Page 31 of Keeping Penny

“It’s not because of me. It’s because of you. You’re a good person with a huge heart, and you deserve a break.”

“There are a lot of good people out there, Pyro, I’m not sure why I’ve been singled out, but I’m not dumb enough to reject the help. If not for me, then for Bowie.”

Pyro wanted to kiss her. Badly. But he held back. This wasn’t the time or the place. Penny was still getting back on her feet. He wanted her to choose to be with him, to kiss him because she wanted to, not because she felt obligated or thankful for what he was doing for her.

He could be patient. Good things came to those who waited…or worked hard. And he could do both. He’d show Penny and her daughter that he was a man they could rely on. Someone who had their backs, no matter what.

Because if this week had proven anything, it was that he wanted this woman and her daughter for his own. He wanted to claim them, spoil them, show them what a good man looked like. Up until now, he hadn’t been sure he had what it took to be a decent partner or father. But the more he was around Bowie and Penny, the more he was certain.

He wouldn’t let them down. Not as long as he had breath in his body.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Penny was nervous. After her talk with Pyro, they’d gone to the hangar to meet back up with Bowie, Casper, and Laryn. Her daughter had been talking a mile a minute, explaining in detail everything she’d learned about both the fighter jet and the helicopter. She’d insisted Casper show her mom the picture he’d taken of her in the cockpit and behind the controls of the chopper. Penny had a feeling they’d all be hearing about the experience several times over the next twenty-four hours, until they arrived in Norfolk and the girl had new things to talk about.

Pyro had volunteered to take Bowie to get some ice cream from one of the twenty-four-hour convenience stores onboard, and Penny didn’t have the heart to say no, not after seeing the look of adoration on her daughter’s face when she gazed up at the man at her side.

It worried her a little how fast Bowie had latched onto Pyro, but she knew in her gut that he was a good man. That he was nothing like her husband had been. He wouldn’t hurt one hair on Bowie’s head, of that she was certain. He might spoil her rotten, but Penny figured a little spoiling wasn’t a bad thing, since she’d had so little in her short life so far.

But she’d have to make it clear that he couldn’t continue to give her everything she wanted. Penny was not going to raise an entitled child. No way in hell.

While she was deciding what to do with the additional free time—which she’d had more of since being on this ship and hooking up with Pyro and his amazing friends than she’d had in years—Laryn approached and asked if they could talk.

Penny immediately got nervous. The woman was intimidating. Not because of anything she’d said or done in the last week, but because she had confidence oozing out of every pore. She was in charge of the mechanics who worked under her and had no problem speaking her mind. Penny liked her. A lot. But she was still intimidated by her a little bit.

“Sure, I’d like that,” she said, doing her best to sound as if she wasn’t quaking in her shiny new tennis shoes Pyro had bought her.

“Oh man, am I that scary?” Laryn asked with a chuckle.

Darn. Guess she didn’t hide her nervousness as well as she’d hoped. “No, not at all. I’d love a chance to get to know you better.”

“Awesome. Come on, we can go to my office.” Laryn said goodbye to Casper, then hooked her arm in Penny’s as she led her toward the door to the hangar.

“You have an office?” Penny asked.

“Well, not in the strictest sense of the word. It’s actually a supply closet. But I put a chair and a tiny little desk in there so I could get away from the other mechanics when I needed a moment. They can be like a bunch of little kids sometimes. No offense.”

Penny smiled. “I’m not offended. I need a break from Bowie sometimes too, and she is a little kid.”

She had no idea what to expect when Laryn led them up a level to another large space filled with aircraft, then toward a door along the wall. She unlocked it and reached in to turn on the light, gesturing for Penny to lead the way.

The room was, in fact, a closet. But it had Laryn’s tools of the trade on every available surface. On shelves along the walls, hanging on the walls themselves, in boxes on the floors, even hanging from the ceiling. Everything was well secured, so nothing would fall with the movement of the ship. And there was indeed a tiny table between two of the shelving units, with a metal chair in front of it.

Laryn pulled the chair out and pushed it away from the table, then boosted herself up onto the flat surface itself, not caring that she was sitting on a couple of file folders.

“Sit. Let’s chat,” she said cheerfully.

Feeling a little like she was about to undergo an interrogation, she sat.

But Laryn did most of the talking for the first ten minutes, putting Penny at ease. She shared how long she and Casper had known each other, how she got interested in working on engines—by working on cars with her dad, when she was younger—even admitting that she had a tattoo of a small wrench. She was funny, engaging, and Penny liked her even more than she had before.

Then she got serious…and told Penny the story of how she’d been kidnapped, how stupid she’d been to get on Casper’s helicopter, and how Pyro and Casper had to destroy the helicopter she’d spent so many hours working on, to prevent it from getting into the hands of the wrong government.

It was a scary story, but obviously one with a happy ending, since Laryn was sitting there in front of Penny to tell the tale.

“So…here we are. Happy as two clams, and I’m all knocked up.”

Penny laughed.