She didn’t say anything for a moment. “They’ll still find out. They even dug into my past. My past! People I never thought I’d speak to again were giving interviews about me. Do you know how that invasion of privacy felt?”
“I do. And I’m sorry.” His whole life had been aired in the papers since his business took off. It had been hard, but he was somewhat used to it now. “Just hear what I have to say and then I’ll go.”
She placed her hands on her waist. If looks could vaporize a person, he would be nothing more than mist. Wait. How did she get to be so angry with him? She was the one who had dumped him.
Not that the night would have led anywhere. He didn’t do relationships—not even with the very sweet, very tempting Polka Dotted Baker. He wasn’t cut out to be someone’s boyfriend, much less someone’s husband or worse yet, a father.
Still, she glowered at him. He didn’t move an inch. If this was a struggle of wills, he would win. He’d come here for a purpose. He thought he was doing a nice thing. Now, he was having second thoughts. Still, he was here. And he wasn’t leaving until he’d had his say.
She stared deep into his eyes. “Make it fast.”
“Where are all of your customers?” He sensed something was very wrong. “And why does it look like you haven’t sold anything?”
“Things have changed. I don’t have time to chat. I have work to do.” She moved past him, leaving plenty of room between them so their bodies didn’t touch.
She stepped up to the front door and flipped the sign to Closed. He couldn’t help but notice her craning her neck to gaze up and down the walk, as though checking to see if anyone had spotted him in her shop. As far as he could tell, his ball cap and dark sunglasses had kept his identity under wraps.
“There’s something important I need to tell you.”
She
shook her head. “How about we just go back to pretending we don’t know each other? Life was so much easier back then.”
He wished he could rewind time. “It’s too late for that.”
She didn’t say anything as she moved past him and kept going toward the back of the bakery. What he didn’t understand was her hostility. If he’d dumped her, he’d get it. But she’d been the one to end things. Sure, he’d been getting ready to do it, but she’d beaten him to the punch.
He followed her because he still hadn’t told her the reason for his visit. She led him to a small office. The room had vacant white walls, which surprised him after getting to know Pepper’s lively personality and her penchant for decorating. A solitary desk in the room was buried beneath a mountain of paperwork. She grabbed a small quilted backpack with a red-and-white pattern, as well as a digital notebook.
When she turned to the door, she practically ran into him. She glanced up as though she’d gotten lost in her thoughts and had forgotten him. His ego was taking hits left and right. He still wasn’t sure why she was so steamed with him.
She glanced at her wristwatch. “If you came here to talk about the past, don’t. It was a stupid mistake. It won’t happen again.”
If he’d had any doubt about her sincerity, he had his answer. She wanted nothing to do with him. That was a first for him. She certainly was different than everyone else in his life.
And this was why he’d been drawn to Pepper in the first place. She wasn’t a pushover. She wasn’t out to see what he could do for her. She was her own woman, who took life on her own terms.
She placed her things on the counter. After washing her hands, she set to work. Pepper continued to move about the kitchen as though he weren’t even standing there.
“Why are you so mad at me?” He stood at the edge of the large kitchen with all its gleaming stainless surfaces. “As I recall, you’re the one that dumped me.”
Her cheeks filled with color. “I didn’t dump you.”
She added sugar into a saucepan and placed it on the gas stove. She kept her back to him as she adjusted the temperature. He was in absolutely no mood to be ignored.
“I’m pretty sure you did.” His bruised ego could attest to it. “So why all of the hostility?”
She spun around. Her gaze clashed with his. “I’m not hostile.”
He arched a disbelieving brow and waited for her to explain herself. He didn’t mind taking the heat when he deserved it. But in this case, he didn’t do anything wrong. Thoughts of nipping the relationship in the bud didn’t count. Pepper might be good at figuring out people, but even she wasn’t a mind reader.
She sighed. “You’re right. I’m taking my frustrations out on you.” She paused as though choosing her words carefully. “I... I’m sorry.” Her gaze met his briefly, but she turned away before he could read her thoughts. “Things at the bakery haven’t been going well.” She took the saucepan and stirred as the sugar began melting. “But you didn’t come here to hear about my troubles.”
At last, she was beginning to sound like the Pepper he’d gotten to know and trust. “Would you believe I missed your cherry turnovers so much I couldn’t stay away?”
She tilted the pan, letting the melted sugar roll across the bottom. She didn’t say anything, concentrating on what she was doing.
And that was why what he had to say next was that much harder. He wasn’t so sure he wanted to have this conversation while she was distracted, but she wasn’t leaving him much choice. She took a spoon with a long round handle and began to drizzle the caramel onto it. All the while, she turned the handle so the caramel would make a corkscrew shape.