Andrea laughed, and with a quick “I love you,” she was gone.
Penny dropped her hand and drew a cleansing breath before turning to face Brett. “That was my sister.”
“You mentioned that. Younger or older?” Brett looked way too pleased with himself as he slung an arm over the back of the chair.
Penny’s eyes snapped to the ink curling under his bicep, and her mouth went dry. “Older.”
“She seems fun.”
Penny cleared her throat and walked back to sit down at her plate. “Well, she was certainly thrilled with the picture of you.” She ignored the niggling thought that she was glad she had a picture of him, too.She wasn't going to look at it.Probably.
Penny finished the last of her falafel and took her dishes to the sink. “I figure we give it about an hour for your food to settle, then we can do our session.”
Brett nodded. “I'll send a few more emails.” He took a drink of water then glanced down at his phone, and his brow furrowed.
“Not looking forward to those?” Penny asked.
Brett sighed. “No, I just realized I forgot to text the guys about tomorrow.”
“Practice?”
“No, that won't be ‘till next Monday. I need a ride over to a job site.”
Penny frowned. “Why are you texting the guys for that?” Brett looked up, his thumbs hovering over the screen of his phone. “I'm right here, and I have a car. I can take you wherever you need to go in the morning.”
Brett set his phone back on the table. “I didn't want to assume.”
“Assume away. All I'm doing is submitting job applications, and those are the definition of flexible.”
“I have to be there at six in the morning.”
Penny balked. “Well, that is unfortunate.”
“Exactly, I know—”
“I'll still totally take you. It doesn't make any sense for one of the guys to have to drive over here.”
Brett teased his teeth over his lower lip as he considered her point, and Penny looked for anything else in the room she could focus on. She grabbed the cloth sitting next to the sink and started to wipe down the counter.
“I can make you a shake. Or eggs or something,” Brett offered.
“You don't need to repay me. I'm happy to help.”
Brett nodded once and swiped his pita bread over the tzatziki that had escaped onto his plate. He chewed and swallowed, then pushed his chair back to stand and winced.
Penny rounded the counter and walked to the table. “It's the worst when you stay seated for a while, hey?”
“Penny . . .”
“Brett.” She gave him a long look. “The sooner you accept that I want to do this, the less time we'll have to waste from here on out.”
She scooped up his plate and cup and took them to the sink. Once they were loaded in the dishwasher and she didn't have anything else to do, she pushed her hands into her pockets and walked toward her room. “In an hour, then?”
“In an hour.”
ChapterSeven
Tony 6:52pm
