Chapter 25
Penny
“Well, that was hot,” Billie teases as I settle into the passenger seat.
Trying to hide my blush, and my huge smile, I keep my focus ahead of me. “Thanks for picking me up.”
She laughs lightly as she pulls away from Monty’s house.
“So I guess you don’t want to talk about the hot kiss?”
“I thought you were the nice one.”
Billie shakes her head, still grinning. “I am the nice one! You have a gorgeous man who can actually string more than a sentence together wrapping his fingers around your neck and kissing you senseless. All I’m doing is pointing out your good fortune.
The question is, why are you being so cagey?
I thought you were all about the spice of life, Penny Darling. ”
I blow out a breath and slump in my seat. “Because it’s not real.”
The car jolts to a stop and my seat belt tightens around my chest as I fly forward.
“Jesus, sorry,” she mutters. “Foot slipped.”
But she doesn’t put her foot back on the gas and, instead, remains parked in the middle of the road, just five houses down from Monty’s.
“What do you mean it’s not real?”
Dammit.
“Hello…” Billie probes, louder now.
“Um—”
“Forget it. We’re stopping at the bar.”
“What?” I squeal. I’ve been sexed up too many times this evening to be seen in public.
“We need the mugs,” she says.
“The what?”
“The mugs. The This Is Definitely Coffee mugs. You can’t tell a lie when holding one of those.”
Billie raises a brow in challenge. I shake my head but can’t stop my lips from cracking into a smile.
“It’s not about the mugs, it’s about the alcohol.”
“Which we have in the bar,” she says.
I squeeze my eyes shut; opening up to Billie tonight is one thing, but there is no way in hell I’m telling Rosie or Tally the truth.
It’s mortifying enough having one person know that Monty isn’t my real boyfriend.
I can’t handle my sister and her best friend looking at me like I’m any more pathetic than I already think I am.
“No bar.”
“Fine,” Billie relents. “Your mom already went to bed. We can go to the house, and you can fill me in there.”
“Why don’t we just go back to my apartment?”
“Nah. If I’m drinking as much as needed to get you to spill all the beans, neither of us will be able to drive. You’re coming with me and you can stay on the couch.”
I let out a snort. Oddly, going home feels like it might be exactly what I need.
“Fine. But I’m not going to be the only one who spills all my darkest secrets.”
“Girl, I had a baby at nineteen after a one-night stand. That’s my deepest secret. Well, that and the fact I haven’t had sex since.” She raises a brow. “I’m the wrong person to challenge in this game.”
My mouth drops open at her words. “But Quinn is seven!”
“I told you, I’ve got pathetic down. But don’t worry, I’ll get you all liquored up before I force you to tell me anything else.” Billie flashes me a grin.
Finally, Billie presses her foot on the gas, and we take off toward the farm.
My hair blows out behind me from the open windows and a sense of nostalgia grows as we inch closer to my childhood home.
The street that leads there is quiet, the distant melodies of live music from the brewery and the soft noise of the crickets and bullfrogs that serenade the late September night sky the only sounds.
Down the long gravel road, the white Victorian shines like a beacon, the crescent moon hanging overhead, a welcome smile.
“Sometimes I forget how magical it is here.”
Billie hums. “Some days I forget it’s my home.”
I reach over and squeeze her hand. “I’m so glad you’re here. How’s Quinn liking his new school?”
“Oh, he loves it. Not as much as he loves having Tally right down the path in the cottage, though. I swear my son works to steal his uncle Jesse’s girlfriend daily.”
I giggle. “It’s sweet.”
We pull up beside Walker’s old F-150 and, when Billie puts the car in park, she turns to me with a soft expression.
“You don’t actually have to tell me anything, Penny,” she says. “We can make some tea and then I’ll drive you home after. We don’t need all the girls’ night antics.”
My lips twist. “I think I could use a little girls’ night antics.”
Billie’s face lights up. “Really?”
“Yeah, really. But maybe I’ll just spill all the tea right here. That way, if you do any surprised shrieking, we don’t wake the house.”
Billie snorts. “Okay.”
“God, I don’t even know where to start.” I let out a heaving sigh. “I guess it all started with me and my big mouth.”
Billie shifts in her seat so that her back is against the door and she’s facing me completely.
“Remember the last time you saved me after Monty saw me topless?”
Billie laughs. “Yeah, how could I forget?”
“Well, that wasn’t even the worst thing that happened that day. After that, he witnessed my complete humiliation—repeatedly—because everyone in town is determined to set up Poor Pathetic Penny—”
Billie frowns. “You aren’t pathetic.”
“Tell that to the second man who offered to be my fake boyfriend after Babs tried to have a ghost whisperer purge me of my bad luck.”
“What?”
I shake my head. “It’s honestly too hard to explain. The point is, after Monty witnessed my utter humiliation he offered to be my fake boyfriend.”
Billie hums. “What does he get out of it?”
“Well, I kind of told Monty that I knew why his books weren’t selling and gave him a detailed list of everything wrong with them.”
“You didn’t!”
I cover my face. “I did.”
“What did you say? What did he say?”
I blow out a heavy breath as I tell her everything; how I told Monty his books were boring, how they were missing romance, chemistry, the very thing that kept a reader turning the page.
“How did he react?” Billie asks.
“Well, he nearly kissed me.” Her mouth drops open, and I hold up a hand. “He was just trying to prove a point. He said something like”—I drop my voice in a bid to imitate him—“ ‘If you think I can’t kiss you like I’ve been aching to do this my whole life…’ ”
“Shut up!”
“Exactly,” I squeal dramatically. God, it feels good to confide in someone.
“So then what happened?”
“He offered to be my fake boyfriend…which of course I said no to at first. But then he said he really needed help learning how to write romance and he figured if we did this, I could help teach him how to write a good book boyfriend.” She hums and nods along, urging me to continue.
“So, I agreed. Two stones one bird and all that jazz.”
Billie’s face contorts. “Huh?”
“Ya know, kills the bird with the two stones? We’re both getting what we need?”
She shakes her head again. Clearly I’m getting the saying wrong.
Frustrated, I say, “You know, because now everyone’s left me alone about the whole dating thing.
Oh, and I’ve been posting about the whole thing on my Instagram page and people are loving it.
So now I’m selling more books, too.” I shrug since that about sums it up. “And that’s basically the story.”
“What?” Billie looks to me, confused.
“Yeah, that’s about it.” Well, it’s not all of it.
There’s also that teensy thing about Monty and me having sex so I can figure out what I like, but that seems a bit too personal to share.
Some things should be private between Monty and me.
“So we’re fake dating until he finishes his book.
And then we’ll break up and go back to being friends. ”
Even as I say the words out loud, my stomach rolls at the thought of this all ending. Fuck, I shouldn’t have slept with him.
Billie coughs out a laugh and then slaps a hand over her mouth. “Oh, Penny, no.”
“I’m being serious! That’s the story.”
“You read romance, right?” She’s wearing a smile now.
“Yes…obviously.”
“So you must have read a book where two best friends realize they have long-standing feelings for each other but deny it for a long time because they’re afraid to mess up the friendship.”
“Yeah, friends to lovers.” I roll my eyes. “It’s a great trope. If done right, of course.”
“Penny.” Billie’s expression turns serious again. “Monty wanted to kiss you because he liked you. He basically told you that!”
“No, he didn’t. He said he could kiss me like that, not that he wanted to.”
“And has he since then?” She quirks a brow as if she already knows the answer.
I shake my head to tell her it’s not like that, but she holds up a finger.
“He claimed you as his girlfriend in front of the entire town.”
I shrug. Okay, yeah, he did do that. But it was only because he was trying to protect me.
“And he asked you to help him learn about chemistry so he could write a better book.”
“I don’t know why you’re just repeating what I told you.”
“So you can hear the words yourself,” Billie cuts in, exasperated. “Penny, Monty likes you! Hell, my panties were even wet after that kiss he just gave you at the door. Let me guess, he said it was because I was parked outside.”
My lips twist. “He said we could go with that.”
She snorts.
“And that’s after he showed me the tattoos on his chest,” I continue, sinking my head into my hands and hiding from her.
“What tattoos?”
Between my fingers, I spy the huge smile on her face.
“One of a maple tree and a bonfire. They were our thing in high school; we used to spend hours under that tree at the bottom of his garden.”
My fingers settle against my lips as I remember the way Monty looked into my eyes and told me he wanted to add me onto his chest, beneath that tree, right where I belong.
“What do I do?” I ask Billie now.
“My help ended at pointing out the obvious.” Her shoulders fall in defeat. “When it comes to relationships, I’m even less experienced than you or Monty.”
I blow out a breath and my bangs fan upward. “Fuck, Billie, I really like him.”
“Sounds like he might really like you, too.”
I nibble on my thumb, not quite ready to face either of those statements just yet. “I need sugar.”
“Well, that I can handle.”
***
For the next hour, I attempt to forget about everything that happened tonight, from me and Monty having sex, to telling Billie how I feel about him, about us.
While Billie warms up the oven for chocolate chip cookies, I hop in the shower. Once I’m snuggled into a pair of pajamas I always leave here, we assemble the dough, polishing off a bottle of peanut butter whiskey as we do.
It isn’t until after we pop the cookies into the oven that I see the messages on my phone.
Monty: Tonight was everything, Xuxuzinho. Thank you.
Monty: And for the record, I didn’t kiss you because we had an audience.
Biting my lip, I fall back against the couch. I might be tipsy, and extremely tired, but that sounds like flirting to me. Could Billie be right? Could Monty actually like me, too?
I type out a response, not expecting a reply. He’s probably been asleep for hours.
Me: I’m glad you kissed me.
I squeeze my eyes shut—God, I hope I don’t regret that in the morning—though they fly back open when my phone vibrates seconds later.
Monty: I can’t wait to do it again. Sweet dreams, Penny Darling.
Holy crap. Is this really happening? Am I falling for my best friend?
And maybe, just maybe, is he falling for me, too?
October
Hope Harbor Happy Chat
Rayna: Happy Sunday! Thank you all for participating in the apple bake off.
Rosie: You’re welcome.
Rosie: Now tell everyone that Henry and I won.
Fletcher: Do I get a little credit? I basically did everything while you instigated a food fight.
Rosie: Just because you don’t know how to have fun…
Rayna: If you two are done?
Babs: It’s like you can cut the sexual tension with a butter knife!
Stew: I vote they bang.
Rayna: Stewart Robert Garrison, we don’t talk like that in here!
Babs: Seriously, Stew. Be better.
Fletcher: Ladies, I hardly think you can lecture Stew on this topic.
Babs: What are you insinuating, Mr. Mayor?
Rosie: Yeah, Mr. Mayor, what exactly do you have against our Ladies of Liberty? The finest women in town.
Rayna: Thank you, Rosie. But I am sorry to say you are not the winner.
Rosie: What!?!? We were a shoo-in! Did you not see the way Fletcher turned the white chocolate shavings into a mural of Daisy’s face?
Babs: Oh! So that’s the Farrah Fawcett cut you wanted, Tally? I can do that!
Tally: Yup! But clearly my version of Daisy was even better than yours, Rosie
Rayna: It might have been good, but you sent it after midnight. Which means your submission doesn’t count.
Rosie: LOL what were you doing that kept you up so late Tally?
Rosie: Hey Walker? Care to share how you kept our Darling girl so busy she was late in submitting for the contest?!
Rayna: Or maybe I can just announce the winner, and Babs can give that haircut to our OTHER Darling girl.
Penny: Wait, I didn’t even submit anything?
Rayna: Then I guess it’s a good thing that your boyfriend submitted something for the both of you. Congrats Penny and Monty! You’re our winners!
Eli: I just got a new phone! What did I miss?