I could picture her doing a lot of things on her knees.Stop.“Great. You can throw me a housewarming party at mynewplace. I’m selling this one. So there’s no reason to warm it. You said you loved that coffee shop, though. Let’s hang out there like we’d planned.”
“You’re seriously not going to invite me in?”
“Nope.” I tried to step around her but she blocked me on the steps.
“But I had Ian drive me all the way here. I can’t just call him and make him drive me back across town. That would be so rude.”
“Penny, it’s his job to drive you wherever you want to go.”
She waved her hand through the air. “Ian’s family.”
“Hardly.”
“What do you meanhardly? He’s engaged to Jen. He’s going to be my brother-in-law.”
Jen was James and Rob’s sister. And one of the many women in New York whose body I’d used to try to numb my pain. It hadn’t worked. I still wasn’t sure how James and Rob had forgiven me for that one. I guess I had a get out of jail free card for everything after Brooklyn died. “Well, it’s Ian’s fault for being awkward and insisting he still works for you when he’s shacking up with Jen.”
Penny raised her eyebrows. “Are you jealous?”
“Excuse me?”
“Oh my God, Matt. You’re jealous. That Ian’s with Jen. Is that it?”
What?“No.”
“Don’t even pretend to deny it. I know that the two of you hooked up years ago. Jen told me.”
“Then Jen also told you that it was just a casual summer fling that meant nothing.”
“To her.”
“To either of us.”
Penny stared up at me. “You sound awfully defensive.”
“Come on, I could really use a cup of coffee.”
“I can do you one better.” She lifted up a wrapped box that I hadn’t seen in her arms. “A housewarming present.”
“You bought me a present?”
“Mhm.”
I reached for it but she pulled it away. “It’s a present that someone gives to someone while touring their new house.”
“You’re not going to move from this step, are you?”
She smiled. “I’m really not. At least not for another two hours when Ian’s supposed to pick me up.”
I didn’t really have a choice. It wasn’t like I was going to make her sit out here. We both knew it. I sighed and grabbed the box. “Fine.” My mind was filled with everything that could go wrong as I turned around and unlocked my front door. We could accidentally fuck on the couch. She could find the room filled with paintings of Brooklyn. There could be something besides coffee in the stupid box.
But it was easy to forget about all the reasons why she shouldn’t come in when I saw her face light up.
“Wow.” She spun in a circle in the small foyer, her skirt lifting higher on her thighs, as she took in the family room and kitchen. “Matt, this place is so…” she looked up at me.
“So what?”
“So not what I expected.” Her smile grew as she stared at me.
