“A coward? Penelope, you—”

  Her dark eyes flew open to stop him mid-sentence. She held up a hand, her expression anguished. “Let me finish. Please. The truth is, Dylan, when I found that bag, I thought you were guilty. I—I didn’t believe in you the way I should have. I should have trusted you to know what you were doing. And I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. You have to believe me when I say I will never, ever doubt you again.”

  “Penelope.” Dylan strode toward her, but stopped short of touching her. “Why wouldn’t you have thought I was guilty? I’ve spent months trying to convince you I was exactly that kind of person. Then you come in, find me searching my own place—Penelope, you’d have been an idiot not to believe the worst.”

  “But—”

  “You saved me last night.” He leaned toward her, his eyes seeking to hold hers with the intensity of his feelings. If nothing else, he needed to convince her that he saw her actions as heroic. She would be too hard on herself otherwise. “I had no idea what the hell I was doing. As it turns out I wasn’t guilty—they’d planted the stuff at my place to get Kane—but the fact is I would have been guilty of something if you hadn’t intervened.”

  He put his hands in his pockets to keep from scooping her up into his arms. That was probably the last thing she wanted now.

  “The truth is,” he continued, “I just wanted it over with. I didn’t know Pinky was working with the cops. Or that Curtis was one of them. Or that any of what happened was going to happen. I had no idea at all.” He made an incredulous sound, staring down into her warm, dark eyes. “As for being a coward…are you kidding? Penelope, you stood up to them. When you told them you had the bag, my heart just about stopped in my chest. You were going to take the rap for me. Nobody has ever taken the rap for me.”

  “But you’ve taken the rap for someone else, haven’t you?” she asked quietly.

  He jerked back. “Did my mother tell you that? I didn’t think she even realized…”

  “I don’t think she does,” Penelope agreed. “But I do.”

  Dylan turned halfway away and spoke in a low voice, mortification clogging his throat. “You’ve met her. After spending last night with her you can probably see she wouldn’t have handled prison well.”

  “I do see that, but Dylan…”

  “No.” He cast her a sideways glance and a wry smile. “Don’t make it bigger than it was. They could have had other stuff on me, the cops. Fencing, buying and selling stolen goods. I just added something more so she wouldn’t have to suffer too. It wasn’t the wrong thing to do. It might not have been the smartest thing, or even the right thing, but it wasn’t wrong. I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if I hadn’t done it.”

  “So they were her drugs you went to jail for.”

  He shrugged. “Hers and her boyfriend’s. But they wouldn’t have gotten him without getting her too.”

  Penelope started to move toward him.

  Dylan’s heart quickened as he watched her. Was it his imagination or was her expression tender, her eyes shining. Could it be that last night hadn’t—

  She smiled. “Dylan, you are…”

  The door chimed and Dylan startled. They both turned to see Glenn striding into the store with a storm cloud on his face. He swung his briefcase like a sledgehammer and it landed on the counter with a hard thwap.

  Dylan stepped back, away from Penelope.

  “What in God’s name were you thinking, Penelope? What happened last night? It’s all over town that you were involved in some kind of drug bust!”

  Penelope folded her arms across her chest. “It was stolen jewelry, actually. And how could it be all over town already? It’s not even nine o’clock.”

  “Apparently it got an early start last night. Why didn’t you call me?”

  “I…had Gallery Night to attend to. I was working.”

  “Working? After a drug bust?”

  “I told you, it was stolen jewelry.” She glanced at Dylan.

  Dylan didn’t think it was just his wishful thinking that made her sound annoyed with her ex-husband.

  Glenn spun and glared at Dylan as if noticing him for the first time. Then he marched toward Penelope and wrapped her in a bear hug. “Thank God you’re all right. It scared the hell out of me when I heard about it this morning.”

  “I’m all right.” Her words were muffled by Glenn’s shoulder.

  Dylan’s hands clenched into frustrated fists.

  “And you!” Glenn turned, his arm still around Penelope’s shoulders, pulling her close to his side. “I should have known you were up to no good. Are you here to apologize, I hope? How did you post bail?”

  “Glenn!” Penelope ducked out from under his arm and stepped between them. “Dylan was as much a victim as I was. More so.”

  “Is that what he told you?” Glenn’s face was set like a bulldog’s. Dylan recognized the expression. A man coming to the rescue of a woman and making a show of it for all it was worth. “I never trusted you, Mersey. But you’ve gone too far, involving Penelope in your illegal scams. I suspected all along you might still be engaged in something criminal.”

  “No you didn’t,” Penelope objected, hands on her hips. “In fact, when Carson was talking about him a few weeks ago you defended him. You’re quite the fair weather friend, aren’t you?”

  Glenn, who’d reached out to take her arm, retracted his hand. “What are you talking about? This guy nearly got you killed. I heard there were dozens of cops there to arrest several heavily armed drug dealers. It’s a wonder Mersey’s not in jail too. How did you get out?” He turned again to Dylan.

  “He’s not in jail because he was not involved either. Not really. And there was only one dealer and as I keep saying it wasn’t drugs he was after. Why can’t people get their facts straight before talking about something?”

  She took a sidestep toward Dylan, which he noticed and Glenn seemed not to. Dylan had also noticed her tone. Calm. Collected. Not at all the kind of voice someone simply putting on a brave face would be able to come up with.

  She really was all right.

  Dylan’s relief was almost tangible.

  Glenn threw his hands up. “I can’t believe you! You’re acting like nothing happened!”

  She shrugged halfheartedly. “I know. Maybe after last night I’m out of adrenaline. I woke up today feeling calmer than I’ve felt in weeks.”

  Glenn twisted, pounded a fist on the counter, and Penelope jumped. Dylan took a step toward him, ready to drag the guy out the door by his silk fucking tie, if need be.

  “Damn it, Mersey, I could kill you for getting her into that.”

  “I would say the same thing, if I were in your position,” Dylan said, “but do you really think this is what she needs right now? Someone coming in and berating her for—”

  “He didn’t get me into it,” Penelope interrupted.

  “In fact, he wanted me out of it even more than you do. He did everything in his power to get rid of me last night. Actually, he’s been trying to get rid of me for weeks. I got myself into it.” She turned back to Dylan. “And I’d like to stay in it, as long as he’ll let me.”

  Glenn didn’t seem to notice the change of topic, but Dylan did. His pulse, which previously had been racing, suddenly felt as if it’d stopped. Stay in what? he wanted to ask. Stay with me? In my life? Stay?

  He gazed at her, let hope dance in his heart for the first time in his life.

  “Penelope,” he said cautiously.

  “Oh come on, Pen,” Glenn spat. “You’re not the kind of woman who’d even know how to get into something like that. You shouldn’t be exposed to that kind of thing.”

  She laughed, flipping her hair over her shoulder. “That’s what I told them, when they dragged me out of my ivory tower.”

  Glenn’s expression turned fierce. “I know you’re making light of it for his sake.” Glenn jerked his head in Dylan’s direction but didn’t look at him. “God knows why. You were always taking care of one sort of stray or another. But Penelope, you’re not the kind of woman who should be dodging gunfire and risking arrest. You’re the kind of woman who should be pampered and protected, the kind—”

  “I am not the kind of woman who needs protection,” she snapped.

  “I’ll say,” Dylan murmured.

  Glenn shot him a murderous glance.

  “And as for you being protective, it wasn’t you stepping between me and a loaded gun last night, Glenn. And I have to say I’m not entirely sure you would. But Dylan would. Dylan did. You cannot imagine how that feels. No one could, until it happened to them.”

  Dylan’s heart blossomed at the words.

  Clearly at a loss, Glenn stepped toward her, taking her hands in his. “Penelope, what’s gotten into you? You know I’d do anything for you. Anything.”

  Penelope lowered her head, her shoulders slumping. “I’m sorry, Glenn. I shouldn’t have said that. You’ve always been very protective of me. I know you’re only expressing your concern, which I appreciate. It’s just…I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m not the kind of woman I thought I was. I don’t need someone to stand between me and the world anymore. I need someone who trusts me to be able to handle it myself. Someone who respects me.”

  “What the hell are you talking about? I respect you.”

  Dylan didn’t know about Penelope, but he thought Glenn’s tone was distinctly disrespectful.

  “I know you do.” She squeezed his hands together in hers.

  Glenn—posturing, Dylan thought—turned his head away from her.

  “I know I initiated things between us…again,” she said softly.

  I should leave, Dylan thought. This was between them. But he was afraid that Glenn was too fine an actor and knew his audience too well. Could he possibly convince Penelope—guilt her—into staying with him? What about the enormous lie he was perpetrating? She should be told about the vasectomy, shouldn’t she?

  “You didn’t want to get back together until I showed up at your door that night,” Penelope continued. “But Glenn, we’re not right for each other anymore. Don’t you see that? Hasn’t it been obvious ever since that night?”

  “Don’t be silly, Pen, of course we’re right for each other. We’re the same kind of people, you and I. We want the same things.”

  “Do you?” Dylan couldn’t resist, then took a step back. “I’m sorry. I should go.”

  “No.” Penelope shook her head. “I have something to say to you, too.”

  “I think he should go.” Glenn glared at Dylan.

  “I’m trying to have a conversation with my wife. I don’t think this has anything to do with you.”

  “Ex-wife,” Dylan said.

  Glenn turned incredulous eyes on Penelope.

  “Why would you ask this guy to stay? We don’t need some convict refereeing for us.”

  “Ex-con,” Dylan said.

  Penelope, he could see, tried to stifle a laugh.

  “This is between you and me, and the future we have if we just reach out and take it.” Glenn turned his back on Dylan, closing in on Penelope. “Remember how good it was, in the beginning? Just you and me. We got along so well. Remember playing tennis? Golf at the club? Remember how happy you were, fixing up the house? We could have that again, the two of us.”

  “The two of us,” Penelope murmured, looking at him sadly.

  “Yes! Like we used to be.”

  “Why don’t you tell her exactly what you mean by ‘the two of us’?” Dylan interjected. Once Glenn confessed, he would leave, he told himself. Let them hash it out and come to whatever conclusions they were going to come to without him. But he couldn’t let Penelope fall under Glenn’s thrall, into his lies, so he would stay until the truth came out.

  Then he would tell her his own truth. His feelings. That he had finally realized he couldn’t live without her, and he was not going to let her go. After pushing her away for so long, he was now determined to fight for her. She deserved it more than any woman he’d ever known.

  He only hoped that despite his confession about the jewelry, she had one last ounce of trust in him.

  “Would you get out of here?” Glenn snarled.

  “I was here first.” Dylan lifted his brows. “I’ll go when Penelope asks me to go.”

  Penelope kept her gaze on Glenn. “I actually would like the answer to that question, Glenn.”

  “In front of him?” Glenn’s voice rose to a near squeak. “I’ll talk to you about it, but only in private. It’s nobody’s business but ours.”

  “I’m sorry.” Penelope gave him a steady look. “But I don’t want him to leave. Glenn, I know you were trying hard with me this time around. I’m so sorry I put you through it. But it’s obvious we’ve grown too far apart. The truth is, I know you still don’t want kids, no matter wh—”

  “God damn it, you told her, didn’t you?” Glenn exploded, whirling on Dylan. “I told you about that vasectomy in confidence. That’s what I get for trying to make friends with a felon!” He marched toward the counter and his briefcase, then turned to glare at Dylan. “I thought you could be trusted. Well, you can see what kind of friend he is, Pen. The kind who can’t keep secrets, who doesn’t honor a confidence, who…”

  His words trailed off as he faced Penelope again and saw her thunderstruck expression.

  “I didn’t tell her,” Dylan said into the ensuing silence. “But I wanted to.”

  Penelope’s eyes moved to Dylan’s and the hurt in them warmed to something different. After a moment her lips curved upward and the tears that welled in her eyes seemed, inexplicably, to be tears of happiness.

  She shifted her gaze, and her smile, to Glenn.

  “Thank you,” she said. “Thank you, Glenn, for making this so much easier for me. I had the feeling you were just talking when you said you wanted another child, but now I know. And I also know you haven’t changed at all since our divorce. So I thank you for revealing yourself to me so completely today. You know I don’t handle guilt very well.”

  “You…he…I…” Glenn sputtered. “You can’t believe him. He’s an ex-con, for God’s sake. He’ll say anything!”

  Penelope laughed. “You’re the one who said it, Glenn.”

  “I mean—don’t throw this all away because of one little misrepresentation. I was going to tell you, I really was, I swear. I just…I was waiting for the right time.”

  “When? After you’d slept with me?” she asked wryly.

  Dylan laughed. She did know the jerk, after all.

  Glenn whipped the briefcase off the counter so hard it whacked him in the thigh. He stumbled but regained his balance quickly. He gestured emphatically at Dylan. “I can’t believe you humiliated me like this in front of him. What’s he to you anyway?”

  “You really want to know?”

  “Oh don’t tell me.” Glenn’s words dripped sarcasm but his expression said the horse he’d bet on had just dropped dead on the track.

  Penelope sent Dylan a smile that made his blood hot. “He’s the guy I’m in love with. And I have been almost since the day I met him.”

  “I can’t believe it,” Dylan murmured, but inside his chest a fireworks display was bursting into the light and fire.

  “I’m outta here. You’re making a big, big mistake,” Glenn said. The chimes exploded as he yanked open the door and went through.

  Penelope barely blinked. She walked right up to Dylan, put her hands on his chest, rose up on tiptoe and kissed him square on the mouth. His hands went around her waist and he kissed her back.

  “I love you too.” Dylan fingers tightened on her warm, solid body. She was real. And she loved him still. “Penelope, you have no idea…”

  As he looked down at her face he could hardly believe his luck. This beautiful woman was gazing up at him with love, actual love, blazing in her eyes. She saw the whole man, too, he knew. The past, the present, even the future.

  And she loved him.

  “There is one thing I need to tell you though,” she said, her fingers clenching his shirt and her eyes dropping to the buttons. “I—I don’t know if you’ve been worried about it, but I’m not pregnant. From, you know, that first time.”

  Dylan brought a hand up to her cheek and stroked the soft skin, an odd sadness springing up inside him at the news. How strange that it wasn’t relief. And yet, not strange at all. He wanted to be bound to this woman, body and soul. Already was bound by his heart.

  He let his mouth curve into a small smile. “Maybe, someday, when the time is right…we could plan on remedying that.”

  Tears did spring to her eyes then, and she beamed at him. “Do you mean that?”

  He grinned. “Well, I had a lot of time to think about it, when I thought it might actually be happening.” He kissed her gently on the lips. “And I think I liked the idea. I’ve never felt about anybody the way I feel about you.”

  She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him close. “I knew we were meant to be together.”

  He laughed. “Now let’s get that dog out here—Bonsai, Mr. Darcy, whoever—and tell him we’re opening up those doors we closed between us. And we’re never shutting them again.”

  Epilogue

  Penelope leaned in to Dylan, snaked her arm snugly through his and said, “Have you seen the bride?”

  He clasped her hand. “No, but there’s Megan. And I think that’s Sutter at the bar. Please tell me this is the last wedding we’re going to have to go to for a while.”

  Penelope smiled up at him. “I know, it’s been a few. But aren’t you glad we bought this nice suit? It’s got to be more comfortable than your old one.”

  “My old one was fine.”

  “Fine!” She laughed as Megan joined them. “It was swimming on you ever since you ran that marathon. And this one looks so good.” She patted his lapel with one hand, loving the glint of her diamond in the candlelit room.

  “Where’s the bride?” Megan asked. “I saw the groom inside, but—”

  “I guess she’s not here yet, but—oh!” Penelope glanced toward the door of the reception hall.

 

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