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“You married my brother after a month.”
“Yeah, but only because he begged.”
I stare at her. “What?”
“Oh, swan. Don’t tell him I told you that. He’s peeved with me already.”
I say nothing. We both know it’ll come out the second Angelo pisses me off.
Rory swirls the ice cubes in her drink. “Buy her the right ring, and she might just say yes.”
My laugh is bitter. “I’ve bought her so many rings, when she wears them together she looks like Mr. T.”
I settle into my seat, not really listening to my sister-in-law as she preaches about the value of patience. I’m too busy admiring the view of Penny at the bar. Truth is, despite my caveman instinct to get a ring on her finger so the world and their mamas know she’s mine, the logical part of me can respect her not wanting to tie the knot yet.
She spent so long trying to figure out what she wants in life; now she’s found it, she wants to enjoy it as Penny Price for a while.
And that’s okay. I like her being Penny Price too.
The night is dark and bitter. A fog has rolled in over the parking lot, reducing the figures filtering out of the bar to distorted shadows. I switch on the car engine, turn on Penny’s heated seat, then lean against the trunk while I wait for her to emerge.
As always, it’s her loud-ass laugh that alerts me to her presence. She wobbles into the glow of a streetlamp, arms linked with Rory and Wren, with Tayce on Wren’s other side.
It’s Rory that spots me first. “Rafe!” she yells. “Are we still on for Sunday?” Nodding, I give her a thumbs up. “Good. I’ve picked up more of those watermelon thingies, and—ouch!”
Her heel buckles underneath her, but my brother swoops out of the shadows and grabs her by the waist. “Jesus, Magpie. You need water and a burger. Come on.” He scoops her up and carries her to a waiting car.
Rory waves at her friends over his shoulder. “Call me tomorrow!”
I watch in amusement as Penny says her goodbyes to Tayce and Wren, then strides over to me. She’s concentrating on the ground, clearly determined not to meet the same fate as my sister-in-law.
“Hello handsome,” she says sweetly, sliding into the passenger seat. I slam the door shut behind her and round the car. Once I’m behind the wheel, I shift sideways to get a good look at her.
“Good night?”
She bites her bottom lip, looking up at me through those thick lashes. “The best. Look!”
She dumps her bag out onto her lap, and all her stolen goods fall out. Money she won, wallets she lifted, watches she stole. She holds up a Rolex to the light of the moon and squints at it. “Although, I’m not sure this one is real.”
Shaking my head, I cup her jaw and steal a quick kiss. “You’re a dirty little thief; you know that?”
Her grin grows wider. “I do indeed.”
She stares at me for a beat too long. When her gaze starts to heat and warm the air inside of the car, my eyes narrow. “What?”
“Nothing.”
“Don’t ‘nothing’ me, Queenie. I thought you’d have learned that lesson last week.” Last time she’d ‘nothing’ed me, I bent her over my knee until she told me what the ‘nothing’ was.
She focuses on her haul, slowly putting the items back in her purse. “Fine. I got you a gift.”
“Better not be a second-hand watch.”
I’m surprised that her laugh sounds so nervous. “It’s not. Here,” she dips her hand in the passenger door pocket, and pulls out a small jewelry box. It sits on the console between us, and I stare down at it, irritation grating on my chest.
“I’m not into any of this new-era shit, Pen. If you’re proposing to me,I’ll throw the fucking ring out the window, and maybe you with it—”
“Jesus Christ, shut up and open it.”
