Buddy grins. "I don't think he'll mind at all."
"What won't I mind?" Colton asks, suddenly appearing from the back room.
"I was just tellin' Penny about the fundraiser idea for Shelby Rae." He hesitates before he says, "Penny could bake more than usual this week for a big bake sale. We could sell her pies for ten bucks a pop. I know people would pay it."
Colton nods and says, "That sounds good." He's clearly not understanding Buddy's meaning behind the whole thing.
"She'll need to spend more time at your place," Buddy explains. "More bakin'. More time in your kitchen."
Colton seems to tense at his words. His eyes glance over at me, but then quickly return to Buddy. "Oh, uh, if that's what she needs, I'm not gonna stop her."
Giving him a small smile, I tell him, "Thanks, Colt." Things have been strained between us, to say the least, but I'm hoping we can continue down the same path that we had forged yesterday afternoon. Maybe spending more time together is just what we need.
* * * * *
COLTON
OVER THE NEXT couple of weeks, I have a hard time keepin' what I consider my two worlds from colliding. Light and dark. Penny is my light, while Ruby Sue is my dark. Penny opens up possibilities of rememberin' my past and hopin' for a better future --- she's the light at the end of my tunnel. Whereas, Ruby Sue keeps me just where I want to be --- in the dark, not rememberin' a single thing or dwellin' on my forgotten past.
Penny continues bakin' in my kitchen every morning, and I keep on tryin' to ignore her. My efforts are not provin' to be very successful, however. Penny is cute as a button with a heart of gold, and she's almost impossible to resist. I can totally see why I could have fallen for her before. Even though I keep pushin' her away, she keeps reelin' me in, makin' me mad as hell but also happy at the same time. I've never had so many mixed emotions with regards to one person before.
Ruby Sue keeps showin' up at my place on a regular basis, and I keep resistin' her efforts to get me into bed. Hell, I have taken her out on more dates than I have the whole three years of our relationship. We've gone to the movies, out to eat and on hikin' excursions --- anything and everything to keep her out of my bedroom. I have a hard time even kissin' her, and it's gettin' harder and harder to ignore exactly what's goin' on here between Penny and me.
I'm developin' feelings for Penny Preston.
It kind of hit me all at once even though I've resisted it every step of the fuckin' way. I don't want to love her. Hell, I don't even want to like her. But she has this magnetic pull on me that knows just how to tug on the right heartstrings to make me fall more and more for her.
But the bullheadedness in me keeps tryin' to push her away. It doesn't make matters any better when Buddy is all for our buddin' friendship. He now and then drops hints about the way Penny and I were with each other, and I have a feelin' we were very much in love. But Penny never talks about how we were. She completely skips over that topic, focusin' more on our friendship and my family. I think deep down she's afraid to push me too far, and she's smart to think that way. I have a bad feelin' that one of these days she'll push me too far, and I'll push right back. I have a lot of buttons that can be pressed. And if you press the right one, I'll have a complete mental shutdown. I just hope that Penny never pushes that button, but she has no idea what my triggers are. How could she? I won't let her in to know me and to know what affects me.
I find myself watchin' her while she works at the bar. Every guy that talks to her is a potential threat. I don't know why the hell I'm so possessive over her, but I am. And I know it's more than just her bein' my employee. No. It's somethin' else entirely. I want her to be mine, but I don't even know why I feel that way.
My tough exterior is startin' to slip, though, and it's all because of Penny. She's just so damn sweet. She's…irresistible. And trust me, I've been tryin' to resist. I've taken so many damn cold showers over the past couple of weeks, I'm surprised my cock hasn't frozen up and fallen off.
And now with the fundraiser for Shelby Rae comin' up, Penny has been in my kitchen more than I have. She comes at the ass crack of dawn, and I wake up to her singin' to the top country tunes on the radio in the kitchen. I took the radio that I used in my shed to work out with and put it in the kitchen a few days ago. She loves music, and even though I miss my radio when I'm workin' out, it was worth it to make her happy. And for some reason, makin' her happy makes me happy.
It's the day of the fundraiser, and she's singin'Dibsby Kelsea Ballerini. The song is upbeat, and she's dancin' around the kitchen like no one's watchin'…except I'm watchin'. She sings like a fuckin' angel, and I curse the heavens above. She's smart, funny, pretty, sassy,andshe can sing and dance. I just need her to have, like, one huge flaw that makes me dislike her just a tiny bit. But she doesn't have any flaws that I can find…and believe me when I say I've searched high and low for one. She's fuckin' perfect.
Penny takes a whisk in her hand and sings into it like a microphone, and I can't help but chuckle. She stops singin' immediately and whirls around. Her face flushes bright pink with embarrassment.
"Colt!" She says my name breathlessly, and I suddenly want to hear her moanin' it while she's under me.
Fuck. I'm instantly hard. I walk over to her before I can stop myself. She's like a siren, always drawin' me in even though I'm treadin' on dangerous territory. My fingertips graze her pink cheek and wipe off the flour that's there. "Always covered in flour," I whisper to her.
She stares up at me with those big, beautiful, stormy gray eyes, and I melt a little inside. "I'm an enthusiastic baker I guess," she whispers back with a shy smile.
Her comment makes me grin. My thumb caresses her soft cheek, and it takes all of my willpower to pull away from her before I kiss her. And, damn, do I want to kiss her right now. "I'm gonna go get ready," I say, taking a step back to create some distance between us before I do somethin' I'll regret. "You ready for the fundraiser?"
"Almost. I'm going to finish up some things here, and then I'm going to go back to my apartment to shower."
Picturin' her naked in the shower makes me take a few more steps back before she sees the physical evidence of my wicked thoughts. "I, uh…I'll see you later then." She smirks, and I suddenly want to go runnin' back over to her. But I force myself to stay where I am. "Oh, and don't worry about haulin' those heavy boxes down over the hill. I'll do it."
"Thanks, Colt." She stares at my biceps and grins. "I knew those muscles would come in handy some day," she says with a wink, before turnin' back to her mixer.
Her hips shake a little as she starts dancin' to the music again, and I almost groan out loud. I have to force myself to pull my gaze away and go upstairs.
This is gonna be a long day.
* * * * *
