Chapter 24

AN: Thank you for the reviews! A bit more angst. I wonder if anyone can guess what will happen next after this chapter?...

Derek didn't have a chance to say anything more. Before he could look at Penelope, Keira squealed excitedly and shoved Penelope even more out of the way. Then she leaped at him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Ooooooh, Derek!" she squealed again, beginning to kiss him, placing them wherever she could reach. She was at the perfect height for him in her four inch stilettos, and he was taken aback by her exuberance.

"Hey…Keira…stop…" Derek was trying to stop her, but she was leaning so much on him, he couldn't do it without knocking her on her ass. He had to settle with holding her at arm's length, but even that was hard—the woman was like a toddler, grabbing at everything, saying, "Mine!"

"I can't believe it," Keira cried, cupping his face in her hands. "It's been…what? Fifteen years?"

Derek immediately peeled her hands from his face. "Keira…"

"I take it you two know each other?" Penelope drawled slowly and sarcastically.

"Do we know each other?" The statuesque blonde placed her hand on his arm, before finally deigning Penelope important enough to look at.

"Obviously, you do," Pen quipped.

"Derek is the love of my life," Keira said simply and with conviction. She looked up at him, batting her eyes.

"Really," Penelope remarked dryly, before glaring at Derek. "How interesting…"

"Keira was my girlfriend in college," he explained, knowing this wasn't going well at all.

Derek removed Keira's hand from his arm, but she put it right back. She was like a gnat; he swatted at her, and she kept buzzing around. He wanted to squash her and blow this damned party, but he knew Penelope wouldn't do that. He couldn't just snap at Keira, either. Growing up in an all female household, he'd been raised to never be rude to a lady.

He'd have to make the best of this, explain to Penelope, and show her where his allegiances lay.

"Until I had to move away," she said, her luminous blue eyes tearing up. "I cried for a month, Derek."

"Keira," he said, finally breaking the blonde's tentacle-like hold on him. He took a step closer to Penelope and put his arm around her, but she held herself stiffly away from him. "This is my girlfriend, Penelope."

"Really?" Keira glanced at her, wide eyed in surprise, and then back and forth between the two of them in utter disbelief.

"Yes," Derek said. What was Keira's problem now?

"Girlfriend…Wow," she said, her smile faltering just a bit as she began to blush, finally dropping her hand from Derek's arm. "I didn't think you two…well, I'm sorry."

"That's okay," Penelope said graciously.

Derek had expected no less; when it came to Private Pleasures parties, she was the consummate professional.

"Well, umm…come inside," the woman said, smiling brightly as she opened the door to her palatial estate wider.

Penelope was ready to growl. She was stuck between a rock and a hard place. A huge part of her wanted to run like hell, but she couldn't do that. She also couldn't shoot this woman down—or punch the woman's lights out; she was her hostess, and a frequent customer of Cara's. She had to make the best of this.

Penelope entered first through the doorway, and as Derek walked in, Keira quickly grabbed his arm again.

"So, how are Fran and the girls?" she asked, beaming brightly at him, a wistful look in her sky blue eyes.

Penelope watched as Derek fidgeted and moved a step away from Keira. "They're good."

"Wow," she said, shaking her head slightly, as if she were in awe. "You haven't changed a bit. You look exactly the same."

"Oh, I have changed," he said with a rather forced-looking smile. "But it seems that you haven't."

Keira blushed prettily, taking what he said as a compliment. "Why, thank you, Der."

Penelope assumed it was a compliment, too. Keira was ageless, beautiful. Penelope didn't think the woman could look anything but pretty. She was stunning, perfect; each of her features were gorgeous and symmetrical, like a freaking Barbie doll. If she'd had babies with Derek, they would've certainly been supermodels.

She could easily hate this woman.

Groaning at her petty thoughts, she put her chin up and decided not to think about it. She needed to be strong. Keira was in Derek's past; she was his future. Not this woman. She tried to tell herself that it didn't matter that they were a virtually perfect pair.

"I'm going to set up," Penelope announced, trying to lose that train of thought, but she needn't have bothered; she was ignored anyway.

"Remember back when you played in the all star game? That evening afterward?" Keira asked, a teasing smile playing on her perfect lips. It was an obvious hint at something naughty, and Penelope tried to ignore the anger rising inside her. Instead, she dragged the heavy duffel bag into the other room.

"P, do you need help?" Derek asked.

Looking up, she met his concerned eyes and felt a lot better. Smiling back at him, she said, "No, I'm good. Visit with your old friend."

Keira frowned. "Old? I'm not that old."

It was an unintentional slight, but Penelope still felt like cheering. "I didn't mean it that way…"

Tossing her blonde curls over her shoulder, Keira laughed and said, "Of course you didn't…you're obviously older than I am."

"Actually, you got my Baby Girl by a few," Derek chimed in, winking over at Penelope. "Are you sure you don't need help, honey?"

Penelope hoped the warmth she felt in her heart was visible to Derek. "No, Hot Stuff. I got it."

"Hot Stuff, hmmm?" Keira purred. "That's an appropriate name for you…"

For awhile, Penelope was busy setting up her tables. It took her a lot longer, because she kept glancing over at Derek and Keira. They were laughing, teasing, and Keira kept touching him. She was starting to get quite angry at Derek for not setting this broad straight. She wouldn't let some man paw her; why was he letting this woman get away with this?

Fortunately, the doorbell rang and Keira stood to answer it, breaking contact with Derek. "I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere."

Penelope pretended to be busy.

"Baby Girl," Derek said.

"What?" she snapped at him, turning to glare.

"I love you," he said, softly, seriously, his warm gaze holding hers and telling her he meant every word he just said.

Her heart leaped to her throat as she tried to swallow it down, tears stinging her eyes as she turned away. She wanted to get the hell out of there, give Derek a piece of her mind, and then crawl into his lap and let him hold her.

She could hear the couch creak a little as he stood. "Penelope—"

"And this is Derek, my boyfriend from college," Keira said, coming back into the room, leading a few other women. Tall, willowy…The group was cougarlicious, all in their late thirties, all on the prowl.

Those women ate her boyfriend up with appreciative looks, too.

"And this is Penelope," Keira said, as if an afterthought.

Gathering her courage, intent on having a great final party, regardless of the circumstances, she smiled graciously at the women. "Hello, I am your presenter for the evening. If everyone will get comfortable, we can get started."

As the show went on, the women teased and flirted with Derek openly. Really, it wasn't much different than the first time they'd done the show together. Derek was charming and sweet, encouraging sales. Only this time, it bothered Penelope. She didn't want to share him—not any part of him: his sparkling eyes, his deep voice, his sexy nature. That was hers, and hers alone.

She couldn't be angry at him, though. He made it very clear to all of these women that he was with her, mentioned a lot that he used the products with her, and that she was his girlfriend. Of course, the crowd fell for him, and hung onto his every word.

Penelope, on the other hand, was stiff and not at all herself. Worse, she didn't feel sexy at all. She swore as the night progressed she was getting serious glares from Keira. She tried not to mind, but the more the woman drank, the more hostile she became.

Finally, blessedly, the end of the show came. She was totaling orders, getting ready to go.

"Do you have one of these in pink here?" a woman asked, holding up a negligee.

Penelope shook her head. "I'm sorry. We usually have to order for clothing."

The woman looked crestfallen. "That's okay. It's my ten year anniversary tomorrow. I would've loved to have that."

Penelope's soft heart ached. She glanced over at Derek. "Hot Stuff, can you check that bag for this?"

"Already on it, sugar," he said.

It made her smile; he was a soft heart, too.

He dug through the bag. "Negative, sweetheart."

"Wait a sec," she told the lady, determined to help her. She moved to her feet. "I'll check my other bag in my car."

Penelope headed toward the front door, slid on her heels, and stepped outside into the night air. She was a few steps closer to her car, when she heard voices.

"I can't believe he is with her," a woman said, her tone catty. Penelope recognized her voice as one of the cougarlicious pack.

"I know! He could have Keira, and he chose her instead?" another one said in utter disbelief. "Incredible!"

"She must drug him and tie him up with one of those sex toys of hers!"

"She must. He's the total package," another woman commented. "Keira said that not only is he good looking, he's insatiable in bed."

"And his dick is huge," the first woman said. Penelope could picture her holding her hands really wide. "Really long and super thick."

"Good looking, sexy, funny, sweet, and hung like a horse," one of the women said, laughing. "Someone that perfect should have someone perfect, too."

"It's almost a crime he's with her."

Penelope stood, rooted to the spot, and felt her heart ache in her chest...