What to toss and what to keep.
“You’re right, Scott. These past few years we’ve been a great team.” She let out a breath and took another gulp of her champagne. “Just not so much a great couple.”
The waitress came back then. “Would you like to see our dessert menu?”
Scott held up a hand. “No, we need a few—”
“Actually, could you bring a box for these crab cakes, please? They’re too good to waste. I’ll also have the double-decker chocolate cake.” She looked over at Scott before turning back to the waitress. “I’ll have that to go, please.”
CHAPTER SIX
THE NEXT MORNING, Penny woke up feeling like a tiny man was playing the drums behind her eyelids. She also had a serious case of dry mouth. She rolled her tongue around experimentally and opened her mouth gingerly. She caught a whiff of her breath and it was so bad it made her eyes water.
“Ugh. You know it’s bad when you’re grossed out by your own morning breath.”
That was what she deserved after finishing the entire bottle of champagne at dinner last night. Scott had just watched, quietly, as she’d poured herself glass after glass. She’d never been much of a drinker, but she didn’t think he had room to judge her after his half-assed proposal.
After he’d dropped her off at home, she’d closed the door in his face, put her food in the refrigerator, and gone straight to bed. She had barely managed to get her dress and bra off before she passed out.
She walked down the stairs and stumbled through the kitchen to turn on the coffee maker. Her phone rang and she grabbed it from her bag, which she’d dropped in the middle of the living room floor. She had several missed calls from Scott and one from Georgia.
S
he wasn’t ready to face Scott for sure or Georgia and all her questions about the proposal. Her friend was going to be expecting something romantic and exciting. All she had was a halfhearted “let’s go be crazy and do it.” Which he hadn’t even mentioned until after his big news about the job in Atlanta.
Which kind of told her where she ranked on his priority list, didn’t it?
“Oh, it was a night to remember, all right.”
Now that her initial anger had passed she was more pissed at herself than Scott. He was oblivious, of course, but she shouldn’t have been so harsh. Was her reaction any better than the way he’d gone about things?
He should have told her about the job offer before accepting it, that was true. However, ignoring him all through dinner and then leaving him on the doorstep without so much as a farewell wasn’t earning her any maturity points either. They needed to talk. They really did.
It was just going to be a little while before she could deal with talking to him in a calm and rational manner.
The phone rang again in her hand and she recognized Georgia’s number. She silenced the call and went back to the kitchen to get her cup of coffee. She couldn’t hide forever, but she needed caffeine and a shower before she could be expected to deal with the real world.
* * * * *
PENNY KNEW SHE should be thinking about what she was going to say to Scott tonight. She’d agreed to meet him at the bar across the street after work to talk. They’d been together for three years. That wasn’t something you just threw away because you were angry.
However, when she looked up to see Matt standing in the doorway to her office Monday afternoon, the frantic beat of her heart told her several things she’d been trying to deny since she’d watched him walk away the prior week. One, he truly was as gorgeous as she’d remembered. Two, her body responded to him in ways that were both exhilarating and embarrassing. And three, she was happy to see him. Purely, simply happy.
Which made absolutely no sense.
They weren’t friends. She wasn’t even sure she liked him. He was definitely going to be a challenging patient. By all accounts, she should be dreading this.
But her heart rapped a steady beat that to her ears sounded nothing like dread. It sounded like excitement. It sounded like anticipation. It sounded like trouble with a capital T.
“Are you ready to get started?” She rose and came from behind her desk. As soon as she got close, his scent reached her nose. It was subtly masculine, like wood smoke and evergreens.
Matt shrugged. “I hope so. Do I need to undress again?”
“Uh, no. Not exactly.” Her eyes traveled over the loose sweatpants and tee shirt he was wearing.
“How’d you get the tee shirt on?”
He shrugged again. “Very carefully. I figured I’d better dress to sweat.”