Page 3 of Payback, Penelope

Chapter 2

Penelope

Limping through the parking lot, I silently curse myself for choosing to wear my gorgeous heels for eight hours while rearranging the furniture in my classroom and putting up new posters that the kids will no doubt think are cringe-worthy instead of encouraging. I sigh when I unlock the door of my beige twenty-one-year-old Corolla and collapse in the driver’s seat. Leaving the door open, praying for a breeze, I sag and just…melt. It’s like Satan’s armpit outside, and I still haven’t gotten around to getting my car’s A/C fixed yet.

Though the last thing I want to do now is go out with the people I’ve just spent the entirety of the day making small talk about our summers, I need an ice-cold stiff drink to cool me off before going home. Or maybe it’s the draw of seeing Jacob again and catching up on what he’s been doing since we both left Tyler. It doesn’t have anything to do with his tight trousers. Nope. Nor the promise that I can have a hug anytime I want. Nope. Nope. Nope.

When I attempt to turn over the ignition, nothing happens. Not even a half-hearted sputter. “No, no, no, don’t do this to me, Betsy girl.” A few more attempts lead to fuck all, and I drop my forehead against the scorching hot faux-leather steering wheel.“Come on, baby, do it for Mama.” Big fat nothing when I try one more time.

“‘Mama’, huh?”

I scream and slam the back of my head against the headrest at the sudden interruption by the big bear of a man squatting next to my open door.

“Whoa, hey, you ok there, Mama?” Jacob palms and rubs the back of my head like I’d slammed it against a brick wall instead of a padded headrest.

“Jesus, Jacob, you scared the daylights out of me. Where did you come from?”

Jacob nods toward a shiny silver Audi SUV parked two rows ahead of me that I hadn’t noticed. “Saw you sitting here, banging your forehead on the steering wheel, and figured you might need some help.”

He’s still stroking the back of my head, and there I go, leaning into his touch with a full-body tingle when he unintentionally tugs on the strands.Damn, it feels nice to have someone play with my hair.

“Car won’t start?”

I groan. “No. Second time this month.” I dig my cell phone out of my canvas tote bag withTeaching is a work of heartscreenprinted on the front—a reminder of why I became a teacher in the first place, despite the abysmal pay. “Thanks for checking on me.” I waggle the phone at him. “Afraid I’ll miss out on the bar since I have to wait for a tow truck. You’ll have to have fun for the both of us.”

Jacob plucks the phone out of my hand, drops it in my bag, and then scoops me out of my seat, making my stomach swoop and thighs clench when he carries me like a bride to his Audi effortlessly. Wow, wow, wow, so that’s what it feels like to be carried across a threshold. Yeah, he could definitely throwsomeone against the wall, which has me seeing green for anyone he’s done this to previously.

“What are you doing?”

He holds me with one arm to open the passenger side door, remote-starts the Audi, and gently sets me down on the seat sideways with my legs hanging out. I yelp when the hot black leather seat sears the back of my knees. Jacob grabs me by my calves and yanks me toward him so that I’m balancing on the edge with my skirt protecting the underside of my thighs, and I moan. Freaking moan! Oh my god. That hole I was thinking of crawling into earlier is looking better and better.

But then I swear I see a flash of desire in his eyes and promptly mentally smack myself. He’s at least a decade younger than me, and as grimy with sweat and dust as I am, there’s no way what I saw was real. The heat must be scrambling my brain and conjuring hallucinations where he’s concerned. Yup, that’s got to be it.

Jacob points the A/C vents toward me, drags my heels off, and sets them down with my tote bag in the footwell. He pinches the material at his knees and hikes his trousers up his thighs before squatting and massaging the bottom of my left foot with his thumbs.

“Dear god, that feels…” I moan again, resisting the urge to lose myself in the pleasure or tip my head back and let my eyes drift closed.

He narrows his eyes slightly when I attempt to pull my foot out of his grasp, and it doesn’t take more than that look for me to give up and allow him to continue the best foot massage I’ve ever had. I try to keep silent by rolling and biting my bottom lip as he works it over before switching to my right foot. The right hurts more than the left, and I gasp with instant relief when he digs his thumbs in.

“Oh wow, Jacob, you’ve got the magic touch.”

“Sure do, Mama,” he says, deep and low, and I’m sweating all over again despite the blast of frigid air.

I sigh and slump back against the center console. Feeling self-conscious after making that innuendo, I tug twice on my leg. “I’m good now, thanks.”

He reluctantly drops my foot. “Any time, Mama.”

I laugh. “Penelope. You can call me Penelope. And I might just have to take you up on that offer.”

“It would be my pleasure, Penelope.” He looks like he genuinely means it, too. I get caught up in his intense eye contact before he swings my legs to turn me to face forward in the seat and closes the door.

When he jumps into the driver’s seat and buckles himself in, I yell, “Wait! I need to call a tow truck.”

“I’ve got it covered.” Jacob connects his phone to his fancy car and makes the call. I openly gape at him when he directs them to take my car to a Toyota dealership.

“Wait, wait, wait. I can’t afford dealership prices. I’ve got a guy who’ll give me a discount if I pay cash.”

He huffs. “Your guy,” he says sarcastically, almost under his breath. “He must not be any good if you’re in and out of the shop. And don’t worry about the cost. I’ve got that covered, too.”

---