CHAPTER FOUR - PENNY
“I told you that my dad would pay for a day at the spa,” Alyssa said.
I rolled my eyes, but I was too relaxed to even come back with a biting response to that. Seated side by side, with our feet in warm water that smelled of rosemary, I was confident that my body consisted of jelly. I didn’t know how Alyssa planned on dragging me around downtown Chicago to shop after spending the past three hours in a relaxing massage and hot steam room.
“I’m glad that he was okay with it,” I said. “Remind me to thank him later for letting us do this on his dime.”
“I’m sure he knows we are thankful,” Alyssa replied as she sighed in contentment. “We need to find some dresses for tomorrow night.”
I opened my eyes to look at Alyssa, whose eyes were closed with a smile stretched across her face.
“What’s going on tomorrow night?” I asked.
“Nothing major. Just a club that I want you to see.”
“No,” I said shortly. “You know that I hate clubs, Alyssa. Why did you plan that?”
Alyssa opened her eyes to look at me. “Because you need to get out and have some fun. I told you that we weren’t going to stay cooped up in my dad’s condo the entire winter break.”
“Why is that such a bad idea?”
“You know, I love my dad, but I don’t want to stay home with him the entire time.”
I sighed anxiously. I hated the idea of going to a club. I had spent the entire four years of college holed up in the library that was open day and night, just to avoid the parties. I rarely drank, and was secretly afraid that I’d end up picking up guys like my mother attracted. The thought made me shudder. The thought of staying in and spending time around Gabriel, however… I shook the thought out of my head.
“How are you even going to get in?” I asked her. “You’re only nineteen.”
Alyssa smiled and shot me a look. “I know the bouncer who will be working the door. He has a thing for me.”
I shook my head and closed my eyes.
“Don’t get all anxious over it,” Alyssa said, rolling her eyes. “It’s just going to be for a few hours. Come on, just humor me.”
“All right, fine. I know you’re going to drag me by the hair, no matter what I say.”
Alyssa grinned excitedly. “You know me so well. After the spa, we are going to go downtown to do some shopping. I promised my dad that we’d pick up some lunch for him, too, if you don’t mind.”
“Not at all.”
My conversation with Gabriel replayed over again in my head. I couldn’t put a finger on it, but it felt strangely intimate. I hadn’t expected to tell him as much as I had, but the way he had looked at me, with a mixture of genuine concern and something else I couldn’t quite name, had brought it out. He was so easy to talk to, not at all like most parents. Not to mention he was hot as hell and just being around him did all sorts of things to my body. I tried desperately not to think like that, but I couldn’t help it. When he had brushed past me in the kitchen, a jolt of liquid heat and shot right to that sweet spot between my legs. It was going to be a long two weeks if I didn’t get ahold of myself.
We finished up at the spa an hour later. I followed Alyssa around the boutiques in downtown Chicago while we searched for the perfect dresses to wear for tomorrow. It felt nice walking arm-in-arm with Alyssa through the crisp winter air. It was much better than going back home to New York City for an entire break of awkward interactions.
“Perfect,” Alyssa said when I pulled out a black cocktail dress off the rack in a small corner boutique. “Look at it, Penny. That will show of your killer legs!”
I held it up to me to take in the length. It was short, much shorter than I was comfortable with, but it didn’t show a ridiculous amount of cleavage, either. It was a simple, little black dress meant to stun, but I doubted it would look stunning on me.
“It’ll show off my pale legs, you mean,” I said with a grimace. “I’m going to put it back. I’ll just wear leggings and a nice blouse.”
Alyssa snatched the dress from my hands. “Fuck no. This dress will look amazing on you. We’ll buy some stockings if you’re worried about it.”
“I am worried about it. I haven’t tanned in months.”
“You’re ridiculous,” Alyssa said, sighing and leading me up to the dressing room. “Come on. Try it on, you are going to look amazing. I already bought my dress.”
I glanced at the bag that she held in one hand. A shimmery pink dress that barely reached the top of her thighs was folded neatly in the bag. That was the beauty of Alyssa’s athletic body, though. She could slip into the skimpiest dresses or anything in reality, and pull it off because she spent hours at the gym working out.
I undressed in the privacy of the dressing room. I was taller than Alyssa and thin, but my hips were curvier and my breasts were fuller than hers. I pulled the dress up and it was unforgiving, hugging every curve I had.
“Come out,” Alyssa said. “Let me see how you look.”
I opened the dressing room door. “It’s horrible, Alyssa. I am not buying it.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You look sexy as hell. Go look in the mirror.”
I walked barefoot to the room full of mirrors at the end of the hallway to gaze at myself in disbelief. The tiny dress hugged me tightly, but there was still enough room to breathe comfortably. Nothing was spilling out, either. It was a modest dress compared to the one Alyssa had bought. And she was right - I did look pretty good in it.
Alyssa’s hand skimmed my bare shoulders as she tossed a few strands of my hair over my collarbone. “See? You’re going to get a lot of men drooling over you. Maybe we should buy some bras and underwear at Victoria’s Secret, just in case—”
“That is not going to happen tonight, Alyssa! Don’t even drag me into that store.”
Two hours later, I followed Alyssa out of Victoria’s Secret with a bag of bras and panties tucked neatly inside a bright pink bag. I scowled when Alyssa grinned triumphantly at me.
“I hate you,” I said. “Don’t look so smug.”
“You’re going to look hot beneath that dress. Which reminds me.” She leaned in to point to a small outlet store that said, “Brazilian Waxes Fifty Percent Off.”
“Oh, hell no,” I said.
“Either shave down there, or I’m taking you to that place,” she said, laughing.
I nudged Alyssa in the ribs hard as she burst out laughing even harder.
“Very funny,” I said. “I don’t shave down there if I’m not trying to impress anyone.”
“When was the last time you even tried to impress someone?” Alyssa asked curiously. “I mean, you’re holed up in the library a majority of the time.”
I didn’t even want to think about the sad excuse that my personal life was. It had been a long time since I’d been with a guy. A very long time, now that I thought about it. I couldn’t even remember the guy’s name that I had hooked up with. “It’s been a while,” I admitted. “Not that it matters to me. I’m perfectly fine not worrying about shaving my legs and downstairs area every single day. It’s actually nice.”
“I’ll pretend that I believe you,” Alyssa said. “Let me call my dad to see what he wants to eat for lunch so we can stop by.”
We sat down at one of the benches along the second floor the mall. A stream of people walked by us while Alyssa dialed her father’s office number. I took in the holiday music and Christmas decorations with a smile while I scrolled through my own phone to check emails and texts. That sense of contentment was immediately dashed when I found six missed phone calls from my mom. No voicemails. No text messages.
I swallowed the bulge in my throat as I erased the phone calls. Don’t fall for it, Penny. Don’t give her the satisfaction of answering.
“My dad’s pulling up to the mall right now,” Alyssa announced suddenly. She grabbed her bags from the floor. “Come on. We’re going down to the food court to meet my dad for lunch.”
We took the escalator down to the main level of the mall. I followed Alyssa nervously through the Christmas shopping crowds in the direction of the food court. My stomach churned as I spotted Gabriel sitting at a small table, scrolling absentmindedly through something on his phone. He looked even more handsome today, from his charcoal gray pants and the white button-up shirt he wore, to the scarf dangling loosely around his neck.
“Afternoon, ladies,” he said smoothly when we reached the table. “I trust my credit card is going to get a lot of traveling points after today?”
“Of course, it is!” Alyssa beamed at him as she swept down to kiss him on the cheek before dumping the bags in the chair next to him. “Thank you, Dad. I really appreciate it. Don’t go peeking through some of the bags, though. Your Christmas present is in there.”
Gabriel smiled up at his daughter while he pocketed his phone. “I have to go through the bags now.” He paused to scan my bags at my side, stopping on the Victoria Secret bag. “Why don’t you get us a pizza, Alyssa? I want to have a word with Penny alone.”
“About what?” she asked.
My heart thumped erratically in my chest. I slowly deposited the bags in the chair to take a seat across from Gabriel. I had no idea what it was that he would want to talk to me alone about, but my mouth was suddenly dry and my panties suddenly wet.
“It doesn’t involve you,” Gabriel said, rolling his eyes. “Just go grab a pizza, Alyssa. Give us a few minutes.”
He waited until Alyssa slowly left our table, reluctant to go. I folded my hands nervously in my lap to hide the fact that they were trembling. Gabriel gazed at me hard before letting out a pent-up breath. He leaned forward to prop his elbows on the table and threaded his fingers together in front of him.
“Your mother called me the other morning,” he said. “She has been calling for the past two days, actually.”
I stiffened in surprise to hear that. Panic clawed at my throat when Gabriel looked at me with an indescribable expression on his face.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “Did she leave a message?”
“These past couple of times, no. I did, however, talk to her on the phone Monday morning. She’s a bit upset about you not being home for Christmas.”
“I know that.”
“And I also promised to try and convince you to go home because Christmas is about family, but I want you to know that I’m not going to push you out the door.” He reached across the table to grasp my forearm. Sparks of electricity went up my arms at the feel of his strong fingers against my skin. “You’re always welcome here. I can see that there’s something keeping you back from wanting to go home. I’m giving you the chance to talk about it now. If you want to.”
I glanced down at the circle of Gabriel’s fingers on my forearm. The touch felt different. It felt nice, reassuring. It also made my blood surge through my veins. I shook that away, though, as I looked up at Gabriel with a small smile.
“Thanks,” I said. “I’d like to stay here for Christmas, if that is okay with you.”
Alyssa returned to the table with a large pepperoni pizza. She swept Gabriel up into conversation immediately, and he looked reluctant to let the topic change. I was grateful, though. I took a slice of pizza, despite the nausea climbing in the back of my throat. The last thing I wanted to do was talk about what was going on in New York City, with Gabriel of all people.