Her Christmas Pregnancy Surprise
“Didn’t you hear me? He doesn’t love me. I can’t stay with someone who doesn’t love me.”
“But you love him?”
Pepper nodded. “When I asked him if he felt the same way, he didn’t say anything.”
“But you’re having his baby. And he wanted you to stay. Wouldn’t it be worth giving him a second chance?”
“I don’t know if he wants one.”
“How would you know unless you ask him?”
Stephanie did have a point. Pepper reached for her phone on the end table. She hadn’t paid any attention to it since she’d left the penthouse. There were a number of missed calls. None of them were from Simon. Her heart sank.
And then she stumbled over a text message from him:
Can we meet and talk?
Sure. When?
Top of the Empire State Building? Tonight? Seven?
What an odd choice for a meeting spot.
See you there.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
SIMON STOOD ATOP the Empire State Building.
Alone.
He hunched deeper into his coat with the collar turned up to keep out the frigid breeze. Pepper was late. And if she didn’t hurry up, he feared he’d soon turn into a snowman. He’d already gotten some strange looks from other couples as he paced back and forth.
The evening was growing colder with each passing moment. Or perhaps it was he that was growing cold after waiting—for forty-five minutes.
To be fair, he’d been early. She was only...nineteen minutes late. She probably wasn’t going to come. This was the second time she’d ended things with him.
He should leave.
What had made him think this was a good idea? Just because they’d watched An Affair to Remember and he’d wanted to do something romantic for her—to prove just how much he loved her.
And now the first snowflakes had begun to fall from the inky-black sky. How much longer should he wait? How much longer until he accepted that he’d lost the best thing that had ever happened to him?
There was the elevator. He should go get on it. He must look pathetic, standing here all alone, waiting for a woman who wasn’t coming. But his feet refused to move. It was as though if he willed it hard enough, long enough, she would come. Which he knew was totally ridiculous. But the doors to the elevator closed and he remained atop the Empire State Building.
If only she’d give him one more chance, he’d show her just how much she meant to him. But he was also a businessman. He knew when to cut his losses. And so with the greatest reluctance, he told himself that he would get on the next elevator.
He moved inside and waited. While he waited, he replayed the lifetime of memories that they’d shared in just a matter of weeks, from the horrible fire to finding out they were going to be parents. And then there was Daisy. He’d never known that he was a dog person until she came along and stole his slippers. He’d gladly go buy another pair of slippers for her to chew on if his family would just come back home.
His head lowered and he stared blindly at the ground. His heart was heavy. And the weight of misery pressed down on his shoulders.
The elevator doors swung open. He didn’t move. It took a concentrated effort to move his feet. There was still a part of him that wanted to cling to hope—
“Simon?”
His heart reacted before the rest of him. It leaped with joy. It took his mind a few seconds to catch up. He lifted his head, needing to see that Pepper was in fact standing there before he let himself believe there was hope for them.
His gaze connected with hers and held. Was she really standing there? Surely he hadn’t just imagined her, right?