Penny Sue Got Lucky

“Do you prefer your coffee black or—”

“Black.”

“Can’t you let me finish a sentence!” She glared at him, her chocolate-brown eyes focused on his face and her full, soft mouth closed in a frown.

Without giving any thought to what he was doing, he reached out and brushed his fingertips over her forehead. “You’re a beautiful woman, Ms. Paine, but frowning isn’t very attractive.”

His fingertips lingered a little too long, edging across and down to her cheek. She sucked in her breath. Her eyes widened as their gazes locked. Suddenly she smiled and it was as if everything wrong in the world suddenly became right.

Vic snatched his hand away. What the hell was the matter with him?

“Nothing like having your own words come back to condemn you,” she said.

Doing his best not to look right at her, he nodded. “How about showing me to my room?”

“Certainly. Follow me.”

She led him up the wide wooden stairs covered with a plush burgundy carpet runner. The banisters were intricately carved and had been stained a dark walnut to match the steps and the flooring in the foyer and upstairs hallway. Although the house was old and the furniture antiques, the interior had a warm, homey feel to it.

“Did you grow up in this house?” he asked when they reached the landing.

“As a matter of fact, I did. My mother died when I was four and Daddy and I came here to live at the old homestead with my aunts.”

“So your aunts were your surrogate mothers?”

“Most definitely. I suppose that’s why I’m a real Paine, through and through. Although my auburn hair and my full figure came from my mother. She was a Bailey from over in Tishomingo, Mississippi. Her daddy, my granddaddy Bailey, was a pharmacist and her mother a teacher. I used to visit them often when I was growing up, but they both died before I turned twelve. They’d been older when they married and had my mama. She was an only child.

“I was very fortunate that my daddy had two old maid sisters who both doted on me. It was like having two mothers. Although I have to admit, sometimes I felt a bit like a bone being tugged on at both ends by a couple of determined dogs. Aunt Lottie was the disciplinarian whereas Aunt Dottie let me get away with murder. I suppose it all evened out in the end, but—”

“TMI,” Vic blurted out, his head spinning from listening to this chattering woman.

“I beg your pardon?” She cocked her pretty little head and stared at him questioningly.

“Too much information, Ms. Penny Sue.”

“Oh.”

He couldn’t take his eyes off her mouth. Wide. Full. Moist. His body hardened instantly when he thought about what her soft, moist mouth could do to him.

Then she licked her lips, running her tongue in a circular motion. “Is my lipstick smeared?” she asked. “Or do I have something in my—”

“Just show me to my room, okay?” He hadn’t meant to snap at her, but damn it, she unnerved him. “I need to check in with headquarters, unpack, and read over the file folder on Lucky.”

“Yes, of course. The rooms are this way.” She indicated left, then took several tentative steps down the hallway.

“Where does Lucky sleep?” Vic asked.

“What? Oh, Lucky used to sleep with Aunt Lottie. Now, he sleeps with me. If he’s not with me, he whines and cries all night.”

Lucky was a damn lucky dog to sleep in Penny Sue’s bed every night.

“And where is your room?”

She looked in the opposite direction, to the rooms on the right. “First door, down that way. It used to be Grandmother Paine’s room. It’s the largest room in the house and has a small attached room in the turret. That used to be the nursery.”

“Is there a bed in the turret room?”

“Yes, a day bed.”

“I’ll sleep there.”

“You can’t.”

“Why can’t I?” he asked.

“Well, it wouldn’t be proper, that’s why. There is a connecting door between the old nursery and my bedroom. Besides, you wouldn’t have your own bathroom and—”

“Okay, okay.” He held up a restraining hand. “No need to elaborate. Tonight, I’ll sleep in one of the other bedrooms. Down there.” He motioned toward the rooms on the left. “But if I’m still on this assignment tomorrow night, after we bring Lucky home—”

“What do you mean, if you’re still on this assignment?”

Vic groaned. “Dundee sent me because there was no other agent available. I’ve been promised a replacement as soon as possible, which I’m hoping will be tomorrow.”

Penny Sue tilted her chin and stuck her cute little nose up in the air. “I take it that you don’t like Alabaster Creek.”

“It’s okay. I just don’t want this job.”

“Am I the reason you’re in such a hurry for your employer to send in a new agent? You don’t like me, do you?”

“Don’t put words in my mouth.”

“Then you do like me?”

He huffed. “Yes, I like you.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“My liking you is the problem.”

“Oh.”

“Now that we have that settled…”

“The second and third rooms down the hall. Take your pick,” Penny Sue said, a self-satisfied look on her face. “I have things to do myself, to get ready for tonight. But if you need anything, just let me know. I want your stay, however brief, to be a pleasant one.”

“Thanks.”

She turned and walked away, but then she stopped midway down the stairs and called back to him. “I like you, too. And I hope Dundee never sends another agent.”