6. Penny
Chapter 6
Penny
My heart leapt into my throat at Tripp’s passionate cry.
All eyes were on my best friend, and Jake let out an uncomfortable laugh. “I’m sorry. What was that?”
From where I stood, it looked like there was a struggle as Tripp attempted to stand. Shucking off Mac and Tucker, he finally accomplished that feat, rising to his full height, his blue eyes blazing when they landed on me.
“I said don’t do it, Penny.” Unlike the first time, which had sounded like a desperate plea, this time, his words were uttered with conviction.
From behind me, the preacher tutted, “Young man, this is highly inappropriate.”
“I don’t care.” Tripp’s chest heaved as he took ragged breaths, his eyes never leaving mine. “Lucky, I know I waited too long to tell you this, but I’ve loved you my whole life, and I don’t think I can survive it if you marry someone else.”
“Is this guy fucking for real right now?” Jake gritted out under his breath .
That was an excellent question because this couldn’t really be happening, could it?
“You might not remember what you confessed to me on your twenty-first birthday, but I do.”
I gasped, my hand flying up to cover my mouth.
“And if there’s even the slightest chance that you feel the same way about me . . .” His words trailed off as everyone’s eyes shifted to gauge my reaction.
“Penny.” Jake gripped my elbow. “We’re in the middle of getting married.”
The only reason I’d found myself at this altar was because Tripp had shown up and literally put himself in my path when I was ready to run. After that, my brain was so scrambled that I blinked and found myself halfway down the aisle with no clue as to how I’d gotten there.
Turning to the man standing by my side, I prayed he would be able to forgive me.
“I’m sorry.” Wrenching out of his hold, I rushed up the aisle, only stopping when I reached the row where Tripp stood.
His jaw hung slack, disbelief etched across his face.
“You comin’ or what?” I challenged, one eyebrow arched. “Because I’m leaving with or without you, cowboy.”
Mac gave him a gentle shove. “Dude, what are you waiting for?”
That seemed to jolt him into action, and he pushed past Tucker to take my hand. He tugged on our connection gently before breaking out into a run. I matched his steps as we rounded the side of the house, ignoring my name being shouted by both my abandoned groom and my parents from behind us .
Tripp’s truck came into view, and I willed my legs to move faster, eager to get away from this disaster of an almost wedding, before anyone caught up to us and questioned my decision.
Was it impulsive to run off with Tripp and leave a man at the altar? Yes.
Was I sorry I did it? Hell no.
He might have come in at the eleventh hour and made a scene as he publicly declared his love, but in doing so, Tripp had saved me. I was never going to find happiness with Jake, no matter how hard I tried to convince myself otherwise. I would have spent the rest of my life miserable with a man I didn’t love—a man I couldn’t love because my heart already belonged to another.
Hitching up the skirt of my dress, I hopped into the passenger seat and pulled the door shut just as Tripp turned the ignition and stomped on the gas. I clicked my seatbelt into place as we peeled down the gravel path.
“I can’t believe we just did that,” Tripp huffed out on a laugh.
“Well, believe it, because we did.” I pulled the pins from my hair, running my fingers through the strands to mess up the curls as they fell around my shoulders.
“What do we do now?” He peeked at me quickly before turning his eyes back to the road.
The most insane idea floated to the front of my mind, and I blurted, “I think you owe me a groom.”
I yelped when he slammed on the brakes, the seatbelt cutting into my chest as the truck came to a sudden halt. When I turned to face him, his eyes were wild.
“Are you implying . . .”
Annoyance flared to the surface, and I snapped at him, “Oh, I know you didn’t show up all spiffed up like this”—I gestured a hand toward his suit-clad form—“intent on crashing the altar without planning to offer yourself up as a replacement.”
Tripp gawked at me. “I didn’t—I thought—”
“You thought what? That after all this, you’d ask me out on a date?”
“Um, maybe?”
Clearly, he hadn’t thought this through, which was entirely out of character for him but would work in my favor. Catching my level-headed best friend off-guard meant I could pull him over to the dark side of spontaneity—a place where I thrived.
“Can you honestly tell me you need to get to know me better?” I challenged.
“’Course not.” Tripp scoffed.
“That’s the purpose of dating, right? Learning everything about another person to discover if you might be compatible in the long run. With the hope that somewhere along the way, love will blossom.”
He offered me a shrug. “Suppose so.”
“We’ve spent the last twenty-nine years doing that part. Why should I have to wait even one more second to be with you when you’re the only man I’ve ever truly wanted? Are you really going to deny me that?”
I was pushing that secret button of his. The one where he couldn’t say no to me, and his resulting grumble told me he knew it.
“Penny . . .” My name was drawn out in warning.
Bringing out the big guns, I batted my eyelashes at him. “Come on an adventure with me.”
He sighed. “Marriage is a commitment, not an adventure.”
“Why can’t it be both?”
Scrubbing a hand over his face, he groaned. “Before I agree, I need you to answer me one question. ”
“Anything,” I vowed, excitement beginning to buzz beneath my skin at the possibility of my every dream coming true.
“This how it’s gonna work? With you makin’ all the major life decisions for the both of us and me powerless to say no from now until forever?”
I scrunched my face up as I admitted the truth. “Probably.”
“Well, if that’s settled, then . . .” The truck lurched into motion again.
My mouth dropped open. “Seriously? We’re getting married?”
Tripp didn’t spare me a glance as he drove through the gates at the front of his family’s property. “That’s what you wanted, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah, but—” I shook my head. “Is that what you want too?”
“Penny.” He reached across the center console to take my hand before bringing it to his lips. “I never dared to dream you might agree to be my wife, let alone that you’d be one to suggest taking on that role. Believe me when I tell you that I’ve never wanted anything more in my entire life than to marry you.”
Warmth curled low in my belly, my heart threatening to beat out of my chest at his words.
His thumb toyed with the ring on my fourth finger. Voice going gruff, he commanded, “Take this off.”
Without hesitation, I slid the diamond Jake had given me over my knuckles, leaving my left hand bare. Tripp’s gaze flickered over as I rubbed the empty space. “Don’t worry, Lucky. I’ll buy you a new one.”
A smile split my face at that promise, and I bounced in my seat.
His soft chuckle sounded beside me. “Maybe I don’t know you as well as I thought. Never pegged you as the type of girl to care much about shiny things.”
I stuck my tongue out at him. “I don’t.” Then I clarified, “I only care about them when they come from you, is all.”
The doubtful look he shot me was ruined by the playful smirk tugging up the corner of his lips. “Uh-huh, sure. I can just see it now, having to sell off the whole damn ranch to keep you dripping in diamonds.”
“Jerk.” I smacked his shoulder.
His laughter had me breathing easier for the first time in weeks. God, I’d missed him something fierce.
We reached a crossroads where turning left would take us to Rust Canyon’s Main Street and turning right would lead us onto the state route outta town.
“Where to?”
Peeking behind me to make sure we weren’t being followed, I curled my fingers. “Give me your phone.”
“Any particular reason you can’t use yours?”
“Forgot this thing was riddled with pockets.” I patted down the length of the wedding dress I wore as sarcasm colored my words. “We left in a rush, in case you didn’t notice.”
Reaching into his pocket, Tripp produced his cell and handed it over. “Remind me to send Mac a thank you when the dust settles.”
“Why’s that?” My fingers flew over the screen, doing the research necessary for our impromptu quest.
“Persistent fucker dragged my ass back from Kansas this morning.”
That had my head whipping to the side. “What?”
Chest expanding on a deep inhale, he breathed out, “Not gonna lie to you, darlin’. I was planning on staying away today. If he hadn’t shown up . . .” He shook his head, eyes squeezing shut. “Kills me to even think about it.”
I placed my hand on his forearm. “There’s something you need to know. ”
He fixed me with that striking blue stare, giving me his undivided attention.
“When you showed up at my bedroom door today, I was halfway to becoming a runaway bride without your help.”
Tripp’s eyebrows shot so high they disappeared beneath the brim of his hat. “You were?”
There was no point in hiding the truth anymore. “It hit me all of a sudden that he wasn’t you.” I shook my head. “And I just couldn’t go through with it.”
“I don’t understand. I watched you walk down that aisle after that.”
“Honestly, I blanked out after you left my bedroom. So it’s a damn good thing you spoke up when you did, or I would have made a terrible mistake.”
Tugging on the back of his neck, he asked, “Then why were you with him in the first place?”
“Does it really matter anymore? I’m here with you right now. I’m fixin’ to marry you today instead.” I tapped on the smooth screen of his phone. “Well, that is, if you give me a minute to figure out where we need to go to make that happen.”
Confusion filled his eyes. “What do you mean, where we need to go?”
My head dropped back against the seat. “As far as the great state of Oklahoma is concerned, they’ve given me a license to marry Jake.” Tripp’s lips curled at the mention of my ex-fiancé’s name. “So they’re not going to issue me a new one until that one expires or is returned. That means we need to find the closest neighboring state where they don’t enforce a waiting period. I’ve waited long enough already. I’m not putting this off another day.”
Tripp cleared his throat. “All right. Figure it out and tell me where to go. ”
Running through our closest neighbors, I struck out a few times before finally hitting paydirt. “Got it!”
“And . . .” He looked at me expectantly.
“Colorado by way of Wichita,” I declared.
“Why Wichita?”
A smile formed on my face. “Need a new dress.”
A bell tolled above our heads as we pushed through the door of the chain bridal store located in a strip mall in Wichita.
Immediately, a saleswoman scurried in our direction, eager to earn a commission. But when she caught a good look at the pair of us, already dressed for a wedding, she stopped short, a crease forming between her eyebrows. “Um, can I help you?”
Tripp’s hand was firm at the small of my back as he replied, “My fiancée needs a dress.”
As much as I loved hearing him refer to me as his fiancée, a thrill shot through me, knowing that title would be replaced by an even better one—a more permanent one—before the day was through.
The woman eyed me up and down. “Is there something wrong with the one you’re wearing now?”
I gave a firm nod. “Everything.”
“All right,” she said slowly, her confusion evident.
“And I want to walk out of here with it. Today,” I added.
Her mouth popped open, and a noise of disbelief escaped. “Today?”
“Will that be a problem?” Tripp pressed .
Shaking out of her surprise, her professional mask slipped back into place, and she aimed a calm smile in our direction as she clasped both hands in front of her waist. “Of course not.” Gesturing an arm toward a rack of white dresses, she said, “If you’ll follow me, I’m sure we have something in stock to suit your needs.”
Tripp’s hand slid to my hip, where he gave a gentle squeeze, his mouth coming to rest beside my ear. “You good here? I’m gonna pop into the jewelry store I saw down the way.”
The teenage girl inside of me wanted to squeal at the idea of him running out to buy me a ring. My every fantasy was coming to life.
“I’m sure I can manage.” It took effort to keep my tone light and breezy with his claiming touch on me.
“Any requests?” His hot breath fanned my face with every word, and my thighs pressed together at his husky tone, low enough that only I could hear.
“Nothing too fancy. I’ll have to take it off when I work, so I don’t want to feel guilty about not wearing it much.”
He hummed in understanding, pressing a kiss to the sensitive spot below my ear. “Be back soon.”
A rush of cool air followed his departure, and I shivered, hugging my waist. The saleswoman was still waiting patiently for me to join her, so I stepped forward, offering my apologies for keeping her waiting. “Sorry about that.”
Her eyes shifted over my shoulder before returning to meet mine. “It’s no trouble at all. You two been together long?”
The love I felt for Tripp filled my chest like a balloon. “Our whole lives.”
A soft smile curved on her lips. “Let’s find you something special for your big day, then, shall we? ”
We briefly discussed my preferred style, and she gathered a few options before ushering me toward a dressing room. Before closing the curtain, she asked, “Is there anything else I can get for you?”
The memory of Tripp’s hands on me earlier sparked inspiration.
“Got any lingerie for sale?”