“Do you have any plans for tonight?”
“No. I don’t.” The words slipped past her lips before her mind had a chance to catch up. Some helpful business advice would be just what she needed. But she sensed he had more than business on his mind.
As though he was reading her thoughts, his gaze dipped to her lips. Could this really be happening? The girl voted most likely to run away with the circus because of her strawberry blond hair and her colorful clothes. The girl who had never fitted in until she opened her bakery. Within those walls, she could unwind and be herself.
He picked up her box from the floor. “Are you ready to go? We can grab a late dinner.”
She had to make sure this thing arcing between them was real—that it flowed both ways. And it wasn’t some sort of misunderstanding. Staring into his eyes, her heart pounding, she asked, “It isn’t business you have on your mind, is it?”
He stepped closer to her. His voice lowered to a sexy, hushed tone. “No. Is that a problem?”
He was giving her an out. Knowing they came from totally different worlds, she would be smart to back away. But she was drawn to him unlike any other man in her life.
Simon didn’t see her as the awkward girl in school that never could manage to be just one of the crowd. Those days were in the past—or so she wanted to believe.
When concern touched Simon’s eyes, she realized the brief memories of her past had her frowning. She turned that frown upside down and sent him one of her brightest smiles. She was no longer the girl kids would point at and whisper about. Now, she was a confident business owner.
With Simon standing so close to her, she had to tilt her chin upward for their gazes to meet. As she stared into his dark eyes, she felt as though she could get lost in them. She couldn’t think of anything she’d rather do than spend the evening with him.
“I’d like to go to dinner with you.”
His voice lowered even more. “You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to ask you out.”
“Really?”
He nodded. “You intrigue me.”
A flutter of excitement filled her chest. “So why didn’t you ask me?”
He placed the box on the table next to them. “It was never the right time. I was busy with plans for this new venture. And you were busy with the bakery.”
It was true. They were busy people, but she would have made time for him, just as she had in the mornings for coffee over the last several months. It was during those mornings that they’d slowly let their guards down—revealing parts of their lives. But how had she missed that he was interested in her?
He reached out to her. His thumb gently caressed her cheek. “You are so beautiful.”
She leaned into his touch. His gaze held hers, as though he needed the connection more than oxygen. And then his gaze lowered just a bit. Her racing heart jolted with anticipation. He was going to kiss her.
The breath caught in her lungs. As his head lowered, she gave herself over to the moment. Her eyes fluttered shut. And then she melted into his very capable arms. Her hands landed against his muscular chest and moved slowly up to his shoulders.
The kiss, though gentle at first, picked up its pace. His mouth moving over hers, his tongue probing her mouth and her giving in to the ecstasy.
Crash!
Pepper jumped back. Her heart careened into her throat. She pressed a hand to her sensitive lips. All the while, her gaze moved about the conference room, searching for the source of the noise. And then she spotted the box on the floor. They must have bumped into it while they’d been kissing.
She scanned the room again. There had been no one else around. Their kiss was still their secret. She liked the thought of sharing a moment of passion with Simon—something only the two of them knew about.
Her gaze returned to the upturned carton. “Oh, what a mess.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll help clean it up.”
Together they knelt down, Pepper righting the box and the few things that remained inside it. Simon handed her the scattered contents. In no time, the mess was cleaned up.
When they’d both straightened, Simon leaned in and pressed a kiss to her lips. It was short, but it left no doubt in her mind that there was chemistry between them—as in the sizzling, smoking, combustible kind.
She swallowed hard as her heart pounded in her chest. All the while, her gaze followed him as he shifted. She should say something. Yes, she should not let on that his touch had rocked her to her very core.
Summoning her wits, she smiled at him. She just couldn’t let him see how much he got to her. “What was that for?”
He smiled at her. It was one of those lazy smiles that showed just a bit of his straight, white teeth. Her stomach dipped. No man had a right to be that handsome.
When he spoke, his voice held a rich timbre. “I wanted something to tide me over until dessert.”
He was back to flirting with her and she liked it—she liked him. And the way he looked at her, it was like he was making love to her with his eyes. No longer the social misfit, she’d blossomed into Cinderella.
Her gaze strayed across the sharp contours of Simon’s face, down to his broad shoulders and muscled chest. Oh, yes, he was definitely her Prince Charming.
Seven weeks later...The Polka Dotted Bakery
THERE’S ONE THING about fairy tales...
They don’t always have a happily-ever-after.
Not even a happy-for-now.
Pepper glanced out the decorated storefront window and didn’t see any paparazzi. She took an easy breath. It was the first time in weeks. Seven whole weeks plus one day of being hounded for photos and comments.
And she was tired. Tired of it all.
But at last, there was peace.
In the end, she’d done nothing wrong. Nothing, except for letting her defenses down with a man that she’d thought—Well, it didn’t matter what she thought because she’d been wrong about him, about the evening together, about them. And now, the paparazzi wanted a comment.
She’d been counting off the days since their night of passion turned into a morning of regrets. It had been fifty days since she’d found herself in the arms of Simon Ross. Forty-nine evenings since she’d spent the most glorious night with him. And seven long weeks since her life had felt like her own.
And a lifetime since she’d last seen him.
Not that she missed Simon...at all. Not a bit.
The very next morning after her fairy tale had begun, her life had spun into some sort of soap opera. One photographer had spotted her leaving Simon’s building in the wee hours of the morning. How he’d known she’d come from Simon’s place, out of all the condos in the high-rise, was beyond her. Perhaps it was the doorman, or maybe it’d been a nosy neighbor anxious for a quick payoff, or possibly someone had spotted them kissing after Simon’s big announcement.
Then Simon had phoned. The first words out of his mouth had been an apology.
Her heart sank down to the tips of her cotton-candy-pink painted toes. It was obvious he regretted their night together, and everything that she’d thought was happening between them had