imagine having a man you could make do whatever you wanted."
"That would be a first." Penny and I exchanged wry smiles, woman to woman. "But I'm honest enough with myself to know I'd never be happy with a man I could push around." I made a face. "So I get things like fistfights in my living room."
"And new furniture." Penny laughed. "I'd say you do more than all right in the man department. You're my role model." She nodded. "So I'm moving on. To Trey. He's got his own powers and we have fun. I can relax around him and don't have to worry about hiding my fangs." Penny put her hand on my arm. "He asked me to go out with him after the club closes tonight. Some of the people who work here are having a party. I may not come home afterwards. Do you think I'd be safe if I, uh, died at his place? For the day?"
"If he were a vampire, I'd say no problem. But a shifter wouldn't have the precautions you need. To keep out the daylight. I'm not about to tell you how to run your love life." I patted her hand. "If you're ready to go there, have at it, but you'd better ask him to get you home before dawn. Just to be on the safe side."
"Yes, I guess you're right." Penny frowned. "Why's this vampire thing have to be so complicated?"
"Just is. And maybe Trey's been around long enough to know how to take care of a vampire during daylight hours." I knew a rebound when I saw it but then again Penny had never really had a relationship with Josh, just a couple of dates. If getting close to Trey made her feel better, so be it. "But why take that chance?"
"You're right. And we may not . . . Well, I'll see what happens." Penny put her purse down beside her and looked me straight in the eyes. "Glory, the real reason I asked you down here is that Jenny's on her way. I texted her that I was at N-V and could probably get her and her date in. She was all over it and insisted she was coming to join me." Penny lost her nerve and looked away.
"Penny, what are you thinking?" I grabbed her shoulders and made her face me again.
"I'm thinking it's time I told her the truth. About what I am. See if she wants to join the club." Penny's eyes filled. Oh, great. Here came the waterworks.
"Not tonight. You've got the date with Trey to look forward to. Telling her now would totally screw that up. Put the Jenny thing off. Maybe tell her tomorrow night. Ask her over after the rats are gone. Better yet, after you get settled in with your job with Ian. And after the semester ends. Doesn't she have final exams coming up?" I was trotting out every delay tactic I could come up with.
"Oh, gosh, you're right. I totally spaced on that. With the lab closed, I'm out of the loop at school. And there's the dinner with Mom and Dad. Jenny would never be able to keep this kind of secret from them." Penny sagged against the sofa cushions. "Wow. Thanks for talking me down, Glory. It's just that Jen and I have been so close all our lives and I hate to see us grow apart like this with a monster secret between us."
I kept my opinion to myself. Which was that a "close" sister would have helped Penny look a heck of a lot better than the Penny who'd arrived on my doorstep. And it wasn't as if my fledgling didn't want to look good. She'd taken every bit of my wardrobe advice to heart and had been thrilled with the way she'd attracted male attention since then. Made me wonder why the perfect Jenny hadn't steered her sister along the same path.
"Fine. So you can introduce Jenny to Trey tonight. Won't that be a rush? He's cute. On top of Josh's big confession, it's become obvious that you're turning into a regular femme fatale." I grinned at her. "And you can always whammy her again if Jenny sees something she shouldn't here." I got up. "I need to get back to my friends. Are you okay now?"
"Guess so." Penny grabbed her purse. "I want to watch the band. It's starting soon and I need to get with Trey and arrange for Jen