Chapter 19
PENN
The next day,I found my way to the office of Poe Miller in the hardware store that was not as run down as I had believed. I felt guilty for using that term before I had seen it or known it belonged to Darcy’s family. Poe, a friendly looking man, was sitting at a large desk and shook my hand in a very formal way when I entered his office.
“Hello, sir. My name is Penn Murphy. It’s nice to meet you.”
Poe sat down and gestured to the seat across from him. “I’ve been expecting you. Have a seat.”
I nodded, a small grin forming on my lips. “It sounds like your daughter has beaten me to the punch, huh?”
“She certainly did. I wouldn’t have expected anything less of Darcy, though. You aren’t the first person she’s run out of here trying to buy this store.”
At least I didn’t need to take it personally.
“In that case, am I wasting my time?” I asked blatantly.
Poe took off his glasses and set them on the desk, leaning forward. “I take my daughter’s instincts very seriously, but at the end of the day, I will decide what is best for this store.”
Feeling optimistic, I repositioned in the chair. “Okay, then. I appreciate the opportunity to talk with you.”
Poe nodded, putting his glasses back on. “Now, tell me Mr. Murphy, what are your intentions with my store?”
After my conversation with Poe, I stepped out of the store and made a phone call to Max, keeping my voice hushed.
“Murphy! I was starting to wonder if you were taken captive by that small town. I was seconds away from calling the police and filing a missing person report.”
I forced a laugh. “No, I’m just out here in the trenches trying to get this ridiculous small town to not behead me at the idea of something new. It’s not going to be as easy as we thought.”
“No?” Max said.
“Not at all. There’s this woman, and well, she’s going to be a problem.” I started walking, placing my Airpods in my ears so I could talk on the way to the inn without the old people circling me like vultures. “She is the daughter of the man who has the store for sale—which, by the way, is in the perfect location—but the woman is a grade A pain in the ass. She basically told me we were now in this competition for the store, and she was not going to let her father sell to me. She’s impossible. Major trust issues, that one.”
Max was quiet for a moment. “Don’t tell me you’re giving up already? I would hate to have to come and show you how business is conducted.”
“No, no,” I started. “I’m not giving up yet. It’s just this woman.”
Max sighed. “It sounds like she’s going to be a big problem.”
“Yes,” I replied. “I told you that. But I’ve got it covered.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Max said, “She’s going to be a problem for you.”
“Yeeesss,” I replied slowly, elongating the word. “I said that.” I wasn’t sure what he didn’t understand about the fact that Darcy was going to be a problem.
“Let me rephrase this. Is she hot?”
I scoffed. What kind of question was that? “What does that have to do with anything?”
“It has everything to do with it. Answer the question. Is she hot?”
“Well...” I fumbled over the words. “I mean, yeah.”
“Who does she look like? Name a celebrity so I can picture her.”
If Max weren’t my boss, I would have told him to fuck off, to stop being a creep, but I liked having a job, so I played along. “I don’t know. Lily Collins.”
Max made a tsk sound with his mouth. “Oh boy. Then I was right. She’s going to be a problem for you.”
I finally caught on to what he was trying to say. “No, man. Not at all.”
There was nothing about Darcy that made me believe she would be that kind of problem for me. Sure, she was beautiful. To be honest, she may have been the most beautiful person I had seen, but she was angry and obnoxious, and I just didn’t do distractions when it came to women.
I shook my head. “There is no way I could ever fall for someone like her.”
Max was quiet, and I thought we had lost connection.
“Hello? Max?”
“Sorry, I just had an idea.” Max clicked his tongue.
“What’s that?”
“I was just thinking that maybe that’s exactly what you need to do.”
I stopped walking. The inn was just up ahead, and I was officially confused. “I’m not following.”
“Hear me out. What is the one thing you have always been good at?”
I paused, my mind growing blank. “Rapping Eminem songs?”
Max chuckled. “Aside from that.” He halted, seemingly waiting for me to come up with the answer he was looking for. When I didn’t, he continued. “You’re good at charming women.”
“Okay, what does that have to do with anything? I just told you I don’t want anything to do with her like that.” I sat down in one of the rockers. Since I had been at Green Gables, there was always someone sitting on the front porch, and I was surprised to see that no one else was out there right now, but I welcomed being alone.
“Right, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get her to like you. Charm her. Give her the ole Penny blue eyes.”
I laughed, contemplating what he was saying. “What do you mean, ‘Penny blue eyes’?”
“You know damn well what I mean. I’ve watched you take girls home from the bars before you even talk to them. You give them one look, and they just melt at your feet. It’s irritating as hell.”
That was a tad exaggerated. While I did have a tendency to effortlessly pick up women for one-night stands, I would, however, get their names first. I had never shied away from the fact that I was not ready to settle down. I wasn’t sure I ever would be. But all of the women who made their way into my bed were perfectly fine with random hookups and no strings attached. I made it abundantly clear and set hard boundaries so there was no misconception that, at the end of the night, they would be on their way. I never let anyone spend the night. I didn’t want commitment. I wanted my career, so I only sought out women with the same intentions.
I had never tricked someone into liking me, though. That seemed wrong on a lot of different levels.
Max continued. “You don’t have to make her fall in love with you. I’m not suggesting you break her. Just charm her, get her to like you enough that she will let her guard down and tell her dad that maybe you aren’t such a bad guy after all.”
This sounded like just the thing Max would try to pull to get what he wanted. He didn’t play fair, and he made sure that if there was anything in his way, it was eradicated.
“I don’t know. I’m not sure any charm from me will work on this one,” I replied, knowing Darcy was the only woman in a long time who had not wanted to give me the time of day. “She seems repulsed by me.”
“That sounds like a challenge to me,” said Max. “And if I know one thing about Penn Murphy, it’s that he likes a challenge.”