A week later, Spencer was miserable.

Still miserable.

Looking around his office, everything felt…wrong. He let out a weary sigh and leaned back in his leather chair. They’d been close…so damn close to making it work and he’d gone and screwed it up.

Well, technically you’ve been doing that for the better part of twenty years. Why stop now?

He hated when his conscience was right.

And now that he was back in Atlanta and back to his regularly scheduled life, he hated it. He hated every damn second of it. When he’d walked through the doors to his condo Monday night, it felt barren and sterile and completely unwelcoming.

And he remembered Penny’s warm and welcoming home.

When he came into work on Tuesday, he spent the entire day holed up in his office because he didn’t feel like socializing. No one asked how his trip was or how his family was, and he didn’t see anyone smiling or laughing.

And he remembered Penny’s stories of how close she was with her bosses and her co-workers.

When he got home on Wednesday, there was a wedding invitation from one of his oldest and dearest friends – along with an invitation to be a part of the bridal party – in the mail.

And there was Enchanted Bridal’s business card tucked inside.

He wasn’t sure if it was a sign he should go back for Penny or if the universe was mocking him.

His parents hadn’t asked why he was leaving so suddenly, which was odd considering he had talked to them about Penny when he’d run in to grab a change of clothes on Sunday. If they noticed that he was upset or that anything was wrong, they didn’t let on. And for that he should be thankful, but he wasn’t. Right now he would welcome someone calling him and telling him how badly he had messed up the best thing that ever happened to him.

Again!

He needed it. He almost craved it in the most insane way!

And that’s when he knew what he had to do…

Picking up his phone, he called his sister.

“Give me one good reason why I should talk to you,” Eva demanded when she answered the phone and for a minute, he was confused. Then he figured his parents must have not only noticed something was wrong, but shared it with his sister.

“And good afternoon to you too,” he said pleasantly. “How are you?”

“How am I? Seriously?” she cried. “I’m ticked off, Spencer! I had an appointment to try on gowns at Enchanted on Saturday and I saw Penny! And surprise, surprise, I had to say – yet again! – that I’m sorry that my brother is such a colossal jackass!”

Yup. This was what he needed, what he deserved.

“I know, I know and…”

“Shut up,” she snapped. “You don’t get to talk right now, because I’m talking.” She let out a very long and agitated sigh. “How could you have screwed this up? Again!”

“It was…”

“I was so excited when I left you guys together the night of the fashion show! I saw the way you looked at her and the way she looked at you and…I just knew things would be different this time!”

“I did too and…”

“Then I get a call from Mom last Sunday and she was so excited because you were spending time with Penny, but she said that it seemed like you two had some things to work out. She was so optimistic. And so was I!”

“I was too…but…”

“So imagine my surprise when I got a call from her the next day saying you left and you looked upset – ‘utterly devastated’ were her words. I thought about calling you, but I was too angry. Then I thought about calling Penny, but I was too embarrassed. So I had to wait almost a week before I saw her and instead of focusing on finding my dream wedding gown, I had to feel bad because one of my oldest friends looked so sad and I knew it was your fault! What the hell did you do?”

“Are you going to let me answer that question?” he asked but there was no power behind his words. He was too tired and defeated for that.

“Fine. Speak. But know that I reserve the right to interrupt and yell at you.”

He couldn’t help but chuckle at her honesty. “I would expect nothing less.”

“Just so we’re clear…”

And to her credit, Eva let him speak. Hell, she let him speak for almost ten minutes as he recounted most of what had happened between him and Penny from the night of the fashion show to the morning they said goodbye. Of course he’d left out the intimate details, but he knew she understood what he was talking about. When he was done, he let out a long weary breath. “And that’s it. That’s how I managed to screw it up again.”

“Wow.”

“I know.”

“So…all those things you said to her back when you broke up…?”

“Not one-hundred-percent accurate.”

“Damn, Spencer. Do you have any idea how self-conscious she got after that?” Eva asked. “I mean, I was probably the only one who noticed it but…damn.”

“At the time, it didn’t seem like a big deal…”

“For such a smart guy, you are incredibly stupid. You know that, right?”

“Eva…”

“You’re the reason Penny stopped coming over. You’re probably one of the main reasons she and I drifted apart.” She snorted with disgust. “And you know what? You’re my brother and I love you, but right now I really hate you.”

“I know.”

“Don’t you have anything else to say for yourself?” she demanded.

Okay, this was not helping him feel any better. If anything, it was like rubbing salt in the wound. “I can only say I’m sorry so many times, Eva. The damage is done and there’s nothing I can do to change that. I can promise till my dying breath that I’ll never do it again, but she’s always going to be wary and waiting for me to screw up again. That’s not fair to either of us.”

“I hate how that makes sense,” Eva said, and Spencer had no doubt that she was pouting. “I want to yell at you some more and tell you what a moron you are, but…seems to me you are already well-aware of it. Kind of took the fun out it for me. Yelling at you now would just be mean.”

“But well deserved.”

“Obviously,” she said followed by a sad sigh. “I wish I knew what to say here.”

Spencer swallowed hard. “How was she? When you saw her on Saturday…was she all right?”

“No, Spencer. She wasn’t all right,” Eva replied calmly. “She looked sad and…and it was like she didn’t want to even be near me or talk to me. It was awful.”

He raked a hand through his hair. “Need I remind you that you hadn’t seen or talked to her in years? So you’re kind of being a little dramatic.”

“Look, I get it. I wasn’t the greatest friend to her and I let the relationship go too because…well…I honestly don’t know. People just drift apart. But after seeing her again and seeing the two of you together, I was really excited about reconnecting with her. That’s not going to happen now.”

“I don’t see why not,” he countered. “There’s no reason why the two of you can’t be friends again. You managed to stay friends in the past when I…”

“When you were a total jackass? Um…yeah, I know. This time was just…it was different, Spencer. Back then, we were young. We were kids. We were a little more resilient. But now? I don’t know. It’s harder when our hearts get broken. If anything were to happen between me and Brett, I know I’d be devastated.”

“That’s not a fair comparison. You and Brett are in love; you’re engaged and getting married. Penny and I…”

“Oh, please. Everyone knows she’s been in love with you since forever and if you pulled your head out of your ass once in a while, you’d realize that you’re in love with her too.”

Damn. That was…brutally honest and…totally true.

“It doesn’t matter, Eva. There are too many obstacles here. I work and live in Atlanta. Penny works and lives in Raleigh. She’s getting ready to open her own business. If we were going to do this and have a relationship, I sure as hell wouldn’t want it to be long-distance.”

“Penny’s opening her own business? She didn’t mention that to me.”

“Probably because she didn’t want to talk to you, remember?” he asked with just a hint of sarcasm.

“Very funny. So what’s this business? Is it wedding-related?”

Spencer told his sister all about Penny’s glam squad and just talking about it brought a smile to his face. He could picture her doing it and making it a place that people would flock to. She was that type of person – people were drawn to her and Penny had a gift for making everyone around her feel special. No doubt her customers would love her.

“That sounds like such a fun business! Oh my gosh! I’m totally going to hit her up to do the hair and makeup for my bridal party on the day of the wedding and mine too, of course.”

And as much as he knew she meant well, Spencer had a feeling Penny wouldn’t feel quite so excited at that particular prospect. But he chose to keep that to himself for now.

“You can’t just give up, Spencer,” Eva said, interrupting his thoughts. “You have to find a way to make this right!”

Seriously? After all the ways she’d just called him an idiot she thought he could even do that?

“How, Eva? Please tell me because I’ve been wracking my brain here for a week and I haven’t got a damn clue. I thought it was best to just…stay away. Let her have her life and be happy without me messing it up.”

“Oh, please, now who’s being dramatic?”

“It’s the truth.”

“Well…I do kind of have an idea,” his sister said slyly.

“But…?”

“But…if I tell you and you’re open to it, you have to do exactly what I say.”

He chuckled even as he shook his head. “Just regarding Penny, right?”

“Spoilsport.”

“I’m not making any promises or anything, but I’m willing to listen.”

She let out a little squeal of delight. “If you really want to win her back, this is where you need to begin…”

* * *

“And that’s what I can bring to the Enchanted Bridal complex,” Penny said as she smiled at her bosses and Mrs. James – Hailey’s mother and the woman who created Enchanted Bridal.

The five women sitting in front of her were all smiling.

Mrs. James stood first and came over and hugged her. “Penny, I think what you’re offering is perfect for the complex. Of course, if you needed some time to get financing, we could always find a creative way to transform some of the existing space here in the shop for you to have a hair and makeup station.”

Penny shook her head but kept her smile in place. “Thank you, Mrs. James, but I don’t think that would present the right image – not for the shop and not for what I have to offer. As of now, I can operate as a mobile business and go to the client’s home, but that has its limits. In order to keep with the tradition of superior business service like what you’ve created here with the dress shop and then the complex, I wouldn’t start doing promotions until I had the space secured.”

“Have you heard from the bank?” Hailey asked as she stood and reached for a bottle of water.

“Not yet,” she said with regret. “I know they said fast approval, but…this doesn’t feel very fast at all.”

Judith James placed a hand on Penny’s arm. “It never does when you’re the one waiting for an answer. I’m sure you’ll hear from them any day now.”

She hoped so, like seriously hoped so.

What she hadn’t shared with her bosses was that her meeting with the bank had been met with less than an enthusiastic response. It didn’t seem to matter that she had letters from Hailey and all of her bosses regarding their excitement to have Penny be part of the complex. It didn’t seem to matter that she had a business proposal that met every criterion. What did matter was that she had some debt from her student loans and on her credit cards – more than they were comfortable with. And while they hadn’t said that it would affect her loan application, she wasn’t stupid.

Hailey, Becca, Angie and Ella had heard her proposal a week ago just like she’d planned. Her reason for doing it again today was strictly for Mrs. James’ benefit. And while she was glad to do it, all she felt right now was more anxiety about not hearing back from the bank yet.

At least it was something other than the depression she’d been feeling over missing Spencer.

Not that it was going to go away any time soon.

He hadn’t called. Or texted. He’d held true to his word that he was going to respect her wishes and stay away. And with every day that passed, she hated that about him.

It sucked being fickle.

But was she? Was that all it was? She didn’t think so. Trust was a big thing to her and in the heat of the moment, Penny couldn’t imagine trusting Spencer again.

Or trusting herself.

“Quick, give her something to do. She’s getting that look again,” Angie said in a mock whisper.

“Oh, leave her alone,” Hailey replied. “She’s allowed to have that look. Hell, we’ve all had that look so…”

“And when we did, our friends distracted us,” Angie argued lightly. “Penny! Come with me. I’ve got something for you to do.”

Penny snapped out of her wayward thoughts and saw Angie walking out of the shop. With a curious look to her remaining bosses, she saw they were just as confused as she was. With a shrug, she followed Angie out into the main hallway and then down toward the tuxedo shop. At the entrance, they stopped.

“I don’t get it. What are we doing here?”

“Okay, here’s the deal,” Angie began. “Martin wants to take his wife out for their anniversary tonight, but Dan called in sick. He asked if one of us could help out and we of course said yes, but Ella’s not feeling great and so we’re going to close up early down there.”

“Is Ella okay? I didn’t know…I didn’t notice…”

Angie waved her off. “She’s just ready to have this baby. She really shouldn’t even be here but she said she wanted a distraction.”

“So why close the shop early? I’m sure you could call someone…”

“It’s not a big deal. We don’t have any clients booked for tonight and we’re really just closing an hour earlier than usual. The girls and I are going to take Ella out to walk the mall – the big mall, not this one.”

“Why?”

“Walking can induce labor and before you ask, we got her husband’s permission to do it,” she said with a laugh. “Anyway, we suggested that Martin just close early too but…he wasn’t on board with that. If you’ll stay, I’d feel better because should a random bride come in, you could sort of handle both places – you know, lock up the tuxes and open the dress shop or at least have your tablet with you to make an appointment. So? What do you think?”

The last time she’d volunteered to do this, she had spent the time with her hands all over Spencer.

“Oh, God…not the face again,” Angie said with exasperation. “Seriously, enough with the face!”

From anyone else, Penny would be offended. But coming from Angie, she knew it was meant with love.

“I can’t help it,” she said miserably. “I just…I miss him.”

“Dammit…I know you do,” Angie said quietly and then reached out and hugged her. “And I hate that for you.”

“I know it will get better but right now…?”

“It just sucks.”

“Exactly.”

They stepped apart and looked into the tuxedo shop. “Come on. Let’s see what Martin has planned for you so we can send him on his merry little way to be one of the good guys.”

Normally the thought of anyone being one of the good guys would put a smile on her face, but right now it just made her a little sad that she didn’t have a good guy of her own.

Probably never would…

“The face,” Angie sang quietly beside her.

Unfortunately, the only way to get over making the face was to focus on something else, and as she looked around the shop, she found it. Anger. The place was a bit of a mess and once again, Martin was bailing with no staff of his own to cover for him. She gave Angie a look that clearly spoke volumes.

“Yeah, I know, and we’re working on it. Trust me.” And then with a smile and a wave, she was gone.

Thirty minutes later, Penny was swamped. It seemed that as soon as Martin left, madness set in. He’d explained about the two parties that were coming in for fittings and she couldn’t help but be even more annoyed that he didn’t have a better solution to his staffing problem than to dump it all on her.

She was going to have some strong words with Hailey and Angie about this tomorrow.

Six groomsmen in the first party – and they each had to be fitted and measured and have their information cards filled out. They were rowdy and more than a little distracted – not at all interested in the proper fit of a tuxedo. On top of that, she was mildly uncomfortable being the only woman in a room full of men. Luckily, she got through it and managed to keep a smile on her face the entire time. By the time they left, she felt like she ran a marathon.

One more hour…

Then the next group began to arrive.

With her smile in place, she immediately began to greet them and started to direct them to the rack Martin had set up for them when…Spencer walked in.

Her heart kicked hard at the sight of him and she wanted to scream for everyone to leave.

His name came out before she could stop it.

Smiling, Spencer said, “Penny Blake, this is my future brother-in-law, Brett Adams. Brett, this is Penny.”

Shaking her hand, Brett smiled. “Eva’s told me a lot about you. She didn’t mention that you worked here in the tux shop, though.”

“Oh, well…I’m just filling in for Martin,” she said, trying to keep a pleasant smile on her face. Doing her best not to stare at Spencer, she immediately began to talk about the tuxedoes. It was a great distraction but not one that she wanted at the moment. “There’s a rack outside the dressing rooms with tuxes for you to begin with.”

The group of men all went in the direction she had pointed to and with a glance over her shoulder, she looked at Spencer as he walked with Brett back toward the dressing rooms.

* * *

That was way harder than he thought it would be.

Seeing Penny had Spencer wanting to tell Brett and the rest of the groomsmen to get the hell out so he could be alone with her.

Patience.

Yeah, that’s what his sister had told him. He had to have patience.

He’d waited almost another two weeks since his conversation with his sister before coming here, so that had to count as having patience, didn’t it?

So he followed the rest of the guys to the back of the shop. And watched as Penny had her hands all over them.

While fighting the urge to kick everyone’s ass.

It wasn’t until everyone was in a dressing room trying on their suits that he finally approached her. “Hey.”

Her smile was a little shy and her cheeks turned the cutest shade of pink. “Hey.”

“Do you still have my card on file or do we need to do my measurements again?”

She turned and went through the files and then she turned around again and began typing on the keyboard and searching the computer to find his information. “Um…”

“What’s the matter?” he asked.

“It’s…it’s not here. All of your measurements and information…I know I entered them!” She looked up at him. “Remember? You were standing right here! And I wrote everything down!”

“It’s not a big deal, Penny.”

The look on her face said otherwise.

“Spencer, I know I put all of that information in the right place. There are four other men who I have to do this for before I can leave and if I screwed this up with your stuff the last time, how do I know I’m doing it right this time?” Then she gasped. “What if the last group of guys who were in here a little while ago never get their tuxedoes? What if – because of me – that wedding gets ruined?”

Okay, she was starting to freak out and he walked around the counter and gently grasped her by the shoulders. “First of all, deep breaths,” he said soothingly. “Second, did you write everything down?”

She nodded.

“Okay. You can either make copies of them all and set them in a separate folder or you can take pictures of the info on your phone or…”

Penny stepped back and let out a breath. “You’re right. You’re right. This isn’t a big deal.” But before she could say more, the guys started coming out and she sprang into action, making adjustments and writing notes on their cards.

Spencer stood back and stayed behind the desk and let her work. She was quick and efficient and in no time, everyone was done.

Well…except for him.

As each of the guys paid for their deposit, he watched as she checked and double-checked and even triple-checked where she put everyone’s information. She typed it into the computer, she wrote it down, and she copied it on the printer. When she was done, Penny seemed to sag with relief. Spencer waved to Brett, who gave him a thumb’s up, and when the group was gone, he turned back to her.

“You okay?” he asked.

“I think so,” she said with a weak smile. “I can’t believe Martin doesn’t have more help in here. That was a lot for one person to do – especially someone who doesn’t work here on a usual basis – but thank God I’m done.”

“Not quite,” he said and gave her a lopsided smile.

Rather than answer him, she said, “Those measurements have got to be around here somewhere. I know it.” Then she began searching all of the files again and scanning and scrolling on the computer.

Not the best stroke to his ego.

For five minutes he watched her search every surface, every folder, and go back and curse at the computer when she didn’t find what she was looking for. When she hung her head and sighed, he knew she was ready to admit defeat.

“Do you remember any of the measurements?” she asked wearily.

He did. And he gave them to her.

Penny went and grabbed two tuxedoes for him to try on and set them up in the dressing room. “See how those fit,” she said quietly.

Nodding, he did.

The first one fit fine. And so did the second. But he stepped out and up onto the platform anyway. “I think we should confirm the measurements just in case,” he said when she looked at him.

What followed was torture, pure and simple.

Even though she acted no differently than she had with the rest of Brett’s party, Spencer knew her touch so well, was so attuned to it that it had all of his senses on high alert. Even the most innocent of touches practically had him reeling.

She didn’t speak other than to ask him to move an arm or leg for her to get an accurate measurement but in his mind, she was asking for other reasons.

Dirty reasons.

Sexy reasons.

And now he was hard.

“That’s everything,” Penny said as she stepped away and quickly moved over to the desk. “We’ll just need the deposit from you and then you’ll be all set.”

“Penny, I…”

“It’s been a really long day, Spencer, and I’d like to go home. Please.”

Okay, so that one sentence pretty much cut him down in every possible way. With a curt nod, he went and changed. When he was done, he paid the deposit and then silently waited for her to finish closing so he could walk her out. Neither spoke of it, but they knew it was what he was doing.

It wasn’t until they were outside and Penny was locking up the building for the night when he cursed.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

Spencer was patting down his pockets and his jacket and then cursed again. “My keys,” he said. “I can’t find them.”

She looked at him suspiciously. “Seriously, Spencer? This isn’t funny.”

Honestly, he wished he had been creative enough to think of something like this. But he hadn’t. This was truly an innocent mistake. “Seriously,” he replied. “They must have fallen out while I was changing.”

Penny still didn’t look like she believed him, but rather than argue, she unlocked the door and turned off the alarm. As soon as he stepped in, she locked the door behind them and then led the way back to the tux shop. She didn’t turn on any of the main lights when they got there. Instead, she walked at a clipped pace – her stilettos making a very distinct clicking sound as she walked – toward the back and flipped on one small overhead light.

Spencer was right beside her and opened the dressing room door.

The keys weren’t there.

What the hell?

“They’re not here,” she said, confusion lacing her voice.

“I know.”

“But…where else could they be?”

He shrugged. “I have no idea. They were firmly in my pocket when I got here earlier…”

She glared at him with a huff of agitation. “Come on, Spencer. I don’t have time for this. It’s been a long day, I haven’t had dinner and I really just want to go home, okay?”

“If I knew where the keys were, don’t you think I’d have them?”

“Honestly? No. No, I don’t. I think you’re playing with me and trying to find a way to force me to spend time with you. Well let me tell you something. I don’t think it’s funny. It’s mean. And if you care about me at all, just admit that you have the keys or pick them up wherever you hid them so we can go!” she cried.

And that’s when he heard the tremor in her voice and saw her eyes growing shiny with tears.

Dammit.

He stepped forward and gently put his hands on her shoulders. “Look, I do want to spend time with you. I never said otherwise, but you have to know that I really have no idea where my keys are. I swear.” He kept his tone soft and soothing and it broke his heart that she was looking so defeated. “I…I’ll just call Brett and ask him to come pick me up.”

“And then what?” she said quietly. “You still won’t have your keys.”

Oh. Right.

“Come on,” she said as she stepped away from him. “Let’s look around. They have to be here somewhere.”

Penny checked the pockets of the suits he’d tried on while Spencer scanned the floor around the dressing room. This was not how he planned it. Eva had told him to stay and walk her out, invite her to get some coffee – someplace neutral – and tell her how much he missed her. Show her how much she means to you, Eva had urged. All he’d managed to do was tick her off and make her work later than she wanted to.

Strike one on the Win Penny Back campaign.

When he turned and looked at her, she was looking under racks and he heard her curse. Then she came back by the fitting rooms and glared at him.

“Any luck?” she asked.

He shook his head. “I’ve looked all around here and then the path I walked from here to the platform and I can’t find them.”

“Dammit, Spencer!” she cried. “This is ridiculous!”

It was one of the few times she had really yelled at him. She was flushed and ticked off and a little breathless and…she was sexy as hell.

And for some reason, that just made him want to add fuel to the fire.

“You think I’m enjoying this? You think I want to stay here surrounded by tuxedoes while you get madder and madder at me?” he yelled. “Because let me tell you, I can think of at least a thousand other things I’d rather be doing right now, and most of them are with you! And none of them involve arguing over a set of freaking missing keys!”

Her soft gasp was the only sound she made before turning and going to the dressing room he’d used. “They’ve got to be in here,” she muttered.

Following her, he stepped into the small space and as soon as she saw his reflection in the mirror, she spun around.

Her breath was slightly ragged.

Her blue eyes went wide.

And those lush lips parted.

Spencer moved closer as Penny took a step back. Her back immediately hit the mirror and a small grin tugged at his lips.

“They’re not in here,” she said, her voice so soft it was a mere whisper.

“I know.”

But the two of them were, and because she was already pissed off at him, he figured he better go big or go home. Before he had time to second-guess himself, he reached up, cupped her face and kissed her.

Penny offered no resistance. Her hands came up and gripped the front of his shirt to pull him closer. This was what he had fantasized about the first time he’d come here – of getting her alone in the fitting room and claiming her, making her his – and this time, he was doing just that.