“Hey. Snap out of it.”
He laughed out loud, surprise coloring his voice. “What?”
“You’re being a little ridiculous about this whole thing. I’m not interfering with your business decisions, I promise, but let me tell you what I found.” Penny swiveled the chair to face him.
“Fine. Tell me.” Drew rocked up onto his toes. He’d want a shower next, and she would take Logan down to eat breakfast. It was part of the routine they’d developed together after New York, and it was…surprisingly efficient. And surprisingly comforting in a way she hadn’t expected.
“The one thing that’s not crystal clear is future maintenance,” she said. “You glossed over it in the last half of the presentation, and I think Jack’s going to notice.”
Drew narrowed his eyes. “What? I added a section about upkeep and reinvestment.”
“You added a slide. And only as a percentage of revenue directed to the area. But if Jack is as invested as you say he is, he’s going to want more than that. Remember the dinner?”
“You weren’t at the dinner.” Drew stared at the screen over her shoulder.
“I was there after, when he was talking about how his company is his legacy. I’m telling you—he’s going to want to know how you specifically plan to keep his routes maintained and active.”
“They’ll be my routes,” Drew said, and Penny laughed.
“Of course they will. But they’ll still be part of his legacy.”
The clock on the far wall of the office ticked the seconds away.
“Well,” Drew said finally. “I underestimated you.”
“You didn’t think I’d have anything to offer when it came to the presentation? Ouch,” she joked.
“I thought you might go with typos.”
“Typos are a good thing to catch in any presentation. I fixed a couple, by the way.”
He leaned down, giving her a taste of the sleepy scent of him, and kissed her cheek. “Thank you.”
Goose bumps rose on the back of her neck, spreading down the length of her spine and curving around her hips. It was one kiss, and a short one, because Drew still held Logan in his arms.
“Daddy, I’m hungry,” Logan said.
Penny was hungry, too. She was hungry in more ways than one. Her stomach felt like a hollow pit, but more than that, the kiss on the cheek—the whole conversation—it had felt like something worn-in and familiar and right. Was this what it looked like to have a happily ever after with someone? A home and a child and a husband she could go back and forth with on things that were important to them?
The vision was so powerful it took over everything else, dropping down like a scrim over Drew’s office. But it only lasted a few moments.
“You ready to head downstairs?” Drew asked his son.
“Yeah! With Miss Penny!”
Penny stood up and swept Logan out of Drew’s arms, twirling him around in a big circle. He laughed, his head thrown back, and she caught a glimpse of Drew’s eyes on the two of them. Could he see it, too? The pure fantasy of a life together?
That’s all it was, she told herself as she went down the stairs with Logan in her arms and set about making him breakfast. A fantasy. It would probably end when the deal closed. That would be logical. Why keep it up, after that?
She leaned over the counter, chatting with Logan as he ate toast with peanut butter. Drew swept into the kitchen a few minutes later, hair neat, blue eyes shining, and outfit flawless. He wore navy slacks and a white button-down with the sleeves rolled up above his elbows. Penny’s mouth watered. He had nice arms.
“All right. Everything good, buddy?”
Logan nodded, his mouth full of toast.
“Everything good?”
Penny nodded, too. Only it would have been better to unbutton all those buttons, one by one, and take off the white T-shirt underneath, and…dance together. Yes. That was it. Dance.
“Don’t forget,” he said, patting his pocket absently. “The barbecue is tomorrow, and we’re playing the host couple. So if there’s anything you need to do to prepare…”
Some of the tension had come back into his shoulders. “I’ve got the part of Drew Preston’s wife down. You’ll see.”
“It’ll be different from the dinner,” Drew insisted, worry creeping into his tone. “A lot more people. A lot more conversation.”
Penny crossed her arms over her chest, jutting one hip out. “Don’t you have a presentation to finalize, mister?”
His eyes flicked down over her body, lightning fast and just as hot. “You’re right about that.”
“You know I am.”
“I’ll see you after work, Mrs. Preston,” he joked, and Penny gave him a little wave, kicking her heel up behind her.
Logan laughed. “So funny.”
“So funny,” she said back. Drew left after a quick hug and a kiss from Logan.
“Did you see?” Logan said to her as the front door closed. “Daddy left.”
“I did see.” And it reminded her again that no matter how easy it felt, she could not fall madly in love with Drew Preston. It would only end in heartbreak.
7
The bounce house was a hit.
“I don’t know why I’ve never rented one before,” Drew told Penny as they looked out over the barbecue in full swing. The guests spilled out over Drew’s massive back deck, down the stairs, and into the manicured lawn beneath.
“I can’t believe it,” she joked, leaning in a bit closer. His heart felt like it might leap from his chest and fly away. “You seem like the kind of guy who rents a bounce house every week.” She chortled. “Honestly, you seem like the kind of guy who would just own a bounce house.”
“I should rectify that.”
“Logan would love it.”
Logan came tearing up the deck stairs, followed closely by Drew’s brother Charlie, whose assessing glance took in Penny and Drew in an instant. Drew’s face heated under the scrutiny. This was their first big performance, and it was basically act two of the presentation he’d made to Jack the day before.
“Penny, I jumped so much,” Logan said. “Look at me.” He jumped again. “Look!”
“I see!” She reached out a hand and ruffled his hair. “You’re a good jumper. Are you going to go back in the bounce house?”
“He said he was hungry,” said Charlie, smiling down at his nephew. Then he looked back at Penny. “Penny, I’ve seen you at Preston a couple of times, but I don’t think we’ve been formally introduced.”
The two of them shook hands, and Drew felt a burst of pride. At what, he wasn’t sure. How kind she was to Logan? She was always kind, engaged...present. At how beautiful she was? That was also a given.
“Logan, let’s get some food. It’s great to finally meet you, Charlie.”
Drew’s brother took Penny’s place at his side, and they watched Penny take Logan down to the catering station. He ran to the end with the desserts, and she put her hands to her mouth and called him back.
“You started dating the nanny and you didn’t even tell me?”