AllFreeNovel
Share Us
ChapterSix
Gage sat alone at a table in the corner, sipping his top-shelf bourbon, and forced himself to acknowledge he’d made a mistake.
A big one.
Penny had arrived an hour earlier, though she hadn’t seen him. He’d chosen his position carefully, wanting to watch her without her realizing his presence.
She had followed his instructions to the letter—and he hadn’t been able to take his eyes off her since she’d walked into Enigma.
She was hands-down the most gorgeous woman in the club tonight. That went without question.
But that still wasn’t going to help her.
When he’d first accepted this silly wager of hers, he’d viewed the opportunity to reinvent quirky Penny Beaumont as something to break up the monotony of his day-to-day life, as well as something that would offer him a fun, unique challenge. He’d considered her his own personal video game, one where he would have to fight his way through all the levels in order to win.
Last night, he’d foolishly thought he’d completed the game, beaten the main story, seen the goddamn credits. Tonight was supposed to be his victory lap. The part where Penny picked up a guy, took him back home, and forgot all about the second part of her favor…the part he had no intention of following through on.
Or at least…hehadn’t.
After spending the last week with her, it occurred to him that he’d been wrong to think he wasn’t attracted to the woman, that she wasn’t his type. And the real kicker of that realization was that his sudden desire had fuck-all to do with her changed looks and everything to do with the fact that she was awesome. Funny and honest, with interests that matched his almost right down the line.
Last night, he’d found himself getting more and more out of sorts as she modeled her new clothing, because none of it washer. He’d had to bite his tongue more than once, determined to give her what she wanted. After all, that was the point of the whole damn wager. To turn her into…every other woman he’d ever dated.
Seemed simple at first, but now it rubbed against the grain.
When she walked out of the dressing room for the last time in that godawful, frilly gray sweater the last seven women he’d dated would have loved, he’d hit his limit, demanding she buy the cute cat shirt instead. He didn’t give a shit if that meant he was taking her two steps backwards from her goal by encouraging her to be herself.
To add insult to injury, he’d been pissed as shit when she’d called herself a loser. Not ather. But at himself. Had he perpetuated those feelings by referring to her and Toby and Rich as the nerd circle? Her comment had felt like a punch to the stomach, and he’d gone home feeling like the world’s biggest dick.
And tonight…dammit…he’d jumped the gun and set her even further back.
“Gage?”
Gage looked up, resisting the urge to grimace when he saw his brother, Matt, standing next to his table. He’d made his brother a promise about workplace romances, and while he didn’t intend to sleep with Penny, he wasn’t so sure he didn’t want to.Fuck.
He’d dropped Penny in the middle of quicksand with nothing to grab onto, and now he was resigned to the fact that he needed to use tonight to analyze and regroup. He’d have to adjust his game plan for helping her.
And if he was secretly pleased that this meant spending more time with her, he managed not to dwell on or attempt to analyze that emotion too hard.
Just like he was trying not to figure out when he’d started thinking of her as Penny and not Beaumont.
“Hey, bro. What are you doing here?”
“Had a late meeting with Conor. He was showing me the plans for a new restaurant he hopes to invest in with Harper Branson.”
Gage whistled. “The supermodel?”
Matt nodded. “Apparently, rather than spending her millions lying on the beach on some tropical island after retiring from modeling, Harper attended culinary school. She’s graduated and looking to open up her own restaurant here in Philly.”
“Good for Conor.”
Matt smirked. “You would think so, but you know Conor. All work, no play. He views her past career as an ace in the hole as far as making the venture lucrative. Not sure he’s even given a thought to how breathtakingly beautiful the woman is.”
“Yeah. I guess that would require looking up from the ledgers. Poor bastard’s missing out.”
“Not really. Conor has a nose for business and he’s not wrong about this investment. I wager it will make him a fortune in the end.”
Gage considered using the old “pot calling the kettle black” line on his big brother, but he let it slide since Matt was actually out on a Saturday night. He gestured to the empty seat at the table. “Join me?”
