He scowled, hating that she was right. He stared her down. “Don’t you get it? I don’t love you! You were a means to an end. I wanted to hurt my brothers and you were an easy way to accomplish that goal. I’m not cut out to play house and I’m not about to start trying when I know for a fact, I would fail miserably at it.”
“I don’t believe you, you stubborn jerk,” she said hotly, rising from her seat. “You’re just a coward who’s too afraid to admit that for the first time in his life, he wants something that he’s too afraid to grab with both hands. All your money doesn’t mean crap if you’re too stupid to realize when you have something within your reach that could be really amazing!” She stomped out of the room and slammed the bedroom door, causing him to follow quickly, if only to set the record straight once and for all.
He kicked the door open and it splintered the jam, startling Penny as she gasped in shock at his aggression. “What the hell did you just do to my door, you jerk? You’re paying for that, by the way,” she said with a dark glower as she pulled her night shirt from her body, exposing all of those lovely curves. “Now, get out. I need to shower — this booty call just ended.”
“You’re not a booty call,” he said with a low growl. Why ‘d she have to take her shirt off? How was he supposed to remain focused when all he saw were those gorgeous breasts? Her eyes flashed with knowing yet she looked away, still angry. He stalked her into the bathroom and she gasped in irritation that he’d followed her. “Get this straight, I don’t think of you like that. Okay?”
“Make up your mind. Just five minutes ago you claimed the only reason you showed up here was because you were horny. I’d say by definition, that is a booty call.”
“What do you want from me?” Dillon asked, his gaze devouring her lovely body. He itched to cup her full breasts and bring them to his mouth but somehow, by the grace of God, he kept his hands to himself. He lowered his voice, suddenly losing the will to put up a front. “Penny, you deserve far better than me.”
“Such as your brothers?”
“No.” He nearly growled. He couldn’t stand the thought of Penny being with his brothers…or anyone else for that matter. Damn it all! He claimed her mouth in a sudden movement that shocked them both. His tongue sought out hers and they tangled together in a sensual dance that immediately plumped his cock. He pulled away reluctantly to stare down at her. Her eyelids fluttered open and she regarded him with quiet grace. Why was she so beautiful? So perfect? He’d never find another woman like her and he knew it but what was he willing to offer her? “I’m a mess,” he admitted softly. “I don’t know how to deal with everything I’ve learned in the past twenty-four hours. I want to kill my brothers for keeping such a huge secret from me, but a part of me is tired of fighting with them.”
“So stop fighting with them,” she advised him as if it were that simple. “Dillon, my Papa used to tell me that we make our own choices. You can choose to forgive. You can choose to change the parts of your life that aren’t working any longer. You used anger to drive you but you don’t need it any longer. You’re successful in your own right; you don’t need your father’s money any longer and honestly, your brothers are good men that if you’d give them half a chance, maybe you could repair what was torn apart so many years ago.”
“You don’t know what it’s like to be a Buchanan. Forgiveness is not in our vocabulary,” he said.
“Only because you haven’t learned.”
“I wouldn’t know where to begin,” he admitted, shaking his head.
She offered him a warm smile as she looped her arms around his neck. “I can help you — you start at the beginning. Start with, ‘I’m sorry’ and work your way up from there.”
He liked the feeling of her arms around him. “And what happens if it doesn’t work? Me and my brothers…we have a lot of hard feelings to work through. And now there’s you. My brothers still want you.” He tightened his grip around her waist. “And unlike my twin brothers, I don’t like to share.”
Her grin brightened and he thought he might drown in that beautiful smile. “Good thing for you, I’ve decided one Buchanan is plenty.”
“Yeah?” He arched his brow. “And which one is that?”
“You, you big idiot. I want you.”
And suddenly, that awful tightness in his chest dissipated like mist on the wind and he realized, he’d been holding onto all the wrong stuff. This silly, yet sweet and drop-dead gorgeous woman had shown him in the most shockingly simple way that life didn’t have to be about conquests and annihilations and she gave him permission to forgive himself and his brothers for their individual parts in Isabel’s death. It was all too much to absorb in one sitting and he spiraled into some kind of wonderful delirium as the first tender shoots of hope kindled in his heart. Maybe Penny was right. Forgiveness was the answer to his salvation, not revenge. “I want kids,” he blurted out and her eyes widened. “Lots of them. And I want to marry you. Right now. Before you change your mind and realize that you’re getting the worst end of the deal.”
She stared. “Did you just ask me to marry you?”
Holy hell…yes. He nodded, suddenly scared. “Will you marry me? Please say yes.”
Her eyes suddenly glistened at the vulnerable quality of his voice and she nodded, pulling herself deeper into his arms, shuddering as tears broke free. He held her tight and wondered by what stroke of luck he’d managed to land the most amazing woman in the world but he wasn’t going to question his good fortune — not this time.
He’d spent half his life paying for one prideful moment, now he would spend the second half of his life, earning the privilege of loving a woman as amazing as his lovely, beautifully curved Penny. He grinned suggestively down at her and said as he cupped her generous, sweet ass, “Now about that shower…”
#
Epilogue
“I thought for your wedding gift, we could have our previous contract with Penny framed,” Nolan joked with Dillon as they enjoyed an after-dinner sherry together while the girls were off spending gobs of money on bridal doo-dads, the likes of which none of the Buchanan men wanted to know a thing about. Dillon shot Nolan a dark look and he laughed. “No? I don’t know, it’s what brought you two together. Some might consider that romantic.”