Hard Candy (2 page)

Penny ducked her head and held him just as tight. “Kindergarten, apparently, if you’re going to call me pissy pants.”

“
Hmm. You should probably pull my hair then and go crying to the teacher.”

“
Don’t tempt me, Craigory.”

They finally pulled back and just looked at each other. He had the same short dark hair and meltingly sweet chocolate eyes. That little mole at the corner of his right eyebrow…she wanted to run her tongue over it, to see if he shivered in the same lost way he used to when they were younger. He was stunning in just a simple jeans and tee with his feet bare.

Penny hesitated for a moment, before deciding to take the bull by the horns, so to speak. She lifted her chin, leaning toward Craig. He accepted her silent invitation, taking her lips in a bruising kiss that spoke of barely leashed restraint.

She moaned, tightening her arms and squeezing him closer. With a last, lingering kiss, she drew back and just stared at him.

Craig lifted a hand and brushed the backs of his fingers over her left cheek. “Missed you, Penny.”

“
Missed you, too.”

“
Are you here to stay?”

Penny shook her head. “Don’t ask me that. Not yet.”

He let out a rueful grin. With a shrug, Craig backed away and rounded the car to grab her suitcase.

“
You know I’m going to just have to ask again.” He started for the house, waving her to follow him.

He was incorrigible. Always had been. “You haven’t changed.”

“
Baby, I’ve changed in more ways that you can see.”

“
No, you haven’t. I’ve seen your Facebook profile, remember? And we talk on the phone practically every day.”

“
For all you know, I could be a deranged serial killer and just doing a really good job of hiding it.”

She froze as she entered the house. A shiver traced down her spine, causing her to hug her arms.

“
Shit.” He was suddenly in front of her again. “I’m sorry, Penny Candy. I didn’t mean to say that.”

“
It’s okay. Better that we have it out in the open, right? I mean, you wouldn’t be the first person in my life to hide their killer tendencies.”

“
Pens, don’t do this.” He put her suitcase down.

She shook off his hold. “That’s why I’m here, isn’t it? To find out if my dad really did kill my mom.”

“
Penny.”

She shook her head. She hadn’t meant to say that. This night wasn’t going anything like it was supposed to. Besides, her parents weren’t the only reason she’d come back. Craig was the other. Seeing what she could have with Craig that was. Only, right now she didn’t want to do anything. Whatever passion she’d felt just a moment ago was chased away with the horror-filled thought of her mother’s death.

“
It’s late. Maybe I should bunk down for the night.”

Craig sighed loudly, but she refused to turn and look at him. Instead she focused on the hallway around them. Hell, she hadn’t even gotten past the entranceway and she’d already ruined everything by bringing down the mood.

He still had the old antique wooden bench that his parents had bought years ago. It and the Americana artwork on the wall were the only things decorating the hallway. Well, that and the half dozen pairs of shoes thrown about like he didn’t know where the hall closet was. It made her grin.

She slipped off her shoes and dropped them to join the jumbled mess, before padding forward in her sock feet.

“
Okay. Let’s get you in the spare room. You remember where everything is?”

She nodded. “Of course.”

“
All right. I’ll see you in the morning, then.” Craig came up behind her, stopping her in her tracks, and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

Penny sniffed. She’d always loved when he did that back in high school. It had been a kiss just like that, that had started her on the path to seeing Craig as more than a friend back then. But, tonight, it just served to remind her how much had changed since the last time they’d been together.

“
Craig?” This was a bad idea. She didn’t care, though. She didn’t want to lie in bed and toss and turn all night. She knew that was what would happen…it’d been her normal night-time activity since reading that damned journal two months ago.

“
Yeah?”

“
I know I said I wanted to sleep, but… Can I just hang out with you?”

Craig slipped his arms around her waist and hugged her from behind. “Pens? You want to come have a sleepover at my place? Just like old times?”

God, it was like he could read her mind. “A sleepover? You have flat root beer and ketchup chips for tomorrow morning?”

“
Yeah, you’re not allowed to say that again or we won’t be doing anything tonight.”

Penny laughed. “Sorry. My bad.” She wasn’t surprised by his comment. They’d talked enough in the past year that she knew they’d be having sex at some point this week. It was inevitable at this point. She couldn’t wait. She just wasn’t sure this was the right moment.

“
Talk about ruining the mood.” Craig pressed a kiss to the side of her neck while one of his sneaky hands found its way under her tee to rest on her belly.

“
You want me to leave?” She couldn’t hide her grin. Penny lifted her hands to wrap them around his still arm.

“
You do and I might just chase after you like a sad, pathetic creepy dude.”

“
Can’t have that. Come on. Why don’t you show me where you keep the movies? We can’t have a sleepover unless we’re watching something fun.”

“
I take it you don’t mean the really fun movies.”

Penny snorted. “No, you need Mack to watch those with.”

“
Speaking of Mack, did you see the construction next door?”

“
Hard to miss.” There was absolutely nothing else along this road, so construction right beside Craig’s house definitely stood out.

“
Well, he’s back. Setting up a microbrewery next door.”

Douglas McKenzie? Wow, he and Craig had been nearly inseparable since they were babies together. Some days, it had almost felt like it was the three of them in a relationship, with how much time she spent with both Craig and Mack before she left. And that was definitely not something she should be thinking about. Some things had changed, after all. Penny wasn’t the same wide-eyed innocent she’d been back then. As much as her and Craig had been getting closer recently, she still hadn’t managed to get up the nerve to talk about certain things she’d done in the last decade.

With a shake of her head, Penny tuned back into the conversation.

“
Seriously? Didn’t see that coming. Mack wanted nothing more than to get the hell out of here when we were younger. You didn’t tell me he was back. What’s he been up to?”

Craig lifted a shoulder. “Sorry, I thought I told you. He’s been back a few months now. He ended up going to Denver and playing hockey for Colorado College. Got his business degree there, played a few years for a variety of teams in the ECHL and AHL and then decided to come back home. I’ve seen him a few times since he’s been back. We’ve hung out at the Powderhorn. Just like old times. We should give him a call.”

She nodded absently. Just like old times, indeed.

She wasn’t sure if Craig ever knew how close Penny had come to dating Mack. Actually, she had dated Mack. Exactly once. They’d gone to the movies, which Craig was very much aware of. It wasn’t too long after that night that Craig had admitted he had feelings for her. The rest was history. Mack had scared her in a lot of ways, as much as they were friends. He’d had a darker edge than Craig, and even in high school he’d gotten around. Not manwhore territory, but definitely getting close to it.

She followed Craig toward the master bedroom, peering around at everything as they walked past the rest of the house. “Have you redecorated at all since your parents moved out?”

Craig snickered. “Why should I? This came furnished, didn’t it?”

“
Right, how foolish of me.”

“
Come on. Get undressed and under the covers.”

Penny arched a brow. “Say what?” Sure, they’d been flirting, and she was pretty sure where they were eventually going with this, but that was quick even for Craig.

He grinned wickedly. “What? You can’t blame a guy for trying.”

“
Just go get the movie. I’m stealing one of your shirts.”

“
Go for it. I’ll be right back.” He closed the door behind him.

She looked around now that she was alone in his bedroom. The walls were painted dark, and were offset by the light wood of the floors. The furniture was all white, while the bedspread was a light beige, echoed in color by the beige plaid rug in front of the bed.

It had been twelve years since she’d last been in Craig’s house, but she was positive his parents hadn’t had that bed frame. God, how weird would that be, sleeping in his parents bed? Walking over to the dresser against one wall, she opened a few drawers before finding one that housed sinfully soft cotton shirts. She picked one at random before stripping down to her panties and sliding the shirt on.

Craig knocked on the closed door. “You decent?”

“
Just a minute.” She walked back to the bed, crawling under the covers and pulling them up to her chest before calling out again. “Okay.”

Craig held up a DVD case in one hand while he carried two sodas in the other. “Figured you didn’t want anything too hard tonight. I don’t have root beer, though. Sorry about that.”

“
This will do. Hey, this is all new furniture, right?”

“
Of course. It’s my stuff from university. All joking aside, mom and dad really did take most of their stuff when they moved out. But, they were downsizing so they left the kitchen and living room pretty much as is.”

“
Cool. How weird is it living back in your parent’s place?” She watched him put the DVD in the huge TV/DVD combo that dominated the wall in front of the bed. Was that a guy thing that their TV had to be longer than they were tall or they felt inadequate? Geez.

“
See, that’s the thing, though. It’s not their place anymore. I own it fair and square. Just like The Candy Store. So, it’s not really all that weird.”

Penny nodded in understanding. Yeah, that made sense.

“
Scootch over. I’m coming in.”

Craig lifted up one corner of the sheet and slid in beside her as the opening credits began to roll. He handed her a soda, before popping the top of his own.

Craig nudged her before raising his arm with a grin. “Come on. My side is going to get all cold if you don’t at least snuggle in.”

She moved closer and placed her head down on his shoulder. The weight of his arm folded her closer still. Was it weird? That they could go from passion to friendship? She didn’t think so. This was what she wanted, to be in a loving relationship with her best friend. “Thanks.”

“
For what?”

“
For not making me talk about all that stuff tonight.”

“
Hey, tomorrow’s another day. We can afford to take at least one night off.” Craig pressed a kiss to the top of her head before turning back to the TV.

She sighed and took a sip of soda. Until she figured out what really happened twelve years ago, nothing was going to get better. She just wished she knew where to start.

***

Mack rolled over in bed, stretching his arms above his head with a yawn. Unfortunately for him, he was currently the only occupant of said bed. He was going through a dry spell. Through no fault of his own, but things hadn’t exactly happened the way he thought they would when he’d come home.
The prodigal son and all that
, Mack snorted. His life wasn’t quite as exciting as he’d once thought it would be.

He’d come back here a year ago to scope out the lay of the land and see if he could really come back full time to start up a brewery. He’d been talking about it for awhile and he’d known he wanted to do it right. Coming back to Bandit Creek was the only option as far as he was concerned, but he hadn’t been sure if it would be possible.