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I roll my eyes before closing them and taking a long inhale, knowing I’m going to cop an endless amount of shit for what I’m about to say. “Penny and I are keeping bees,” I say, pinching the bridge of my nose. “It gets them away from the orchard and we might even get some honey out of it. Bees need water, so rather than them flying all the way to the lake, we built them a pond.”
Lauren isn’t even bothering to stop her laughter now as she turns to Penny. “Is that so?”
Penny nods. “Yeah.”
Lauren’s eyes move back to me, a cheesy ass grin on her face as she gives me a once over. “Well,” she says, a hand on the doorframe. “I think it’s a great idea and hey maybe we can do something fun with the honey too.” She raps once on the frame before disappearing.
Just when I think the coast is clear, her head reappears, that same cheesy smile on her face as she looks first at Penny and then back at me.
“Also, that’s really sweet of you, Tommy, taking care of Penny’s hands like that. Anyone would think you…I don’t know, liked her,” she says, waving a hand between us before disappearing again, the sound of her laughter floating back to us as she walks away.
Fuck me.
The room falls silent again and when I finally turn to Penny, she’s still sitting in the chair, her eyes on her bandaged hands, her body stiff. I feel like I should say something, but I have no idea what the fuck I’m supposed to say in a situation like this.
Before I get a chance though, she stands, walking toward me without meeting my gaze. “Thank you,” she says, coming to a stop beside me. “For…” she holds up her hands, not bothering to elaborate.
“Pen,” I say softly, but she moves away, walking out of the office without looking back and leaving me to wonder what the fuck that just was.
When I finally get home, I’m feeling weirdly frustrated. After the incident in the office, Penny had disappeared. I went back out to finish the pond, getting the fiberglass shell into the ground and setting up the pump before filling it with water, but she hadn’t come to check it out.
In the end I’d done something so completely out of character, even I couldn’t figure out where it had come from. I’d snapped a picture of the newly installed and working pond and texted it to Penny.
I never texted Penny.
Ever.
Sure, I had her number, but everyone at Somerville’s and now Apple Jacks had each other’s number. Purely for work and emergency purposes of course. Which meant I had never needed to contact her for anything.
And I still wasn’t sure why I’d sent the text today.
In the end though, she never texted back, so I guess I could chalk up whatever that was between us in Jack’s office as being completely one-sided. It was probably a good thing and I just needed to get my head in the game and my mind off Penny and back on this mystery woman I’m chatting with online.
After I do the usual of taking a shower and grabbing a beer, I settle on the back porch to pick back up on our conversation from last night.
Me: so…sleep well?
WineQueenFamilyTruckster: I did actually…you?
Me: I did yeah…after I took care of things anyway.
WineQueenFamilyTruckster: ditto, no chance I could sleep that riled up. How was your day?
I let out a hard exhale, wishing to fuck I could talk to someone about my day and whatever it was that happened with Penny. There’s no way I can talk to Jack and after today’s little episode, Lauren is definitely a hard no, too. It’s not like I want to bring it up with any of the other guys either, especially considering it’s about one of our co-workers. But I also know it’s not a topic of conversation I can have with Wine Queen either, especially when I’m finding myself more and more drawn to her.
Me: forget about my day, let’s talk about how riled up you were last night?
WineQueenFamilyTruckster: Lol…you up for another round, huh?
Me: always ;) I am a guy, remember?
WineQueenFamilyTruckster: grateful to have that confirmed! But for the record it isn’t just guys who think and fantasize about sex, you know?
My dick immediately twitches, hardening a little so I have to readjust myself.
Me: oh yeah…tell me one of your dirty little fantasies then?
WineQueenFamilyTruckster: and if I do?
