I nodded with a grin. “That I am.”
“And you’re writing again?”
“Something. I don’t know what it is.” He opened his mouth, but I jumped in before he could say anything. “And no, you can’t read it.”
He frowned. “I wasn’t going to ask. I know you’ll let me read it when you’re ready.” Then his eyes narrowed. “Unless you happen to be writing about me, and then I think I would like to know before it releases and hits a bestseller’s list.”
“Yeah, well…that was different. You were an ass.”
“Ohhh,” he breathed, planting a kiss on my neck. “Using the past tense. I’m not currently an ass?”
I squirmed out of his touch, disrupting Totle, who seemed completely put out by the fact that he had to move a whole foot and then buried himself under the covers again. I giggled. “You are not currently being an ass. I reserve the right to change my mind if you decide to do something stupid again.”
“Fair. I also reserve that right.” He reached out for his maroon Harvard sweatshirt, and I pouted. He laughed. “Really?”
I shrugged. “You said I could take advantage of no-class Fridays.”
“And you normally can, but I actually have to go into the office.”
“Ugh! Stupid jobs.”
He dropped down onto the couch next to me, rifling through the jeans he’d discarded in the middle of my living room last night. “I’ve figured out the next move for our lessons.”
“Oh?” I asked, closing my laptop and facing him.
“Yeah. I’ve been thinking over where to go next. And I think this is it.” He plucked a black card out of his wallet and held it out to me.
I warily looked at it. “What’s that for?”
“It’s part of the lesson.”
“I don’t need your credit card.”
He rolled his eyes. “Take it, Natalie.”
I gingerly took it from him and stared down at it. I felt immediately uncomfortable. Like I was suddenly going to be sick. I knew that I was constantly surrounded by money, but it was somehow different than holding an unlimited credit card, knowing that the person who owned it had a trust fund in the nine to ten digit range.
“The second lesson is about money. Money for us just…is. It’s not something you talk about because it speaks for itself. If you have the right kind of old money and the right kind of old-money name, you’re in. Otherwise, you’re somehow other. It’s why we look down on Hollywood money. The nouveau riche who we see as a little classless. Money shouldn’t scare you. Spending it should feel effortless. And I know that it makes you uncomfortable.”
It did. I’d grown up with very little, and I’d never had any of my own money until the book deal, but even then, it had been like pulling teeth to get me to spend it. I hadn’t even gotten a cab in the freezing rain.
“So, the other part of this is clothes. As vain and pretentious as it is, the clothes have to match. I love your bohemian clothing. I want you to wear it when we’re together, but if you go out, you’re going to need to play the part. And to do that, you’re going to need a new wardrobe.”
My mouth went dry. “What?”
“I’d start at Bergdorf Goodman and then try Barneys.”
“Penn, I can’t.” I tried to hand back the credit card. “I went shopping with Jane last month, and she bought me all this stuff. I ended up going back after and returning it. I couldn’t stomach the prices.”
He nodded. “That’s a good idea. Take Jane with you. Though I have no idea why you like her.” He eyed me as if I hadn’t just said that I wasn’t going to do what he’d said. “Why do you like her?”
“Did you hear me?”
“Yes, but you’re going to do this, Natalie. You asked me to help you become Upper East Side. To help you survive this world. The clothes help, and you’re going to go out and buy them like you’ve been doing this your entire life. Make the personal shoppers believe you.”
I frowned and felt even sicker at the thought.
“It’ll be easier with Jane. Though how she stomachs my brother…” He shuddered.
“Your brother isn’t so bad either.”
Penn narrowed his eyes. “That is a bald-faced lie.”
“Well, he saved me from Camden. He can’t be that bad.”
“Natalie, everyone looks good next to Camden Percy. That doesn’t suddenly make Court a saint when he’s actually a demon in a sharp suit.”
“You’re biased.”
“Yes,” he growled. I knew his brother was a pressure point. “Seeing you carousing with his girlfriend nearly sent me through the roof when I first heard about it.”
I put my computer on the coffee table and slid into his lap, straddling his muscular thighs. “You should stop worrying so much.”
“Easier when you’re on top of me,” he admitted. “But this isn’t going to convince me to let you off the hook.”
“What about a blow job? Will that change your mind?”
He considered it for a solid second. “No. But I’ll take one later after I take you out tonight.”
“You’re taking me out?”
“Yes, I have reservations at eight. And if you don’t have a new dress in that new wardrobe, then we can’t go.”
I grumbled under my breath. “Fine. I’ll call Jane.” I reached for my phone, but Penn dragged me back down on top of him.
“I’m reconsidering that blow job.”
I laughed. “Too late. You’d rather I go shopping.”
He kissed me hard on the mouth. “Convince me, Nat. Convince me.”
I groaned. “You’ll be the death of me.”
Then I convinced him…thoroughly.
Chapter 11
Natalie
An hour later, I stepped into Bergdorf Goodman with Penn’s black card in my wallet. I’d convinced the fuck out of him, and he’d still insisted I needed new clothes. Bastard.
So here I was, meeting Jane for some much-needed girl time and a whole new fucking wardrobe. The bill was going to terrify me. It was going to take every ounce of willpower not to balk at the prices and agree to the outrageous sum that was sure to be the end result of this excursion.
“Natalie!” a voice called behind me.
I turned in time to see Jane striding into Bergdorf with a pair of her signature Chanel sunglasses pushed to the top of her ash-blonde hair. She was dressed in a pair of black leggings and a soft, fuzzy pink sweater. She looked like she’d just slung it on after a run, but I knew that she didn’t run. Ever.
“Jane, it’s good to see you.”
She embraced me, planting a kiss on each of my cheeks.
“It’s been too long. I couldn’t believe it when I saw your number. I thought you’d be ignoring me because of what had happened at the Percy wedding. I told you it would all blow over. And look, you’re back in the city with your picture on Page Six.” She dramatically swung her boho Louis Vuitton bag onto her shoulder. “Which we need to talk about. You came to Trinity and didn’t even stop to say hi.” She pouted with her bottom lip sticking out. “I mean, are you mad at me or something?”