“Oh!” She startled easily, he found.
“Morning,” he whispered against her neck, handing her the coffee cup with one hand while the other held her firmly around her waist.
“Thank you,” she sighed gratefully. Taking her first sip, a moan escaped her lips as she swallowed.
His mind went into an entirely different direction. The thought of her moaning as he gave her pleasure had his cock hardening to unreasonable proportions.
As Pepper continued to sip her coffee, nibble on her toast, and search the internet, Ace had to close his eyes and count backwards from a hundred, twice, in order to calm his libido down.
By five in the morning, she still hadn’t explained what was going on, and for now, he was fine with it because it meant he got to hold her on his lap as she did her thing.
“Grrr,” she began growling. “Why does this have to be so damn impossible?”
He figured it was rhetorical but answered anyway. “How about you tell me what it is your looking for?”
Finally turning to him, he saw just how deep the moss color in her green eyes ran. Stunning.
“I had a dream about something important, but I can’t remember any of it. If only I could, I’d know… Something.” Taking a breath, she looked at the computer then back to him. “So, I decided to sit in front of the fire, relax my mind, and it worked!” Triumph blazed in her gaze back at him. “I have a brother; his name is James. He’s older than me, and on my ninth birthday, he took me to the park by our home that had been rebuilt. I was so happy he was spending time with me.” Her wistful smile was intoxicating as it softened her frustrated features.
“Sounds hopeful,” he commented, earning himself a dirty look.
“It could be if only I could remember a last name, or a city, or maybe even my age. But none of that is forthcoming, and I think I might be going insane.” She huffed out an irritated breath upon finishing her explanation.
“How about we take a break? In order for your mind to keep recalling these memories, you can’t force them.” He tried to bargain with her. “Nick’s gonna take you to see the doctor today, so you can get more information about how to recall the past, and while you’re gone, I’ll keep searching. I’m sure if you’re not home when you’re supposed to be, your brother will be looking for you. I’ll set a sequence of keywords into a police missing persons search engine and see what we come up with before we take you into town. Sound good?”
“Yes, thank you.” Her grateful smile was a sight to behold.
Chapter Six
Nick saw the defeat beating like a drum in Pepper’s eyes as the doctor had told her she would have to exert patience in order for her memory to return. When he’d explained to her that it was possible she may never regain her memories, Nick had been tempted to toss the man in jail for making her so upset. Thankfully, Pepper’s tears and upset were enough for the older man to reassure her that it was highly unlikely that would happen, but it had to be said, and that what she needed was time to heal. Nick didn’t care if it was a lie or not, he just didn’t want her so upset.
“Time?” she questioned for the fifth time in a row.
He was getting rather annoyed with the damn word, too.
“Who the hell has time for this?”
Figuring it was rhetorical, he kept his mouth shut, letting her finish her tirade.
“I mean, seriously? How is there not some magical pill to take to regain your memories? Why has nothing been invented yet? This is ridiculous.”
It was becoming increasingly difficult for him not to laugh at her outrageous rants. Not because what the doctor told her was funny but because she was so offended by the simple word.
“It’ll happen,” Nick tried to reason.
“Shut up,” she snapped as he was turning onto the drive back to his cabin. He caught the small smile she tried to hide, but even she was having a hard time not laughing.
Noticing that Ace was sitting on the front step with Roxie as they pulled up, Pepper jumped out of the SUV, stomping towards the porch. Slipping from the front seat, he tried to wave Ace off from asking her how it went.
Giving Nick a funny look, the jackass asked her anyway. “How’d it go?”
Hanging his head, he couldn’t help the laughter trying to escape as she told him.
“Time! Give it time, the doctor says. You need more time, he insists. Who has time for this, Ace? WHO? You tell me who, and I’ll give it time.”
The poor guy looked like a deer caught in the headlights as she carried on about needing time. Nick swore he was never going to say that damn word again, especially not in front of her.
Pinching the bridge of his nose, he looked up to the sky as clouds blocked the sun’s warm rays. Seeing dark, stormy clouds in the air, he just knew they were in for another snow storm.