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Penny frowned and shook her head. “You don’t need to flatter me with false compliments, Josh,” she replied quietly. “We both know it’s not true. My hair is long past needing a good cut and I don’t even have any makeup on.”
The same couldn’t be said of him, of course. The man looked good enough to eat in a steel gray suit, a shirt in a slightly lighter tone and a burgundy tie that shone with the subtle sheen of silk.
“Hey,” he admonished, reaching her in a couple of long strides and tipping her face up to his. “What kind of talk is that? You always used to love getting dressed up, trying out new makeup and getting your hair done. Even if you did look just as good without any of it. The same goes even now.”
He stroked her cheek and Penny had to steel herself against the warmth that crept through her chest and had her heart rolling over. That way lay nothing but heartbreak. She’d learned that the hard way.
She pulled away from him, concentrating on guarding against the pretty words. That’s all they were, after all. Words. They didn’t mean anything, and she needed to remember that before her stupid heart started to believe that he cared.
“Yeah, well, I gave all that up a long time ago. There’s not much point in dressing up and looking nice when there’s no one in your life to appreciate it,” she said stiffly.
Penny cursed herself all the way down to the dining room. Why the heck had she said all that? Now things were stiff and uncomfortable between them and whatever walls they had been dismantling were firmly back in place.
No, that wasn’t quite true. The walls which had been there belonged to her and while Josh had been patiently trying to deconstruct them in the face of her persistent knock-backs, now her constant rebuffs, had him finally building up his own. She realized, right then, she really didn’t want that.
For the duration of their meal, which was delicious, she made a concerted effort, but regardless of Josh’s earlier assertions about catching up, it never went beyond the kind of small talk that strangers might share, and they lapsed into awkward silences far too often. It was her fault. Josh had reached out and gone out of his way to be kind and helpful and she’d barely been gracious. After so many years, they were really only distant acquaintances who had lost touch for more years than they had been friends. And they’d just been kids back then. Nothing more. So why had she let old hurts that had far more to do with the way others treated her get in the way of getting to know him again. God, she was an idiot. Like she had so many friends she could afford to disregard one, when in fact the opposite was true, and the loneliness was slowly eating her up inside.
Her only excuse was that if you never relied on anyone, you never had to be disappointed when they let you down. And that was just as sad. More so considering how desperately she craved the familiarity of companionship. Someone she could confide in occasionally and share her hopes and dreams. Or even just a friend who was willing to chat and listen. Someone who actually gave a damn about the simple things, like how her day went or if something funny happened. Just one person to share things with.
How long had she been pining for that kind of friendship? The kind she used to share with Josh.
The kind she’d just straight up snubbed. What the heck was wrong with her, she wondered miserably, to wish for something so badly, then push it aside when it was offered?
Penny let out a deep sigh and pushed her unfinished desert away. It figured that would be the time the guy from reception came to heap more bad news on her.
“Ahem,” he leaned down and cleared his throat next to her ear. “I’m sorry, but there don’t seem to be any cabs available this evening with it being Boxing Day.”
Penny stopped short of snorting derisively, but only just. She turned and looked at him. He really couldn’t be over twenty-one. Barely more than a kid himself. “Did you not believe me, when I mentioned that to you earlier?” she asked tartly with a shake of her head. He could have saved himself the time if he’d listened to her.
“So, what happens now?” she asked when he just stood there.
“Now?” he queried with obvious confusion, a frown settling between his eyes.
“Well, my room isn’t habitable, and I can’t get home. What am I supposed to do?”
He still didn’t look like he understood, so Penny spelled it out for him. “Where am I going to sleep?”
“I, um, well…I. Er…” he spluttered and stuttered but didn’t seem to be able to come up with any viable options. Or even any viable words, for that matter. Great, she’d be spending the night on one of the couches in the social area.
Josh had remained quiet throughout the entire exchange, but he waded in now their discussion drew to an awkward pause.
“I’m in the penthouse suite, Leon,” he addressed the young man by name, as he had the entire afternoon. It was a nice thing, Penny acknowledged. She should do the same herself. “Since there are two rooms, Miss Reynolds can stay the night with me.”
“Thank you, Sir,” Leon replied effusively, clearly relieved to have the problem resolved for him. He scuttled away quickly, as if he thought that might change if he stayed too long.
Bawdy laughter sounded from the other side of the room and caught Penny’s attention. “Looks like Brad’s still enjoying his ‘business dinner,’ she said scathingly, nodding to the table.
Josh followed her gaze. “That’s Brad Humphries? I wouldn’t have recognised him.”
Penny rolled her eyes. “Well, believe me, he might have cut his hair and donned a suit, but he hasn’t changed in any important ways. He’s still an arrogant, narcissistic jerk who coasts through life on his daddy’s money and the hard work of others,” she bit out. “And if that woman,” she nodded to the buxom blonde who was shoehorned into a glitzy, gold lame dress that looked a size too small to hold in her…assets. “Is really any kind of business liaison from the owners then I’ll, I’ll…” she trailed off, unable to think of an appropriate retort, then noticed Josh was giving her the weirdest look. “What?” she asked, holding out her palms. “You’re not telling me you really think that’s a business dinner?”
“No, I don’t,” Josh agreed. “But I was surprised to hear you talking about him like that. I always thought you had a massive crush on Brad…” He paused and narrowed his eyes. “Or is that jealousy speaking?”
CHAPTER SIX
Penny stilled and looked at him stonily. “You know what, Josh?” she said as she gathered her purse and stood up. “Sometimes when you’re a kid, you look at things through rose coloured glasses and grow up to know better. And sometimes you say stupid things so the guy you really have a crush on doesn’t realize it.”
She took a step back and automatically pushed in her dining chair. “Thanks for dinner, I appreciate it, but I think I’ll go and see if any of those cabs have a cancellation.”
