Page 10 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 11

Wednesday

Penny started to walk toward the driver’s side door.

“Hey.”

She didn’t turn her head.

Before she took another step, I grabbed her wrist. "What are you doing?"

"You wanted a tour."

I was relieved that she wasn’t trying to run away from me. "I'll drive." I held out my hand for the keys.

"You won't be able to see anything I show you then. Can't you give up control for just a few minutes? I want to show you something."

Was this one of those instances where she wanted me to be vulnerable or something? I didn’t love it. But I could tell she really wanted to drive. And I was curious to see where she’d take me. I took a deep breath and dropped her wrist.

She smiled and walked around the car. She opened up the driver's door and climbed in.

I reluctantly sat down in the passenger’s seat.

Penny was so far away from the wheel, I wasn’t sure she could even reach it.

She looked around for how to adjust the seat.

She pressed a button and the seat got even lower.

Her head was beneath the top of the steering wheel now.

Even if she could reach the wheel, she wouldn’t be able to see a damn thing.

I laughed. "Here." I leaned over her and pressed a few buttons. As the seat rose, I placed a kiss against her lips.

She grabbed my chin. "You should probably put your seatbelt on, James."

I lowered my eyebrows. I really hoped she wasn’t planning on speeding. I’d never seen her drive, but based on how she was trying to adjust the seat…I wasn’t expecting much. I sat back in my seat. As soon as my buckle clicked into place, Penny put her foot down on the gas hard.

The car jolted forward.

Jesus. She was going to kill us. I gripped the handle on the door, holding on for dear life.

She did a very jerky U-turn.

"Maybe I should drive," I said.

"I got this."

It took her a little bit, but she did start to adjust to the sensitivity of the gas and brake pedals. She looked very confident as she drove out of neighborhood and back onto Concord Pike. Overly confident, really. Because the car was still weirdly jerky under her control.

I kept holding on to the handle on the door. I was starting to wonder if Penny even had her driver’s license.

I needed a distraction from her terrible driving. "So is Wilmington one of those small towns where everyone knows each other?" I asked. I’d always been so curious about Delaware. Ever since high school when I was told that people were nicer here. And I’d only ever been in Newark and to the beach.

"If you haven't noticed, all of Delaware is like that."

I smiled. "I have kind of noticed that. It's very different from New York."

She laughed and turned into a parking lot next to a beautiful park. She pulled into an empty spot and miraculously didn’t hit the tree that she seemed dead set on hitting.

Thank fuck. I was never letting her drive again.

"Well you should be comfortable today then,” Penny said. “No one ever really notices me. So today we can pretend like we're in New York."

It wasn’t just the way she said it that made me frown. It was the fact that she really believed that was true. That she was invisible. She couldn’t be farther from the truth.

She handed me my keys back before stepping out of the car.

I climbed out after her. I closed the distance between us and immediately wrapped my arms around her. You’re not invisible, Penny.

She hugged me back.

And we stood like that for a long time. I felt so…calm. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Her cherry perfume mixed with the smell of the autumn leaves. No, Penny definitely wasn’t invisible. She was home to me. She was all I ever saw.

She slowly pulled back. "Let me call my mom. I'll tell her we're here and that she should come home for lunch. You're right, the sooner the better."

I stared into her blue eyes. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

***

Penny had said she was sure. But…she still hadn’t called her mom.

And the longer we walked on the path through the woods, the less sure she looked.

We’d been walking on the trail for a good half hour.

It was the most amazing fall afternoon. But it was a little hard to enjoy it when Penny was a ball of stress.

“Enough,” I said and dropped her hand. We were on an adorable little bridge. A perfect place to steal a kiss. But she looked like she was going to throw up. “Just do it.”

She groaned.

“Penny, the longer you wait, the more likely it is that your mother will find out.” I glanced at my watch. “And it’s almost 11:30. If you want to do it over lunch, you need to give them at least a little heads up.”

“You’re right. I know you’re right.”

“But?” I said and raised my eyebrow.

“What if they’re really mad, James?”

I smiled. “It’ll be fine. You know how charming I can be.” But I was worried about the same thing. What if her dad tried to slug me or something? Was it okay to knock him out? Or was that poor etiquette when meeting the parents? Screw me.

Penny nodded.

“And we’ll get through it together,” I said. “No matter what. Besides, it’s much more likely that they’re going to be mad at me, not you.” The first time I’d met them had been in a hospital and I’d blatantly lied about who I was. I was the one in the firing line, not her.

“You’re right. I’ve got this.” She laughed awkwardly and pulled out her phone. She tapped on her screen and put the phone to her ear. She turned away from me as it rang.

I leaned against the railing on the small bridge and stared at her.

"Hi, Mom," she said and turned away from me.

I really hoped for both our sakes that her mother didn’t know yet.

"Yeah, everything's great!” Penny said. “Nothing weird or out of the ordinary going on at all."

What is she saying right now? I held back a laugh.

"I just wanted to show James around,” she said. “He was curious about where I grew up." She glanced over her shoulder at me.

I gave her an encouraging smile.

She turned back away from me and listened to something her mom was saying.

I leaned over the railing of the bridge and stared at the water. Yeah, this would have been the perfect fall afternoon if we didn’t have this cloud over our heads.

"Actually, Mom, I was hoping you and Dad could come home for lunch? James and I have to get back soon and I want to make sure I get to see both of you."

Another long pause.

I wondered if Penny’s father would off me and throw me into this river tonight…

"James actually needs to get back soon,” Penny said.

I turned back toward her. I do, do I?

"I'm feeling a lot better,” Penny said and touched her forehead. “You have absolutely nothing to worry about."

Nothing? She was doing a terrible job prepping her mom for this. Piling lies on top of lies was more my speed than Penny’s. But it was better to do this in person.

"Really, Mom, I'm good. Text me about lunch, okay?" Penny nodded to herself. "Great. See you later." She hung up and sighed.

"I need to get back soon, huh?"

"I didn't want to commit to dinner in case, well, everyone's freaking out."

I nodded. "Probably a good idea." I put my elbows back on the railing.

She leaned on the ledge beside me. "I used to run on these paths in high school."

"I didn't know that you liked to run." I thought she’d told me she didn’t.

"I don't," she laughed. "I made myself. I wanted to make sure I was in good shape for volleyball. I actually hate running."

"You played volleyball?"

"Why do you always seem surprised when I tell you about my athletic abilities? I'm an only child. I used to play stuff with my dad all the time. He never had a son." She shrugged her shoulders. "I was actually pretty awesome at volleyball."

"You're probably awesome at everything you do." I put my arm around her shoulders and pulled her in to my side.

"I used to dream of having a boyfriend to walk with back here. I even used to dream about sneaking out of my house and coming over here for secret rendezvous."

"Hmm." I leaned down and kissed her. "You were always quite scandalous. The news of you dating your professor shouldn't shock your parents at all then."

She laughed uneasily.

I needed to change the topic. We’d deal with her parents soon enough. "What were you like in high school?"

"What do you mean? Like I am now. Or, like I was before I met you, I guess.

Shy and quiet. Completely invisible. I don't feel invisible anymore.

" Her phone buzzed and she pulled it out of her pocket.

"They will both be home in an hour." She took a deep breath.

"What's the plan exactly? How do you think we should bring it up?

We already told them that you were a student.

And you look young, James. I feel like they're going to think I'm joking. "

I pulled her against my chest. "I don't think there is any right way. Let's just try not to think about it."

"How can I possibly not think about it? I want them to love you as much as I do."

I ran my fingers through her hair. "I think it's more likely that your dad will punch me in the face than love me." And then toss me in that river. Although, it was a terrible place to hide a body. It didn’t look deep at all.

Penny laughed. "He's not going to do that.”

She didn’t expect him to do it. But she didn’t know for sure. We were in uncharted territory here. Penny had never had a boyfriend before. She had no idea how her dad was going to react to her dating a professor that was quite a bit older than her. He was definitely going to fucking kill me.

I tried to shake away the thought. "I'd love a tour of your house. So I can plan my escape route and everything before they get there. Just in case."

"If you need to make an emergency escape, please don't leave me in the crossfire."

"I would never." I had every intention of throwing her over my shoulder and escaping with her.

Part of me wanted to follow her lead from earlier and just get the hell out of the country.

But this was the last hurdle we needed to face today.

Everything would be easier after we came clean to her parents. I hoped.

“Can I drive again?” Penny asked.

God no. Was she trying to give me a heart attack before her dad tried to murder me? It was like the Taylors were out to get me.

“What is with that face? I’m a good driver.”

According to who? “I’m driving.”

“We’ll see about that.” She laughed and grabbed my hand. Our feet crunched in the leaves as she pulled me back in the direction we’d come from. Her red hair blew in the wind and I just wanted to freeze time.

I enjoyed the walk back to the car a lot more than the walk away from it. Her laughter was contagious. And when she stopped on the pavement and looked up at me, I already knew I was going to cave.

“Please?” she said and put out her hand. She bit her lip as she looked up at me.

How was I supposed to say no to her when she was biting her lip like that? I knew I was going to regret it, but I placed the keys back into her hand. Please don’t kill us.