"Oh yes!" she cried out. "Yes! I'll marry you!"
Yet at her proclamation, the body beneath her went instantly, dreadfully still. "Wait just a minute here. Who said anything about marriage?"
Penny turned cold as her heart sank like a stone. The voice she'd just heard didn't belong to Martin.
* * *
2
Penny reached overhead and flipped on the light inside the limo … then screamed and flung herself to the opposite seat. Oh God, it was the guy from Martin's office, Ryan! And they'd just … they'd just … !
Using one hand to yank her bra up and the other to snatch her dress from the floor and press it over her nakedness, she gaped at him, realizing he looked almost as shocked as she felt. "What did you … ?" she began. "I mean, how did you … ? I mean, where's Martin?"
He leaned forward, his eyes wide, his mouth dropping open in disbelief. "Where's Martin? Somewhere in Flagstaff, I guess. What the hell does that have to do with anything?"
Martin was in Flagstaff? Arizona? What in the world was he doing in Flagstaff? And in the meantime, Ryan just sat there doing nothing to cover himself, his shirt hanging open, his broad chest looking just as good as it had felt under her fingertips, and the sight of him wasn't helping things at all. "I thought you were him, of course," she snapped.
"Of course?" He sounded incredulous, and only then did it hit her.
"Oh, you're new in town. Maybe you don't know … " She swallowed. "I-we-Martin and I are … " Oh, what on earth were they? "A couple," she finally concluded.
He gave a slight this-explains-it-all nod, saying, "Ah," simply, sharply, although Penny thought plenty still needed to be explained.
Nonetheless, she could barely let herself focus on the guy, because even unkempt and rumpled, he looked … well, way better than she'd ever noticed up in Martin's office. And also because she was naked and they'd just … they'd just …
Her eyes darted about the limo, to the ceiling, the floor, her own nudity … Dear God, how can I get this dress on if he's just going to keep sitting there staring at me?
Finally meeting his gaze head-on and trying to forget her lack of clothing, Penny felt the overpowering urge to come completely clean with him. "Look, it's like this," she blurted, speaking quickly. "Martin asked me to marry him, but we'd never, um, had sex. So I decided to just-just do something wild with him, something to try to bring out the animal in him. I thought it would be fun and adventurous to live out a fantasy, and I- Oh God, I can't believe this just happened!"
By the time she finished, he was holding up his hands, as if asking for mercy. "Listen, you don't need to tell me all this. It's all right. You don't need to … to … "
His words made her realize what she'd done-she'd just told this guy things about herself she'd never told another human being. "But I do need to," she insisted. "I need you to know this isn't what I intended. I mean, it is, but I was planning on it with a different guy, a guy that I … uh … knew, for heaven's sake. And I need you to know that I'm not, not … really what you, uh … " she glanced down at her bareness once more " … see here before you. I'm really that girl who delivers sandwiches and wears … clothing. Usually loose clothing. This girl, this girl is … someone I just made up, just for tonight, and she isn't real and she isn't me, and-" A tremendous sadness washed over her, a desperation to redeem herself in his eyes. "Please don't think what you must be thinking of me! Please just forget this ever happened!"
Even as stunned as Ryan remained, at the moment it all took a back seat to the compassion he felt for her, with her eyes so glassy, her voice so frantic. He hated the panic glimmering in her pretty gaze.
There were a million things he wanted to tell her. How sexy she was, how beautiful. That he didn't think less of her for what had just happened, but that she must be the woman she claimed she'd made up, because you couldn't fake that. And despite his shock and helplessness, there was no way in hell he'd ever be able to forget such outstanding sex. Instead, though, he just stayed quiet, as he had through the other, better part of their encounter, because he had a feeling she wouldn't believe or even want to hear any of the thoughts playing through his head.
"Martin is in … Flagstaff?" she finally asked.
Ryan nodded. "He left a day early. A last-minute decision to see a client out there."
"But how did you … ?" Her voice trailed off as her head tilted in confusion.
"I got a note on my sandwich from you."
"Martin's sandwich."
"No, I checked, it was mine. Ham and swiss on-"
"Rye with mayo," she finished for him.
He nodded, this other piece of the picture slowly becoming clear.
"Same sandwich," she murmured.
"How about that," he replied lamely.
Penny gave her head a slight shake. "I didn't know. My sister made some of the sandwiches today."
But Ryan was way past the sandwiches already, and feeling sheepish. "When I saw the note, I thought you were asking me out."
Across from him, she nodded, still sitting there in a bra and stockings, her dress tossed over her. His gaze kept dropping to her bare hip, to the curves so visible behind what the dress covered. He really did think she was beautiful and sexy, and despite himself, he could feel hints of arousal rising again already.
"I'm sorry," he said then, although he wasn't entirely sure what for. Still thinking about her body even after her heart-wrenching pleas? Or simply being arrogant enough to think she would ask him out without even knowing him, arrogant enough to approach a limousine, thinking it was there for him?
Well, she'd been right about one thing-he should've been ready for anything, should've heeded that warning. A nervous quiet lingered between them and he wished he could take his eyes off her, but with a nearly naked woman sitting across from him … well, where else was he gonna look?
"I'm the one who's sorry," she finally said. "I mean, even in the dark, you'd think I'd recognize … "
He nodded, agreeing.
"But then, I just now noticed-" she gave him a timid once-over "-you look like him, kind of."
He nodded again. It was true. He and Martin were about the same height, shared the same basic build, and wore their medium-brown hair in a similar style. "Yeah, kind of." Then he forced a laugh, despite the fact that nothing was very funny.
"I'm trying to let that make me feel better," she said, "like it's a mistake anyone could've made, but … " Her eyes dropped shut and she lifted her hands to cover her mouth, as if she were replaying the moment in her mind all over again.
Ryan's heart tightened into a tense knot and he felt the inclination to reach out and touch her knee to comfort her, but that would be the wrong move. "Listen, don't feel bad," he said instead. "I … don't think badly of you, honest."
She raised her gaze. "But I just … " She closed her eyes once more as if to shut out what had happened, then opened them wide. "Oh God, I just seduced you! I had my way with you! I didn't even give you a choice!"
Ryan swallowed, then spoke quietly. "I had a choice."
They peered at each other in uncomfortable silence until she said, "Would you mind if I turned the light back out so I can get dressed?"
"Sure."
"And maybe you could, uh-" she motioned vaguely toward him "-fix your clothes, too."
At this, he flinched. He'd been too caught up in what was happening to realize he still sat there unbuttoned and undone. "Um, yeah, sure thing. Sorry about that."
The return of darkness was more jarring than Ryan anticipated. For a few brief seconds, he wondered what she would do if he reached out to find her in the blackness and began to kiss her again, touch her, make love to her again. He wondered if it wouldn't be simpler to just go back a few minutes in time, back to her thinking he was someone else and back to him thinking she wanted him, if it wouldn't be easier to just leave the lights off and pretend. But they were only fleeting thoughts that made no sense, so Ryan tucked and buttoned until everything was back in place save for the tie hanging loose about his neck.