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ChapterNine
Gage sat in his car outside Penny’s apartment, trying to figure out what the hell he was doing here. The past three weeks had done a number on his head.
The first week after losing the bet to Penny had been a lot of fun. He’d enjoyed helping her with her “makeover” and spending time with her. Sometimes it was hard to reconcile the woman he’d come to know lately with the quirky, awkward IT girl, who’d been relegated to someone just there, hovering in the background of his life for the last six years.
More and more of the real Penny had emerged after that first game night a few months earlier, and now he considered her a friend, a real and true friend.
Or…at least, he had.
That friendship line had gotten a bit blurry since the night at Enigma. That night, he’d started looking deeper, seeing more of who Penny was beneath the surface, underneath her crazy outfits and hairstyles.
What he saw…well, it shook him up.
Between her vulnerability, her sense of humor, and her intelligence, he’d begun to feel an attraction he hadn’t expected. Which made things problematic for him.
At first, he hadn’t been one hundred percent on board with her desire to change herself to land a guy because he’d viewed it as trickery, but after hearing that she’d been bullied about her looks growing up, he’d started to understand that what Penny was doing was less about recreating herself, and more about unveiling the woman she’d been all along. The one she’d chosen to hide away for fear of ridicule or rejection. That sort of revelation, he could get behind.
But he’d miscalculated. Because he’d genuinely thought he could buy her some new clothes and makeup, help her fix her hair, and that would be enough to satisfy the bet. And as the makeover progressed, each day unveiling more and more of Penny’s natural beauty, that belief had been solidified. After all, what man could look at her andnotwant her?
That’s why he figured the trip to Enigma would seal the deal. She’d find a guy, hook up, and his debt would be cleared. Problem was…he appeared to be the only man who “saw” her.
So he’d taken her home—and made the mother of all mistakes by kissing her good night.
That kiss.
Fuck.
That was what hadreallyshaken him up. Because he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it. Or the fact he’d wanted to do a lot more than just kiss her that night.
When Meredith had called to ask him out, he’d considered it the answer to a prayer. A chance to get back to life as normal.
So much for that.
He’d been bored out of his mind within five minutes of picking her up, but he’d tried to push through, determined that if he could just get the meal over with, they could get down to the good stuff back at her hotel room.
Pushing through failed spectacularly, because that involved spending the entire dinner comparing Meredith to Penny, and finding the sexy flight attendant seriously lacking. So, instead of fucking his desire to be with Penny out of his system with another woman, he’d given Meredith the heave-ho and spent the rest of the weekend alone with his hand…fantasizing about an IT girl. In big glasses. And mom jeans.
Penny Beaumont, unbeknownst to her, had accomplished the one thing no other woman had ever managed to do. She’d gotten under his skin. And so far, she’d stayed there.
He’d spent the entire previous week avoiding her, struggling to find a way to tell her that the wager was paid in full. It wasn’t like she could bitch about him not giving her what she’d asked for. He’d dropped thousands on her makeover, when the first bet had only been for a lousy twenty bucks. She’d gotten way more than the original wager was worth, so he didn’t feel any guilt about not carrying on.
Or so he pretended.
By Monday, he’d felt downright invincible, proud of himself for resisting her for eight whole days. Then she’d called in sick, and all his hard work flew right out the window as he spent the entire day worrying that she reallywassick.
Or worse…that she’d met some guy. What if she’d used his lessons, landed a guy, and indulged in a sex-filled weekend? One so hot that she’d needed a day off to recover?
The idea of Penny with another man had driven him past the breaking point.
Which meant that as soon as five o’clock hit, instead of going home as he’d intended, he turned the steering wheel the opposite direction and headed straight to her place.
To make matters worse, she’d given him the perfect opportunity to bail on the rest of the wager Monday night. All he’d had to do was walk out the door when she left to take the shower. Just walk out and guide them back to business as usual.
All he’d had to do was leave.
Just leave.
Instead, he’d picked up the phone and ordered a pizza, settled in with Forrest on his lap, and then… If Jess hadn’t called, he didn’t doubt for a second, he would have taken Penny right there on her damn couch with the entire cast of Harry Potter cats watching them.
