Spiced Read online

  “I didn’t.” He glanced at Pepper. “You?”

  “Yes, but I didn’t care.” Pepper tossed another ball up the Skee-Ball table, and she did a happy butt-wiggle that made his groin twitch when she hit the top hole. “Ha! Beat that, pizza man.”

  “Is she drunk?” Cinna asked.

  “This is called a natural high. Or possibly a second wind.”

  Or relief, Tony guessed. She’d told him a little more—her doctors had been testing her for a disease called PCOS, and she had it bad enough that they’d told her she’d never have children—and he’d confessed to meeting Tabitha’s boy toy and father of her child when he burst into the delivery room to meet his daughter.

  When Pepper had asked him to hand over her pants so she could pretend their conversation hadn’t happened—and could he please forget it, seriously, because she hadn’t told her family yet either—he’d been happy to oblige. They’d played Skee-Ball and watched movies most of the night.

  She’d pause to squeeze his hand every now and again. He made excuses to kiss her.

  And a peace he hadn’t felt in years was slowly settling into his bones.

  Was this what second chances felt like?

  “Is Gran sleeping okay?” Pepper asked.

  “She’s snoring like a lumberjack, so I know she’s still breathing. George is refusing to go out in the snow, but he’s doing the potty dance upstairs. Thought you’d want to know.”

  “You came down here to tell me to take the dog out?”

  “Actually, I was hoping to catch you passed out on the couch and drooling so I could post the picture to Facebook, but, yeah, this works too.”

  “I’ll get him.” Tony smelled a catfight coming, and the snow seemed a safer bet than staying in the basement.

  Cinna looked him up and down. “She’s got you whipped already, huh?”

  “This is why we don’t feed her after midnight.” Pepper let one more ball fly and scowled when it landed lazily in the bottom tier. “I’ll get the dog.”

  Which would probably entail shoveling a foot of snow at this point just to get the door open. He headed for the stairs. “No trouble.”

  He left the ladies downstairs, whispering like only women could, and retrieved his boots and coat from the front closet. Pepper had left a shovel by the back door, so he grabbed it and pushed his way out, George on his heels but not his leg for once.

  Poor dog must’ve had to go bad.

  Outside, a flurry of white was still swirling about the night sky. The snow was close to a foot deep already, a pristine sheet shimmering under the back porch light. Felt good to thrust the shovel into the thick, heavy wall and heft it off the patio.

  Let his mind drift back to the way Pepper’s body felt against his. Her mouth. Her skin. Her womanhood.

  Two weeks ago, he would’ve been high-fiving his junk for finally performing. Celebrating being able to not just get it up, but follow through without embarrassing himself.

  He’d forgotten his first rule of sex though.

  It was never just sex.

  It hadn’t been when first he’d slept with his girlfriend his junior year of high school. It hadn’t been with Tabitha before she’d claimed pregnancy made her not interested. And it hadn’t been tonight.

  And that was before he’d shared the worst moment of his life with her.

  She was more than a warm body. She was a friend. A confidante. She was the moment he’d begun to come back to life, to live instead of just giving off the appearance of it. That little blip the night he’d delivered her pizza, then staking his claim during her date with the dinosaur-puppet man—she’d reminded him that the world still held little joys.

  The back door opened behind him. Sadie hopped out and headed to the darkest cleared corner, and Pepper stepped out in a coat, mittens, scarf, and hat.

  He couldn’t suppress a smile. “Didn’t have to get all bundled up for me.”

  She plunked a second shovel to the concrete. “I can shovel snow too, thank you very much.”

  Even in the dark, he knew that look. It was the same stubborn I will own you look her grandmother used when she was working up to an ornery idea. His smile turned to a laugh. “You like shoveling snow.”

  “I like being productive.”

  He propped his hands on the top of his shovel. “You want me to take a break so you can catch up?”

  Her laughter mixed with the big wet snowflakes, and that spot in his chest right behind his breastbone went warm and squishy.

  “Notice you’re not denying a competitive streak,” he said.

  “No point.” She dug her own shovel into the snowdrift and tossed the load up. “We’re both going to pay for this tomorrow, aren’t we?”

  “Only if you’re out of coffee.”

  “Pretty sure we’re stocked. I don’t drink it much. Cinna mainlines it though.”

  She shoveled snow like she lived life. Determined, mind over matter, sexy as hell.

  She didn’t fail, she’d said. Not willingly. She’d had a few crushing blows in her life, and she was fresh off another, but she was still standing.

  How would she take a snowball fight?

  “Don’t do it,” she said as though she’d read his mind. “I will take you down.”

  “Them’s fighting words, Miss Blue.”

  Her gaze swung back to connect with his. Her lips parted and her brows went up. “I was talking to the dog. What, exactly, were you contemplating, pizza man?”

  Getting in trouble, apparently.

  She stood there, watching him, a slow smile growing on her lips.

  He could beat her. He was bigger, stronger, faster. And closer to the snow. She had a four-foot swath cleared on all sides, but there was a big pile right behind him. He widened his stance.

  She dropped her shovel and dove for the snow. He lunged and scooped up a handful into a snowball, then came up firing.

  Her shriek of laughter lit up the night and made the falling snow sparkle. And it was just enough of a distraction for him to move too slowly to duck the snowball she lobbed at him.

  Direct hit. Right to the chest.

  In more ways than one.

  * * *

  Pepper peeled her eyelids open to bright sunshine streaming in her window and the explosive sound of Gran sneezing downstairs.

  Eleven a.m. She’d almost slept through the morning after. Was Tony still here? Or had he gone home to check on his cat?

  She threw off her covers and bolted out of bed. Her foot landed on something furry. Sadie yelped and bolted, and she stumbled over her own two feet, arms windmilling. Pain shot from her neck to her heels. She braced herself, arms out, and collided with the wall. “Ouch!”

  Every single muscle in her body ached. Her calves. Her thighs. Her shoulders.

  Even her pinky muscles ached, and she didn’t think her pinkies had muscles.

  “Finally up, sleeping beauty?” Tony pushed into her room, a steaming mug in hand, worry lines etched around his eyes.

  “Debatable. You okay?”

  “Gran lost her hearing aid. Need to go see how Pepperoni Tony’s fared, but I didn’t want to leave her alone.”

  “Cinna’s gone?”

  “Called in to Suckers for the early shift.”

  “Roads?”

  “Getting there.”

  She took the mug from him and inhaled. Sweet chocolate tickled her nose. “You’re good.”

  “You said you don’t drink coffee.”

  She’d given it up when she’d started her fertility treatments.

  For all the good it had done.

  He slipped an arm around her waist. “Ask you something?” he said quietly.

  She nodded against his shoulder.

  “Can I take you out on a date?”

  The mug bobbled.

  A date.

  A real date. With Tony. Who knew everything she could never give him. Who had his own demons.

  Ten years ago, he would’ve been her last choice
to fit into her life plan. Divorced, scarred, and overly private. Even one year ago, she would’ve weighed the pros and cons, the risks and the rewards, and she would’ve walked away.

  But she wasn’t that woman anymore.

  And for once, she was damn glad.

  “I’d love to go on a date with you,” she whispered.

  His smile wasn’t a charmer smile. It wasn’t big, but it also wasn’t fake.

  It was hope.

  He cupped her ears and touched his lips to hers. “And then come back to my place,” he added.

  “I do like all those things you do in your kitchen.”

  “Have a bed to show you too.”

  She laughed a wobbly laugh. “I’d love to see it.”

  “Are you molesting my granddaughter in her bedroom?” Gran shoved in, her hair in pink curlers, still wrapped in her pink flowered bathrobe, bunny slippers flopping beneath her support socks. Her voice was froggy, her complexion too pale, but she didn’t seem much worse than she’d been yesterday morning.

  “Just looking for your hearing aid, Gran,” Tony said easily.

  “This man has been through every inch of trash in the house, lifted every couch, and even dug out beneath the fridge and oven for me,” she said proudly.

  Pepper frowned even as her heart squealed and he’s mine. “Has he?”

  “Sure has,” Gran said.

  Pepper quirked a brow at Tony. “Did you check her ear when you were looking?”

  He blinked at her, then shifted a glance at Gran.

  Gran smiled broadly at both of them, her hearing aid visible in her left ear.

  He rubbed the dark stubble making him look like a pirate. “She only has one?”

  “She only has one,” Pepper confirmed.

  “But I’m feeling a lot better,” Gran announced.

  She sneezed, and her top denture shot across the room.

  Tony lifted his hands. “I’m out,” he said. “You get to search for that one.”

  But he was smiling, and he kissed her again before beating a retreat.

  “Call me,” she said.

  “Yes, ma’am,” he replied from the stairwell.

  Did she need a man in her life?

  No.

  But she was damn grateful to have Tony.

  * * *

  Tuesday evening found Tony whistling to himself as he double-checked that everything was locked up tight. He had two last pizzas in the oven. Dishes were done, the till was closed out, dough was proofing in the fridge overnight for tomorrow, and he had a beautiful woman due at his back door any minute now.

  Hadn’t been his first choice for a date, but he’d been short-staffed tonight, and since she’d texted that she was starving and in a mood for pizza fifteen minutes ago, having her here made sense. Quicker than fixing something at his house.

  Plus, he liked watching her eat his food.

  He checked his watch again. She’d said she was leaving her Knot Fest thing when she texted. Even if she’d walked, she should’ve been here by now. He headed to the back door to see if she was in the parking lot yet just as a knock came, and his heart went light-headed.

  He opened the door, and there she was.

  The pretty lady who’d offered to make sure his cat had enough food and water since he had to work late.

  He pulled her in for a deep, lingering kiss while the door shut behind her. Her arm looped around his neck, her body melded to his, and for the first time since he’d left her place Saturday morning, the world was right.

  She touched his cheek as they eased out of the kiss. “Hi,” she whispered.

  “Hi, yourself.” He felt like an idiot, but he couldn’t stop smiling. She was here. Smiling just as broadly back at him. Blushing? Or were her cheeks pink from the cold? “Hungry?”

  “Starving. It smells amazing in here.”

  It smelled like her pizza needed to come out of the oven before it burned. He released her to grab a pizza paddle and opened the top oven. “One custom smoggy bacon special coming up.”

  “Is this your secret?” she asked. “The brick oven?”

  “That and the dough. And the sauce. And the cheese.”

  “The cheese?”

  “Top-secret supplier. Can’t say any more than that.”

  She laughed. He was still smiling when he put her pizza on a pan. He pulled out the second pizza and slid it into a box, then sliced them both.

  “Avocado?”

  “Lindsey Truitt’s having cravings. Billy called in a take-out order.”

  “Ah.”

  The sad he’d seen so much in her smile made sense now. Couldn’t go ten feet in Bliss without running into a pregnant woman.

  “You know them very well?” he asked.

  “My sister Saffron used to play in Billy’s band. And I basically bought Lindsey’s half of Bliss Bridal. She’s Nat’s sister.”

  He flipped the box shut. “Lindsey told me about this place going up for sale.”

  “She said she loves your pizza.”

  “The respect is mutual.”

  Pepper’s brow furrowed. “I didn’t think anyone in Nat’s family cooked.”

  “Wouldn’t know.”

  “But you—oh. She handled your…got it.”

  He nodded and held out her pizza—sausage, mushroom, onion, green pepper, and extra bacon. “Powdered cheese?”

  “I don’t need to ruin perfection.” She snagged a piece, still hot enough that the melted mozzarella stretched when she pulled it away. The crust was fluffy perfection, the cheese just starting to toast, and when her eyes slid closed and that delicious mmm slipped from her lips, not only did blood rush south of the border, but a peace settled in his chest.

  He took compliments on his pizza every day, but watching Pepper enjoy it was bigger.

  She was a woman who didn’t need anyone to take care of her, but she was letting him feed her and enjoying every morsel.

  “You are a pizza god,” she declared.

  “Just a guy with a gift.”

  “You still like pizza as much as you did when you were a kid?”

  “I’ll love pizza till my dying day.”

  She held out her slice, and he took a bite. The lady had a point. This one was perfect.

  And she was within kissing distance again, propped against his prep table, her coat unzipped to let his hands settle around her waist with just a thin silk blouse between his fingers and her skin.

  “Do you clean and do laundry too?” she whispered as he lowered his lips to hers.

  “I do it all.”

  She tasted like pizza and perfection and felt like heaven. They were locked in. He could have her right here. Right now.

  Her tongue touched his, and could became would. He went hard as granite in an instant. She pressed closer to him, her mouth eager, her fingers exploring and igniting his nerve endings, her breasts pressed to his chest.

  He could’ve kissed her for making him feel whole again—not just physically, but emotionally—but he was already kissing her.

  He’d just have to kiss her more.

  Those whimpery noises she made, the way her fingers curled into his shirt and pulled it taut, the taste of her lips and tongue were driving him mad. Too many clothes. Too many barriers.

  Too many—shit.

  Too many knocks on the back door.

  Pepper pulled back with a gasp. “Is that important?”

  “Billy.” He pointed to the box.

  Damn well better have been Billy, anyway.

  Pepper rubbed her hands over her bright pink cheeks. Her eyes were dark emeralds, glittery and bright, her breath ragged. Tony adjusted himself and headed to the door.

  Sure enough, there was a happily grinning Billy Brenton, ball cap covering his hair, hunched into a thick coat against the backdrop of last weekend’s snow piles. “You ever fall for a lady from the South, jump at the chance to move down there with her,” he said. “Colder’n a—oh, hey, Pepper.”

  “I’m
telling Lindsey you said that.”

  “Shoot, told her myself before I left to get her a pizza. The lady thinks I’m funny.”

  Tony handed him the pizza box. Billy held out a bill with too many zeroes on it, and Tony waved it away. “On the house.”

  “After-hours fee,” Billy countered.

  Pepper slid between them and plucked the Benjamin from Billy. “Knot Fest thanks you both for your generous contribution,” she said. “Rule number one,” she added to Tony, “arguing with Billy is pointless unless you’re married to him.” She turned to Billy. “Rule number two, don’t make people uncomfortable. Do we need a group hug?”

  “We’re good,” Tony said.

  Billy laughed. “Like having Saffron back on the road.” He tipped his hat. “Y’all enjoy your evening.”

  “Oh, hey, wait.” Pepper snagged his arm. “Does Lindsey know what Nat and CJ named the baby?”

  “Reckon so,” he said, “but since she doesn’t know CJ’s real name, don’t think she’s planning on sharing. Might be up for trading some information though.”

  Tony didn’t know what that all was about, but he could see Pepper’s wheels turning. “The baby’s far more adorable than CJ. Does she really need to know his name?”

  “What I know about your family, information’s gold. Never know when it might come in handy.” He rocked back on his heels and grinned. “Don’t let me keep y’all. Many thanks for the special order.”

  Pepper was still frowning at the door after he left. “Do you think they really know, or is he pulling my leg?”

  “Think your pizza’s getting cold.” He double-checked that he’d turned off the oven, then flipped the lock on the back door. “Five minutes to finish up, and we can head out.” Go back to his place. Eat more pizza. Grab a beer, get Pepper a glass of wine.

  Show her his bedroom. This time while she was awake.

  She picked up her half-eaten slice and studied it. “Does it bother you?”

  “Pizza?”

  “All the babies.”

  That stopped him as effectively as if he’d run into a brick wall. Babies. Weddings. Happy ever after.

  It all bothered him.

  “Never would’ve guessed it bothered you,” he ventured.

  Her wry smile didn’t reach her eyes. “I’ve been an aunt a lot longer than I’ve been a failure.”