Chapter One
Penny glanced down at herself. The white top she wore was tight, clung to her curves, and, with the few buttons in front undone, gave sight to some major cleavage. She’d taken her friend Lily’s advice and paired the top with a short skirt and sexy heels, but now she had to wonder…
“You sure this isn’t too much?”
She wiggled her toes, insecurity slowly pumping through her veins.
Lily tugged on the fabric of Penny’s shirt, trying to close the buttons. “Maybe suck it in a little?”
“I can’t suck in my boobs.”
Lily shrugged and stepped back to look at her. “Screw it, I say leave it undone. It looks hot. Besides, it’s Jenna’s bachelorette party,” she said, fastening her earing. “You’re supposed to dress a little slutty for the club.”
The club was half an hour away and the closest thing to a “night life scene” available to the people from the small town of Diamond, Kansas. Well, aside from Penny’s BBQ bar and restaurant. She’d taken over the BBQ when her mother passed away last year. The long hours hadn’t left much time for her to have fun. She didn’t go to clubs, or the city for that matter, but that didn’t mean she didn’t like fun…wasn’t open to new things.
The last time she’d attempted to try “new things” was in the bedroom with her ex-boyfriend. Eli was courteous, handsome, all things a gentleman should be. He’d even been patient with Penny when she made him wait six months before finally having sex.
The sex had been a wild disappointment, so a week later she’d put on her best lingerie and gone to surprise him with round two. What she discovered was that he’d already found his own round two, and it wasn’t with her. Soon after taking her virginity, he’d taken her dignity by cheating on her with someone more “sexy” than “adorably boring.”
His words still rang in her ears:
“You’re just too vanilla, Penny.”
That had stung, coming from a guy that color-coded his sock drawer, and she’d never quite come out of the shadow he’d cast over her self-esteem. She’d discovered there was a wild side to her waiting to be unleashed, but the first time she’d tried to let out her inner sex kitten, he’d dumped her.
Which was why her sexual experience was lacking. That one time with Eli was her only experience. She’d thought about dating again, even gotten a few admiring glances, but her older brother Ryder did a great job keeping the male population of Diamond far away from her. And she was tired of it. Especially since she’d just found out that Eli was coming back into town with his new fiancé. AKA the other woman.
Diamond was too small a town for her not to run into him. If—when—she saw him, she wanted to know for herself that he wouldn’t wreck her.
“Besides,” Lily said, “this is the kind of outfit you need to catch the kind of man you’re fishing for.”
Penny swallowed hard. Funny Lily had phrased it that way, because she was going fishing, and Penny had her eyes on a big Bass. As in Sebastian “Bass” Strafford. The one man she’d had a secret crush on for years. He was dark, brooding, and a bad ass attorney, who also happened to be her older brother’s best friend.
“Ryder’s going to wet himself if he sees me dressed like this,” Penny said.
Jenna and Colt McCade had been engaged since last summer, and their spring wedding was right around the corner. Thanks to her friends being disgustingly in love, they’d decided to thrown a joint bachelor-bachelorette party at the club. Which meant Penny’s brother Ryder would be there.
But so would Bass. And that made tonight the perfect chance for Penny to make her move. She not only trusted him—they’d been friends for years, after all—she knew he was the kind of man that could deliver in the bedroom. Just looking at him was enough to know that.
Not to mention the few whispers she’d heard over the years about Bass being some kind of “sex god.” And that made him perfect for her. Who better to teach her how to be a sex goddess than a god himself?
“You might have to help me distract Ryder,” she said.
“He’ll have to get over himself. You’re a grown ass woman. This is your chance,” Lily said, cupping Penny’s shoulders. Lily’s blond hair was fastened into a tight up-do, and the trademark McCade flare was prominent. “Time to implement Operation: Orgasm.”
Penny needed some of Lily’s confidence. “What if I get shot down?”
“If a guy shoots you down, he’s a moron,” Lily said. “There’s going to be a lot of hot guys, ones more than willing to show you a good time. And sex is a good thing. As long as you’re comfortable and feel good about it, there’s no reason not to go after what you want.”
Problem was, who she wanted was her brother’s best friend, a
fact Bass wouldn’t overlook lightly. She would have to be persuasive if she was going to get the rigid attorney to bend to her idea.
Whatever the end result would be, going for Sebastian tonight was putting the group dynamic in jeopardy. But she had to try.
She knew he was attracted to her. At least, she thought she knew. Last year they’d played a harmless game of Sardines that turned into a few minutes of Sebastian lying against her in the dark, and her breathing in his scent.
She’d thought for sure he was going to kiss her. He’d been close. She could still feel his breath against her lips when he’d whispered the phrase she’d been repeating in her mind for nearly nine months:
Don’t challenge me. I always get what I want in the end.
Usually what he wanted was short term flings. If gossip was to be believed, those flings were full of the wildest sex a person could imagine. The thought made her tingle all over. She’d caught his attention, got a glimpse at the man he was hiding underneath, and was now determined to experience what lay behind that domineering persona.
“I’m going for it,” Penny said. She gave her long red hair a flick and faced her friend. “Time for Operation: Orgasm to commence.”
…
Bass glanced at the brunette across the room. She’d been checking him out for the past ten minutes. She was attractive, and that smile she gave was one he recognized. A look that led to the bedroom.
“If that woman keeps staring at you like that, her panties are going to catch fire,” Huck Galvin said loudly into Sebastian’s ear over the booming music of the club.
Yeah, that brunette could end his dry spell. She was prime, ready, and most importantly, not Penny Diamond.
Get her out of your head.
Good fucking luck with that. He’d been trying to get her out of his mind ever since last summer when they’d played Sardines. He’d always thought she was too soft for him, but after she’d challenged him to a game where he ended up alone with her, he’d barely been able to resist tasting those lush lips of hers. He could still feel her body humming against his, begging for it.
She was everything bright and good. He’d known her a long time, and he’d never met her equal. And he’d looked. Hard. But no one could compare to the soul-deep genuineness of Penny Diamond.