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“Simon, are you all right?” She stepped closer. “You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”
He didn’t dare blink or for one moment take his eyes off her. He didn’t want her to disappear. If this was a dream then he never wanted it to end.
“You came.”
Her brows drew together. “You said it was important.”
“It is. But when it got late, I thought—”
“That I wasn’t coming. I’m sorry. There was some sort of traffic jam and it held up everyone.” She glanced around. “Are we the only ones up here?”
He nodded. “There were other people here, but they’ve gone now. I was just about to leave.”
“Oh.” Her gaze lowered. “Listen, I know we have to talk sometime and work out arrangements for the baby—”
“I’m sorry that things ended the way they did. I wanted to call, but I didn’t think you’d want to talk to me.”
“I needed some time to cool off—to think straight.”
“I hope it helped.”
“It did.”
This being distant and cordial was killing him. All he wanted to do was pull her into his arms, look into her eyes and tell her how much he loved her.
But he worried that if he did, she would pull away. That what little progress they’d made would end. And he couldn’t go back to the utter silence on her part. His world was so much darker without the brightness of her smile.
* * *
What had he wanted?
Why was he acting so reserved?
And what was up with meeting here at the Empire State Building?
For a moment, Pepper felt as though she’d stepped onto a movie stage and she was playing a part. But the question was what sort of movie was this to be? A romance? Or a tragedy?
Maybe it was selfish of her, but she wanted more from life. If she didn’t take the chance—if she didn’t put herself out there—she knew she would regret it for the rest of her life. And if it wasn’t possible, she knew raising a child alone wouldn’t be easy, but she could do it. It was the thought of not having anyone to share the day-to-day struggles and joys with that made her sad.
Living in the penthouse with Simon had given her a glimpse of what it’d be like to share her life with him. And now that she knew what it would be like, it was so hard to accept less.
She couldn’t let this drag out. With each passing moment, her heart grew heavier with sadness and loss. “Did you have some papers for me to sign?”
“Papers?” He looked at her with confusion in his eyes.
She nodded. “Isn’t that what you called me here for? To sign some custody agreement papers?”
“Um, no.” He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “I wanted to meet you here so we could talk without being interrupted.”
What was he leading up to? She had no clue, but there definitely wouldn’t be any interruptions up here. At least until the next elevator arrived.
She quietly waited for him to have his say. With each passing second, her heart pounded harder with anticipation.
“Pepper, I’m sorry. I wish... I wish that things hadn’t ended like they did. If I could take it back, I would.”
She shook her head. “It wasn’t all your fault. It was mine too. I wanted things from you that you couldn’t give me. I shouldn’t have pushed so hard.”
“But that’s the thing.” He stared deep into her eyes. It was as though he could see through all her defenses and straight into
