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Penelope huffs, hips swaying seductively with her palms free of ink as she exits the restroom in the downstairs lobby.
Guess she’s still mad about what I said.
I push off the wall, eyes drawn to every elegant curve of her ass as she walks in front of me. “Remind me to add a clause for excessive huffing to our agreement.”
“Go ahead,” she says when we push through the front doors. “I’ll just find another way to annoy you.”
Despite the irritation coating her too-sweet tone, I smirk. “Indeed.”
The afternoon sunlight battles for space inside the concrete jungle, shining off glass windows and gobbling up shadows being cast by the surrounding building.
Already, I’m missing Honey Hollow and the simplicity of the harbor. I’d take that fresh ocean air and the sight of Mount Serenity, with its billowing clouds of white smoke, over the staticky white noise of a busy city any day of the week.
I give a subtle wave to Javier, who waits patiently beside my black SUV in a neatly pressed black-and-white uniform.
“Good morning, sir.” He steps away from the car, greeting us with a curt nod before promptly opening the back passenger door.
“Javier.”
He smiles politely at Penelope. “May I have your name, miss?”
Her brows furrow when she peers up at me.
“What? Did you think I was going to make you walk to the meeting?”
“Logan wouldn’t, but Mr. Anderson? I wouldn’t put it past him.”
She says it like she’s comparing the old me to a monster. As if she doesn’t recognize the man I’ve become, and I don’t like what that’s doing to me. The way it makes me question the life I’ve been living without her.
Penelope switches the glare she was giving me to a brilliant smile. “Thank you for driving us today, Javier.”
He glances between the two of us curiously, and I shake my head when he offers a curt bow. “You’re welcome, miss.”
“Oh, you can call me Penelope.” She pats his arm in that no-boundaries way of hers. “All that formal stuff makes me itchy.”
“Yes, Penelope,” he says, sweeping his arm in a gesture for her to take a seat.
His mustache twitches with humor when he turns to me.
“Don’t ask,” I grumble before sliding onto the bench seat across from Pen.
As we drive toward Adventure Park, she clicks various switches, both brightening and dimming the lights inside the car before digging around the compartments on the side of the door. “Whoa. This is nifty.”
“You’re not used to this sort of thing?” I ask, genuinely confused, given her family’s wealth.
“Nah. I’m not one of those fancy bitches—ooh!” Her entire hand dunks into one of the built-in snack containers, marveling at the tiny red candies she finds.
Cinnamon chews. Her favorite.
“Okay… this… is a nice touch,” she mumbles between shoving gobs of them into her mouth.
The moan she gives when she flops back against the seat has me shifting uncomfortably. But a thread of satisfaction feathers through me to know I’ve made her happy, even briefly.
The longer I watch her, the more suffocating the car becomes, filling with questions which start to strangle me. What have I missed while we’ve been apart? Who has the girl I once knew become?
Curious, my gaze falls to her hand.
She swallows the last of her bite, eyeing me skeptically. “What?”
