Please, Penny, call me back! I’m so sorry, Penny—I didn’t mean to freak out like that.
The only saving grace about the situation was that Adam wouldn’t be able to track her down at her folks’ place when she finally headed back there tonight. Pepper had enrolled in college as Penny Wilson, after enduring years of belittlement about her real name. Her parents were both comic book artists, and they’d had the brilliant idea of naming their children after their favorite comics characters. Parker had lucked out. At least his namesake, Peter Parker, was totally normal. But to name a child after Pepper Potts?
Sometimes she wondered if her parents had done it on purpose, almost like they’d known she’d end up being a pain in the ass and had preemptively decided to punish her.
Although she’d told some of her classmates, like Kendra, her real name, Adam only knew her as Penny Wilson, and this past week he’d texted Penny so much, and so often, that Jack had started to notice. Luckily, Pepper had found a surefire way to distract him from asking too many questions.
Turned out all she had to do to get Jack to back off? Flash a little skin.
Yup, who would’ve thunk it. She’d known that Jack was a horndog, but she’d figured his one-track mind hadn’t applied to her. That first morning, when her towel had fallen off, she’d realized how wrong she’d been. Jack Hunter might not like her, but he liked women, and she happened to possess a couple things that were bound to trigger his lust—boobs, a nice ass, and no qualms about using either against him.
So if her neckline sagged a little too low in the middle of one of his lectures? Oops. Or if she happened to drop something and slowly bent over to retrieve it just as he asked who kept texting her?
Oops again.
She’d been toying with the man all week, and she had to admit, it was kind of fun. The only thing better than verbally demolishing Jack Hunter was watching his eyes glaze over every time she sauntered around in something skimpy.
And the best part was knowing he would never act on his lust. He might notice her very womanly attributes, but he still viewed her as a kid. She knew he didn’t really want her, which was fine by her. She didn’t want him, either. He was annoying. And always on her case. If they ever wound up in bed, he’d probably scold her the whole time and list all the things she was doing wrong.
So…no, thank you.
“Well, don’t worry, I gave him a piece of my mind on the drive back.” Kendra’s voice jerked her from her thoughts. “I told him he’s not allowed to go near you ever again.”
The memory of Adam’s enraged brown eyes floated into Pepper’s head, making her uneasy. “Let’s hope he listens to you.”
“Are you still planning on moving back home?” Kendra asked as she brought a spoonful of chocolate-banana ice cream to her lips.
Pepper nodded. “I’m heading there later. I think I’ve overstayed my welcome at Jack’s. If I stay even a day longer, he might murder me.”
Kendra flashed a grin. “When do I get to meet him?”
“Never, if you’re lucky. Trust me, Jackjack is a grumpy bastard. He wouldn’t know fun if it hit him in the face, and all he ever does is order me around.”
“I like ’em grumpy, and I like being ordered around. Alpha men are super sexy.”
Pepper strongly disagreed, at least about the ordering-around part. She’d spent her entire life fighting for her independence, but no matter how hard she tried, her family viewed her as an immature brat who needed a good scolding. Her father still saw her as “his little girl”—hell, he’d almost gone into cardiac arrest when she’d brought her first boyfriend home.
Parker was even worse. He was insanely overprotective, acting like she wouldn’t survive a day in this world without his assistance. She still remembered the time she’d gotten her learner’s permit—she’d been bouncing up and down with glee, only to have her excitement shatter when Parker informed her she wasn’t “responsible enough” to operate a motor vehicle by herself.
Needless to say, she was very glad he’d seemed to lose the complete control freak gene while she was gone. He’d still tried bossing her around even from the opposite side of the country, but the attempts faded quicker. Still, she wasn’t looking forward to seeing her big brother today. When she’d called earlier to tell him she was back in town, he’d reverted to his old unwanted norm and demanded she come to his office. Supposedly he had something important to discuss with her, but with Parker, that meant another lecture.
She made a mental note to throw on a cardigan and put some makeup on her face to cover up her lingering bruises before she went over there. If Parker saw her like this, it definitely wouldn’t go over well.