“Your sister wants to invite me to a breakfast picnic?”
“Yeah,” Cash said as he dried off his belly and legs.
Who can think absurd picnic plans when they’re staring at a naked man? A man I am getting to know pretty well. He’s embarrassed.
“That’s sweet of her.”
Cash turned and almost fell since he was in the process of pulling his boxers on over his right foot. “Sweet? She’s a nut. And she’s marrying an enabler.”
Penny couldn’t help it. She laughed. “You are such a big brother! Did you vet all her dates when she was in high school? Check out her study partners?”
“Study partners? Damn. I never thought of that.”
She giggled as she pulled on her panties. “Listen, I have to go to my room to get changed. I’ll meet y’all downstairs in a few.”
“Okay.” She watched him watch her get dressed. That accomplished, she gave him a kiss and went to change.
She let herself in and stripped, dropping everything on the floor. She hated to leave things around but she was on a deadline. Bouncing in and out of the shower in five minutes flat, she grabbed the outfit she’d decided on and got dressed.
All the while thoughts of Cash ran circles in her brain.
What made him so different? She’d known a few other men, not a lot but enough to have a basic working knowledge of the breed. He was polite, kind, funny and great in bed. Okay, fantastic in bed. He had the hands of a lover, the mouth of a paramour and the body of a working cowboy. It was lean, muscled and flexible. She shivered thinking about it.
Meeting his sister proved he was a family man. She giggled at his grumpiness over the fiancé. Dixie was young but she had a head on her shoulders. When Cash talked about her, or any of his family, his expression softened and she heard a wistfulness in his tone. Since her mother died before Penny entered grade school, the only family she’d had was her father. He had loved her, of that she had no doubt. Over the years Penny decided that he never got over the loss of his young wife. She had heard the same wistfulness in his voice whenever she asked about her mother.
Or, it was bitterness that he never got the son he wanted.
“Stop it, Penny! No more whining.” She finished putting on some light makeup and gathered her things. “You have nothing to whine about.”
But money didn’t buy everything, she knew. It made the lean times less lean and the good times more expensive but it didn’t keep you company or snuggle up with you on a cold night.
Sighing, she shut the door to her suite and went downstairs to participate in her first ever breakfast picnic.
* * *
When she got downstairs, she saw Cash and Dixie talking while Brand stood holding a large wicker basket. He had a half-smile on his face while Cash had on a full frown.
“Sorry if I kept you waiting,” she said.
Brand gave her a full smile. “Not at all. In fact, you got here quicker than I’d expected.”
“That’s the problem these days,” Cash practically snarled. He glared at his sister. “Reasonable people think women should do certain things and not do other things.”
“Oh, you mean men. Well, Penny and I could probably tell you fantastical stories about ‘reasonable’ people not knowing a whole lot about women,” Dixie joked. She grinned and winked at Penny.
“So, Penny,” Brand said and held out an elbow for her to take. “Why don’t you and I mosey off and share this delicious breakfast spread while those two argue.”
She glanced at Cash who had finally noticed she’d arrived. “I think that’s a lovely idea.”
Brand led her toward the front door. She sensed the siblings followed close behind so she winked at Brand.
“I saw that,” Cash mumbled.
Penny laughed. They trooped down to the beach where they unrolled the large blanket Dixie had brought. Settling down took a few minutes but they were soon digging into the wicker basket.
“Oatmeal. How did you talk the kitchen into making oatmeal for me?” Cash asked. He was finally smi—well, he wasn’t outright frowning anymore as he fell to prying the lid off the oatmeal and digging in with a plastic spoon.
An aluminum wrapped plate featured warm bacon and a covered bowl held warm, hard boiled eggs.
“What a clever idea,” Penny said. She cracked the shell against the wicker basket to no avail.
“Here,” Cash said taking the egg. He took out a pocket knife, opened the blade and tapped the blunt edge against the shell. It cracked and he handed it back to her.
“Thank you,” she said as she began pulling off shell fragments. He watched her, his eyes burning a hole in her skin. She was about to take a bite when a large hand appeared and grabbed the hand with the egg. Cash bit off the top half of the egg and released her hand—along with half of the egg. He smiled at her while he chewed.
“Wha…?” Penny asked.
“Cash!” his sister said.
“Thanks,” he said around a mouth full of egg. He handed her another egg. She stared at him wondering what was going on in that head of his. Since he wasn’t mean, that meant he was playing around. She could play around, too.
Still chewing and swallowing, he said, “Want me to crack that one for you?”
“No, thank you. I watched closely so I know how to do it now.” She took the egg and rolled it around in her hand. All three of them were watching her. Dixie looked incensed, Brand mildly amused and Cash a little wary.
“It was a joke,” he said still having trouble clearing his mouth of chewed egg.
Penny said, “So’s this!” She tapped the egg on Cash’s forehead. A satisfying crunching sound was accompanied by Cash’s exclamation.
He stood up. Slowly. “You want to play?”
“You took my egg.” Penny was feeling a little wary now. Suddenly she wasn’t sure he was joking around.
He lifted the oatmeal.
“Don’t you dare,” she said.
Brand laughed out loud. Dixie chuckled.
“How many food fights have I won, Dixie?” He stood over Penny hefting the lidless container of warm oatmeal.
“Every single one of them!” she said.
“I don’t want to fight with you.”
“You started it.”
“Oh, for Pete’s sake, how old are you?” Penny scoffed. He wouldn’t dare. He was playing around.
But he did dare. A medium sized blob of oatmeal landed on her head as soon as she looked down at the egg still in her hand. She stood up. Cash grinned. Until she looked at the egg again.
“Hey, that’s cracked already.” He pointed to his forehead. “You have to peel it before you use it in a food fight.”
“Who said we’re playing by your rules?” She wiped the oatmeal off her head. Now she had a cracked but unpeeled egg in one hand, and a handful of oatmeal in the other.
She pulled the hand that held the egg back like she was winding up then pushed the oatmeal into his face. She smooshed it around a bit while Brand and Dixie howled like kids at a Three Stooges movie.
* * *
Cash could not believe it. Penny, the high-maintenance, fashion-conscious lady had mashed oatmeal in his face. Carefully, he opened one eye. She was wiping oatmeal off her hand. He debated his retaliation. He hadn’t had a good food fight in years. Since they were all teenagers. Even their parents had joined in. While mashed potatoes had been the artillery that day, oatmeal would have to do today. But he wasn’t going to throw it.
He grabbed Penny by the elbows and pulled her in for an enthusiastic kiss. By the time he was done, the transfer of oatmeal was a small side benefit.
“You’re even beautiful covered with oatmeal,” he said, panting.
Dixie and Brand applauded. One of them whistled, too. Penny looked confused.
“Sorry about the egg. I was feeling playful.”
“That was playful?”
“Best I could do with my clothes on,” he whispered.
“You two can shut up any time now.”
Releasing Penny, he stepped back and looked around. “There’s a hose over there.”
Penny nodded and together they walked up to the resort. He was still blinking oatmeal out of his eyes when they reached the spigot. He turned it on and cleaned his hands then ran them over his face. When he was reasonably clean, he handed the hose to Penny. He shook his head back. Droplets flew through the air. He glanced over at Penny.
“How are you doing?” he asked. Then looked down at himself and held his arms out. “I’m all wet.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t say you’re all wet.”
“No?” He looked again. Then he realized he’d seen the devil in her eyes. “No—”
The stream of water hit him square in the chest. He hunched over and got blasted on the top of his head. He was laughing and grabbing for the hose but Penny was fast on her feet.
“Think you can steal my egg, do you?” She aimed at his legs. “Drop oatmeal on my head?”
Laughing and dodging, trying to get the hose away, he charged her. Unfortunately, he trapped the hose between them when he threw his arms around her and they both got drenched. It was several minutes before Dixie and Brand arrived at the scene of the ambush.
“You are a warrior!” Dixie said and raised a hand to Penny for a high five.
Out of breath, Penny gulped before she replied. “Self-defense.”
“I didn’t attack you. I was trying to help you clean up and you turned on me.”
“Hah. If you’d gotten the hose first—”
“I did get the hose first.”
“—I would be soaked from head to toe.”
Grinning, he lifted his arms as if to say, And I’m not?
Dixie gave Penny a few of the linen napkins that had been packed in the basket. “You might have met your match, brother.”
Brand threw a napkin to Cash. He twisted the white fabric and looked down at its folds. He had met his match, in more ways than one, and now that he’d met, what was he going to do?
You don’t know the half of it, Dix.
He rubbed his face with the napkin and checked on Penny. She and Dixie were rehashing the water fight while Penny dried off.
“You ready?”
Penny looked up. “Not for another water fight.”
He laughed and threw his arm around her. “Let’s go finish breakfast.” He steered down the beach to the picnic blanket.
“It’s a good thing we started early,” Dixie said.
“Why?”
“Any later and we’d have had an audience to your play fighting.”
Penny whipped around. “You call that play fighting? A minute ago I was a warrior.”
Dixie grinned. “A play warrior.”
“Don’t encourage her,” he told Penny. He kept his back to his sister. “She can keep this up all day.”
He held Penny’s gaze. “She’s sticking her tongue out at me, isn’t she?”
Penny, with amusement in her eyes, nodded.
“She’s very predictable.”
“I’m predictable?” Dixie scoffed. “Who was shocked to hear I was engaged? Who wants to be the first to marry?”
Cash looked at Dixie over his shoulder. Penny was looking at Dixie, too. He shook his head slightly.
Dixie opened her mouth then closed it like a fish out of its bowl.
“Let’s eat,” Dixie finally said.
Cash reached into the basket and turned to see Penny’s face. Was she shocked, dismayed, hopeful? She looked pretty neutral to him. He handed her a plate.
She stared at it before she took it. “Thanks.”
Sounds neutral, too.
“You want some, um, eggs?”
She gave him a deadpan look. “I think I’ve had enough eggs today. And oatmeal.”
He grinned and handed her the bacon. “This might look a little better.”
She glanced at the bacon and back at him. “Inside me, or on me?”
Brand laughed. Dixie joined him. “Have a croissant,” she said holding one out to Penny.
“Thanks.” Penny lowered herself and sat with her legs crossed.
Cash watched as she carefully pulled the croissant open and piled on the bacon. She closed it and took a large bite.
He still stared at her.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Cash reached out for another croissant from Dixie. She obliged and sat down next to Brand.
“Just looks good, is all.” He followed her example and took a big bite. “It is good.”
“Who says I can’t cook?” Penny said lifting her nose in the air before smiling and giving him a quick, albeit greasy, kiss.