Wouldn't You Like to Know?

Five

Five

Penelope's heart raced. This was the moment of truth. Would he believe her? She cleared her throat. "Yes---erm----of course." She took it from him. "But she is on vacation, so it might take a few days for it to get back to you."

He shrugged. "That's okay. I don't mind waiting a few days."

"You want some coffee?"

Colin shook his head. "I only came to drop that off and I don't want to interrupt your morning. But listen, my contact information is in there. Call me, yeah? It's been ages since we hung out and I've missed you, Pen. It's been way too long. You should uh---come around for Sunday dinner. Mom would love that."

Penelope frowned. When her dad had stolen from the Bridgerton's, they'd been banned from Violet Bridgerton's famous Sunday Dinners. She had all of her children there, along with the Who's Who of New York. "Oh....um...I don't know about that. It might be awkward."

He reached forward and brushed back one of her loose, red curls. "Pen, we were never mad at you or your sisters. We were mad at your father for betraying your trust. I know that's still terrible, but I know Mom would say that you were always welcome in our home. Besides, I know you miss her eclairs."

She sighed and hated how right he was. Violet Bridgerton's eclairs were heaven on earth. America's favorite online homemaker was magic in the kitchen and Penelope had missed her cooking something fierce. Her own mother had never been a baker. She'd always had private chefs to do her cooking. Private chefs that knew better than to serve Penelope sweets if they wanted to keep their paycheck.

Portia Featherington would never admit that she didn't like her daughter not being a size two, because that wasn't the right thing. But Penelope knew it in the way she treated her which was why they didn't really talk much. "I do miss your mother's eclairs. And I would like to see everyone again. Anthony's getting married, right?"

Colin nodded. "He finally found someone that isn't completely scared of him. She's actually his boss."

Penelope raised an eyebrow. "And Anthony likes that?"

Colin snickered. "I think it's a kink or something, actually. She's the only woman besides mother that tells him that he can't do things. Kate's very smart and very good at her job. She runs the magazine that father used to own. The Ton."

"That's right," said Penelope, "it was sort of a high society thing, wasn't it?"

Colin nodded. "Actually, she secretly likes that book series your boss writes. The Gossip? She would love to do a feature on her, but she's been having trouble trying to figure out who she is and she never answers any of her messages or e-mails. She only gets standard responses. Maybe you could convince her?"

Penelope found herself unable to look Colin in the eyes. She was still half asleep, and was not prepared to have this conversation. The last thing she had expected when she woke up this morning was to see Colin Bridgerton at her home.

"Um---you know what, I'll see what I can do. I actually have a lot of work I have to do though. It was great to see you again."

Colin smiled. "I'm serious about Sunday, Pen. Don't be a stranger. I know where you live now."

"Right. Right." She laughed nervously. "Good to see you, Colin."

"Good to see you too."

Colin hugged her tightly again, and Penelope thought that she might die as he held onto her tightly. She was going to buy herself a thing of Old Spice and sniff it when she was alone. She wanted to always have the scent of him with her. God. How was she an obsessed, teenage weirdo again?

She wanted to sniff him.

She wasn't going to sniff him.

Fuck.

"Penelope?" said Colin.

"Um...yeah?"

"Did you just sniff me?"

Penelope coughed and pulled away from him. She wiped her nose as though she had a cold. "No, um. I have a cold." She coughed again, harder. "You should probably go. Don't want to get sick."

Colin made a face. "Oh. Right. Okay. Well, feel better. I'll see you Sunday, yeah?"

She only coughed in response and pushed Colin out the door. "Sunday. Sure. If I'm feeling better---I'll get the paperwork to Lulu. Good to see you! Bye." She slammed the door shut and when he was gone, Penelope breathed a sigh of relief.

She looked down at the yellow envelope in her hand that had the contract for her movie deal. She read through it and stared at the number. $3.5. million. It wouldn't be given to her all at once, of course, but that was still more money than she had ever made in her entire life and Penelope considered herself pretty well off. "Oh. My. Fuck."

Penelope jumped up and down. She was a millionaire. A fucking millionaire. She was never going to have to ask her mother for help ever again (not that she did that often if she could help it, but still).

And Colin Bridgerton was back in her life. He had also invited her back into the Bridgerton's world. She was going to get her old life back. Maybe she could even get Eloise back as a friend. She had missed all of them. They had been part of her life for so long. It would be nice to have them all back.

As a teenager, she had spent more time there than she had at her own home. If she wasn't at school, she had been with the Bridgerton's, getting into some kind of mischief. Losing their friendship had almost been worse than finding out that her father was a criminal. Because everything shined brighter with them. She would make things right this time around.