirt and some of the things he’d said made her laugh out loud—she wasn’t so naïve she didn’t recognise a serial womaniser when she saw one. In any case, it was hard to enjoy an evening when every time you looked up, you saw an unfriendly pair of scowling grey eyes. She was starting to feel quite on edge and even a little cross. She began doing the rounds of goodbyes with her friends, relieved the evening was finally over. She’d just given a final hug and a promise of meeting more often when she felt a warm hand clasp her elbow. Kurt was behind her. His expression hadn’t lost any of its unfriendliness.

“I was just coming to say goodbye—” she began.

“Fine. I’ll help you find you a cab.”

“Oh, but I haven’t said goodbye to—” Penny looked over in Alex’s direction, but he had his back to the room and was ordering another couple of drinks at the bar.

“I’ll make your excuses.”

Penny felt her arm firmly gripped, with no way to wriggle out of it without causing an embarrassing scene. She looked at Tehmeena for support, but her friend just gave her an airy wave of the hand and a wide grin.

“See you in the shop tomorrow,” she called with a wink. “Bright and early.”

So much for friends, Penny thought bitterly. The next minute she felt herself propelled quite inexorably up the steps of the cocktail bar and out into the silent street. Kurt acknowledged the bouncer’s
goodnight with a curt nod of his head.

Kurt by name and curt by nature. Penny was suddenly overwhelmed with the urge to giggle. The fresh air in the street outside was doing terrible things with the cocktails inside her head.

“I don’t need a taxi,” she said, trying to tug her arm out of Kurt’s grip as he manoeuvred her along the pavement. She wasn’t happy with the way he’d propelled her out of the bar, and suddenly, it was vital to assert her independence. “I’m quite happy getting the tube. The station’s just round the corner.”

“Yeah? And how about when you get off the tube? I bet it’s a dark walk to your home.”

Penny didn’t say anything. She didn’t want to admit it, but the walk from her tube stop to her front door always made her a little apprehensive at night. It was a quiet residential area, and the lack of nightlife made the leafy streets particularly creepy. Kurt was right to look for a taxi for her, and her silence told him so.

“See? You need to get yourself a cab. And besides, I’m not about to let you freeze to death on the sidewalk.”

“Pavement,” she muttered.

“What?”

“I said pavement. We’re in London not New York. It’s pavement.”