Page 29 of Insatiable Bachelor (Bachelor Tower 1)
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Dalton
“Can we talk?” I ask the next day at the door to her apartment, trying with all my power not to sound like a lame-ass fool who’s hung up on some woman. Because sadly, that’s exactly what I am.
“Sure.” Penny is fidgeting with her simple gold chain necklace as she stares off into space.
Last night hadn’t been about us. Kylie drilled me for the names of every tenant involved. She turned her wall into a serial-killer-style collage of information. Push pins and diagrams. Notes about people’s secrets and rumors that might hold some truth she could exploit. She headed back to her office, and I left because Penny had looked exhausted.
“There’s something you should know,” I start, searching for the right words the way someone looks for an unfamiliar light switch in a dark room. “Something I should have told you.”
“Oh, God, not more,” Penny says, her eyes rounding with fear.
“I love you,” I blurt out. She doesn’t throw herself into my arms the way I imagined she would.
She rubs her hands over her face. “Love involves trust, Dalton. You could have asked me for a copy of Kylie’s lease. I would have given it to you.” There’s a crack to her voice that tears through me.
“No, you wouldn’t have.” I’m desperately grasping for straws, trying to justify my actions. “You wanted to protect your sister, and there is no way you would have handed that over.”
“You’re wrong,” Penny says coolly. She drops the chain from her nervous fingers and stands. “I never would’ve taken you to see my father and let you into my life if I thought I couldn’t trust you.”
“I don’t know what to say here,” I stammer, knowing I’ve completely messed things up with her, but hoping there is something left to salvage. “I told you. I love you.”
“You think you do.” She sighs, not looking angry but disappointed. “I don’t doubt that you feel good when we’re together. I’m sure you might even want to be around me more.”
“I do.”
“But that isn’t love. That’s lust. It’s not love. Love is . . .”
I watch Penny searching for an explanation the way a person in a foreign land might ask directions. She opens her mouth, nearly says something, then stops again. “I can’t do this, Dalton. I can’t teach you anymore.”
“Because you love me?” I ask, not prepared for how desperate I am for her to say yes.
“I do,” Penny admits, looking defeated. “But I can’t change you. I can’t save you.”
“This from the eternal optimist?”
“I’m an optimist.” Penny laughs. “But I’m not a fool. You need to figure this love thing out on your own first. Then give me a call.”
“Do I have to travel the world and go on silent meditation retreats in India?” I laugh but it’s only to keep my shit together. Penny is not wrong. But it doesn’t make this any easier.
“You have to figure out what’s most important to you. Falling in love with me does you no good if you only care about being a bachelor in this apartment. If we work out, we probably won’t live here. Have you thought of that?”
I hadn’t. “We’ll figure it out,” I admit, dropping my eyes to avoid her gaze.
“I don’t have to. I know what I want, Dalton. You need to decide what you want.”
I thought saying I loved her said it all. I have no idea what else she wants from me. “What do you want, Penny?”
“Help my sister,” Penny pleads. “Stick around. Be as loyal and as honest as you think people should be.”
I frown. “Is this a test? I don’t know if I like that.”
“Then go find someone in the bar.” Penny leans in and touches my cheek, sending shock waves to my heart. A new destination for shock waves if I’m being honest. “Because, yes, this is a test and those are my terms.”
Staring straight into her beautiful eyes, I submit with a mumble, “Okay.”
She doesn’t say she believes me. She doesn’t try to lighten my burden. But there is a tender little smile on her face that gives me hope.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Penny
“You’re being kind of tough on him,” Kylie says as we stroll into the lobby bar and order drinks. She’s making an appearance down here, dying for someone to confront her. That is when Kylie shines, when she’s backed into a corner. So far, no one has given her any trouble, and she looks disappointed.
“I’m not, trust me. Dalton is all sorts of selfish. He thinks about work and his career before any living human. He’s all about money and great Scotch.”
“I’m waiting for you to get to the bad part,” Kylie remarks stone-faced. “The last few guys you’ve dated have been hippie-dippie aimless men. You need someone who can help you get to the next level. He’ll dote on you and take you to fancy places. Why not enjoy it?”
“Because I love him, Kylie. And there is no way he’s capable of loving me back. How could he be? He’s exactly like—” I cut the sentence short, but it’s too late. She knows what I was about to say, and for a second she looks wounded. But she’s quick to dust herself off.
“He’s just like me?” Kylie laughs. “And what? I’m incapable of loving someone?”
“I didn’t mean that. It’s about loving someone more than you love the life you have. The things you have.”
“You don’t think I love you?” Kylie challenges, and my heart sinks.
“I’m sorry,” I sputter out. “I wasn’t trying to hurt you.”
“You never need me,” Kylie says. “If you’d asked me for anything, I would’ve given my last breath to make sure you got it. Somehow you always seem to land on your feet, and when I try to help you out, you don’t want me to.”
“It’s not that.” I squirm trying to articulate the very tricky rules she and I have set up in our relationship over the years. The path we’ve blazed to get here wasn’t made in one day; I can’t imagine we’ll sort it out that fast. “When you offer help, it’s always an effort to try to get me to be more like you or Mom. It’s never the help I need.”
“Then why don’t you tell me what you d
o need?”
“I don’t know.” I shrug.
“See, that’s not my problem. Or Mom’s,” Kylie protests, swirling her little plastic straw in her drink.
“Okay, I need to know you will love me no matter how I turn out,” I grind out through gritted teeth. “I need to know I’m as important to you as this apartment.”
Kylie’s expression sobers. “You know you are.”
“No, no I don’t.”
Kylie crosses the space between us and puts her arms around me. “Whenever I feel lost, you’re the one I call. You’re the only one I can relax around, put down my guard around. I knew I could rely on you to keep the apartment for me because I trust you like I trust no one else.”
I hug her so tight it hurts.
When we finally step back, she says, “Now, let’s talk about Dalton. Give Dalton another shot. I think you might be right. He and I are a lot alike. Which means he is used to being in control. That man is stupid in love with you. That’s a huge risk for him. You, Penny, you can fall head over heels and love with your whole heart. People like Dalton and me, it’s harder than you can ever imagine. If he’s gone out on a limb to love you, don’t leave him hanging there.”
I tell her what I asked him to do to prove his love for me.
Kylie nods in approval. “You know, you’re not the pushover you think you are.”
“Hey, Penny,” Ben says as he strolls up to our table and nods at Kylie and me. “You must be the sister?”
“Got a problem with that?” Kylie asks with a fierce look in her eye. “I’m the sister. I’m the woman who moved into your precious little man cave.”
“Easy,” I say, touching her arm gently. “This is Ben. He’s on our team.”
“I am?” Ben asks, looking surprised then pleased. “I am.”
“Hey,” Kylie says, ignoring Ben now. “You can’t just add people to our team. What do we even know about this Ben guy?”
“He’s cute,” I start, knowing this will send my sister into a fit of anger. “He wears those nice glasses that make him look smart. I once saw him pet a puppy in the lobby.”
