He turns and leaves without another word.
I start to stand to go after him, but Dad takes hold of my wrist. “Before you go running after him, listen to my offer, Penelope, because I will only make it once.”
Chapter 8
Paxton
I know saying that I loved her in front of her father was akin to dropping a bomb, but I couldn’t help it. I leave Seattle tomorrow, and will spend the next year sailing the world. I’m leaving town and if Penny doesn’t want be by my side, I can’t help that. I can only control what I can control — and that’s the facts. I love Penny and now she can decide what she wants to do with that information.
I leave the restaurant frustrated. There has never been a woman who made me feel so damn alive. So wanted, so seen. And we just met… I can only imagine how close we could be a year from now. Not getting the chance to pursue her kills me.
But I have planned this adventure for a long time, and I’m finally setting sail. But maybe I’ve already arrived where I need to go. Maybe I stay here and pursue a relationship the old-fashioned way.
My mind is running in a million directions and I stop on the waterfront in front of the hotel, looking out at the sea. I set my hands on the railing, thinking of the week ahead, my sister’s wedding. I have to leave for it, but maybe I could come right back.
“Paxton?” Penny’s voice causes my heart to jump and I turn, seeing the woman I am ready to give my heart to.
“You came after me,” I say, taking her hands as she steps closer. “I wasn’t sure you would.”
Tears fill her eyes. “My father made me an offer,” she says.
“And what’s that?”
“He said he’d give me my trust fund early if I walked away from you.”
“And is that an offer you’re interested in?”
Her eyes widen. “No, what do you think of me? That I would take his money in exchange for this?”
“Well, what is this to you?” I ask. “You know where I stand.”
“It’s complicated. We’re from two different worlds and life with me… you wouldn’t like it. You live on a boat, a wanderer. A romantic.”
“And you’re not?” I push back. “You’re a poet for god’s sake, Penny.”
“Choosing you would mean losing my father. And we just met. There are no guarantees with you but he’s going to be my dad for the rest of my life.”
“It’s not fair that he is making you choose.”
Penny blinks back tears. “But life isn’t fair, is it, Paxton? Look at us, we both lost parents early in life, we know what it means to suffer.”
“He’s putting you in a corner, in a box. Why would you let him?”
“Because I’m scared, Paxton. Of choosing you and losing him, and then in the end, things not working out with you. What will I have then?”
“Life isn’t a sure bet — you have to follow your heart, Penny.”
“I wish you could understand me better,” she says. “We aren’t just rich — we’ve been on the cover of magazines, paparazzi follow me on vacation. I’m not like you.”
I run a hand over my beard. “That’s where you’re wrong, Penelope Aurora. We’re more alike than you understand.”
Penny
I stare at him, this man who makes me feel so beautiful, trying to understand what he means. “How so?”
Paxton clear his throat, taking my hands in his. “Penelope. I’m Paxton Hughes. As in Hughes Incorporated.”
“Wait, you’re a Hughes?” Memories from newspaper articles hit me. I remember how shocked my father was when… oh god. “Your parents were Marty and Margot Hughes?”
He closes his eyes, exhaling. “Yes. I thought you might piece it together last night. But I didn’t want that information to change the way you saw me, Penny. I want to be liked, hell, loved, for who I am. Not where I come from.”
“But your family… Pax, you’re worth a fortune.”
“Yeah, just like you.” He shakes his head, giving me a wry smile. “So when you said I couldn’t understand where you are coming from… you’re wrong. I understand plenty. I hated the spotlight, the paparazzi, the requests for interviews. It’s why I left it all behind, once and for all.”
“Wait… you sold your share, didn’t you?” I cover my mouth with my hand. “I remember my dad mentioning that a year ago. He couldn’t understand why you would walk away from a billion-dollar industry.”
“Do I look like I want to sit at a conference table?” he asks and I know what he means. Paxton comes across totally chill in his jeans and tee shirt, his beard. He is the opposite of every man I’ve ever been out with, and certainly everyone my father works with.
“Look, I love my father,” Paxton says. “But not the company he inherited from my granddad. I don’t want to be a part of shady business deals and all that comes with them.”
I try to process what he’s sharing. It makes me respect him, that he knows who he is, and what he wants.
“Look,” he continues. “I invest in ethical companies now. I want to make the world a better place. And I can do that from my laptop on my boat.”
I squeeze his hand. “I love that, Paxton. It’s incredible, what you’re choosing to do with your wealth.”
“But the question is, Penelope, could you love me?”
I think of my father in the restaurant, the offer he made. “If you go and tell my dad all of this, he’ll accept you. Accept us.”
Paxton gives me a look that I will never forget.
“That’s the problem, Penelope. I don’t care about his approval. I only care about yours.”
When I take a beat too long to answer, he looks at me with nothing but disappointment. I struggle to find my voice, to put words to the conflicting emotions within me.
But before I can make sense of anything, Pax turns on his heels, leaving me.
And I close my eyes, feeling like I just lost the best thing that ever happened to me.
Chapter 9
Paxton
I leave the boardwalk and head to my boat. I need to clear my head, and Penelope is just confusing matters. She says she wants me… but only if her father gives us the green light. I don’t want a relationship like that.
I want to be chosen based on my own merit, without asking anyone’s permission.
On the boat, I shower and change, and then try to sleep, but it’s impossible. The bed feels empty, just like my fucking heart. I’ve known Penny one day and I’m a changed man. A man filled with regret.
Pulling out my phone, I call my sister, knowing that while she has a lot on her mind as it is, she’s still my sister. And she always has my back.
“Paxton, what’s up? I don’t think I ever get phone calls from you two days in a row.”
I groan. “It’s bad, Claire.”
“What do you mean?”
“I fell in love last night.”
She laughs. “And that’s a bad thing? Who is the lucky girl?”