Page 36 of Mitch

“Scandalous?” he said grinning.

“Oh, Penn, this isn’t scandalous. This is me being polite.”

Penn bit his lip, looking me over for a moment before speaking.

“We make a good team, don’t we?” heasked softly.

I cocked my head to the side. “I think we do.”

Silence befell us, and I was certain we weren’t talking about cakes and goodies anymore.

I waited for a moment to see what he would do. If he would act on whatever desire or thoughts he was having, but he only stood there, stiff as a board.

Afraid.

How can I show you that you don’t have to be afraid, Penn Baker?

That was the moment his father decided to come into the already tight office space.

“Dad! I thought you and mom left...”

“Your mother forgot her sweater,” Mr. Baker said, rolling his chocolate eyes.

In the office, up close to Penn, I could see similarities, but Penn looked more like his mother with his complexion, his golden hair, and his ocean blue eyes. His father was a pretty large and bulky framed man with olive skin and jet-black hair. It was like night and day, though Penn shared the same jaw-line, the same thick eyelashes, and the same shape of mouth.

He truly was the best of both of his parents. A beautiful subject.

“There it is!” his father said as he moved to grab the sweater draped over the chair I was sitting in.

“Oh, I’m sorry!” I said as I grabbed it, handing it to the man.

Penn looked more than flushed. He looked like he was going to pass out.

Of course, he must be worried his dad saw something...

“Penn and I were just going over some photos I took yesterday, if you’d like to take a look,” I offered, speaking as professionally and curtly as possible.

Penn caught my glance and I tried to shoot him a reassuring smile.

It’s okay, I got this. Your secret is safe with me.

“Oh, that’s all right, I can look at them later. We’re headed out for the night to visit our friends in the city, and we really need to get going.”

“Fair enough. Have a lovely evening!” I said sweetly as his dad slung the sweater over his shoulder, hugged his son, and made his way out of the office.

When I was certain he was gone, I spoke, pulling Penn from his frozenstate.

“When’s your next event?” I asked, deciding to change the subject so my little Cream Puff could breathe easier.

“What?” he said, blinking, shaking his head. Coming back down to Earth from where his thoughts had taken him...

God only knew what was going through his mind.

“Your next big event? You know, like a wedding, or a party, or...”

“Oh, uh...”

“I was hoping I could get some shots of you and Archie out in the field,” I said as I pulled the USB out of the computer.

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