Page 37 of Backup Plan

I take a ten-second shower, give or take, brush my teeth, run a comb through my very clean hair, and throw on shorts and a T-shirt before heading up to brunch good as new.

When Madden opens the door for me, I see that Penny isn’t here just yet, and I’m only three minutes past eleven.

“That was fast,” Madden says, opening the door wider to let me in.

“That’s not what she said,” I quip, playing on the old that’s what she said double entendre.

Madden laughs. “Tell me about the girl. Some random you met at the club?”

I nod. The lie is much easier than the truth.

“Are you going to see her again?” he presses.

“Stop living vicariously through my shenanigans and go enjoy your woman,” I mutter.

“Oh, I’m enjoying her. Don’t you worry about that.”

There’s a knock on the door behind us, and I turn and open it to find Penny standing there. She’s wearing one of those one-piece romper things, a pale pink thing with flowers all over it, and she looks pretty. Her dark eyes fall to mine, and she offers a smile.

“Good morning,” she says.

“Morning,” I murmur warmly.

“Yay!” Everleigh says, walking over and clapping her hands together. “Everyone’s here.” She leans in to give Penny a hug, and when she pulls back, her eyes go to Penny’s neck like some sort of laser focus for sniffing out hickeys.

“Oh my God, Penguin!” she screeches. “Is that a hickey? What have you been up to, lady?”

Fuck, she’s observant.

And she called her Penguin. I seem to recall that Everleigh has a penchant for calling Penny basically anything that starts with Pen, and Pen dishes it right back by working her name into anything that has any variation of Everleigh.

“No, it’s not a hickey, Beverly,” Penny says, rolling her eyes in exaggeration. “I poked myself in the neck last night when I was getting ready for bed. Just a dumb, drunken mistake.”

My chest tightens at her assessment. I know she doesn’t mean me, but still, hearing her call anything from last night a dumb, drunken mistake has my hackles fully rising. I don’t like it. It wasn’t dumb, and it certainly wasn’t a mistake.

I know that’s not how she means it. Hell, it’s what I told her to say, and she’s just selling it.

It still has me on full alert.

Everleigh narrows her eyes at Penny as if she doesn’t really believe her, but she lets it go. Instead, she looks around the room and starts talking loudly.

“Welcome, everyone! We’re so happy you’re here. We have gifts for you all, and then you can help yourself to the buffet and bar.” She indicates the counter filled with food and nods toward the bar, and then she passes out bags to the bridesmaids while Maverick hands bags to the groomsmen, ushers, and anyone who has helped with the wedding—like me, who has stopped by the mansion no less than twenty times over the last couple months with construction updates.

I peek into the bag and spot a bottle of Blanton’s. It’s some special edition bourbon along with a crystal decanter set. There’s a card in there, too, that I’ll probably read later, and a small Cartier box. I open it to find cufflinks that I’m presumably supposed to wear to the wedding. It’s a nice sentiment, and honestly I didn’t come here expecting to leave with parting gifts.

“Thanks, Mav,” I say, giving my future brother-in-law a bro-hug.

“It was all Everleigh,” he says, nodding toward his bride, and I don’t doubt that it was.

And then Everleigh’s voice breaks through the din of everyone opening their gifts. “I went with necklaces and bracelets for the bridesmaids since Penny doesn’t wear earrings, and I’d love if you wore these with your bridesmaid dresses.”

I freeze.

Penny doesn’t wear earrings?

It wouldn’t have mattered literally fifteen minutes ago, but the lie I came up with on the spot as I was caught exiting Penny’s room this morning was apparently the one wrong lie. Out of the corner of my eye, I spot both Kennedy and Madden as their heads whip in my direction.

I don’t make eye contact with either of them, opting instead to set my gift bag down so I can get started on the buffet. I’m starving as fuck after expending several calories last night, and I fill my plate with eggs, ham, bacon, and fruit. I take two yogurt parfaits, and I fill a second plate with carbs. Croissants, waffles, and muffins.