And even though she’d enjoyed herself immensely, the excitement of having the two guys showering her with attention had been spectacular only because Jack was there. Every touch, every joke, every interaction between them seemed to tug her heartstrings a little more.
By the time the meeting with Charlene finished, Pepper was eager to see the woman go. Charlene’s presence only reminded her that Jack hadn’t been living as a monk before they’d started dating, and she still felt a tad insecure in the face of Charlene’s infuriating elegance.
As they rose from the table, Pepper had to remind herself that she’d gotten Jack. Charlene hadn’t, except for a brief moment in time. “This media presentation better go exactly as we discussed,” Charlene said coolly. “I don’t want any snags or mistakes.”
“I’ve got everything under control,” Pepper replied, fighting the urge to grit her teeth. Or maybe snarl at the woman.
“You’d better. This is very important to my family. Please don’t screw it up.” With that, Charlene slid out the door with stiff shoulders and fast strides.
Once the woman was gone, Pepper made her way to Jack’s office, the memories of entering the building in the pitch black nearly three months ago rushing into her mind. How things had changed. She wasn’t the same woman anymore, she realized as she curled up on the corner of the couch, with Jack’s soft blanket once again around her shoulders.
She stared into space. She still had some work to do, but right now she wanted to think harder about this idea. The one about how Jack trusted her.
It meant so much to her, especially since Parker still insisted on treating her like a little girl. And no matter how often Jack pointed out that it was because she was his younger sister, it didn’t matter. Jeez. Would the ass still treat her like that when they were in their fifties?
Jack didn’t treat her like a child. The thought made every bit of her warm and happy.
After several more minutes of basking in her Jack-centered thoughts, she got her act together, abandoning his office to the small workstation she’d set up near the staff room. Putting the final touches on the media display was satisfying, and she was nearly done when the door swung open. She lifted her head eagerly, but instead of Jack, she found her brother, storm clouds all over his face.
She shot to her feet. “What’s wrong? Did something happen to Lynn?”
Parker jerked to a stop, his dark eyes narrowing as he took her in. “Are you the one responsible?”
Total confusion. “What?”
He strode forward another two paces, towering over her. “Were you the one driving Jack’s car when it happened?”
“When what happened…?”
“Jeez, Pepper. How could you be so careless?” Parker’s entire body tensed with emotion. “Jack freaking loves that car.”
“What the hell is your problem?” Pepper demanded. “You’ve got some kind of enormous stick up your ass.”
“Seriously, you’re telling me you have no idea what I’m talking about?” Parker folded his arms over his chest and looked at her in disgust. “You’re not ten years old anymore. I would’ve thought by now you’d learn to own up to your mistakes.”
“What mistake?” She shook her head indignantly. “I’ve been in the damn office for the last hour and a half, working my ass off, I might add. Where do you get off coming in here and telling me—” She took a deep breath then let it out slowly. Obviously something was wrong, and yelling at him was not getting them anywhere, so she tried again. “What are you talking about?”
“Come on,” Parker muttered. “See for yourself.”
They headed outside, and it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out exactly what Parker wanted to show her. She gasped when she rounded Jack’s sleek black car and spotted the rear bumper. The tail of the classic car had been crumpled, as if someone had backed into a fire hydrant or a barrier.
Pepper moved forward in a panic to examine the damage. “Dammit, Parker. This wasn’t here when I parked the car. I swear it wasn’t.”
“So what, we have car-bashing fairies in the parking lot now? Just like we had perfume-tossing fairies before?”
She glared at him. “That wasn’t my fault either, so don’t start with that one again.”
Parker shot out a hand at the car. “No, it’s not like the perfume because if this happened after you parked it, then where’s the glass? If someone bumped the car right here, the glass would’ve fallen to the ground underneath, and there’s nothing there, Pepper.”
She felt sick to her stomach, but mostly because she hated the fact that she was going to have to explain what she didn’t know how to explain.
“I didn’t do it,” she insisted. A jolt of triumph suddenly shot through her. “Go and check the security tape! You’ll see that the car was fine when I drove into the lot.”
“The system is still down,” Parker mumbled.