Playing at Forever - By Michelle Brewer Page 0,66

minutes later, doing everything she could to avoid him.

“Penny,” he appealed to her as she opened the small refrigerator. She appeared to be looking for something, but he couldn’t think of what—there was nothing in there except a few remaining bottles of alcohol, and he was certain she wouldn’t be touching those. “Penny, you can’t stay mad at me forever.”

“No, but I can stay mad at you until you apologize.”

“What do you want me to apologize for?”

“You were blaming me for all of this.”

“You were blaming me.” He sighed, reaching out to take her hand as he gave in. “Look, Pen, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for whatever I may have said or done that hurt you. And I’m sorry that I handled things badly this morning. But this was all a surprise to me, too.”

“I know it was. And I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have been so angry with you.” She sighed, walking around him to sit down on a chair near the desk. “Have you spoken with Graham?” Tommy shook his head. No, that was a call he was going to put off for as long as he possibly could. “I’ve been avoiding calls all day too.”

“I saw something about a shot-gun wedding on the news earlier. So it’s safe to assume they all know.”

“How do we play this out?” He had spent a good deal of time thinking about that very question throughout the day.

“That depends on you, Pen. We have a few options.” He turned a chair backward so that he could rest his head on the back of it as he sat there.

“What are they?”

“We can ride it out. Pretend—” His voice caught in his throat. There was that word again. “We can pretend that we’re actually giving it a try. That this was something, while spur of the moment, that we planned.”

“Or?”

“Or we can have it annulled. We can go our separate ways and move on with our lives.”

“And if we go the first route? How long?” Tommy shrugged.

“It’s all up to you.” Penny nodded, covering her face with her hands for a moment. “Hey, you don’t have to make a decision right this minute. In fact, I’d prefer it if you didn’t. I have something else on the agenda for this evening.”

“I don’t know if I’m really—”

“Please, Pen?” He wanted to share this with her—especially if it might be the last time he was able to enjoy something with her. He wanted to give her this experience.

“What is it?” She asked finally, and he could tell that she really didn’t want to go through with it.

“Just dinner. I promise.”

“Where?”

“Here, at the hotel.” She bit her lip, trying to make up her mind.

“I’ll have to get ready.”

“You can go just like that, if you’d like.” She wore a pair of oversized pajama pants with one of his old t-shirts she must have taken without him knowing. Penny laughed, rolling her eyes.

“Well, that isn’t going to happen.” Finally, she sighed. “Give me fifteen minutes.” He checked his watch—that would be perfect.

“Thanks, Pen. I promise it’ll be worth it.”

It had better be. He at least wanted to get one thing right.

Penny had no idea where they were going as he led her toward the elevator and, instead of pushing the button that would take them downstairs, he hit the ‘up’ button.

Had she missed something? She was fairly certain there weren’t any restaurants atop the Bellagio.

When the doors slid open, they were greeted by a very professional looking woman who smiled warmly at the two.

“Good evening, Mr. Davis,” she reached out to shake his hand. “It’s a delight to see you. We have everything ready and waiting, just like you asked.”

“Thank you, Margot,”

It only took Penny a moment to realize where they were. The warm air filled her lungs as she stepped forward, the view breathtaking. “Tommy,” Penny breathed, stepping away from him and staring out at the scene before her.

They were atop the Bellagio tower, the lake glittering below them. Across the street, the Eiffel Tower was shining brightly, along with the rest of the lights on the strip. Penny felt her heart skip a few beats.

Tommy came up behind her, staring out at the same scene Penny was looking at. “Isn’t it beautiful?” She could only nod, her voice lost. Dusk was just settling over the city. “Come on over here—let’s eat before it gets cold. We’ll have time to take it all in.”

She didn’t even want to think about food, but after having spent the