Remember Me Always: A Contemporary Romance (10 page)

I really thought my gift was going to open up some opportunities for us.  I thought maybe it would jar some distant memory and make everything right as rain.  Boy, was I wrong.  My gift had the complete opposite effect, and it was devastating on so many levels.

I don't understand what happened.  Colt and I were getting along so well, and then one thing sets him off and we're suddenly back to square one.  I just can't win with him, and I don't know if I ever will.  And the thought of never getting my Colton back scares the hell out of me.

Even though I'm mad at him, I still have an obligation to Buddy to bake desserts for the bar.  It's still early and I know Colton will be sleeping off a hangover, so I go to his house and let myself in.  Mack jumps up from his cozy bed and slobbers on my legs and feet as I scratch him behind the ears.

The house is quiet, and I do my best to keep it that way.  "Be quiet, Mack," I tell him, and he tilts his head as if he's trying to understand what I'm saying.

I don't want to wake Colton up.  In fact, I don't even want to see him right now.  I'm still mad as hell at him for destroying my gift.  My intentions behind the present were good.  I was trying to bring him back to me.  I've been waiting for Colton to come back on his own, but I don't see that happening in the foreseeable future.  All I wanted to do was try to help him along, but my plan backfired.  Big time.

I only have myself to blame, though.  I haven't given Colton enough time to adjust to having me back in his life.  And I certainly haven't given myself enough time to learn about all of his obvious anger issues.  He always seems so damn angry, and I just wish I could help him.  He won't let me in, though; and it's frustrating the hell out of me.

Sighing, I wash my hands and set to work in the kitchen baking pies, cakes, cupcakes and cookies.

*  *  *  *  *

COLTON

I WAKE UP with a hangover from hell and a lot of regret.  The devastated look on Penny's face haunted my dreams, and it seems like I didn't sleep a wink.  I feel like such an asshole for treatin' her like that last night.  I make a promise to myself to stop actin' like an asshole with her and give her the benefit of the doubt.  If we were close once, I let her into my life for a reason.  Buddy told me the other day how the three of us were always together.  She had to have been pretty damn special to me.  That's why she's tryin' so hard to make me remember her.  I may never want to remember my past, but I will give her a chance to be in my future.  She deserves that much at least.

I slip on a t-shirt and pajama bottoms and make my way downstairs.  I walk into the kitchen just as Penny drops a bowl on the sink.  It clatters loudly, and she curses under her breath as her hands reach out to quiet any further clatter.  She slowly and quietly backs away from the sink, tiptoein' around the kitchen; and I realize she's tryin' to be really quiet for a reason. 
She didn't want to wake me up.
  That makes me sad and pisses me off at the same time.  The highlight of my day is havin' Penny right here every morning.  I have become quite accustomed to her bein' in my kitchen when I wake up.

I'm her official taste tester, and I find myself wantin' to taste more than just her cakes and pies.  It drives me insane when she dances through my kitchen on her toes, blendin' and mixin' and concoctin' the most delicious things I have ever tasted.  I never thought bakin' could be so damn sexy.  And I especially enjoy the view I get when she bends over to pull somethin' out of one of the ovens.  I always have to sit behind the island so she can't see the evidence of my enjoyment.

"Penny," I say forcefully.

Penny jumps and screams when she realizes I'm standin' there.  She turns, places her hand over her heart and yells, "God, Colton!  You scared me half to death!"

"Sorry.  You are in
my
house, after all," I say in a sarcastic tone.  Her placid mood instantly changes to annoyance, and I force myself to back off.  This is not the way I'm goin' to fix things between us.  I need to stop usin' all my old tactics and try somethin' new.  "Penny, we need to talk about last night."

She shakes her head as she starts to roll out a piecrust.  "Colt, I don't want to talk about last night."  I can see her bottom lip tremblin' as she attempts to concentrate on the task at hand.

"Well, I do," I say, stubbornly.  I want to talk about it, and, damn it, she's gonna listen.  I step closer to her.  When she doesn't look at me, I grab her arms and whirl her around to face me.  "Penny, I'm sorry.  Okay?  I'm sorry for what I did.  I was drunk and stupid and ---."

She puts her fingertips against my lips to stop me.  Her touch sends a jolt of electricity ricochetin' through my entire body.  "You don't have to apologize, Colt.  The scrapbook was a stupid idea."  She takes a step back, and I instantly miss her touch.

"It was a good idea.  I…I'm just not ready for that.  Yet."

Her eyes widen at my words, and she gives me a small nod.  "Well, I hope when you are ready that you'll let me know.  I have so much to tell you."

Penny walks back over to the counter where she had been rolling out piecrusts.  She has flour all over her apron again and even a few smudges on her cheeks.  In an attempt to lighten the mood, I tell her, "You look like you rolled around in a flour sack.  How do you manage to get it all over yourself all the time?"

She stops rollin' out the crust and glances to a small pile of flour beside her.  "It's pretty easy actually," she says with mischievous grin on her face.  I watch as she scoops up a little bit in her hand and throws it in my direction.

My dark blue t-shirt is suddenly splattered with white.  I look down at my shirt in disbelief.  When my eyes meet hers, I growl, "You're gonna pay for that, Penny Lane."

She gasps when I say her first and middle names together.  I don't even know why I said them.  It just came out.  I use her surprise to my advantage, and it only takes three big steps before I'm scoopin' her up in my big arms.  "You wanna play dirty?  Let's play dirty."  While holdin' her tightly with one arm, I pick up a big scoop of flour and hit her in the face with it.

She squeals as she struggles against me.  "Colton James!" she screams.  "I can't believe you just did that!"

"Oh, there's more where that came from."  I grab a bag of shredded coconut and dump it into her hair.  As I'm reachin' for somethin' else, she uses the opportunity to scramble out of my grip.

She grabs a spatula, which is covered in vanilla cake batter.  She comes towards me with an evil grin, and it makes me laugh.  She looks so damn cute.

"You wouldn't dare," I say with a menacin', yet playful tone.  I can't help but smile.  This is the most fun I've had in years.  Penny brings out this lighthearted, playful mood in me like no one else can.

"I never turn down a dare," she smirks as she runs towards me with the spatula outstretched in her hand.  At the last second, I grab her arm, twist her in one swift motion and hold her back flush against my front.  I slowly move the spatula towards her face.  She squeals and laughs and tries to hold my arm at bay, but the spatula eventually smacks her cheek.  Then I drag the batter down her cheek, neck and chest for good measure, thoroughly enjoyin' every moment of our little game.

Mack comes boundin' around the counter, barkin' and jumpin' on us.  "Down boy!"  I chuckle.  It's almost like he's tryin' to break the two of us apart.

"Truce!  Truce!" Penny screams.

Laughin', I let her go.  My eyes study her as I smile.  "You got a little somethin' right there," I tease as I point to her entire face.

Mack is barkin' like crazy, and it takes me a moment to realize he's not barkin' at us anymore.

"Colton," says a voice from the opposite side of the room.

I turn to see Ruby Sue standin' there.  She's eyein' the both of us with a pissed off look on her face.

Shit.

Our playful mood instantly vanishes, and Penny busies herself with attemptin' to wipe off the batter with a bunch of paper towels.

"Ruby Sue," I say, nervously rubbin' the back of my neck with my hand.  "What are you doin' here?"

"Can I have a word with you, Colton?"  She eyes Penny for a second before turnin' back to me.  "Outside?" she adds.

"Sure," I say with a nod.  And then I follow her out onto the porch.  Mack decides to stay in the kitchen with Penny. 
Traitor.

Ruby's red lips are pursed as she looks up at me.  "Care to explain what's going on?" she asks, motionin' towards the kitchen with her matchin' red fingernails.

"Oh, that's Penny.  She…she works for us at the bar now."

"Yeah, I already knew that.  But what is she doing
here
?"

I clear my throat, stallin'.  I don't know why I feel so damn guilty.  And the weird thing is I don't know who I'm feelin' more guilt over --- Penny or Ruby Sue.  "Well, Penny's bakin' some things for us to sell, and Buddy had the brilliant idea that she should bake in my kitchen instead of her tiny apartment above the bar."

"She lives above the bar too?" Ruby Sue asks with a cringe.

I stare at her and tilt my head.  I don't understand why she's so upset.  "Nothing's goin' on between us, Ruby Sue."  Why does that feel like an outright lie leaving my lips?

She doesn't seem convinced.  "Really?"

I nod.

A satisfied smile forms on her ruby lips.  "Okay.  If you say so."  Then she adds after a few moments, "I trust you, Colt."  She fiddles with the frayin' strands on the bottom of her daisy dukes.  "I'm sorry I missed your birthday party last night.  I've been thinking all day of ways I can make it up to you," she says with a wink.

While I used to think it was hot when she said and did that, it suddenly turns me right the fuck off.  It's almost like my brain has been rewired to only get hot over the thought of Penny.  "You don't have to make it up to me, Ruby Sue.  It wasn't a big deal."

"Not a big deal?  You celebrated your birthday for the first time in the three years we've been together.  Sounds like it was kind of a big deal."  She waves her hand towards the bar as she says, "Buddy didn't tell me about the party until last minute, and I already had a client booked for a four-hour tattoo session."

"It was a surprise party.  Hell, I didn't even know about it until I walked in the bar."  How Buddy and Penny were able to pull it off still baffles me.  They were so quiet about the whole damn thing.  In fact, everyone was.  I haven't celebrated my birthday since the accident.  I didn't even want to celebrate last night, but the look on Penny's face when she yelled surprise changed my mind.  She looked so happy, and damn it if that's not my Kryptonite when it comes to her.  I want her to be happy twenty-four seven…even though recently it hasn't seemed that way on my end.  I can't stop screwin' up when it comes to her.  And now that Ruby Sue is here, I hope that I'm not screwin' everything up once again.

Foldin' my arms across my chest, I say, "But anyway, like I just said, not a big deal that you missed it."

I'm expectin' her to leave after our conversation; but instead, she moves to the screen door and swings it open.  "Well, I'm going to go introduce myself to Penny since you don't seem like you're fixin' to."

I stay on the porch, afraid to follow her inside.  Why do I feel like my two worlds are suddenly about to collide?

Fuck
, I mutter to myself.  Looks like I'll have a lot more apologizin' to do very soon.

*  *  *  *  *

PENNY

RUBY SUE IS pure perfection.  She's wearing daisy dukes and a black tank top and looks like she just stepped out of a '50s pin-up model magazine.  Her crystal green eyes are lined with thick black eyeliner that's perfectly winged at the corners.  Her left arm is covered in colorful flower tattoos, and she's totally rocking her entire look like a pro.  She's like a real-life
Rockabilly Barbie
.

I suddenly feel like a complete moron standing there with very little makeup on and looking like an absolute wreck covered in flour, batter and God knows what else.

The only thing that made me feel better was that when she came back inside, Mack growled at her.  Well, until I told him to go outside, that is.  And he listened to me immediately.  Hell, he should listen to me.  I was the one who trained him, after all.

After Mack is out the door, Ruby Sue seems to instantly relax.  How could she not love Mack?  And why does Mack not like her?  I thought Mack liked everyone who wasn't a complete stranger.  Maybe he's not the only one that should have their hackles raised.

She reaches out a manicured hand to me, and I reluctantly shake her hand.  "You must be Penny.  I'm Ruby Sue."

"Nice to meet you," I say, lying through my teeth.  I have no idea who this girl is, but she walked in here like she owned the place.  I'm pretty certain she's not falling into the friend category with Colton, so that can only mean one thing.  This could be Colton's girlfriend.  The only thing that's keeping my hackles down is the fact that Ruby Sue has no idea who I am or what I am to Colt.  I'm sure he didn't tell her anything about me since he didn't even know who I was until a few weeks ago.