The Tycoon's Unexpected Baby (The Abbot Sisters #3) - Elizabeth Lennox Page 0,45

nearly nine o’clock in the morning.

Normally, that wouldn’t be an issue if someone were to find her sitting at her design table. Nine o’clock in the morning was when most of the world was at work, so there wasn’t anything wrong with her sitting at her drawing board, sketching out the designs for her next release.

The problem, she supposed, was that she hadn’t gone to bed yet.

She glanced across the hardwood floors to her bed, then looked away, blinking back the gritty feeling in her eyes. So what if she’d been awake for a while? She was driven to succeed. Her business was booming and she had a healthy bank balance to prove it.

Perhaps working for…she calculated the hours, then winced…forty-one hours straight was a bad thing. She skimmed her blue pencil across the page and silently acknowledged that forty-one hours was a bit too long. She needed sleep. Probably needed food too.

Pepper promised herself she’d get up and make something for breakfast in a moment. Right after she finished this next design. It was going to be brilliant, she thought. Adding a bit of flare, she turned the paper to add more color, another ruffle along the side of the skirt.

The knock on her door startled her. “I’m not here,” she whispered to herself and added a few more details and instructions.

Another knock. “Still not here,” she muttered, irritation rising over the creative imaginings going through her mind.

The knock came again, this time louder and with a bit of impatience.

“Fine!” she snapped, tossing her pencil down onto the desk.

“Ouch!” she cringed, standing up and stretching. But she ignored the twinges and creaks as she reluctantly made her way across the floor, her wool socks shuffling over the hardwood because the muscles in her legs weren’t cooperating very well.

Looking down at herself, Pepper noted that she was still wearing the pajamas that she’d pulled on yester…um…the day before yesterday. She hadn’t slept, so she hadn’t woken up. Her routine was to go for a long run right after she woke up in the morning, then shower, eat breakfast, and get to her drawing board during the morning hours. She’d then spend the afternoon sewing, or she’d take her designs, along with the used clothing, to her warehouse where her magnificent seamstresses would transform her designs into reality.

Lately, that routine had been somewhat altered. A necessary alteration to her normal routine, she reminded herself as her hand drifted down over her stomach, and she tied the soft robe, hiding the satin of her pajamas.

Standing beside the door, she waited. Something inside of her warned her not to open the door. She really didn’t want to see the person on the other side, she thought. Leaning her forehead against the door, she took a deep breath.

Another knock thundered through the wood and she jumped back. Glaring at the door, she contemplated not answering it.

“He’ll just break it down,” she muttered to herself. So instead of walking back to her drawing board, she jerked the door open.

Unfortunately, even knowing who would be standing on the other side of the door didn’t prepare her for the sight of Dimitri. Tall and handsome with dark eyes, tanned skin, and broad shoulders, he was…delicious, she thought.

“Too hungry,” she muttered as an excuse for why she’d thought “delicious”.

Dimitri stared down at Pepper, startled by her appearance. For a moment, he couldn’t move, so shocked at how his vital, amazing, vibrant Pepper Abbot looked. She was a mere shadow of herself.

When he’d first met her, Pepper would race to the door to greet him. After opening the door, she’d beam up at him, her enormous, blue eyes shining, and her mouth begging for kisses. But Pepper was too exuberant to wait for anything. Waiting for him to kiss her simply wasn’t her style, so she’d throw herself into his arms and almost climb up his body to kiss him.

Now, there were no shining eyes. There was no smile of greeting. And instead of the shockingly gorgeous outfits she’d designed, Pepper was dressed in a robe. Her feet covered in ugly wool socks and her hair, her beautiful, dark, mahogany hair was tied up into a knot on top of her head, thick locks falling down around her neck and shoulders. Even as he watched, she pushed those locks away, tucking them impotently behind her ears.

“Pepper,” he sighed, stepping through the doorway and wrapping his arms around her. She didn’t protest, he realized. Nor did she wrap her arms