“That wasn’t the point.” Penny pulled him behind a large curtain thing that gave the room its illusion of class, and leaned against the old paneled walls of the hall. The scent of musty wood overwhelmed the small space. The lighting barely filtered through the curtain. It even deadened the low roar of the crowd and the soft music playing in the background. Everyone disappeared. It was just the two of them. His imagination went wild with possibilities, but he reined them all in.
He opened his mouth.
Penny put her fingers over his lips. “Just because you are a hotshot doc from the city doesn’t mean that everything should happen in the city. Brady wanted to give the people around here a chance to be part of the wedding. It was important to both of them, so not another word about anywhere else but here.”
The dim light caught and danced devilishly in her brown eyes. Her fingers were warm against his lips. They stood close together. It would take only a second to pull her into his arms and claim a kiss. He let out a breath across her fingers. Her breathing hitched, but she didn’t pull away.
“Now.” She sounded breathless, and his body reacted. “Do I have your promise to behave?”
The wicked glint in her eyes made her request comical.
“Do you want me to behave?” His words caressed her fingers.
He felt the tremor ripple through her. Her lips curled up in an invitation.
The music in the room suddenly changed and Penny’s eyes widened. “Oh, crap, it’s the entrance music.”
She grabbed his hand once again and pulled him out into the open. It had been so easy to forget about the whole wedding reception happening beyond the curtain. He was half tempted to pull her back and forget about the party altogether.
Maggie and Brady walked into the hall and the crowd burst into applause.
“Brady looks happy.” Luke couldn’t contain that little bit of skepticism from his voice. Luke’s memories of Brady were tainted with the death of his parents and the iron rule of his brother. Brady had been one of the reasons he’d finally calmed down enough to graduate high school. Penny had been the other reason.
“He should be.” She leaned against his arm. “She’s happy.”
A wistfulness he could have imagined had entered her voice.
Luke became aware that Penny was still holding his hand while they stood watching the couple work their way through the crowd. “Are you happy?”
She gave him a mischievous smile and squeezed his hand. “I could be happier.”
The suggestion was far from discreet. If it were any other time and any other woman, he might have walked away from her right then. He didn’t play games. His career was his primary focus and it didn’t leave time for anything else.
But tonight was his brother’s wedding in his hometown, and he was standing next to the girl who had rocked his world as a teenager before she ripped his heart out and threw it back in his face. Tomorrow he’d be on a flight to St. Louis to continue his residency and Penny would return to his past, where she belonged.
“I could always tell when you were overthinking something.” Penny’s finger reached up and traced a line between his eyebrows. “You know that’s going to form a wrinkle if you keep doing it, right?”
“So you’re saying I shouldn’t think?” Luke tried to read her facial expressions, but Penny had always been careful to mask what she was really feeling. He’d thought he had been behind her wall once, but he knew better now.
“Thinking is highly overrated.” Penny winked at him. “We need to go to the table now. Do you think you can turn off that mega-powered brain of yours for the evening and just enjoy?”
Did she mean that he should enjoy her again? Or was it just wishful thinking on his part? One thing was certain—he wouldn’t make himself a fool for Penny this time. “I’ll try.”
* * *
Penny sat between Maggie and Amber, and Luke sat on the other side of Brady next to Sam at the hour-long gourmet dinner. Penny wanted to continue flirting with Luke during the meal, but it was fun talking with Amber and teasing Maggie. Her wineglass never seemed to empty and she lost track of how much she’d actually had. She felt a bit tipsy but not drunk. With her family history, she tried to be careful with alcohol.
When Maggie, Amber and Brady got up to go visit guests at their tables, Penny scooted over into Maggie’s chair and leaned across Brady’s.
“Having fun yet?” She batted her eyelashes at Luke in mock flirtation.
“I can say the view definitely just got better.” Luke’s gaze rested on her cleavage and her gaping neckline.
She didn’t make any move to cover herself or even to sit up straight. “Do you have your toast ready?”
He patted his jacket. “Color-coded index cards and all.”
“You really know how to get a girl’s motor going.” She purred and moved back to her seat. She straightened the top of her dress and winked at the elderly man sitting at the table in front of the head table. He blushed and turned away.
Penny and the town of Tawnee Valley hadn’t always been on the best terms. As one of the juvenile delinquents most likely to be pregnant at sixteen and most likely to have an arrest record by the age of twenty, she’d surprised them all with the success of her store. But that didn’t mean she didn’t enjoy poking at the town’s notions of propriety now and then.
The wedding coordinator, Rebecca, directed Maggie and Brady over to the cake. Rebecca had performed miracles to turn this old men’s club into a ballroom worthy of Maggie. Given it was the woman’s first time coordinating an effort this big, she had done an amazing job. Penny was impressed with the transformation of the hall, and even the chapel had been given an overhaul.
Everyone watched Brady and Maggie cut the cake while the photographer took at least a dozen photos. When they gave each other bites, they were respectful of each other and didn’t goof around as Penny would have.
The couple returned to their seats as the waitstaff brought everyone a piece of cake and poured champagne into their flutes. Down the table, Luke picked up his spoon and clinked it against his glass as he rose to standing.
“I’d like to say a few words.” Luke reached into his pocket and pulled out a stack of index cards. He glanced her way slyly as he fanned through the colored cards.
Penny stifled a laugh. She’d thought he’d been joking.
“I could tell you lewd jokes or make fun of my brother for the way he used to run around the farm in his underwear and a cape when he was seven, but I won’t. I could talk about the fights we three used to get into and the trouble we helped each other out of, but I won’t. I could tell you about Brady’s adventures overseas or his high life in New York City, but I won’t.” Luke set the cards on the table and his gaze went over the crowded room.
Penny found herself leaning forward to listen to whatever he was going to say next. When Luke spoke, even back in grade school, he commanded his audience’s attention. He made sure to meet everyone’s eyes in the audience to make them feel included. His even tone and that deep voice kept her mesmerized. His raw emotion and honesty bonded him with the audience.
His gaze briefly met hers before settling on Brady and Maggie.
“Everyone in this room is aware of the struggles our family has had to endure. We didn’t always make the right decisions, but in the end, it looks like Brady found the one thing that matters most. Someone who loves him and wants to share a life with him. A hidden treasure waiting for him to come home.”
Penny could feel a thickening in her throat and blinked to hold the tears back.
“We brothers have