Thane stopped following. It was of no use. She wouldn’t listen to reason. She never had. It’s the reason he made her leave his group in the first place. Now, she was the leader of her own, and she was loving every second of it.
Chapter 3
When Sylvia mentioned a trip to Australia, Penny laughed it off, thinking her best friend was only kidding. Who could afford a trip to the outback? Besides, Penny wanted to be beachside, sipping mimosas, not hiking through the great outdoors. She didn’t have the energy for something like that. Her body wouldn’t be able to handle it and her doctors would flip out.
“You’re kidding, right?” Sylvia had asked.
“Not at all,” she’d replied. “If, and when, I take a vacation, I want to chill.”
“Australia is totally chill. And you can’t get much more beachside than an entire continent completely surrounded by water.”
As stupid as it sounded, Penny had never thought about it that way. When it came to seaside sunbathing, she’d always thought o
f places like Hawaii or the Bahamas or even Jamaica. Belize might have made sense, but not once had she ever thought of Australia.
She’d tried to get out of it at first. She’d used every excuse to keep herself holed up inside her apartment, but Sylvia had swatted away each excuse masterfully.
Too expensive? No problem. Sylvia’s day job, or night job really, was taking to the mic as Sylvia Foxx, the sex-kitten, after-midnight radio host. She’d been offered two tickets to Australia by one of her sponsors, some dude named Jameson who had been trying to get in her pants for years. He owned some sort of getaway vacation company, so it made sense he’d be able to hook her up with a trip.
Too busy with work to take a timeout? Again, no big deal, Sylvia reminded her. Penny, being a freelance copywrite editor, could handle clients’ work from the comfort of any hotel room or any poolside lounge chair in any place around the globe. She had the most mobile-friendly life of anyone Sylvia knew.
Not feeling well? Nothing could help Penny fight her sickness better than some warm sun rays and shirtless males prancing around for her viewing pleasure, even if her doctors would forbid it. They would definitely be against a trip like this. But, as Sylvia had stated, what difference would it make? What exactly had her doctors done to change anything anyway?
It was settled. They were on their way to Australia, to a resort in Queensland, where the men were sure to have the sexiest accents and neither of the girls would ever need to buy a drink. This place was all-inclusive, and Penny had to admit, she couldn’t fucking wait.
The flight over, the drive to the hotel, check-in, and even the first few days in paradise flew by in a blur. She sipped cocktails while tapping away at her keyboard. She checked out the handsome men while rewriting landing pages and flexed her ass along to the sound of beach vibes flowing from hidden speakers as she concocted catchy phrases packed with SEO-friendly terminology. No one could see her dancing in her seat, and she’d never allow herself to get up and actually bust a move, but she was secretly enjoying herself.
Sylvia had been spending her nights with Jameson and her days with every other male at the resort. She was much more outgoing than Penny had ever been. She was perfectly at ease in the pool or on the beach chatting with oiled-up studs. Penny had always lived vicariously through her. Sylvia had the golden skin tone all women strove for, she had a model-like body with an ass she was all too proud of, and she spoke three languages. The woman could give you directions in English, curse you out in Spanish, and then seduce you in French—all without batting an eye. Such was the essence of Sylvia Foxx…doll by day, sexual predator by night.
Penny wished she could sum herself up in such a way. If she had to explain herself, she might say she was a bit of an introvert. She didn’t mind being around people, but she didn’t do well in crowds. Small talk was her kryptonite, and her sex life, for the most part, had been quite vanilla. She’d tried to spice it up some with her ex, but Doug only liked the missionary position when sober and doggystyle when drunk. And the man rarely drank. Her body was average. She had a decent ass, smooth skin, and tits that weren’t anything to brag about. Her hair was her best asset, long and dirty blonde, nearly brown, and it was always soft as silk.
Pausing from her work, Penny took some of her hair in her hand and rubbed it between her thumb and forefinger. She wondered how she would look if she cut her hair shorter, maybe above shoulder length, moving in the direction of most women nowadays? She needed to naughty herself up if she hoped to ever get laid on this trip.
No, I take that back. I can get laid anytime I want, but that’s not it. I don’t want shallow sex. I don’t want a drunken one-night-stand. I’ve had that. I want something more.
“Since when did people stop enjoying what life has to offer so they could bury themselves in an electronic screen?” came a voice to her right.
Penny glanced over and saw an older woman, quite attractive in a matriarchal kind of way. Her white hair was cut into the exact same bob she’d been considering only a moment before. The round floppy hat she wore and the sunglasses covering her eyes kept her shrouded in mystery, but it was clear she was a woman in complete control of life. She had an air about her. Penny wouldn’t have been surprised to find out that all the guys Sylvia had been flirting with would come whisking this woman off to her room if she only whistled. This woman might have been older, and she might not have said more than a few words to her, but Penny sensed her dominance.
“Is she a family member of yours?” the woman asked as she raised a tumbler full of what looked like whiskey to her lips and used her pinky finger to point at Sylvia.
“Practically,” Penny replied. “A really good friend. Like a sister.”
“She knows her way around the fellas, huh?” the woman asked.
“That she definitely does,” Penny said.
“And why haven’t you joined her?”
“Excuse me?”
“Why haven’t you set down that machine and slid into the water to go find yourself a man?”
“I think I’m done with dating for now,” Penny said. “I haven’t exactly had much luck with it. I tend to find more pleasure on my own if you know what I mean.”
Penny laughed, and the woman did too.
Oh my God. Why did I hint at masturbation to a woman I don’t even know? She must think I’m a total loser.