Page 7 of In For a Penny
I walk away, wanting to maul the embarrassing number of sandwiches on my plate, leaving him standing alone by the drinks and food table.
Jeez, I am in such a shit mood.
I try to shake this feeling off. I mean, I know Oliver was looking me over like a piece of meat, but hewasbeingnice, and Iamsupposed to be networking here. I also need to be making friends in general, right?
I’ll try and make a friend after I finish my sandwiches.
I slump down in a chair with my plate of food and take a glass of cheap wine being passed around by waiters. Stuffing a sandwich in my mouth (egg salad—sweet!),I close my eyes and take a deep breath.
“So, what’s your story?” He startles me, making me jump in my seat, interrupting my thoughts on the most amazing egg salad sandwich I’ve ever had.
“Jesus!”
He takes a seat beside me and sips his tea with grace. “Why do you sound American, say you’re from New York, but are Spanish?”
“Aren’t English people supposed to be reserved and private? Why the hell do you care?”
PENNY, STOP BEING A BITCH.
He chuckles. I sigh, surprised he hasn’t left me sitting alone at the table at this point. I’ve been so rude—I definitely deserve it.
“Sorry.” I close my eyes and shake my head, sighing. “Your question did not merit that response.” I put my head in my hands.Open yourself up more, Penny. Give this place a shot.“If you’re actually curious, I was born in Colombia and moved to New York when I was younger.Technically, I’m American but not sure I always identify as such.”
I look over at him, embarrassed at my outburst and my even more embarrassingly unnecessary explanation of my family history. He raises an eyebrow and is not smiling. “I’m sorry. I am theworst. I’m acting like a total bitch, aren’t I? I’m in a horrible mood.”
“Maybe I can help with that. Colombians are hot.” He gives me a lascivious look.
Is this guy for real? Ballsy.
I laugh once in disbelief. “Seriously? Just like that? You’ve known me all of two seconds.”
“Why not?” he answers, setting his now empty teacup on the table. “I find you very attractive.”
I laugh at the ridiculousness of this situation. Is he seriously propositioning me at our orientation? I haven’t even known him for two minutes. “What’s your name again?” I ask.
“Oliver.” He smiles confidently.
I take him in and smile back. His forwardness is bordering on creepy, but there’s something about his confidence and humor that make me realize that this approach usually works for him.
I can’t take this man seriously—he’s ridiculous.Ridiculous but weirdly charming. I think he needs someone to bring him down a peg.
“Oliver,” I start, “normally, given your attitude and general body language, I think I would loathe you, but no one has made me laugh like this in a while, so if you’ll pardon my forwardness…” I bite my lip, leaning closer to him, looking him in the eye seductively.
“Yes?” he says, intrigued, breathing faster.
“I would love it if…” I whisper.
He looks at my lips. “Yes?”
“...we could be friends,” I say with a laugh.
He looks disappointed for a second. “Youarea tease.” He laughs. “But I like you. Yes, let’s be friends. That way, maybe one day, I will get to fuck you.”
I roll my eyes again and laugh some more. Despite his forwardness, he seems harmless.
“Not likely, but okay. Why don’t we just leave it as friends?” I ask, sticking my hand out to him.
He takes my hand and shakes it. “Deal. Come on,” he says. “I’ll introduce you to some people I already know from the program. I went to uni with some of them.” He stands and sticks out his hand, helping me get up, staring at my legs up and down.
His eyes grow darker. “You know, you really do have fantastic legs.”
I laugh and shake my head. His playfulness and honesty are refreshing. After playing games for three years with Austin and fucking all the wrong guys in the past twelve months or so, at least this guy makes me feel comfortable by giving it to me straight.
“You know, this could be considered sexual harassment.”
“Americans.” He rolls his eyes with a laugh. “Leave your sandwiches on the table, and let’s go.”
I get to my feet and shoot a longing glance at my plate as he quite literally pulls me in the opposite direction.
I never even got to try the tuna salad one!
