“How can I help you, Penelope?”
“I saw the way you were looking at him.”
“Looking at whom?” Claire asked innocently.
“Chance. I saw the way you were looking at him, and I could feel how uneasy it made him with you watching. I’m not sure if you are aware, but he’s your brother.”
“Hmm, and you came all the way over here to tell me something I already know?” Claire asked.
“I just thought I’d remind you of the inappropriate way you were looking at him. Chance isn’t that kind of person, and you aren’t even his type,” she told Claire flatly.
“And you are?” Claire asked, eyebrow arched sarcastically.
“Damn right,” she said. “You do know you look so out of place here.”
“Well, I better go somewhere else then, before I rub off on your rudeness,” Claire said and emptied the remaining champagne in her glass.
Penelope grabbed her shoulder as she passed. “Hey, I’m not done talking to you.”
Claire shrugged her off and brought her elbow back, catching Penelope’s shoulder. Penelope mumbled bitch under her breath and shoved her. Claire was about to lunge at her when Chance rushed over and stood between them.
“Hey, hey, hey, break it up,” he said, parting them. “What’s going on?”
“Why don’t you ask your dumb bimbo?” Claire fumed, slapping his hand away from her.
“Penelope, what’s this about?” he asked.
“Just making a point,” she said as she smoothed her hair.
“Why are you two back here alone?”
“I came here to enjoy the evening. She decided she would come out here to remind me of how wrong it is to want to be with you,” Claire snarled at the woman.
“She what?” Chance asked. He was growing more infuriated by the minute. “Penelope, it’s not your place to talk to my sister like that. You owe her an apology.”
“I’m not blind, Chance. I saw the way she looked at you when we came in,” she spat. “What would I be apologizing for?”
“Are you hearing yourself?” he asked the woman. “She is my family.”
“And I am your whore?” she asked and shoved past him. “You two are messed up.”
Chance stared at the ground after Penelope had left. “I’m sorry about that. She can be unusually feisty. Please forgive me?” He looked at her. “She’s nothing.”
“That didn’t seem to stop you from parading her in here earlier today. I saw you walk in; she was draped over your arm. Tell me something, Chance - do you make a habit of misleading women?”
“Penelope does what she wants, and don’t read too much into that. She has a big temper and a small mind…not my kind of girl, really. Can we not talk about other people?”
Claire pretended she didn’t hear his last words. There was no way she was going to let him get away without confronting him about Penelope. “So, are you with her now?”
“Penelope? Hell no!”
Claire wasn’t sure why she asked because she wasn’t sure she was prepared for the answer, but just because they had agreed to stay away didn’t mean she still didn’t care about him. At least her body did - every night he permeated her thoughts and lived in her dreams, and her body ached for his touch. She knew he felt it too; she saw the way he looked at her when he thought she wasn’t looking.
“But she was hanging on your arm.”
“She thinks she owns me. And yes, she always finds a way to be close to me, even after I send her away.”
“No, you don’t need to explain it to me, Chance. I get it. We can’t be together as lovers, and the sooner I understand this, the better for all of us. You should date Penelope or any other girl you want to, and I should move on with my life.”
“Claire, don’t say that. I do miss being with you. I’m trying to figure it all out,” he said, attempting to stroke her face.
She dodged him and cleared her throat. “No, Chance. Let’s just make it a clean break. I don’t want to stifle you.”
“Claire, you’re not doing anything to me.”
“It’s for the best,” Claire said as left him standing alone.
Memories of St. Lucia and better days flashed through her mind, and she fought the tears that threatened. She maintained her composure long enough to make it past the lingering guest and make it inside the house. She climbed the stairs that wound to the first landing and ran into Penelope again as she left the guest bathroom.
The two women shot daggers at each other with their eyes, but no words were said as Claire brushed past the woman and hurried down the hallway to her room. She curled up on the bed and covered her face with the pillow, which served to muffle her screams as she released her frustration. She lay there motionless for a considerable time, staring at the ceiling, her mind blank. Maybe Penelope was right; she didn’t belong here, and she had overstayed her welcome. It was time she moved back to Miami.
CHAPTER 16