CHAPTER EIGHT 

REAGAN

I chose my closest home that night, my San Francisco penthouse in Pacific Heights so that I could be back to help Pepper early in the morning. 

Peeling my sweaty dirty clothes off, I left them in the middle of the floor of my wide master suite and headed to my granite, walk-in shower. 

The tiles were cool against my sore feet. Jets released streams of hot water from the walls and the enclosed room soon filled up with steam. 

I rolled my shoulders and neck as the luxurious heat slowly seeped into my muscle tissue. 

I'd be sore tomorrow. Not badly, but I'd feel it. Today I'd worked muscles that hadn't gotten a good workout in a long time. Even with my constantly evolving lifting routines in the gym, nothing targeted those smaller, subtle muscle groups like good, old-fashioned hard work. 

I smiled to myself as I stood under the main stream of water, letting it massage my neck and back. 

Pepper really didn't think I could handle it. I saw the surprise in her eyes as I did everything she asked me to and then some. 

If I had to be honest, I enjoyed it. 

The most physically satisfying job I had was working in an Oakland warehouse. That was my last punch-in, punch-out job before I flipped my first house and wove magic that seemed to create money out of thin air. 

Money was a struggle my whole life before taking a leap and starting this business and I'd never let it get to that point again. But sitting in an office day after day and watching other people work for me was boring. It felt good to get my hands dirty again. 

And seeing Miss Pepper get dirty wasn't bad either.

My dick twitched and immediately stiffened at the memory of her bending over and kneeling as we worked today.

I thought of her kneeling right then in the shower, looking up at me with her mouth open and waiting for me to lay my cock on her sweet, soft tongue. 

It got even harder and I released a groan.

Damn, I'd love to see her naked. Her body was strong but not in a bulky, masculine way. I nearly found myself drooling at her shapely ass and thighs as she squatted those crates of apples. Watching her work was sexy in ways I never even knew was possible. 

And she apparently had no idea either. She just ran a tight ship and got shit done. I liked that about her. 

I shut the shower off and the cool air outside my master bathroom was like a dose of reality. 

Why was I putting so much of myself into this? I never tried so hard to get a girl into my bed before. I never needed to. Any number of beautiful, intelligent women would hurry their eager, perky asses up to my bedroom at the push of a button. So why was I so stuck on Pepper Sage?

Maybe because she was the first girl I wanted that didn’t want me back. At least not overtly, desperately.  

With Pepper’s killer ass still etched into my brain, I fell into a deep sleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. 

I woke up shocked to feel well-rested and to find out that I got a full, uninterrupted six hours of sleep. 

How long has it been since I slept so well? I wondered as I pulled on a fresh pair of jeans and a shirt in the early morning darkness. It had been so long since I worked my body instead of my mind. Unless I drank a good amount of Scotch, it was impossible to shut my mind off when I went to bed at night. Sleep was always a fitful, restless battle. 

With a quick splash of cold water on my face, I was dressed and out the door. I decided on my Bentley SUV for the drive out to Pepper’s and realized I was looking forward to the day. 

A typical day for me consisted of boring meetings with stuffy old men, wearing stuffy clothes, and trying not to run into women I’d slept with at one point or another. 

Working with Pepper felt like a vacation of sorts. The kind where the day goes by in a flash because you’re so busy having fun, jamming as many action-packed activities into one day as you can, then going bed totally spent at night. 

It was a three-hour drive from my place to Cloverville. A helicopter would have been faster but she didn’t seem too happy about it when we first met. And anyway, I wanted to enjoy the scenery up close this time. 

I stopped for coffee and pastries at the local Cloverville roastery in town before heading up to Pepper's farm, where I arrived just before sunrise. 

A warm glow came from inside the windows of her house. 

So she's awake this time, I thought. 

The moment I pulled up and opened my car door, Bonny burst through the doggie door with her tail wagging violently as she ran up to greet me. 

"Hey girl, calm down," I said, keeping the food out of her reach as she stood on her hind legs to put her front paws on me. 

She reminded me so much of my old boy Hank, who was probably my best friend in life to this day. My heart even tugged a little. I missed him. 

But I couldn't help but smile as I scratched Bonny's ears and made my way to the front porch. If she approved of me, maybe her human would too at some point. 

"I almost didn't expect you to show," came Pepper's voice from the doorway. 

She looked wide awake, alert and ready for the day in her signature flannel shirt, jeans, and boots. This time her hair was pulled up in a bun, that sexy messy kind that left several long wisps of hair falling around the sides of her face. 

"Why's that?" I asked. "Looks like I'm the first one here."

She shrugged nonchalantly but I could still see the skepticism in her eyes. She didn't trust me. She thought I was being shifty and doing this for some ulterior motive. 

And maybe in the beginning, I was. 

Maybe I could still learn something from her that would be useful in my future business endeavors in this town, but nothing that I would do at her expense. 

I learned early on to not make enemies in this business. You never really knew how many bridges you burned by screwing smaller businesses over. Collaboration and long-term planning were the keys to success.

I wasn't exactly sure what my long-term plan with Pepper was yet, but I definitely didn't want her as my enemy. 

"Coffee? Croissants?" I asked holding up my tray from the coffee shop.

She looked torn, as if even accepting my offer of breakfast would be trusting me too much. 

"Sure, thanks," she said finally. 

We sat on the bench on the porch, munching and sipping with Bonny at our feet as we watched the sun rise. 

"Ever ridden in a hot-air balloon?"

Pepper seemed taken aback by the random question. 

"No. Why?" 

"Just wondering. It's incredible to go up in one at sunrise or sunset. A business like that would do really well out here." I winked suggestively at her. "Also a lot more peaceful than a helicopter," I added teasingly. 

"Are you ever not thinking of potential business ideas?" she asked with a wry smirk. 

"Rarely," I admitted. "That's what my life has become. Actually, working here yesterday was the first chance I had in a long time to get my mind off things, which I think was good for me." 

Pepper's eyes suddenly flickered from my face to her driveway, where a cloud of dust kicked up from the approaching car. 

"Looks like Maddy and her friends are here," she observed, standing to her feet. "Let's get to it." 

I polished off my coffee and followed her off the porch, Bonny happily trotting alongside us. 

When Pepper made quick introductions, Maddy almost didn't recognize me from the farmer's market since trading my suit for a T-shirt and jeans. There was little time for chit-chat as Pepper went into boss-mode and had us grab step ladders and buckets from the barn. We'd be picking apples, peaches, and plums from the orchard today. 

Pepper and I picked from one section of trees while Maddy and her two male friends worked from another section. I glanced over at those three occasionally with my curiosity piqued. The two guys seemed equally invested in impressing Maddy. I wondered if they were truly just friends or had some kind of menage-a-trois going on. 

"Oh, to be young and innocent again," Pepper joked as she caught me looking. 

"Come on, you're barely older than her." 

I winked as I lifted four buckets of apples, two in each hand, into the truck bed. 

Pepper looked away but I didn't miss her rosy blush. 

"Older enough," she muttered, focusing intently on checking apples for bruises and pests. 

"I'll tell you my age if you tell me yours," I teased.

A smile crept across her lips, despite trying to hide it. 

"I'm twenty-four," she said. 

My eyebrows shot up. 

"Damn, you are way young to be running this place all on your own."

"Yeah, shit happens," she muttered, her smile disappearing. "And you are?" 

"Twenty-eight," I replied. 

She huffed a humorless laugh. 

"And you say I'm young! You're four years older than me and running a real estate empire, apparently." Her eyes returned to her apples and her voice grew quieter. "Although you probably got a much better head start than me." 

"I wasn't born into money," I said, perhaps a little sharply. "I'm basically an orphan. Everything I have, I made it happen for myself." 

Pepper bit her lip on her regretted words. I'd behaved myself all day but that one little action sent my dick aching for her. I wanted to taste that lip between my teeth too.

"Sorry," she said. "I shouldn't have assumed." 

"It's alright," I answered, trying to wrestle with my physical frustration.

"I'm basically an orphan too," she said in a small voice, and I realized it was the first thing she really shared about herself. "My mom left years ago. My dad passed away from cancer last year. Hence why the farm was left to me." 

“I’m sorry,” I offered sincerely. “That is really, unimaginably tough.” 

She lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug.

“The ground still has to be tilled and the crops still need to be harvested,” she said dryly. “They don’t care who’s here and who’s not.”

“Have you ever had a day off?” I asked. This girl’s toughness and tenacity were both making me respect her and ache for her at the same time. 

“Not since I was about fourteen,” she said almost proudly. “That’s when my mom ran off with the first guy who would promise her an easy, comfortable life and I had to step it up to support my Dad.” 

“Holy shit,” I murmured. “If anyone deserves a day off, it’s you.” 

A full day lying on your back with my cock buried between your thighs, making you come again and again. How does that sound?

The pieces were coming together. I was beginning to understand her attitude, her work ethic, and her aversion to large amounts of money.

“Can’t afford it,” she said flippantly. “Maybe if I had more employees beyond three teenagers and a random, rich, hot guy--” 

Her hand flew to her mouth as her eyes grew wide as saucers. I could only grin as her face grew beet red from accidentally speaking her mind. 

“Hey now,” I protested, holding my hand to my heart in mock hurt. “I may be rich and hot but I’m definitely not random.” I winked at her. “There’s a reason for everything, sweetheart.” 

“Forget I said anything,” she muttered, looking away again.

To save her embarrassment, I decided to quit teasing and change the subject. 

“So what’s in the greenhouse?” I asked, nodding my chin at the hooped structure covered in semi-opaque sheeting in the center of the orchard. 

“Nothing,” she barked. I could practically see the armor sliding into place again and the real, vulnerable Pepper retreating away. 

“Don’t ever go near it. There’s nothing in there that concerns you.”