Chapter 1
Crawling around on her hands and knees in her office was never a good way to start the day. If anyone walked in, they would see her ass up in the air, and her shoes kicked off next to her desk. Definitely not office appropriate. Penny’s hair slipped from her clip as she crawled toward her credenza, the uncooperative curls at it again.
She bit back her frustrated laughter, and blew a wayward blonde strand out of her eyes.
“Where is that damn clicker?”
She’d already dug through the files on her normally immaculate desk. Nothing. Her lack of organization caused her cheek to tick. She had a presentation in an hour for a new and extremely important client, and instead of going over her notes one last time, she was on the floor looking for her damn PowerPoint remote.
She peeked under the cabinet.
Lots of dust—gross. And the clicker.
She felt a twinge as she shifted on her right knee. Six months ago, she’d wiped out at her drunken bachelorette party. The bachelorette party that never should’ve happened. But after surprising her fiancé at his office, the morning of the party, and getting her own surprise when she’d walked in on his boss gyrating in Michael’s lap–the woman’s moans reminiscent of an episode of Wild Kingdom on Animal Planet–Penny had needed to numb the pain with martinis. A lot of martinis. And shots. She couldn’t forget the shots.
Damn cheating bastard.
That night, she hadn’t confessed to her friends that she’d called the wedding off. She couldn’t dwell on a cancelled wedding, a cancelled future, when she was tossing back shots and dancing until her knee gave out.
She’d learned many valuable lessons that evening.
Never wear a veil in a bar.
Never take three shots in a row, just “because you went to college.”
And “dropping it like it’s hot,” isn’t that hot when you end up sprawled out on the dance floor in pain.
She’d put a serious dent in her pride that night. At least from what she could recall.
She shook off her memories. It was over, and she had to stop thinking about the plans they’d made. Plans she’d counted on.
Her ex-fiancé was a forgotten memory. Not totally forgotten. But she was working on that.
Her honeymoon—well, that was another story.
Stop it.
She was completely distracted, but she was nervous about today, and her brain was flitting off in random directions. Hence, the messy desk and disappearing clicker. She stuck her hand under the credenza, grasped the offending clicker, and sat back on her heels.
The less time on her knees the better. She always feared it would dislocate on her again. And she did not have time for that right now.
She stood up and sank down into her chair, grabbing the Alexander file. She was prepared, but one more run-through would make her feel better.
She crossed clicker off her list and scanned her notes. Robert, her boss, was looking to promote someone to Accounting Manager, and she’d been with the company for five years. The position should’ve been hers last year, and she hoped she hadn’t been overlooked because she’d been in wedding mode. Another way Michael had screwed her while he was screwing someone else.
She was determined to land this account and that promotion. She’d done a detailed review of everything she could find on Mr. Alexander and his company, since she would be handling his personal and business accounts. She read through everything one last time, making notes in the presentation so she didn’t forget anything.
Today had to be perfect.
***
“To Penny, may she finally get the promotion she deserves,” Amanda said as she toasted with her lemon drop martini later that night at Byrne’s grand opening.
Lexi lifted her glass. “Yes, to Penny. It’s about time.”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Today was just an initial meeting. I’m hoping the guy signs on, but even with that account, I might not get promoted,” Penny said to both of her friends. Today couldn’t have gone better. Well, that was a lie. Mr. Alexander could’ve signed the contract instead of informing her that he was meeting with two other firms and she’d hear back in a week or two.
“We should celebrate with a cookie bomb, too,” Lexi said, and Penny chuckled.
“You and that freaking dessert,” Amanda said.
“Adam promised to keep it on the menu,” Lexi said, glancing toward the bar where her boyfriend, Grant, sat talking to his best friend and the bar owner, Adam Byrne.
“I don’t have the promotion yet, you guys. I don’t even technically have the client yet.”
Lexi took a sip of wine. “But you will. Mr. Knight can’t keep holding you back or he’ll eventually lose you.”
“Damn straight,” Amanda stated, with a fist pump. “You could always go out on your own.”
“Too many risks in that,” Penny said. Not that she hadn’t thought about it. She’d weighed the pros and cons multiple times—every time someone else was promoted.
“I’m sure you have the checklists to confirm it, but you could take a chance. It could work,” Amanda said.
“Or it could be a disaster. I’m sure I’ll get promoted eventually,” Penny muttered, ignoring her friend’s checklist dig. Making lists was important. How else could she make sure she examined every option and didn’t miss anything?
“Well, I still say you’re going to get it. I think this calls for a round of shots,” Amanda said, her gray eyes twinkling.
Penny knew that look. It’d gotten her into way too much trouble over the years, especially six months ago. Well, not the look exactly, more like the line of shots that followed.
“Definitely no shots for me tonight. It’s a work night,” Penny said.
“Fine. I’ll go grab another round of drinks.” Amanda slipped off her stool and practically floated to the bar, her hips swaying as she walked.
So unfair. Perfect hair, petite body. If Amanda wasn’t one of Penny’s best friends, she’d be tempted to trip her. But Amanda was also graceful, so she’d probably stand back up as if nothing happened.
Penny, on the other hand, had the grace of a newborn gazelle. No, not a gazelle. They were typically agile. She was like the gazelle for the first few seconds after birth. All arms and legs. No coordination. Not that a gazelle actually had arms…
“I’m glad the meeting went well. I know that Robert has been hinting around that he’s ready to promote, and you’re the obvious choice. We all know he doesn’t want the hassle of looking for someone outside of the company.” Lexi was the office manager and took care of all HR at Knight and Welling, so she would know.
“I really hope that I get it. I’ve been feeling stuck, like he was never planning to move me up.” She fiddled with the stem of her glass. It was so damn frustrating.
“You deserve this, and Robert should recognize that. How many accounts have you brought in this year?” Lexi asked.
“At least four large accounts, and a handful of individual accounts. He even mentioned positive changes coming soon when I spoke with him after my meeting today. And this would be our biggest client.” But she hated getting her hopes up, only to have them crushed.
“The job should be yours,” Lexi said.
“I hope so.”
“I have a good feeling about this.”
Amanda came back with more martinis in hand. “What did I miss?”
“Just talking about work stuff.”
“Boring. How about we talk about the hot guys in this bar? I think the pickings are even better than usual. Adam mentioned hockey players. Lexi, you’re here all the time. Point them out,” Amanda said.
Lexi laughed. “I’m going with that group of guys over there. The asses are a dead giveaway.”
“Are you scoping out other guys?” Grant asked, coming up and wrapping his arms around Lexi’s waist, and kissing her.
“Definitely not. Your skater’s butt is more than enough for me,” she said. Grant played in a rec league with Adam.
“Glad to hear it. And yes, Amanda, Adam played in the AHL with a few of the Strikers, so some of the guys are here tonight,” Grant said, and Penny looked toward the bar. It was a hot looking group.
“Hey, Harty. Over here,” one of the guys called out.
Penny took a sip of her drink and scanned the bar, her gaze stopping at the door, where Harty stood, and her heart dropped to the floor.
No. It wasn’t possible.
He wasn’t looking at her, his face was turned to the side, but she caught the hint of the crooked smile she knew so well.
Memories flooded her, and she was back in Tuscany. Back to her sham of a honeymoon. She’d needed to get away from everyone after Michael’s betrayal and the trip to Italy had already been booked and paid for. She still couldn’t believe she had gotten on that plane and gone to Italy on her own.
But it had been worth it. She had met him.
They had crossed paths during a tour of a vineyard near Montalcino. He’d sat beside her at the long farmhouse table for lunch, and as the wine flowed, so had their conversation. He’d been so easy to talk to. His laugh had captured her, intrigued her. He laughed without a care in the world, and at that moment, she’d coveted his unbridled happiness.
And a couple nights later, after too many bottles of wine, one thing had led to another, and…and she had just needed to forget her life at home, her called-off wedding. Liquid courage, they called it, and boy had it delivered. For every moment of the next week in Tuscany, he had been there, making her smile. Making her forget. She could still taste the wine-drenched kisses.
It had been a fling. A fantastic fling, but a fling nonetheless. They hadn’t even exchanged last names.
“Penny?” he asked, his shock most likely mirroring hers. Of course, hers was more of a panicked shock.
“Ethan? What are you doing here?” Her voice came out on a crack. How the hell was he here?
“I should ask the same of you,” he said, his voice tight.
“I live here. You know that. But why aren’t you in New York?” Penny asked, her hand clutching her martini glass so tightly that she feared she’d snap it.
“Penny, what is going on?” Lexi asked, shifting closer to her. Penny’s gaze darted between her friends and Ethan, concern and question in their eyes.
“Umm. I should go. Big day tomorrow,” Penny said, setting down the fragile martini glass and clutching her bag. She had to get the hell out of there.
“Penny. Wait, is this Italian Ethan?” Lexi whispered, her eyes wide.
Oh God, here it comes. She couldn’t face their questions now—or ever. The woman obsessed with making lists and checking them twice—or three—or thirty times, had thrown pros and cons to the wind and had a week-long fling with a stranger in a foreign country. It so wasn’t her. Hell, she still couldn’t explain it to herself, let alone anyone else.
Fuck. This wasn’t supposed to come back and bite her in the ass. She lived here. He told her he lived in New York. He was currently on the wrong coast for that to be true, so what else had he lied about? Panic was firing on all cylinders now.
“Penny,” Amanda said, dragging her name out in clear question.
“I should go. Sorry. Lexi, I’ll see you at work tomorrow,” Penny said, giving Ethan one last look before rushing out of the bar, the questions yelled at her fading to silence as the door shut behind her. She shivered in the crisp night air, her coat forgotten as her fight or flight instinct kicked in. Tonight, she’d gone for flight.
What the hell had just happened? She walked briskly down the street, praying for either a sinkhole to open up and swallow her whole or a cab to stop. Frankly, it was a toss-up as to which one she’d prefer.
Head over to and grab Breakout to see what happens next.