4. On the Downlow

ON THE DOWNLOW

PENELOPE

E verett's face contorted with an inner struggle I couldn't quite understand. Was this really such a big ask? I mean, dating was a piece of cake for him, and it would be so easy for him to just tell me what guys wanted. Besides sex of course. Which... I was also not good at.

He ran a hand through his hair, his eyes darting everywhere but at me.

"Pen, I... I don't think I can do this," he finally said, his voice strained. "I'm great at advice with the guys, sure, but this would be like helping my sister get a date."

Ooph. My heart sank at that sister comment. But that was exactly why I needed his help. Even when I did try to date in high school and that one year of college, guys always thought of me like that. Because I was a dorky, awkward girl who hung on their every word. Just like a little sister, I guess.

I wasn't ready to give up. "That's exactly why I need you. I trust you to guide me through it."

He groaned, closing his eyes tight. "Don't... don't look at me like that, Pen. I can't... those pretty brown eyes of yours, they're too much. It's like trying to say no to a puppy."

Ding, ding, ding. There was my in. If he couldn't resist puppy dog eyes, then I had the perfect weapon in my arsenal. I had Wiener the Pooh, Kelsey's adorable dachshund that no one could resist, to thank for it.

"Oh, oh no," I said, injecting a bit of playful challenge into my voice. "You can say no to this?"

I channeled my inner poor-widdle-puppy desperate for a treat. I widened my eyes, stuck out my bottom lip just slightly, and tilted my head. "Please help me, love guru."

Everett peeked one eye open, then immediately groaned again. "Oh, come on. That's not fair."

"All's fair in love and war," I crooned, maintaining my puppy dog expression.

He muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like "you have no idea," before sighing heavily.

"Fine," he said, throwing his hands up in defeat. "I'll do it. I'll be your dating coach. But," he held up a finger, his expression suddenly serious, "we have to keep this on the downlow. Declan would kill me if he found out, and my entire family are gossip-mongering gossips. So you can't even tell Jules. God, especially not Jules."

I furrowed my brow, confused. "Why would Declan care?"

Everett stumbled over his words. "Because... because he's protective of you. You know, in a big brother kind of way."

It seemed a bit silly to me. Everett was a green flag guy, save maybe how many women's hearts he broke on a daily basis. My heart wasn't on the line. Not with him anyway. I nodded. "Actually, I'd prefer if we kept this quiet too. I'm a little embarrassed about needing help in this department, and I don't need it splashed on social media with the rest of my life."

Relief washed over Everett's face. "So we're agreed then? This stays between us?"

"Absolutely," I said, holding out my hand. "Our little secret."

We shook on it, and a little thrill of excitement tittered through me. I was about to get dating lessons from Everett Kingman, the Love Guru himself.

Just as Everett and I sealed our secret pact, the back door burst open and the rest of the Kingman brothers piled in, laughing and shoving each other.

"Mission accomplished," Flynn announced, grinning from ear to ear.

"Yeah, until the next time Hayes needs to sneak his girlfriend out," Gryff added, elbowing Hayes playfully.Hayes's face turned a shade of red I didn't think was possible.

"She's not my girlfriend," he mumbled, but the smile tugging at his lips told a different story. "Yet."

"Sure, sure," Isak chimed in. "And I'm not grounded."

The brothers continued to rib Hayes, but I was distracted by Everett's quietness. He was watching Hayes with an almost wistful expression.

"Lay off, guys," Everett finally said. "Hayes seems to know what he's doing."

The room fell silent for a moment, everyone looking at Everett in surprise. He shrugged, a small smile playing on his lips.

Sensing the shift in mood, I decided it was time to make my exit. "Well, boys, it's been fun, but I should head home."

Immediately, all five Kingman brothers were on their feet.

"We'll walk you," they said in near-perfect unison.

I laughed, shaking my head. "Guys, I live two doors down. I think I can manage."

"Nonsense," Everett insisted, and for a moment, I thought I might get another minute alone with him to discuss our new arrangement. "You haven't lived in Colorado long enough to know that there are dangerous animals here."

I huffed out a laugh. "Like the killer rooster who lives across the street?"

"Luke Skycocker knows how to hold his own." Everett folded his arms, and my what big biceps he had. Why hadn't I noticed that before? "But there's coyotes and mountain lions and?—"

"Snakes. So many snakes," Flynn cut in, but he was looking at Everett and not me. "Big ones. Anacondas."

Ev glared at his younger brother who was ready to burst with laughter. "Billy swore he'd keep that thing contained, so no. There are no," he shivered, "anacondas."

"Except you of course," Hayes chimed in.

Declan had rescued Pooh from a rattlesnake once. I just didn't think of any of those kinds of things being in a city suburb like Thornminster. "Wait, are you guys serious?"

"Yeah, we insist. Because it's the scariest animal of all that creeps around here at night," Isak added. "The paparazzi."

We all shivered. And before I knew it, five Kingmans were escorting me the short distance to Declan's house. A girl could get ideas with that many muscle-bound golden retrievers surrounding her. Phew.

"You know," I said, unable to keep the amusement out of my voice, "this is probably the safest neighborhood in all of Denver. I'm not sure I need a five-man security detail. One would probably do."

"Better safe than sorry," Isak said seriously, and I had to bite back a laugh at his earnest expression.

It was endearing how protective they all were. On the other hand, it was a stark reminder of how they saw me—as a little sister to be looked after, despite the fact that I was older than all of them except Everett.

We reached the front door, and I turned to face my entourage. "Well, gentlemen, thank you for ensuring my safe passage. I don't know how I would have survived those treacherous fifty feet without you."

They all grinned, clearly pleased with themselves. As I was about to step inside, Everett leaned in close, his breath warm on my ear as he whispered, "We'll talk tomorrow."

A thrill ran through me at his words, and I quickly attributed it to excitement for our upcoming lessons. Still, as I closed the door behind me and leaned against it, I got a little, teeny tiny butterfly in my stomach at the warmth of his breath, the intensity in his eyes when he'd whispered to me.

"Stop it." I chided myself in a whisper. He's my dating coach. Nothing more.

A traitorous part of my brain insisted on noting that while all the Kingmans were undeniably handsome, Everett was in a league of his own. He was the underwear model after all. Not that I'd looked up those pictures more than a half dozen or half a million times. The thought of spending one-on-one time with him, even if it was just for dating lessons, sent that butterfly in my stomach on a warpath.

I shook my head, trying to clear it. I needed to focus on the goal—learning how to navigate the dating world and finding a great guy to take to the Grampys. The last thing I needed was to develop a crush on my coach.

With a determined nod, I pushed off from the door and headed to my room. Tomorrow, Operation Dating Lessons would begin, and I was going to ace it—without falling for Everett Kingman in the process.

But the next day turned into a shit show from the moment Kelsey came knocking on my door at seven in the morning. "Pen, Penelope, Pen, Pen, Pen."

I tumbled out of bed, shaking off the dream I was having. I was hot and all tangled up in my sheets. I was too young to have night sweat hot flashes, wasn't I? Oh my god. I'd been having a sex dream.

About Everett Kingman.

With a yank, I hauled my door open and stared bleary-eyed at Kelsey, who was looking a bit disheveled herself. Except she'd probably been having real sex, with a real Kingman. Because she was a lucky lady like that.

"What's wrong?"

Kelsey's eyes were wide with a mix of panic and excitement. "The video shoot for ‘Curvy Confidence' is a bust. The location we booked in LA just fell through. That one is important to me, Pen. What are we going to do?"

I blinked, my brain still foggy from sleep and that all-too-vivid dream. I grabbed my tablet, and sent a half dozen messages to my contacts in LA. I'd made more connections there since working for Kelsey than the twenty-some-odd years I'd lived there before. "Okay, I had a feeling about that venue, so I've just pulled in the backup location I had on hold. They can squeeze us in, but it's got to be today."

"You are a freaking godsend." Kelsey hugged me. "Give me five minutes to throw some things in a bag."

I sent messages to the flight crew to prep the plane and then rushed around my room, grabbing essentials and shoving them into a suitcase.

My phone buzzed with another incoming text. This one wasn't work. It was from Everett, and I felt my face go hot. He didn't have mental telepathy and knew I'd had a sex dream about him, did he?

Ready for lesson one?

Oh, phew. But also, dammit. I'd have to postpone our dating lessons. I quickly typed out a response explaining the situation.

His reply came almost instantly.

No worries. I can coach you over the phone just as well.

Declan appeared in the doorway, looking as disheveled as Kelsey but carrying her bags. I almost dropped my phone.

"Will you be back in time for the game in Florida?" he asked, his voice still rough with sleep.

Kelsey looked to me. I loved how hard the two of them supported each other's careers, and while she had to miss a few games here and there, she hated to. Plus, to be honest, Declan played better when she was around, and no way I wanted to let down all of Mustang Nation because of some scheduling kerfuffles.

Not to mention, I kind of liked watching the games myself. There was something about those football butts. There was no wonder why they called Everett a tight end.

I mentally calculated dates and times, checked the shooting schedule to see how much was going to need to be rearranged, and tentatively nodded.

"We should be," I assured them both, slipping into my role as coordinator extraordinaire. "The shoot shouldn't take more than five days if we push it. I think we can be back on Saturday to fly with you all. But if needs be, we can fly straight from LA to Florida and meet you there."

Declan visibly relaxed, and I felt a surge of pride. This was what I was good at—making things work, no matter the chaos.

We climbed into the car I'd ordered a few minutes later, bags and a sleepy Wiener the Pooh in tow. This was going to be a long day.

My phone buzzed with another text.

Here is your first assignment, my sweet Padawan. One night while you're in LA, I want you to go out and practice some flirting.

Wait. No. No, no. Wait. I texted back.

I don't think you understand exactly how bad I am at that particular skill.

He sent back a laughing emoji.

I'll give you some pointers before you go out.

Shit. I took a deep breath that was accidentally a little shaky. This wasn't how I'd expected our lessons to start, but maybe a little distance would be good. It would certainly help me keep my newfound attraction to Everett in check.

"Everything okay?" Kelsey asked, noticing my preoccupation with my phone.

I nodded, plastering on a smile. "Just making sure everything's in order. You know me, always planning ahead."

Hold up a minute. Before all of this chaos, he'd texted me asking if I was ready for lesson number one. What exactly did Everett have in mind for my first lesson at seven o'clock on Monday morning? That was not normal dating hours. I glared at my phone suspiciously and typed him another text.

What kind of lesson had you planned for the butt crack of dawn if I wasn't flying to Cali today?

The three little dots indicating that he was writing appeared, but then disappeared. It took all I had in me not to demand he type faster.

Finally the dots reappeared and then his next message.

I was going to make you send me a smiling, sleepy, bedhead morning selfie.

Oh my gawd. He did know I had a sex dream. How? I dropped my phone into my lap and stared out the window for a full seven deep breaths. My phone buzzed again while I was putting myself back together. I let it be until Kelsey nudged me. She probably thought it was the venue or the flight crew or something important.

I picked it up before she could see. My boss and best friend didn't need to know I'd asked her future brother-in-law for dating help and then had a naughty dream about him that he somehow knew about.

Everett's next text was there waiting for me.

For your dating app profiles we'll be setting up.

Oh. Right. Dating apps. Yeah. Of course he'd suggest I get on the apps. This had absolutely nothing to do with the fantasies that had arisen in my REM sleep. Duh.

Why a bedhead selfie? I have plenty of pics on my socials we could use.

I pulled up a couple I thought were okay and sent them to him.

While you're cute AF in all these, trust me—a sleepy smile and your pretty red curls spread across a pillow in the morning will get you more dates than you know what to do with.

I gulped so hard Kelsey thought I was choking and slapped me on the back. I threw in a couple of coughs just so she wouldn't catch on. I gasped and grabbed my bottle of water from my bag and took a few sips. "Choked on my own spit."

Kelsey leaned over, her eyes widening. "Is that Everett you're texting?"

Before I could stop her, she snatched my phone.

I grabbed it back before she could scroll up. Everett would kill me and I'd happily die if I couldn't even keep our dating lessons arrangement secret for twelve hours.

"You did not see what you think you saw, so pretend you didn't see anything." I gave her those same puppy dog eyes that had worked on Everett. "Okay?"

Kelsey gave me a you're insane look.

Everything in my life just got a whole lot more complicated.