Originally, I hadn't thought to make A Penny for a Buck an ongoing story, but a number of people seemed to enjoy the story. So since there is much more to write about, and in thanks to those who left me great feedback, I will continue the story.
* * *
There is nothing like waking up in a strange room with a hangover, but fortunately it was a relatively minor hangover. But my real fortune was Penny, who is the ninety pounds of beautiful redhead lying on top of me.
We has just exchanged our wake-up good mornings and I was quickly going through the previous day's events in my mind, especially the events of the previous night. The more I thought about it, the more I believed it had to be a dream. I must be locked up in some nut house, strapped to the bed and hallucinating this woman.
Penny for her part, had her hands layered on top of my chest with her chin resting on top of them. Her grey eyes were regarding me and a slight smile quirked her lips. Finally she broke the silence, "You look like you are thinking about saying something really stupid like, 'Thanks for last night!'"
"Actually, I was trying to figure out if I am having a very vivid hallucination or not. If you are a hallucination, I don't suppose I would need to thank you." I thought for a moment or too and finally admitted, "If I figure out you're real, well, I might have said something that stupid."
"Would a hallucination do this?" she said moving one hand downward. I could feel myself hardening in anticipation of her hand's destination. I felt her hand on my side, and then my hip and then felt her give me a hard pinch.
"Hey, that hurt!" I yelped. I half jumped out of the bed, but somehow Penny managed to hold on.
"What were you expecting? Hallucinations give hand jobs, real women pinch you back to reality. And last night was very, very real!"
"About last night..." I stated, but was having trouble asking the question. "What... er, why? I've never done something like that, picking up a girl in a bar. Then the sex. Great sex, don't get me wrong, but I just... Well, it's just not me... It was me, but... Why would you... you know want me?"
Eventually she took pity on me and pulled my face toward her and gave me a very soft tender kiss. "Silly boy, I've wanted you since the first time I saw you."
"You mean when I was lying on the floor looking up your skirt?"
"You were looking up my skirt! You lech!"
"Oh wait, that was the second time, the first would have been when you scared me so bad I ended up on the floor!"
She smiled at me. I saw the smile fade a bit and she turned her head and rested her cheek against my chest and wrapped her arms and legs around me in a full body hug. I heard her start talking very softly, "The first time I saw you was seven years ago. It was my eighteenth birthday and my father finally allowed me to stay in the bar after the dinner crowd left. I was sitting in the back with a couple of my friends. I was really excited because not only was it my birthday, not only did I get to stay in the bar, but I would finally get to see a mug presentation."
"My father had been talking about it for two weeks, making sure I got the mug just right since it was for an extra special customer. A customer that he'd talked about a number of times. 'He's a good kid, but always seems to be alone, even when other's are around,' my father said. 'He's also smart as a tack, but he wouldn't know if a girl was interested in him even if she spilled herself naked onto his lap!'"
"Anyway, every time the door to the bar would open, I'd take a peek to see who it was. I would then glance to my father who would shake his head slightly. After a couple of hours, I had given up paying attention to people coming in and was chatting with my friends. We were laughing about something when the hair on the back of my neck stood up. I heard the faint tinkling of the bell on the door ringing and turned in time to see a man ducking in through the door."
She pulled me a bit closer before continuing, "He looked so sad standing there in the doorway. I still don't know why I thought that, since his face seemed calm and his posture was proud, but not strutting like a lot of men do. I could see him scanning the bar as his friends followed him through the door. He was looking toward the bar and he watched until my father noticed him. Even over the noise of the bar I could hear by father call out something to him. Whatever my father had said must have been good news because the man's face split into a hearty smile."
"When I saw him smile I was... Well, let's just say that my friends gave me a hard time for a month about the look on my face. He was just so big. Not just tall and broad-shouldered, but like he was even bigger than he looked, he seemed sure of himself, but not smug. Anyway, when the man sat with his friends at the bar, my father reached under the bar and pulled out a box. I gasped when I realized that this must be who the mug was for. I was squirming in the booth I was so excited."
Her voice suddenly grew somber as she continued, "I can still remember the hoots and laughter when the mug was revealed. I was crushed. It was my favorite, and one I worked on the hardest, but everyone was laughing! Well, everyone except my dad. My dad and you, Buck."
