Author's Note: This story was written for klcm's birthday! It's going to be two parts, and I hope you all like it! Happy belated birthday, klcm! ~ Angie

They didn't know how she did it, couldn't exactly capture that same essence themselves, but it was common knowledge among her friends that she had 'it.' Whatever it was.

Penelope Garcia was an enigma, for sure. She wasn't the thinnest of the bunch; and by America's standards, she wasn't even the prettiest. But when she walked out onto the dance floor and started moving, all eyes inevitably landed on her. She exuded confidence…a raw sexuality that was extraordinarily uncommon. It would have been easy to hate her if she wasn't so damn nice. But she had a way of making everyone around her feel special. And today was her day to feel special. Penelope was turning 35 years old, and her friends were by her side to make sure she had fun doing it.

Laughter erupted around her as her penis shaped birthday cake was brought to the table in the small, intimate restaurant downtown that not many folks knew about. Her cheeks heated immediately as the waitress—who couldn't have been more than eighteen years old—placed the cake in front of her. The poor girls cheeks were as crimson as Penelope knew her own were. She looked at her friend Taylor, and he was grinning shamelessly. "I'm guessing this was all you," she said knowingly as the waitress disappeared.

His grinned widened. "Hot cock is never a bad idea," he reminded her, his face illuminated by the candles on the cake as he leaned in to impart that information.

Penelope cleared her throat as her girlfriends erupted into laughter. "Well, then. Shall I blow the…cock out?"

"Darlin'," Taylor said. "You could probably have left the 'out' off that sentence and had yourself one very pleased birthday cake."

Penelope rolled her eyes as she took a deep breath.

"Don't forget to make a wish!" her friend Ashley reminded her.

Penelope exhaled, and then pursed her lips, thinking for a moment. A slow grin spread across her face as she took in another big gulp of air, and then began to blow.

"What did you wish for?" Taylor asked animatedly, but Penelope shook her head.

"No," she said firmly. "If I tell you, it won't come true."

They left the restaurant in a taxi and stopped at Penelope's apartment to drop off her birthday presents—which included a ridiculously large dildo from Taylor—so they could go out for a night on the town. They were ribbing her about her birthday wish, wanting to know if it had been to get laid.

But she wouldn't budge; they didn't need to know her birthday wish. And the truth was…she didn't need to get laid. She had an entire drawer dedicated to that craving. Besides, she'd tried one night stands, and they never worked out for her. The guy always pushed for her number afterwards. What she wanted was something her nightstand drawer couldn't take care of.

She wanted to be kissed-and not just any kiss. But an honest-to-goodness, toe curling, earth shattering, hot kiss. She hadn't had one of those in a long time.

In true Penelope form, she'd taken the dance floor the moment they'd arrived…and within five minutes, she was swarmed by men wanting to ply her with drinks. But for some reason, it was never the ones surrounding her who garnered her attention.

Six songs later, she was so sweating so much that her turquoise shirt was practically sticking to her. She quickly excused herself to get a drink of water. She'd learned the only way to do it was quickly, otherwise men were falling all over themselves to get her a drink. She had a hard time understanding them, really. Would they ever figure out that the one who didn't leave to get her a drink would be the one left alone with her? If precedent was anything to go on, the answer to that was a resounding no.

She lifted her hair up off the back of her neck with one hand and used her other to fan it as she waited for the waitress to come her way.

"You have pit stains," Ashley informed her, suddenly appearing by her side.

Penelope instantly dropped her arms and then did a quick check. She slapped her friend on the arm. "I do not," she said, returning to her former position in order to cool herself off.

Ashley giggled. "Having fun?" she asked.

"Sure," Penelope answered with too much enthusiasm.

"Liar," Ashley said knowingly.

"Don't tell Taylor," Penelope begged. "He'll be devastated."

"Yeah, if he ever makes it off the dance floor," Ashley said dryly.

Penelope followed her friends gaze and laughed. Taylor was surrounded by nearly as many men as she'd been a few minutes ago. "True."

"See you in a bit?" Ashley asked as she took her drink from the bartender.

Penelope nodded as she placed her order. "Water, please." She watched as Ashley made her way back to the table with the rest of their friends minus Taylor.

"I see you finally broke away from your entourage," came an amused voice beside her.

Penelope turned her head to the side and froze as her eyes drank in the most gorgeous man she'd ever seen. She giggled nervously as she reminded herself to speak. "Yep." His skin was mocha colored, his eyes a deep brown. It was obvious that he was ripped beneath his clothes. His biceps were straining against the fabric of his t-shirt, and she'd bet money that he wasn't even flexing.

"Derek," he introduced himself, tilting his head to the side.

She cleared her throat. "Penelope," she returned.

"Penelope," he said in a low, sexy drawl, as if trying out her name.

"Here ya go," the bartender said, placing a bottle of water in front of her.

"Thanks," she said with a grin. She turned back to Derek and smiled. "Well, I—"

"I have a booth in the back," he interrupted.

"I—" She'd been about to decline his offer, but then her eyes dropped to his lips. With a quick shake of her head, she lifted her gaze to his knowing one and could feel herself blushing furiously. One look and she knew…the man knew how to kiss. Even better, he knew he knew how to kiss. So she crossed her fingers and smiled softly at him. "Lead the way."