“But I live here.” All she had were the clothes on her back. “I need to get to my things.”
“That’s not going to happen. The fire marshal hasn’t been here to do his report yet.”
“What report?”
He didn’t answer her as he stepped outside, forcing her to back up on the sidewalk. The man was so tall that she couldn’t see around him to get a glimpse of the inside.
The man eyed her as though making up his mind about her. “There’s a suspicion of arson.”
“Arson?”
In the back of her mind, she vaguely remembered arson being mentioned the night before. The memories were blurry. But by the way this man was looking at her, he thought she was guilty.
* * *
The bakery was as bad as he remembered.
Simon had just had a look at the back of the building, since no one would allow him inside. He’d been hoping the fire was minor and Pepper could return home today, but it wasn’t going to happen. That much was evident from the outside. He could only imagine the damage to the inside.
He thought of Pepper and another wave of sympathy came over him. The fire last night had hit her so hard that he wasn’t sure how she was going to take the sight of her bakery all charred. It didn’t even slightly resemble the trendy bakery that it’d been a mere twenty-four hours ago.
He rounded the building and stopped on the sidewalk in front of the bakery as he spotted Pepper. The short-tempered fire captain that he’d had the misfortune of running into was now walking away from her. That man was definitely not the friendliest guy. His words were short and blunt.
When Simon had tried to get inside to eyeball the damage, he’d been told no. There was no room for discussion. The captain didn’t care who Simon was, and that was fair enough, but the man provided absolutely no information that would help Pepper. None whatsoever. And so Simon had to wonder what the man was holding back.
He focused his attention on Pepper. His jaw tightened when he saw the distressed look on her face. He was certain the captain had done nothing to help matters.
Simon approached her. “Are you okay?”
She shook her head. “Have you seen this place?” And then she moved her distraught gaze to him. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at the office?”
“I wanted to see where things stood.”
“Don’t worry.” Her eyes reflected her pain. “I’ll be out of your penthouse as soon as I contact the insurance company.”
“There’s no rush.” He instinctively reached out to her, drawing her near. Initially, she resisted, but then she let herself be drawn into a hug.
There on the sidewalk, with flurries swirling around them, they stood wrapped in each other’s arms. Holding her close drove home how much he’d truly missed her—missed everything about her.
He murmured against her hair, “You can stay as long as you need.”
She pulled away, and with great reluctance, he let her go. “I’ll make other arrangements. You’ve done too much already.”
Perhaps it was best to change the subject. “What did the fire captain say to you?”
“That I couldn’t get inside.” Her fine brows drew together. “Did he let you inside?”
Simon shook his head. “He’s a very unfriendly guy.”
“That’s what I thought. I tried to tell him that I live here and I needed to get to my stuff—especially my clothes. He didn’t care.”
“Hopefully, you’ll be able to get inside soon. Can I give you a lift back to the penthouse?”
She shook her head. “I have some shopping I need to do.”
“Can I drop you anywhere?”
Again, she shook her head. “It isn’t far and I feel like walking.”