Penny's Story: The A-Z of Trophy Wives, #16

By D.D. Grey

They're young, beautiful, with fast cars and luxury homes—with absentee, older husbands. Bored and lonely, each of our trophy wives has her own solution.

 

Penny is bored, bored, bored with her life. Her husband is only interested in his business, and although she knows his work ethic provides her with the lifestyle she enjoys, she craves his attention. A hunky workman from the security company shows up to upgrade the security system on the house—as per Don's instructions. Can she keep her hands off him?

Unknown to Penny, he's adding a video channel, and Don is going to be very interested in the feed from the strategically placed hidden cameras.

• Language: English
• Publisher: D.D. Grey
• Release date: Sep 28, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223795865

Book preview

Chapter 1

She knew her expression gave her away even before Gavin finished telling her.

That bad?

Penny nodded. You could say that. You’ve been away for four of the last five weeks. Now you’re going away for another ten days, tomorrow? You’ve only been back for two days.

Sorry, Penny, sweetheart...

Don’t bother trying the sweetheart thing. It’s not going to work. For emphasis, she folded her arms and glared at him across the dining room table. Admittedly he’d complimented her on the beautiful beef wellington she’d cooked for them and made the appropriate noises over the gooseberry fool desert. Even so, dropping this bombshell while they both sipped a vintage Cognac had broken the mood. Hell, Gavin hadn’t even noticed or at least hadn’t commented on how nice she looked. She’d set out with the intention of deliberately seducing her husband after dinner. As a result, she’d worn one of her shorter dresses, and made sure to give him a flash of stocking top whenever she rose from the table. It was a standard form of non-verbal communication between them. If she wore a cute dress and made a point of letting him know she was wearing something sexy underneath, she was telling him she wanted to be made love to. If he removed his jacket and tie and undid a couple of buttons, or more, on his shirt, it told her the same thing. If he had a shower before dinner, assuming he had time, which wasn’t that often, then he was really randy.

Tonight, though, he’d kept his tie on, although he had removed his jacket. Right up until the point he’d mentioned going away, again, she’d decided she’d have to work harder at it. Now, though, pigs would fly before she let him near. Unless she relented, it was going to be another cold frosty night on the Burgess’s couch and bed.

Gavin tried again. He was, if nothing, tenacious, just as she knew he was in a business environment.

You look pretty tonight. Very pretty. Is the dress new?

Seeing as she’d worn it for a party not more than two weekends ago, he’d just put his foot in it. She gave him a level stare, letting him realize his own mistake. He flushed a little and tried to cover his embarrassment by hiding as much of his face as he could behind his brandy glass.

Well, you do look good.

Thank you. She noticed he’d stopped talking about the dress and decided at the last second to bite back the acidic response and be civil.

I promise I won’t be going away again after this trip for a while, at least.

You said that two trips ago.

It’s important. She could see he was getting exasperated.

And what am I supposed to do while you’re gone?

He shrugged, and she saw the corners of his mouth lift up. She knew what he was going to say before he said it. You can always get yourself a hunk to keep you warm.

She rolled her eyes. Yep, he’d said it. He made the same joke, different words, but the same import, at least once before every trip. She knew he didn’t mean it, any more than she would take him up on it. Mind you, the boredom during his trips was getting to her, more and more each time he went away. Yeah, right.

He chuckled, but his smile slipped as she waited for her moment and stuck the knife in.

Maybe I will, this time.

Although his smile had fallen away, he suddenly grinned back at her. Maybe this time you’ll have the chance.

Oh?

Greg Brown is sending one of his guys on Thursday and Friday to upgrade the house security. Mike, the guy he’s sending, is an absolute hit with the ladies.

Oh, right. So now you’re discussing my imaginary need for a hunk with one of your golfing buddies?

No, not that at all.

He sounded a bit defensive, and Penny filed that away for later. Obviously, he had had that conversation with his regular golfing partners, or something very similar. She’d known about the alarm system upgrade for a while. A month earlier, one of their neighbors had been burgled, and Gavin had been fretting about something similar happening to their house, despite the expensive alarm system. Since Doug Brown had done the original installation when they moved in, Gavin had had him around a fortnight earlier to assess an upgrade.

So, what’s he adding to the system, you never said?

Nothing to worry your little head about... Gavin trailed off, realizing his error, his monumental mistake. He swallowed hard as Penny’s face turned a darker shade as rage enveloped her. She had hunter’s vision, her field of sight narrowing to encompass his face, and nothing else. Everything seemed red-tinged.

Oops. I didn’t mean it like that.

Well, what did you mean? She gave him one chance to extricate himself from the mess. One chance to rescue what she’d set out to get this evening—a little intimate contact with her husband. Her voice was level and almost emotionless. She watched as he shivered at the lack of emotional content in her question.

Honestly, sweetheart, I didn’t mean it like that. It came out all wrong.

Placing her brandy glass down on the table took an effort. She wanted to throw the contents in his face and follow it with a lit match. Penny rose to her feet.

I think this conversation is at an end. I’ll be in the den. Your turn to clear up in here.

She wanted to spill something, throw her dirty plate at him deliberately, but the carpet was expensive, and the highly polished table was a valuable family, albeit, his family, heirloom. She needed to get out of there before she did something she’d regret.

As she stalked from the room, she could see Gavin pass a hand over his forehead, a look of anguish on his face. She knew, deep down, he didn’t think of her that way, not the little lady who didn’t need to know the intricacies of looking after the house. Nevertheless, sometimes the words slipped out like they just had.

Once she was out of his sight, she allowed a thin smile to play across her lips. Never mind, maybe she could turn the situation to her advantage, make him pay for his mistake. Pay in a pleasurable way, one that might well rescue her ruined evening. Hmm... Playing it that way wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

* * * *

Twenty minutes later, Gavin appeared in the doorway to the den. She’d heard him banging around in the kitchen for a while, and then the quiet hum as the dishwasher started up. After that, silence. She had thought about going and seeing what he was doing but decided that would be showing weakness. When he appeared in the doorway, she knew what he’d been doing. She hadn’t heard him go upstairs, but he must have done, because his hair was damp, and he’d changed into more casual clothes. Not that he owned a single pair of jeans or a single t-shirt. Nevertheless, he’d changed into more casual pants and a clean polo shirt. Seeing as he still kept himself trim and fit at the gym, he still looked good for a man sixteen years older than her twenty-six.

Hi.

She allowed herself a smile. Hi, yourself.

Thought I should... He shrugged to indicate his changed appearance. She raised an eyebrow in question, and he flushed slightly. It was apparent, despite his faux pas at the dining table, he still wanted, no, expected, to get lucky tonight. Take a good memory away for his lonely hotel stay. Having had time to think things through, Penny was of a similar mind, not that she intended to give in too easily.

Look about earlier...

Don’t worry about it, after all, I knew I hadn’t married a misogynist. It was a slip. She paused as his face creased with a smile of relief. Albeit a bad one.

He pouted a little at that, then brightened, catching on to her game. She’d played this way before. It was a gambit he both recognized and enjoyed. Can your devoted slave make things up to you?

She smiled at him, a more genuine one as he advanced toward the couch.  Swinging her legs up onto the cushion of the couch, she denied him a seat. Holding up three fingers, she flipped around, so she was sitting with her back leaning against the arm of the couch. The game