Chapter 26
DARCY
I stood aimlesslyin Penn’s room while he took the world’s longest shower. To be honest, it was only about ten minutes, but it felt exceptionally long as I waited for him to finish. I was trying to get over the shock of his bare butt staring me in the face only moments before, attempting to compose myself before he came back.
I had to admit, it was a nice ass.
Not that I wanted him to know that.
I had also noted a tattoo that sat right in the middle of his shoulder blades and one on his bicep. I couldn’t help but think that, had I not shown up at that very moment, I may have never known they were there.
When he was finished, he came out of the bathroom, fully dressed and toweling off his hair. “You never did tell me why you were here, Darcy.”
I crossed my hands over my chest and swallowed. “Right, you’re probably wondering. Well, I thought I could take you out to dinner. You know, since you’ve had kind of a shitty day.”
He squinted his eyes, lowering the towel. “Hmm. That doesn’t seem very Darcy of you.”
I tried not to take offense, remembering my plan. “Oh, really? And what would be Darcy of me?” I asked him.
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Spitting on me? Kicking me while I’m down?”
Nope, this was a bad idea. There was absolutely no way I could pretend to not think this guy was a complete douchebag. I headed toward the door, ready to give up. “Actually, you know, never mind. I shouldn’t have come here.”
His hand caught my arm and made my stomach dance. “Hey, wait. I was just kidding. Dinner sounds nice.”
I looked down where his fingers were still gripping me, feeling a buzzing where his touch was, and he removed them quickly. I smiled, making sure it met my eyes and trying to ignore the warmth that had flooded through my body. “Okay, then.”
Phase one was underway.
I drove us out of town for dinner, not terribly far from Aveline, but enough that no one would talk and make accusations about the two of us together. It was an Italian restaurant and one of my favorite places to go for chicken parmesan. The two of us sat down, and I instantly became more aware of my own breathing. I was actually on a date with Penn Murphy. What had I done?
“I hope this is okay,” I said, opening the menu even though I already knew what I wanted. I just needed something to keep my hands busy.
Penn followed suit. “It’s great. I love Italian.”
I nodded, biting the inside of my cheek and looking down at the menu. I usually didn’t have trouble coming up with conversation, but with Penn, it wasn’t easy. I was overthinking everything I wanted to say, hoping he would find it charming and likable. I wanted to draw him in so I could scare him off, and yet I was freaking myself out in the process.
This whole thing was a lot of pressure on a girl.
“So, you can’t drive, you can’t take a hint on when to leave things alone, and you’re a Cubs fan. It looks like we were meant to be enemies.” The moment the words came out of my mouth I smiled, hoping Penn would see it as charming and hilarious instead of bitchy and rude.
I watched the way his chest moved, a chuckle escaping, and I gave myself a mental pat on the back. This wasn’t so hard.
Penn took a sip of the water in front of him. “Isn’t that how some of the best love stories begin? I mean, you tell me; you’re the romance reader.”
I picked up my own glass. “Normally in my romance novels, they are wearing big poofy dresses and speak in an English accent.”
“Wait, do you read them in an English accent?”
I peered up at him and scrunched my nose. “Well, yeah. How else would I read them?”
Penn didn’t get to respond before the waitress came and took our order. I watched her bite her lip and lean a little closer to Penn as she asked what she could get us. She batted her eyelashes, and I wondered if he was used to women turning to mush around him. It was borderline infuriating the way this woman gave absolutely no regard for me, acting as though I were not sitting in the chair across from him on what anyone else would assume was a date. I could have been his wife, and she wouldn’t have cared. She would have still brushed up against him and let her fingers linger on his shoulder as she walked by.
I was annoyed. Not that she was being particularly attentive to Penn. I wasn’t jealous or anything, but just the mere fact that he probably walked through life with a flood of yeses accompanying him. I would bet money that if there was a woman involved in anything that he wanted, he got it.
“Is that what it’s always like for you?” I asked boldly.
Penn appeared confused. “Like what?”
I rolled my eyes. “Do not act like you don’t see it.” Penn stared at me blankly, and I leaned back in my chair. Penn was oblivious to that woman practically throwing herself at him. “Oh my God, you don’t see it.”
“Can you explain to me what I am not seeing?” he asked, scratching his head.
I moved forward, my forearms on the table. “The way that woman, all women, are when they are around you. It’s like you mesmerize them, like they all are just dying to get you to notice them. I’ve never seen Aveline in such an uproar.”
Penn tilted his head back slightly, his arms crossed over his chest. “Not you, though.”
“What?” I asked him, wondering what I had to do with anything.
“I don’t seem to do anything but annoy you.”
I looked down. “That’s not entirely true,” I replied, picking at my straw wrapper.
“No?” he asked as our waitress came back around. Her name tag read Nadia, and she had a slight accent. I couldn’t decide where she was from, but it added to her appeal.
“How are you guys doing over here?” she asked, eyes only on Penn in a dreamy haze.
I arched an eyebrow as if to say, “See what I mean?” but Penn’s eyes were focused solely on me.
“Perfect,” he said. He didn’t acknowledge the beautiful waitress practically heaving herself onto him. Instead, he never blinked or took his eyes from mine. “Everything is perfect.”