The Antique Love (12 page)

“Whatever,” said Kurt, his eyes scanning the street.

“I say tom-ah-toes, and you say tom-ay-toes….” Penny started singing in a gently mocking, tuneful way that she was quite proud of until Kurt swung her round to face him.

“Are you drunk?”

She raised her eyebrows and swayed a little. “Kurt, shall we just call the whole thing off?”

“You’re drunk. Hell, if you were my kid sister, I’d be giving you one hell of a scolding right now.”

His words had the sobering effect of a bucket of cold water. There was a momentary frigid silence before Penny brought her face up close to his. “Well I’m
not
your kid sister. Alex doesn’t talk to me as though I’m a stupid kid sister. So stop going on about it.”

“I know damn well how Alex was talking to you. Why do you think I got you out of there?”

“
You
got me out?” Her eyes blazed, and she edged dangerously closer. “I was leaving anyway. I might have had a couple of drinks, but I know how to look after myself. So stop treating me like your kid sister, because I’m
not
.”

Penny’s eyes glittered with anger and something that looked suspiciously like tears. Kurt stared into her face.

“Okay, okay.” He caught hold of her, and she flinched beneath his touch. “It’s just I know how Alex is with women. We go back a long way. He’s my friend, and when I saw you with him, I felt responsible. I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry if I seemed high-handed.”

Penny’s breathing was still shallow and coming in rapid breaths, her chest rising and falling beneath the thin fabric of her dress. With his back to the streetlight, Kurt’s face was in shadow. She could make out only his eyes, which gleamed with sudden heat in the dark mask of his face. His hands tightened on her shoulders, and she felt the warmth of his breath flutter across her lips. She began to tremble, and he pulled her into his arms.

“You’re cold,” he said quietly, although her body was warm in his gentle embrace. He kissed the top of her head. “Here, here’s a cab coming.” He released her, holding her away from him with a jerky movement, and she stepped back unsteadily. He lifted his hand, and the car pulled in to the kerb. “Let’s get you home.”

The cab’s headlamps lit Kurt’s features with a cold, yellow glow, revealing a mouth set in a harsh line. A small lump formed in Penny’s throat.

He opened the cab door, and she stepped in, averting her gaze from his.

“I’ll be at the shop tomorrow,” he said.

He gave her a small, reassuring nod and half a smile. Their gazes locked, and for an instant, he lifted his hand as though to touch her cheek. She held her breath, and then he withdrew, stepping back swiftly to push the car door shut. The taxi pulled away from the pavement, and she saw him turn and depart for home, head down.

Penny covered her face with her hands. Her shoulders lifted and fell soundlessly. She felt as though she had been physically torn from Kurt’s arms. She couldn’t understand why—if everything felt so
right
there—instead of holding her and kissing her, as she had longed for him to do, he had pushed her away and sent her home. As if she really was his kid sister. And she had been so dangerously close to lifting her head to press her lips to his. She shut her eyes with a groan. How humiliating that would have been. Her imagination was only too quick to fill in the scene: the embarrassment that would have crossed Kurt’s face, how he would have put her away from him and told her she should get home to bed, like a little kid. Like a little
kid sister
. She winced again.

If she were an actor, she would know exactly how the scene should play out. How the hero would sweep the glamorous girl into his arms. How his warm mouth would feel on hers, his hands, the heat of him under her fingers…

Penny dropped her hands from her face. That scene hadn’t been for her. It was played by a different actor. It was played by someone poised, someone stunningly beautiful, someone who said all the right words and played the part Kurt wanted her to play to cold perfection.

Penny just wasn’t right, and she knew it. The thought of having to carry on in the kid sister role was getting too much to bear, though, and she felt a feeling akin to dread at what the next few weeks might bring.

* * * *

Penny and Tehmeena were both a little pale when the shop opened next morning. Penny had lain awake for what seemed like hours, and when she finally fell asleep, she was haunted by dreams in which she’d won the starring role in a play. Each time she’d been massively excited. But no matter how many times she applied her stage make-up, each time she looked in the mirror, instead of a glamorous beauty, she found she’d been made up as a schoolgirl in pigtails. She woke up several times in a cold sweat.

“So,” said Tehmeena, all agog. “How did it go?”

Penny looked up from her cup of tea. “How did what go?”

“You know—last night? You left with Kurt.” Tehmeena saw the blank look on Penny’s face and continued, aghast. “Don’t tell me you don’t remember?”

“Of course I remember. I was stone cold sober. Well, pretty much,” she added truthfully when she saw the sceptical lift of Tehmeena’s brows. “But there’s nothing to tell. Kurt saw me into a taxi outside Belinda’s, and we each headed home to our own beds.”

“Oh.” Tehmeena fiddled with her bracelet for a moment. “I thought he might…”

“Well, he didn’t. He looked pretty cross the whole evening, to be quite honest. And then he couldn’t wait to hustle me home.”

Her friend eyed her doubtfully. “That’s not how I saw it,” she said. “I thought…”

The shop bell jangled to announce the first customer of the day. Tehmeena turned reluctantly, but before moving away, she made time to whisper, “I thought he was jealous of you and Alex.”

Penny stared after her, almost dropping her tea-cup. Jealous! A jealous lover doesn’t tell you off for being drunk and bundle you into a taxi like a naughty kid. Tehmeena was suffering from Penny’s own wishful thinking. She dropped her eyes to her desk and the day’s post. As difficult as it was, she needed to concentrate before the shop filled with customers. Kurt would soon be arriving, and she still had to sort out her bank paperwork for him.

She picked up the first couple of letters. Invoices. Luckily, the shop now had enough cash flow to pay the most pressing. She laid the invoices aside and picked up the next envelope. It was hand-written and had no stamp. It had obviously been hand-delivered, and Penny had a good idea who by. She tore it open with a feeling of foreboding.

Penny,
it said.
I may have left the partnership, but we still have business to finish. I will call in at the shop today (Saturday) at closing time. Please make sure you are there. David.

Penny put the letter down with an anxious frown. There was something intimidating about receiving a letter through the door. As though David had been lurking. Why couldn’t he just e-mail or phone like normal people? This was all she needed. She’d been trying her best to keep David away, as Kurt advised, but she couldn’t hold him off forever. In any case, David was right. There were final odds and ends to tie up regarding dissolving the partnership, and he had every right to insist on following them through. It was just Penny sensed he was intent on causing some sort of trouble.

“Everything okay?”

Kurt. She looked up with a smile of relief. She hadn’t realised until now how much she had grown to rely on his support. It wasn’t until she saw the faint constraint in his face that the previous night and the way it had ended came flooding back. She felt her cheeks warm. She laid David’s note down on the table and stood up.

“Hi,” she said shyly. “Did you get home all right?”

“Yeah. How about you? You feeling chipper this morning?”

“Yes,” she protested. “I wasn’t drunk.”

He grinned, and Penny realised she was being teased. There was such frank humour and openness in his smile, and she couldn’t help but smile back.

“Well, maybe a little,” she conceded. “Thanks for finding me a cab.”

“No problem.” He gave the courteous nod of the head that caused her stomach to backflip. Then his eyes fell on the paperwork on her desk and David’s scrawled signature. He lifted his head, expression hardening. “What’s this?” he asked.

“David wants to come over after closing tonight. I’ve tried to hold him off, but at the moment, he’s quite within his rights. The partnership isn’t legally wound up yet.”

“Yeah, he has a point.” He furrowed his brows in thought for a moment. “But it shouldn’t be a problem. I’ve got all day here. That should give me plenty of time.”

“Time for what?”

Kurt didn’t answer. He scanned her desk, abstracted. “You got those bank details?”

Penny sensed he was back in Head-of-White-River mode. In spite of the casual jeans and T-shirt that moulded his frame, he had his professional, aloof hat on. She pulled out the files he’d requested and logged him on to the shop’s banking system before leaving him at her desk, deep in concentration over her paperwork.

The day flew by. Saturdays were always busy, and the steady stream of customers kept Penny’s thoughts from turning too often to the scene with David that lay ahead. Even so, she occasionally caught herself battling nerves. She disliked confrontation at the best of times, and her last conversation with David had been almost frightening. His towering rage and his accusation that she was
too ridiculously romantic to run a business
still played out in her mind, no matter how she tried to prevent it. From time to time, she glanced over to her desk where the sight of Kurt, handsome head bent in unhurried concentration, was a solid reassurance.

When the time finally came to lock up, Kurt put down his pen and lifted his arms above his head in a final stretch. Penny tried not to stare, bringing her gaze to somewhere round the stack of papers which Kurt had now organised into neat piles. Tehmeena had left for the day, leaving just the two of them. The shop seemed extraordinarily small. Penny approached Kurt’s desk, and he stood, drawing his frame to its full height.

“Nervous?” he asked, looking down at her with such harshness in his normally warm expression that Penny stared and almost said yes but not for the reasons he thought. There was something in the way the muscles on his arms were flexed, bunched hard in a rigid mass that spoke of intense repressed anger. His normally impassive features were intimidatingly grim. She realised he was asking her if she were nervous of the coming confrontation, and she shook her head without speaking. All of a sudden, David’s bullying was no longer something to be feared. With Kurt beside her, she felt she could face anything.

He softened and smiled briefly. “Good,” he said. “There’s nothing for you to worry about.” He picked up his coffee mug from the table. “Shall I make you a cup of tea? I guess that’s the British answer to everything.”

He gave her a wide smile, relaxing his forbidding expression, and Penny nodded. She watched him disappear into their little kitchen just as David’s silhouette appeared outside the shop door.

“So,” David picked up one of the files from Penny’s desk and started flicking through the pages. “You’ve got White River in to do your books. And how are you managing to pay someone like Kurt Bold for his services?” He swept Penny a glance that left her in no doubt of the way his mind was working.

Penny retreated behind her desk. How had her grandfather ever grown to trust this man? The mask of charm had fallen totally, and he was looming over her with a sneer and a hint of threat that she would have found frightening were it not for Kurt’s presence in the kitchen.

“You’re offensive, David. And it’s none of your business, but actually, you’re right. I am paying in kind,” she said truthfully, thinking of the work she had done on Kurt’s house. David’s sneer deepened.

“He must be getting an excellent service.”

Penny didn’t bother to rise to the bait. She lifted her chin. “Let’s just finish what we need to. I’ve made a list of the papers that will need signing and the money you’re owed from the business. If you’d like to check through them, I’ll have our solicitor draw up the documents.” She made for an envelope on her desk, but David caught hold of her arm in a tight grip.

“And what if I’ve changed my mind? This shop’s been a nice little earner for me. Maybe I’m not ready to leave, after all.”

“You wouldn’t,” she gasped. “You can’t stay here now.”

“Can’t I? We’re equal partners, remember? Maybe you’re the one who ought to be leaving, not me. If I leave, you’ll never make a go of it on your own. You’ve no head for business. You’re a pathetic dreamer, Penny.”

There was the sound of a quiet footfall behind them, and the atmosphere in the room changed perceptibly. David said nothing, but his grip on Penny’s arm loosened immediately. He was breathing heavily. He stared intimidatingly into Penny’s shocked face before releasing her arm and turning around.

Kurt was leaning against the far wall, arms folded.

“Guess you may want to think through what you just said.” He gave the words his usual slow, measured delivery. “And I guess you owe Penny an apology. Guess you should take a look through those documents she gave you and think about what you need to sign. I draw the line at any money coming to you, though.” He pulled away from the wall and unfolded his arms, dropping them to his sides. “Unless it’s the money you owe Penny.”

David turned white. “This isn’t your business.” He turned to Penny. “What the hell’s this guy doing here?”

“Penny’s business is my business.” Kurt dropped his gaze to David’s clenched fist, his only acknowledgement of it a slight narrowing of the eyes. “Unless you’d like me to make it a matter for the police,” he continued evenly. “I’m sure if I tell them what I’ve found in those books there, they’ll be happy to take it up.”

Penny gasped, and David’s face flooded crimson with rage. He reached forward impotently as Penny took several hurried steps toward Kurt, who caught hold of her and drew her to him.

“I’m sorry, Penny.” He looked over her head at David. “Your partner’s been stealing from the business for years. In your grandfather’s day, he was careful not to let anyone guess. He hid his tracks pretty well, but once you took over, seems he got a little careless. Seems he underestimated you. You guessed something was wrong.”