Chapter 6
Kate was sick.
The cold she’d been so afraid Toby would get from the winter temperatures, had snuck up on her instead, leaving Ian to tend a very miserable wife and a mewling child who wanted his mother.
It was a little more than the stalwart businessman could handle, having to people vying for his attention.
Penny, seeing his plight, offered to take Toby to the children’s playroom downstairs in the building, while Ian tended to the bigger baby upstairs. Kate was never a person who took illness well. While she was the most organised and efficient of people, when sickness struck, she was equally demanding.
“Come on little guy,” Penny cooed as she took Toby by the hand and boarded the elevator, pressing the number for the play area.
She watched the numbers on the wall light up as they began to descend. It stopped on the floor below. She stepped aside, pulling Toby towards her, as she waited for the passenger to board. When the doors opened however, she got a surprise. “Mike.”
“Hey there!” he greeted with a smile as he boarded, the large doors closing behind him. He looked down at Toby, “Hey buddy. How’re you doing?” he asked, ruffling the little boy’s mop of brown curls.
Toby tried to grab his hand in response.
“Where are you two headed?”
He has a nice smile …Penny found herself thinking as she watched Mike play with her godson.
“Down to the play area,” she replied, a strange feeling tickling her insides. She hoped she wasn’t coming down with something too. “Kate isn’t feeling well this morning so I’m giving Ian some space. What about you? Where’re you headed?”
“I was just headed down the street for some coffee, but how about I join you two?” His eyes met Penny’s, a smile still tugging at the corners of his lips. “I can keep you company a while.”
Did she want company? She wasn’t sure. If she did, did she want Mike’s? They had somewhat buried the hatchet on their three-year-long misunderstanding, but that didn’t suddenly make them friends. Did it?
He wasn’t a bad guy, from what little she’d seen of him, and Kate assured her of his character – and her best friend was an excellent judge. However, it still didn’t dispel the strange feeling in her stomach. Something akin to a nervous flutter, but Penny didn’t get nervous flutters.
Not in a long time.
“Alright,” she finally answered, giving Mike the smallest of smiles. They rode the rest of the way in silence, except for Toby’s babblings.
The play area was surprisingly empty when they arrived, but Penny was thankful for it. “Where is everyone? I was expecting other children to be here. Schools are finished for the holidays,” she commented as she let go of Toby’s hand and allowed him to wander.
“There probably aren’t that many children in this building yet. Besides, the families that do have them usually travel for the Christmas break,” Mike replied as he joined Penny at a nearby table, turning his chair to face her.
He couldn’t help watching her. Though he tried to be subtle, his eyes kept wandering back to Penny’s face.
She was striking. Her oval face, though nondescript, was enhanced by her large almond-shaped eyes and long lashes.
He watched them flutter against her cheeks as she observed Toby playing in the submarine-shaped apparatus. She smiled effortlessly as she watched the child.
It was the first time he’d such a smile from her, so relaxed and unguarded. It was beautiful. He was glad she’d decided to wear her hair back in a ponytail, allowing him to see it.
He hadn’t entirely thought this plan through, but the moment he saw her he knew he couldn’t let the opportunity slip by him.
Ever since he saw her for the first time, there was something about Penny that captured him. She’d smiled at all the right places, as Kate and Ian exchanged vows, as he watched her from behind Ian’s shoulder. She was stunning all dressed in aqua, with her hair swept up in a bun, tendrils framing her face.
He hadn’t gotten the chance to say much to her as they processed out of the church, but after, at the reception, he’d tried. He had believed, mistakenly, that her aloofness was due to the fact that she didn’t know anyone at the wedding, having only arrived the night before, missing the rehearsal.
He thought she just needed some prodding to help her relax. He hadn’t known then what he knew now.
“How’s your day been?” he asked gently.
“Good, if you leave out the sneezing and sniffling coming from Kate’s room all morning,” she joked.
He liked the sound of her laugh.
