Penny skimmed through a few emails Thursday morning. She had a full day, and the new accountant was going to sit with her shortly. It’d been over a week since she’d run into—and away from—Ethan in this very building. Dammit. She didn’t want to think about him, but she couldn’t stop the panic. Her heart raced at every deep and vaguely familiar voice she heard in the hall outside her office this week. And then she chastised herself because he had no reason to be at her office, on her floor, especially since Robert’s office wasn’t even on her floor. Shit. She needed to put Ethan behind her.

The ringing of her desk phone jerked her out of her thoughts, and she picked it up before checking the caller ID.

“Good morning, this is Penny Connor.”

“I can’t believe you finally picked up.”

Of all the times to not look at her caller ID. She’d barely spoken to Michael after Italy. She’d moved on within a week of her return and never looked back.

“I told you not to call me,” she bit out.

“I wanted to see how you’re doing. I miss you.”

“Why are you calling me, Michael?”

“Can’t I call to check up on someone I care about?” he asked. He was laying it on thick.

“Care about?” she scoffed. “Why are you really calling me?”

“I miss you and wanted to talk.”

“You already said that, but we have nothing to say to each other.” She squeezed the bridge of her nose.

“We had over five years together, and you’re going to just end it?”

“It was seven years. And I believe you screwing your boss one week before our wedding ended it,” her voice rose.

“It was a mistake. You’d just been so busy with the wedding, and I was so lonely,” he whined.

“You’re unbelievable. Are you trying to blame me for the fact that you couldn’t keep it in your pants?” she said through clenched teeth. “You really are a fucking asshole, you know that?” It felt so good to say that.

“Penny, please.”

“No. You don’t miss me. You’re calling me because you want me to convince my father that you aren’t a douchebag so you can make partner. You selfish bastard. As if I would ever do that.”

“That has nothing to do with why I’m calling. I’m so sorry about what happened. It will never happen again. I still love you.”

She snorted. “How the hell can you say that you still love me? You slept with another woman. With your boss.”

“It was a mistake, and I promise it will never happen again. Have dinner with me tonight?”

“Are you insane? Absolutely not. It’s over. Stop calling me.” He could whine and apologize and promise never to hurt her again, but she wasn’t buying it. Even though her parents had asked her to not be hasty in calling off the wedding, her father was still pissed at the drama and embarrassment Michael and Veronica had caused. While he’d been unable to punish Veronica since she was already a managing partner, Penny’s father had stalled Michael’s road to partnership. Penny guessed that was his way of being supportive, even if he hadn’t initially supported her decision to call off her wedding.

“Do not call me again,” she bit out, hoping she wasn’t yelling loudly enough to be heard outside of her office. She slammed the phone down, cursing her racing heart. For someone she thought she’d loved and was planning to spend the rest of her life with, he really pissed her the hell off.

She felt like an idiot every time she thought about Michael. In the last few months, she’d started remembering times where he hadn’t been honest with her, or how he’d been cagey toward the end. How had she not seen it?

Because she hadn’t wanted to see it. Michael was the perfect fit, the logical choice. While she would never work for her father, like her parents wanted, Michael would. He would be an extension of her and make her parents happy that the business would continue in the family.

She turned back to her computer, ignoring her phone as it rang again, her spreadsheets calling out to her. Numbers always made her happy. Sweet, dependable, rational numbers. No emotion, just straightforward calculations. She smiled and pulled up the next account. At the end of the day, numbers were numbers, and they didn’t sleep around or piss you off by honing in and exploiting your weaknesses.

***

“Come in,” Penny said, just after lunch, when there was a knock on her door. She was calmer. Numbers that added up correctly did that for her.

“Hi Penny,” Robert said as he entered her office with a man she didn’t recognize. This must be the new employee she was supposed to train. Alan’s son. “I wanted to officially introduce you to Kevin.”

She rose from her seat, stretching out her hand. “Hello, and welcome aboard. It’s nice to meet you.” He grasped her hand, giving it a quick shake before releasing his grip and offering a wide smile as his eyes roved down her body. Great. A creep. Exactly what she needed after the morning she’d had.

“It’s very nice to meet you,” he replied. He was tall and lean, and his expensive suit hung off his broad shoulders. He was good looking and he knew it.

“Penny is one of our top senior accountants and is a wealth of information. Any questions you have, she will be able to answer,” Robert said. Penny puffed up at his confidence in her. It felt good to be valued, even if she was stuck in the same position.

“Thank you, Robert. And yes, I am here for any questions you may have,” she said, smiling at both men.

“Kevin is all set up in the system so I thought he could shadow you for a few weeks, and we will slowly start to give him clients. If you could oversee the accounts for at least the first month and then we can evaluate and hopefully send him off on his own,” Robert said.

“Of course,” she replied.

“I will let you two get acquainted, and I look forward to having you with the company, Kevin,” Robert said.

“Thank you, Robert,” Kevin said before Robert left the office.

“You can pull a chair over, and we can get started,” she said as she gestured to one of the chairs in front of her desk.

“Sure,” he said as he moved the chair, and they both sat down.

“Why don’t you tell me your background and then I’ll have a better idea of where to start.”

“Sure. I got out of college a few years ago. I’ve worked for a few of those tax prep firms since it always came so easy to me. And now I’m here. Dad wanted me to learn the ropes.” He sprawled out in his chair, hands behind his head as he watched her.

Two seconds in and he was already throwing around his connection. This was going to go well.

“Right. Alan is your father. Okay. How about I just go through my normal day and a few files and if you have any questions, let me know.” And then she’d bang her head on her desk as soon as she was alone. This guy had zero actual experience and was the owner’s son. A cushy job for a kid that probably had no business sense. Entitlement at its finest.

It was unfair for her to judge him that quickly, but she had a feeling it was going to be a long day.

***

A few hours later, Penny was grateful that the day was over and she hadn’t given in to jamming a pen in her eye. Although, she’d thought about it repeatedly as he’d continually asked the same questions. She shoved a notepad in front of him and suggested he take notes, but he’d said he was a terrible note taker and much better at hands on. That statement had been followed by a leering look at her cleavage again. And then she’d contemplated sticking a pen in his eye.

Probably wouldn’t have gone over well with the boss. His father.

“Did you have any questions?” she asked as she shifted away from him, and collected the papers scattered on her desk from the last file they’d reviewed.

“Would you like to go out for a drink?”
She swiveled back. “I’m sorry. What?”

“Come have a drink with me. So we can get to know each other even more. You know, like co-workers bonding,” he said, his eyes focused on her mouth. She willed away the need to squirm.

“I’m sorry, but no thank you,” she said as politely as possible.

“Are you single?”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but yes, I am.”

“So, have a drink with me?”

“It’s the middle of the week and I do not date co-workers.”

“It’s not a date. Just drinks.” And the way he was looking at her, possibly more. He skeeved her out.

“No thank you,” she said.

“Your loss,” he replied as he pushed back from his chair and walked toward the door. “See you tomorrow.”

“Can’t wait,” she mumbled as the door shut behind him, and she banged her head on the desk.

“Ready for lunch?” Ethan said as he popped his head into his uncle’s office the following day.

“Sure,” Robert said, his questioning eyes matched his earlier tone when Ethan had called to extend the invitation.

What? He couldn’t grab lunch with his favorite uncle? And of course he’d swing by the office to meet him first. He hadn’t missed the humor in Robert’s voice when Ethan had offered to swing by the office first, and not wait for his uncle at the restaurant down the street.

“Great. There’s this new sports pub that opened down the street a few months ago. Byrne’s,” Robert said.

Of course he’d recommend that place. The site of Baz’s terrible numbers game from the other night. The game that Ethan had soundly lost. He’d taken the ribbing, but trolling for numbers no longer held any appeal. He knew why, he just wasn’t ready to give it a name yet. But she had one. And he wasn’t sure how he felt about that.

“Sounds good,” Ethan said as they made their way down the stairs to the first floor. He turned the corner and bumped into someone. The familiar soft floral scent wrapped around him, and he knew exactly whose shoulders he now gripped.

“Penny,” he whispered. She looked up with shock before stumbling back.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. Ethan, right?” Why did it sting that they were still playing this game? He shouldn’t care. He was supposed to be mad at her.

“Yes. Penny, right?” He felt like an idiot since he’d already whispered her name, but hopefully his uncle hadn’t heard him. He stepped back, letting his hands linger on her arms before he released her. Pink suffused her cheeks, and he ached to lean down and kiss her. He needed to stifle that ache. It had no place here. Or anywhere, for that matter.

“Yes. Sorry for bumping into you.”

“That’s okay. No harm done,” he replied.

“Penny, how’s it going with Kevin?” his uncle asked. Ethan caught a glimmer of irritation in her eyes before she masked it. Who the hell was Kevin?

“Fine,” she quickly replied.

“I know you’ll do a great job training him,” Robert replied.

“Thank you. I’ll do my best,” came her tight reply, before she plastered a smile on her face. Now he really wanted to know about Kevin.

“I know you will. You always do,” Robert said.

“Well, I should let you both get to lunch. Nice seeing you again, Ethan.”

He almost blurted out the pleasure was all his, but he resisted. “No harm done. Nice to see you again, Penny.” He might’ve lingered on her name, hoping for a reaction, but she gave them one last smile before skirting around them and heading down the hall.

Ethan wanted to turn and watch her walk away, but his uncle would definitely notice that, so he kept his gaze straight ahead as he followed Robert out of the building.

“Still surprised by your invitation. Not that I don’t want to have lunch with you, but shouldn’t you be carb-loading with the team? Big game tonight, right?” Robert asked after they got a table and placed their order at Byrne’s.

Ethan itched to ask questions of his own. About Penny. And this Kevin guy she visibly wasn’t a fan of, but he held back.

“I eat with them all the time. Can’t I have lunch with my favorite uncle? You’re the only family I see at this point,” Ethan said.

“Have you talked to them since you’ve been back? It’s been over three months since you moved home,” Robert said.

“Not really, and I haven’t seen them. Ally will be home on winter break soon, so I’ll have to swing by then.” And he was dreading his sister coming home from college. He wouldn’t be able to brush off his family anymore. It’d been years since he’d been home. He’d paid for Ally to come out and visit him, which had been much easier once she was in college, but he’d steered clear of the city, only returning when his previous team played the Strikers.

He was over what his ex had done, but what he couldn’t get past was his family, and playing nice with all of them was not on his list of necessities. He’d have to make a concerted effort to fix that since he was back home and excuses of being too busy and living on the other side of the country weren’t going to fly now that they shared a zip code. Especially when Ally graduated in the spring. Unless he was traded again. Not that he wanted that. He was starting to find a flow with his teammates.

“I know it’s rough. And the decisions they made, I vehemently disagreed with, but that was years ago. They miss you,” Robert said. “You’re not still hung up on Julie, are you?”

“Definitely not. She wasn’t the one for me, and I’ve known that for years. But it still doesn’t mean that I’m happy for them, after everything that happened,” he said.

“I don’t blame you for that, at all. But maybe grab dinner with your parents. Test the waters. Invite them to a game.”

“I probably should. I’m surprised Ally hasn’t demanded season tickets,” Ethan said, and smiled, thinking about his hockey-crazed sister.

Robert laughed. “She might have mentioned it a few times to me since she found out you were coming home. Thought she’d hit you up for a handful of games and work her way up to the season. Especially if she stays here after graduation.”

Ethan wished his sister would’ve just come out and asked for the full season. She shouldn’t have to work her way up to asking him. He’d gladly hand them over. Their relationship had been strained until she’d gone to college, since he’d refused to come home. He was a horrible older brother, but he had his reasons.

“I’ll let her sweat it out since she hasn’t asked yet,” Ethan said. He hadn’t seen Ally since before he was traded. She’d already been back at school when he’d moved home. “And yes, we are playing Dallas tonight. They’re top in the Conference right now, and they’re freaking fast,” Ethan said. The team had spent a couple hours this morning watching the last two Dallas games before they’d had their morning skate. The Strikers were just outside the playoff standings, but it was early December. Typically, the teams in the playoff spots now would be the teams that actually made it to the playoffs in April. Ethan was determined to get the Strikers in, so grabbing two points tonight was a necessity. 

“You’ll beat them, and I have no doubt that you’ll turn the team around,” Robert said.

“We better win. We need those points.” Ethan’s chest tightened. It was a foreign feeling, having a family member’s support, but his uncle had always been there for him. He’d missed seeing him on a regular basis. One of the other perks of moving back to California.

***

An hour later, Ethan said goodbye to his uncle outside the restaurant. He would not follow him back to the office. Not search for the halo of blonde curls and hope he accidently crashed into her again.

He should still be pissed, brush her off, and never see her again, but all he wanted to do was talk to her, touch her. While it still irked him that she’d bailed without a real goodbye, they weren’t supposed to be more than a fling. And the fact that she’d said it would’ve been too hard to say goodbye to him did things to his gut that he wasn’t ready to acknowledge.