Chapter 8 Greyson
GREYSON
“How do I look?”
“Like some kind of dapper James Bond hillbilly,” Duke says.
I arch a brow. “Seriously?”
“You look fine, but you know that Penny ain’t gonna care that you’re in a freshly pressed suit. That’s not her thing.”
“So you think I should change?”
“I think you should quit trying so hard and act natural.”
“But then she won’t think I’m putting any effort into her,” I argue.
“Tell me, Grey, how much effort have you been pouring into that girl since you found out she was pregnant?”
“Everything I’ve done has been to show her how dedicated I am to making this work.”
“And where has that gotten you?”
I frown. “Well, shit.”
“Lucky for you, I packed something in the back of your truck.”
“What the hell did you pack?”
“Go look.”
I go to my truck and look in the bed. “Wow…”
“What do you think?”
“This will work.”
Eager to get on with the evening, I head home to where Penny is waiting for me.
Play it cool. Don’t lay it on too thick. Don’t mention the baby.
It feels weird knocking on my own front door, but I want to get this right, and that includes a proper courtship.
When the door swings open, I have to do a double take, because standing in front of me, framed by the soft glow of light spilling from the house, is a different version of the woman I’ve spent years glimpsing from across fields.
A woman whose motives and ambitions were foreign to me, because I never allowed myself to get too close.
Instead of her typical flannel attire, she’s wearing a form-fitting black dress and heels that elongate her legs, showing off the muscles she’s earned from all her hard work.
Through the square frame of her glasses, her gorgeous doe eyes stare back at me in question. Her newly sculpted brow arches up, creasing her forehead as her eyes trail down to my hands.
“More flowers?”
I extend the bouquet out to her, and she accepts it with a hand newly adorned with costume jewelry. I make a mental note to gift her one of my gran’s old pieces, along with several new ones.
“These will make a great snack for the goats, along with all the others.” She smirks, her face tilting to the side, her dark hair shifting around her perfect heart-shaped face. “So, what do you have planned for us tonight, Mr. Prosper?”
My cock twitches at her use of the title ‘Mr. Prosper’, which has become synonymous with impeccable fucking orgasm.
But that’s not what tonight is about.
I extend my elbow, as I’d done the night before, and say, “Ms. Green, it would please me greatly if you would accompany me for a night of dinner and entertainment.”
She snakes her hand over my forearm and allows me to guide her to my truck.
After helping her inside, I climb in and start toward our destination.
Penny’s newly painted fingernails tap nervously on the clutch Karmen must have given her.
“You look beautiful,” I tell her.
A strained smile manifests on her pink lips. “Thank you.”
I don’t like how she receives my compliments, but I suppose I understand why they’re so difficult for her to believe, because before I got with her, my tastes ran Hollywood pretty.
I need to show her she’s not a concession.
When Penny sees that I’m not heading towards the bigger town of Brooksburrow, she turns to me.
“Where are we going?”
“Where do you think?”
She looks over her shoulder. “All the nice restaurants are that way.”
“Well, maybe I wanted to take you to a shitty restaurant. They say nothing strengthens a couple more than a strong case of dysentery.”
Penny giggles, and I can’t help but smile, because, despite all the hurdles I have to clear, Penny is worth it.
I drive out to a section of field that me and my brothers used to play at and kill the engine.
“Seriously?”
Without replying, I exit my truck and rush around to her side to let her out.
Once on the field, she looks curiously at our surroundings.
I lay out a blanket and grab the picnic basket Duke packed.
“If you were planning a picnic, why’d you have me get all dressed up?”
I take out a loaf of bread. “To be honest, I’d planned to take you to a fancy dinner, but Duke had other plans for us.”
“Well, I have to hand it to Duke, he knows me well.”
“Don’t think that you’re getting out of that fancy dinner. It’s just postponed.”
The basket is loaded with all kinds of food, courtesy of Javier, the best chef money can buy. It’s not an exaggeration to say he could dance circles around any Michelin Star chef.
As we eat, Penny moans her approval, which makes my cock throw a damn fit. But I keep it calm and under wraps, realizing how important this dinner is.
“And the final course,” I pull out a metal tin. “Tiramisu fit for Italian nobility.”
It’s devoured in under a minute, because for as fancy as Penny looks, deep down, she’s still Penny, and she can clear a dish faster than anyone I know.
As I clean up the basket, Penny lies back, placing her hands on her round stomach. I long to hold it, pressing my ear to her growing dome, but I know how ornery she gets and commit to respecting her personal space.
She extends one leg into the air. “I can’t believe I got into heels for this.”
“Sorry about that.”
“Don’t be. It was actually kind of fun, and I have to admit, I don’t hate Karmen.”
“Is that surprising?”
“It’s not that I ever disliked her, but we’re so different, I figured she probably didn’t like me.”
“Karmen’s a sweetheart.”
“I see that now. We may even go out for coffee sometime.”
I lay my head next to hers, in the opposite direction, taking in the gorgeous sunset, and for a long while, we just exist in each other’s presence.
“Sometimes, it bothers me that I have no roots,” she finally says.
“What do you mean?”
“Before coming to Crimson Crest Ranch, I was blowing in the wind, and it wasn’t just because of the death of my parents. My siblings left when I was still young, refusing to respond to any of my calls or texts, and my grandparents never tried to get to know me.”
“Life gets busy sometimes.”
“Nah, that’s not it. They just didn’t want to take me in.”
“Then it’s a good thing my family is big enough for the both of us.”
She sighs.
“It’s not just because you’re pregnant, Penny. Each one of my brothers already thinks of you as their kin. You say you have no roots, but the truth is, you set them down almost four years ago, on this ranch.”
“Thanks, Grey. That means a lot to me.”
“Now, are you done relaxing so we can get on with our date?”
She lifts onto her elbows. “On with our date? It’s getting dark.”
I get up and head to the back of my truck, pulling out the entertainment.
She giggles. “Is that a potato gun?”
“It sure is.”
For the next hour, we set the potato gun off at the targets erected decades ago. Penny’s aim is terrible, but that only makes the experience more fun.
With her, it feels like I’m almost a kid again. Like I’m carefree, with my entire life ahead of me.
When the mosquitoes come, we rush back into the truck before we get eaten up.
On the way back to my house, Penny places her hand on my thigh, moving it slowly up. Her touch makes me feral, and it takes everything I have not to pull over onto the side of the road to sate the hungry beast deep within me.
But Penny isn’t like the other women I’ve been with. Penny is important because she’s not just a fun night.
She’s everything.
I walk her to the door, and when she tries to pull me inside, I resist.
“I’m sorry about embarrassing you yesterday,” she says, standing on the threshold of my house, looking miserable.
“You didn’t embarrass me, Penny. I did.”
“But—”
I seal my lips over hers, disallowing the argument from continuing. Then I pull away and return to my truck.
She stands in the doorway as I drive off, her beautiful figure a beacon of light in the dark recesses of my soul.
How did it take me so long to realize what I needed?
And how do I get Penny to believe that everything I feel for her is real?