Page 30 of The Cowboy and the Bombshell
I watched her walk away -again- and wondered how I could have possibly handled that any worse.
Turning, I looked at Silas. “Thanks for the help,friend.”
“Oh, I think you did quite fine on your own.” He shook his head at me. “For a man who dug his own grave.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah, Stone,” Silas said, slapping me on the back. “My sentiments exactly.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Penelope
The night air was cool as it blew in from across Red Rock Canyon. Standing at the edge of Harold’s property, I allowed my gaze to pass over the shadowed hills as I tried to shake off the emotions from my disaster of an evening.
When Daphne called me just before I finished work for the day, she sounded so excited. She wanted us to go out, spend some time on the town. I hadn’t been out the entire time I had been here in Las Vegas, instead focusing on the work and creating the promotional materials needed for the launch. But my mother’s words played in my mind, how she wanted me to live a little while I was here, so I had agreed. Daphne met me at the house and I dressed in my best clothes. I had sent all the things Moira purchased back to her once my suitcase arrived. There was no way I was going to need all those items. I even insisted paying her for the pants and top I had worn, the cost of which was an entire weeks worth of my mother’s nursing salary, but I didn’t want to be indebted to anyone, especially Harold Pennington. It was bad enough I was living in his home.
When Daphne and I arrived at the club in my Jimmy Choo heels and the skirt my mother had altered for me by hand, I was feeling pretty good about myself. We headed to the bar, and I ordered a drink and I was just starting to relax when out of no where came Stone Pennington, barreling in and throwing his weight around like he always does.
Once the drama was over, I begged off going to the next club with Daphne and we both decided to just call it a night. I was just tired of all of it. Tired of ignoring Stone, tired of dealing with his snide remarks and his constant asshole comments. Tired of feeling attraction to him when all I should feel was annoyance. Tired of fighting for a job that would likely never be mine regardless of how hard I worked.
I was just tired.
Standing there, looking over the barren desert landscape, the normally beautiful reds and oranges now painted in shades of muted gray and black in the darkness, I was contemplating my next move when I heard the foot steps approaching behind me. Letting out a huge sigh, I turned and met Stone’s eyes in the dim light from the pool. Crossing my arms over my chest, I watched him approach.
“Penelope,” he said, looking supremely uncomfortable. I felt a little bad for enjoying his discomfort. But only a little. “I, um, I wanted to apologize.”
I waited for him to continue, and when he didn’t, I pressed him. “Apologize for what, exactly, Mr. Montgomery?”
He cringed at my use of his last name, a sure sign that we were not on good terms right now.
“For tonight. For getting involved where I wasn’t wanted. I just assumed…”
“Yeah, well, you know what they say about people who assume things,” I quipped, throwing his own words from the first time we stood by this pool back at him. He didn’t miss my dig, pressing his lips together in discomfiture. Turning back to the silent desert, I stepped away from him, moving farther from the property and into the sand, feeling the small rocks and stones shifting beneath my shoes.
“Penelope, you should maybe-” Stone started, but I cut him off.
“Don’t tell me what to, do, Stone,” I threw over my shoulder, not taking my eyes of the darkened silhouette of the mountains in front of me, taking another step away.
“Yeah, no,” he said, and I could practically hear the eye roll in his voice. “I won’t, of course. I would never dream of suggesting you do something you don’t want. But, if I may, Blondie, I think I should bring to your attention that the further you go into the desert, the more likely you are to encounter something unsavory.”
I scoffed. “There is no one out there for miles, Stone. I walk the streets of Manhattan every day. I think I can handle unsavory.”
Stone chuckled lightly. “Unsavory people, sure. But I was referring to the snakes.”
I froze, a chill creeping up my spine. He had to be joking. “Snakes?”
“Sure. Rattlesnakes, likely. We have a bunch in Texas. But that’s not the only thing out there.”
I gulped, moving backward slowly, my eyes scanning the ground at my feet. “What else is out there?” I whispered.
“Scorpions,” he stated flatly, and that was it.
I turned, intending to race back to the safety of the patio, but Stone was right there behind me. I slammed into his chest with a thud, instantly surrounded by the warm scent of his cologne. Stone’s arms came up around me, grasping me tight to steady me on my heels. I looked up, meeting his eyes, seeing the question in them. My pulse pounded in my throat, and I thought for sure he could hear it. I didn’t move, my eyes dropping from is heavy lidded ones down to his full lips. Seeing them slightly parted, I could feel his breath as it skated across my face. Stone moved one hand from where it rested against my back, bringing it up and running his knuckles down my cheek, and I felt my skin grow warmer at the contact.
“Penelope,” he said quietly, his eyes searching mine again.
“What?” I breathed, not daring to speak louder and break the spell we seemed to be under. Every moment we spent like this, my muscles tightened, anticipation of what he would do next sending my adrenaline through the roof.
