“Yes. You.”
“Me?”
She nodded. “Don’t you want to help?”
“Help?”
She gave him a funny look. “With trimming the tree?”
“No.”
Her beautiful face morphed into a frown. “Oh.”
She turned away and began rifling through the bags on the couch. He’d hurt her feelings. He hadn’t meant to. The fact of the matter was that outside of the office, he kept to himself as much as possible. Sure, he had the occasional obligatory dates to social functions, but he never invited those dates back here—back to his domain.
Pepper was the first woman in his penthouse. And he had to admit that his interaction with her was a lot different than dealing with his employees at the office.
At the office, he told people what to do and they did it. They didn’t ask for his company. They didn’t want to have personal conversations. They all had one goal—to make Ross Toys the biggest and the best.
But here with Pepper, he’d lost his footing. He couldn’t boss her around. He subdued a laugh at the thought. If he did try telling Pepper what to do, she’d probably knock some sense into him with her rolling pin.
And yet they did have a common goal—their baby. If they were going to raise a normal, well-adjusted child, they were going to have to learn to make compromises. Lots of them. He supposed this was one of those compromises.
And though it went against every grain in his body, he returned to the couch. He suppressed the memories of his past and the horrid Christmases that his family had shared. He would do it for Pepper and the baby.
“How can I help?” he asked.
She shook her head, not looking at him. “It’s fine. I’ve got this. I’m sure you have more important things to do.”
“This is important to you, so it’s important to me.”
That got her attention. She turned to him. Her green gaze studied him. “Why?”
“Why what? Why am I helping?” When she nodded, he said, “Honestly, because you want me to.”
“Why do you still hate Christmas after all these years?”
Her question poked at him in the most sensitive spot. He didn’t talk about his past with anyone, including his own mother—especially his mother. If it were up to him, he’d just as soon forget about the past—about Christmas, about family.
But Pepper and soon the baby weren’t going to make that possible. Instead, he would have to figure out a way to deal with it. He just wasn’t sure how to do that except to push through and do what needed to be done as quickly as possible.
He reached for a box of ornaments. “Shall I put these on the tree?”
“You aren’t going to answer my question?”
“It doesn’t matter.” It did matter. It mattered a lot.
But he didn’t want to scare Pepper away for good. And so he kept quiet about the other skeletons in his closet. It was just the way it needed to be.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
TALK ABOUT YOUR MYSTERIES.
Simon Ross was one walking puzzle.
And Pepper wanted so badly to sort out the pieces that made him whole. But she had to be careful how hard she pushed him for answers. Or he’d totally shut down on her.
Pepper picked up the string of twinkle lights. They were assorted colors. She loved colors. It was a part of her mother that had rubbed off on her. The older she got, the less she cared about what people thought of her and just let herself enjoy her differences.
Except Simon.
She did care what he thought of her. She knew she shouldn’t, but she couldn’t help herself. It wasn’t that she was going to change herself to suit him, but now that they were living together, she hoped he’d continue to accept her with her sometimes out-of-control hair and her eccentric tendencies. Perhaps she was more like her mother than she’d ever considered.
“Something on your mind?” Simon’s voice drew her from her thoughts.
“Ah, yes. I was wondering if I got enough lights.” Her gaze moved to the two bundles of lights and then moved to the tree. “The tree looks a lot bigger than I remembered.”
His gaze moved to the bundles of lights. “Did you get those from your apartment?”
“Um, no. They still haven’t let me inside.”
The truth was she’d purchased them from a thrift store. It was where she made a lot of purchases. Paying for the bakery took most of her income. What was left, she had to budget carefully. Still, she just couldn’t imagine telling this man, who could afford to buy anything his heart desired, that she was decorating his place with secondhand decorations.
“Let’s see about getting the lights on the tree.” And just like that he let the subject of the lights’ origins drop. Either he knew or it wasn’t important to him. Either way, she was relieved.
And so they worked together for the next couple of hours placing the decorations on the tree. She’d greatly underestimated its size. The decorations were sparse. She felt terrible.
Ding, dong.
“I’ll get that,” Simon said. “It’s about time the pizza got here.”
Pepper continued to study the tree, trying to figure out how to improve it. If it were in her apartment, she wouldn’t have bought one nearly so large, because her ceilings weren’t nearly as high. And the decorations wouldn’t look so sparse. But here in the luxury penthouse, it looked all wrong.
She moved to the tree and started taking off the ornaments. What had she been thinking? People like Simon, they hired people to decorate their trees with the finest decorations that probably cost more than her annual salary.
“I hope you’re hungry...” Simon’s words faded away as he spotted her dismantling the decorations. He set the pizza box on the coffee table and moved next to her. “Hey, what are you doing? Rearranging the ornaments? I wasn’t sure where to put them.”
“I’m taking it down.”
“Down?”
She nodded. Her emotions were rising. She remembered what it was like back in school when she’d tried to fit in with the other girls. Her mother had found her some stylish clothes at the thrift store. In the end, it turned out they had been donated by one of the rich girls. The blouse had tiny initials on the cuff—the girl’s initials. Pepper had never been so devastated.
This was another of those moments when she was trying to fit in. And there was absolutely nothing she could do to fit into Simon’s world. He might as well live on Mars, that’s how far apart their realities were.
Her fingers trembled as emotions both new and old coursed through her. Simon placed a hand over hers, stopping her from removing yet another ornament.
“Pepper, talk to me. What’s wrong? I know I was hesitant about the tree in the beginning, but I thought we had a good time decorating it.”
She concentrated her gaze on his long fingers draped over hers. “I shouldn’t have done this. I shouldn’t have forced this tree on you. You don’t want it.”
He clasped his hand with hers. She relaxed her hand within his. It felt natural for them to be holding hands. When did that happen?
His fingers tightened as he led her to the couch. She didn’t want to sit down. She knew he was going to want to talk things out, and then she was going to appear even sillier than she already felt.
“Pepper.” He paused as though waiting for her to look at him.
She didn’t want to face him. The heat of embarrassment was already lapping at her cheeks. Still, she wasn’t a wimp. Even when the other kids had made fun of her, she’d stood her ground. As badly as their words had hurt, she’d stood there and faced them down. Why should she do any different now?
And so with all the willpower she could muster, she turned her head until her gaze met Simon’s. “We don’t need to talk about this. I’ll just get rid of the tree and things can go back to the way they we
re.”
“What if that’s not what I want?”
“What?” Surely she hadn’t heard him correctly. “You can’t mean you want the tree.”
“Actually, I think I do.”
He did? Wait. She was missing something.
“Just a few hours ago, you were telling me it had to go. Now you’re telling me it has to stay?” Her gaze searched his as she tried to figure out his abrupt change of mind. “Simon, what’s going on?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe I’ve been holding on to my resentment of the past for too long.”
“You resented Christmas?” Who resents Christmas? It’s the best time of the year.
He rubbed the back of his neck. “What can I say? I’m unusual.” His gaze turned back to the tree. “So what do you say? Can we keep the tree?”
She didn’t know when this had all gotten so turned around, but somewhere along the way their roles had gotten mixed up. She followed his gaze to the tree. Maybe it wasn’t so bad, after all.
“I suppose I could get some more ornaments for it,” she said.
“You know, I just might be able to help you with that.”
“What? How?”
He headed out of the living room. She followed, having no idea what he was up to now. He headed down the hallway. He stopped outside a closed door. He opened it and flipped on the light.
She glanced inside, finding stacks of cardboard boxes. “What is all of this?”
“Things that were given to me—mostly by my mother. I didn’t know what to do with all of the stuff so I put it in here to deal with later.” He started opening boxes. “When I first moved in, I remember her bringing over Christmas decorations.”
“Did you ever use them?”
“No.”
Pepper nodded, though she didn’t quite understand. “Can I help you?”
“If you want.”
Together, they went through the boxes until they uncovered two boxes of assorted ornaments. They carried them to the living room, where Pepper turned on some Christmas carols.
The longer they worked, the more he loosened up. The more he let down his guard, the more she remembered what drew her to him in the beginning—his deep, warm laughter that filled her with joy, his big smile that filled her with warmth—
“Pepper?” His voice startled her from her thoughts.
She lifted her gaze to meet his. “What did you say?”
He smiled, sending her heart tumbling in her chest. “Something on your mind?”
“No.” Heat rushed to her cheeks. Did he know where her thoughts had strayed? Of course not. “What do you need?”
“Some more silver balls. I think I saw some in the box. Never mind, I’ll get them.” He climbed off the ladder next to the tree.
“I’ve got it.” Pepper rushed to the box.
There were a lot of decorations in it. It’d be nice to find a place for all of them. After all, this penthouse was huge. Plenty of room to use all the decorations.
She reached in the box, moving items around. She didn’t see any silver ornaments. She placed items outside the box as she sorted them.
“Found them,” she said gleefully.
“I found something too.” He held up a ball of greenery with red berries and a gold bow.
“It’s pretty. What is it?”
His eyes twinkled with mischief. He raised his arm, dangling the ball over her head. Suddenly she knew it was a mistletoe kissing ball. Her heart raced.
Her gaze moved to Simon. He wasn’t going to...
Simon leaned toward her, pressing a kiss to her lips. His mouth was warm and oh-so-tempting. It was as though time stopped. And she didn’t want it to start again.
So many nights she’d dreamed about this moment, longed for this moment. And now it was so hard to believe that it was happening—that Simon’s mouth was moving over hers.
Was it wrong to give in to the moment? To let herself savor this moment? Her heart and mind were at odds.
Something that felt this good couldn’t possibly be wrong. She leaned into him. Her hands landed on his chest—his very firm, very muscular chest. She stifled a moan as common sense got lost in a haze of desire.
Her mouth moved beneath his. A soft moan of pure pleasure formed at the base of her throat. Simon’s tongue delved into her mouth. He tasted sweet, like the peppermint candy he’d enjoyed earlier.
Buzz. Buzz.
The sound of the phone brought her feet back to earth. She pulled away from him and pressed her fingers to her sensitive lips.
She backed away from him. Moving out of his gravitational pull, she felt her common sense start to return. She walked to the big window overlooking the city. The millions of lights sparkled like diamonds.
Simon stepped up behind her. “Pepper, I’m sorry. It seemed like a good idea at the time.”
“It’s okay.” Her insides shivered with a rush of emotions. She wasn’t okay. Far from it.
“Pepper—”
Buzz. Buzz.
“You should get that.” She turned and moved past him.
She picked up the silver ornaments and moved to the tree. She forced her thoughts to the work before her, because every time she recalled the way his lips had moved seductively over hers, her stomach dipped and her face flamed with heat. She couldn’t let him see how he’d gotten to her.
By the time Simon finished his call, she’d placed all of the silver ornaments strategically on the tree. Truth be told, she might have put more thought into their placement than was necessary.
“Pepper?” Simon’s voice came from behind her.
Her breath hitched in her throat.
Just pretend like the kiss didn’t happen. Because it was a mistake. One not to be repeated.
She turned to him. “Do you need something?”
He approached her and then, as though he realized that wasn’t a good idea, he stopped. “I’m sorry about that.”
“No problem. I know you’re an important businessman.”
He shook his head. “I meant the kiss. I shouldn’t have done it.”
“Don’t worry. It’s already forgotten.”
Liar. Liar.
For a moment, neither spoke. It was as though each of them was trying to find their footing once more.
This whole situation was a lot for them to deal with. They didn’t need to complicate matters more than they already were. Her hand moved to her still-flat abdomen. It was best for all of them.
CHAPTER TWELVE
SHE’D MADE IT.
The next morning, Pepper stepped through the doorway of Helping Paw. She glanced at the clock, finding she still had some time before lunch. Not as early as she would like, but considering she was beginning to think she’d have to forgo her impromptu visit, she was pleased.
This day had not started as she’d hoped.
Pepper sighed as she ran a hand over her hair, which was pulled back in a messy ponytail—very messy indeed. The day began with her sleeping in and then being hit with a serious bout of morning sickness. She’d hoped it was just a one-or two-time thing, but it appeared it was going to hit her every morning of her first trimester.
But it’d be worth it in the end. She resisted the urge to place a hand on her still-flat abdomen. With every day that passed, her excitement about the baby was growing.
After telling herself that she was done caring for people because the price was too high, she couldn’t imagine not loving this baby. It was such a powerful attachment. And though at times it scared her to think how precarious life could be, her love for the baby trumped her fear.
Life right now was challenging enough with the aftermath of a fire to deal with, a very sexy roommate who was off-limits and a penthouse that seemed to grow smaller with each passing day. She supposed she could have given up
on volunteering at the shelter—even temporarily. But she knew the shelter was hard-pressed to find people willing to give up their time to help out. And there were so many animals that needed love and support. She couldn’t turn her back on them. Not even if it meant her life wouldn’t be quite so hectic.
And then there was Daisy. Pepper looked forward to seeing her as much as possible, even on days when she wasn’t scheduled to volunteer. They still hadn’t been able to put the pup up for adoption, but shy little Daisy was making progress.
“Hey, is everything okay?” Stephanie gazed at her with a worried look on her face.
Pepper forced a smile, hoping it would alleviate her friend’s concern. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine.” Stephanie gestured to a stool. “Maybe you should sit down.”
Did she really look as bad as she felt? Maybe she should have paused and fixed her makeup before rushing over here. She hadn’t even thought of stopping for a second look in the mirror before rushing out the door, and that wasn’t like her. Not at all.
“Now that you’re expecting, you’re going to have to slow down,” Stephanie said.
It was no secret that she was pregnant. Every single person she knew had read it all over the internet. Even total strangers who recognized her from her picture would offer their congratulations. But at least the paparazzi wasn’t following her every minute of the day.
Pepper sat down on the stool. “I can’t stay long. I just wanted to check in on Daisy.”
Stephanie’s brow rose as she nodded. “You two are becoming quite close.”
“She trusts me now. That’s a big step. The trick is getting Daisy to trust others. I don’t know what was done to her in the past, but it was bad. The poor thing. She just needs lots of time and love.”
Buzz. Buzz.
Pepper looked at her friend. “You can go ahead and get that.”
“It’s not my phone.”
It rang again. That’s when Pepper realized the sound was coming from her coat pocket. “That’s strange. It’s not my normal ring tone.”
She pulled the phone from her pocket and glanced at the screen. Her name and number were displayed. She was calling herself?
Her Christmas Pregnancy Surprise Page 10