Total pages in book: 23
Estimated words: 21170 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 106(@200wpm)___ 85(@250wpm)___ 71(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 21170 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 106(@200wpm)___ 85(@250wpm)___ 71(@300wpm)
Finally, I take a deep breath and stare at her.
“Penny, why? Why, if you had my child, didn’t you tell me?”
She opens her mouth to speak, and with that, my future begins.
13
Patrick
She confronts me with rage in her voice.
“Why didn’t you call me?” she demands, vibrating with energy. “You said that you would after we met, but you never called. I waited for so long, Patrick.”
I look at her with surprise. Penny is trembling with indignation, her breasts heaving as the air whooshes in and out of her chest. This is going to be difficult to explain, but I have to try.
“Penny, you couldn’t have expected me to call,” I begin. “The way we met, it was so—”
She cuts me off.
“Wonderful?” she asks in a choked voice. “Magical? Incredible? Yes, and that’s why I expected you to call. I was a young girl, Patrick, and you took my virginity. I’d never been with a man before, and you claimed my innocence and then left me stranded like a piece of discarded trash!”
I stare at her. I suspected that I claimed her virginity that afternoon, although there had been no blood. It was more that Penny was incredibly tight and small, although of course, the curvy girl took me like a professional with her slick folds and pulsing hole. I hang my head with shame.
“I’m sorry, honey. I didn’t know it was your first time, and even if I had, what I did was inexcusable. But it was precisely because you were so young and innocent that I couldn’t contact you afterwards. I’m a thirty year old man, Penny, and I’d just claimed a nubile young teenager in the supply closet at my company. I’m supposed to set an example, and yet I went completely off the rails that afternoon. I’m sorry, Penny. If I could do things over, I would.”
She stares at me, her big brown eyes still enraged. But when she speaks, her voice is a torn whisper.
“But didn’t you care about me?” she asks. “Why would you disappear like that?”
I look at my hands, my expression one of mixed agony and shame.
“Again, I don’t have an excuse, except to say that I was a man trying to lead a company. You are my employee’s impressionable young daughter. You were at Lancaster Industries that day to participate in Take Your Daughter To Work Day, which is supposed to be a career event. No parent anticipates their daughter losing her virginity on company premises, to the boss, no less.”
Penny nods, and this time, tears begin to spill down her cheeks.
“But I was so lost without you, Patrick,” she says in a sob. “You broke my heart when you didn’t call.”
At that, I can no longer sit still. I pull her curvy form into my lap, wrapping my huge arms around her trembling form while pressing kisses to her cheeks. My own heart breaks as I hold the woman I love more than all else in my arms.
“Sweetheart, I’m so sorry,” I rasp. “It killed me not to call you, and I’ve done nothing but think about you in the year since. You’ve been on my mind every waking moment, and I would give anything to re-do what happened. Please forgive me,” I say in a broken voice. “Please Penny. Say that you’ll forgive me, and that we have a future together.”
But at those words, the feisty girl hurls herself from my lap and spits fire at me as her eyes flash daggers.
“Future? What are you talking about, Patrick? We don’t have a future because you’re getting married, or have you forgotten? You’re despicable, Patrick Lancaster, and I wish I’d never met you.”
I stare at her with utter confusion. Penny’s curves are shaking because she’s so angry, and her curly brown hair is practically standing on end with the force of her convictions. But what is she talking about? I’m not married, nor am I engaged. So why does she think I’m getting married, and to whom?
14
Penny
I can’t believe the nerve of this man! Patrick has a look of confusion on those handsome features, as if I’m making this all up.
“Penny, what are you talking about?” he asks in a low voice. “I’m not getting married.”
I’m so angry I could spit. How can he think I’m so naïve? Does he really think I was born yesterday? I feel the urge to let out a blood-curdling scream, but then remember my father and son sleeping upstairs. Instead, I take a deep breath and force myself to face him, even as rage continues to flood my veins.
“Your fiancée told me, you lying bastard!” I hiss venomously. “Her name is Marina Alpern, or have you conveniently forgotten? I just saw her car parked right next to yours in the garage, you cheating, lying, scumbaggy piece of shit!”