“Anyway, I hate to milkshake and run, but I should go,” she told her friend. “I rented a car for the day and I only have it until nine o’clock, and I have a ton of stuff to do.”
“Dinner and drinks once you get settled?” Kendra asked as they left the little table at the ice cream parlor’s outdoor patio.
“Absolutely.” Pepper leaned in for a quick hug, then picked up her suitcases and winked at her friend. “We’ll go cruising for some hotties. Two months on the road with Adam and the others really soured me on college boys.”
Kendra sighed. “Yeah, me too. Call me next week-ish and we’ll figure something out.”
The two women parted ways on the sidewalk, Kendra heading for the sedan right at the curb, while Pepper lugged her suitcases toward the end of the block, where she’d parked her sporty red rental.
She reached the car just in time to see a parking cop slide a ticket under her windshield wiper.
“Oh no!” She dashed over, desperation shooting through her. “I’m here, officer! Please don’t give me a ticket!”
The cop turned to face her, and for a second she was taken aback by how handsome he was. Wavy black hair, tanned skin, rockin’ bod. He was the most attractive parking cop she’d ever seen in her life.
“I’m sorry, Miss, but your meter ran out.” His voice was deep and husky, and not at all apologetic. “Got no choice but to ticket you.”
She bit her lip, torn between arguing and accepting her punishment like a grown-up. After a beat, she decided that picking a fight with a cop was not the way to go.
“I understand.” She let out a breath. “I didn’t think I’d need more than thirty minutes, but I guess I was wrong.”
Surprise crept into his tone. “That’s it?”
She frowned. “What?”
“You’re not going to scream at me? Kick me? Accuse me of being in cahoots with the devil for having the audacity to write you up?”
It was too easy to offer a grin in response. “Oh my. I take it that happens to you a lot?”
“You wouldn’t believe how often.” He lifted the sexy Aviators off the bridge of his nose to reveal his eyes.
Very nice eyes. Dark brown, with flecks of gold around the pupils. “I want to sympathize, I really do,” she said with another grin. “But you’re the enemy, and I don’t make friends with enemies.”
He laughed. “Yeah? Well, you’re the perp, and I don’t make friends with perps.”
“Well, then. Obviously we can never be friends.” She clicked the car remote, walked around to stow her suitcases in the trunk, then headed back to retrieve the ticket.
The cop intercepted her hand, swiping the paper before she could grasp it. “You know what? I don’t think you need this. I’m in a good mood today.”
Her lips twitched. “Really? Why’s that?”
“Because I’m about to ask a very pretty girl out to dinner, and I don’t want to start things off on a bad note.”
Pepper raised her eyebrows. “I see.”
In a flash, Sexy Cop tore up the ticket, then held out his hand. “I’m Billy.”
Billy? What grown man still went by Billy? You’d think he’d start using Bill once he was old enough to realize that Billy sounded like a character from a preschooler’s cartoon show.
But the guy was hot, so she was willing to cut him some slack. Besides, when it came to names, who was she to talk?
“I’m Pep—Penny,” she said, shaking his hand.
“It’s very nice to meet you, Penny.” He cocked his head. “So? What do you say? Will you have dinner with me Friday night?”
“Hmmm.” She pretended to mull it over. “I guess I could do that, seeing as how you did me a solid and ripped up my ticket.”
His smile widened. “Good answer.”
Five minutes later, they’d exchanged numbers, set a time and place to meet, and then Pepper was driving off in the direction of her brother’s office. She hadn’t expected to land a date today, but she honestly wasn’t complaining.
Truth was, trying to rile Jack up all week had succeeded in getting her hot, and what better way to release all that pent-up sexual energy than with the cute cop who’d let her off with a slap on the wrist?
Even if his name was Billy.
Jack stared at the papers in front of him without seeing a single word. He was so tired he couldn’t think straight.
That’s what happened when a woman moved into his apartment and insisted on traipsing around in bits of nothing. And they weren’t even deliberately attractive bits of nothing. They were just…mostly not there, and Jack was getting tired of having to take matters in hand every fucking night and still waking up with morning wood that could help a Scot win the championship at caber toss.
Thank God Pepper had finally healed enough that makeup would cover the last tinges of her facial bruises. Not only because he was happy she’d healed, but it meant this morning had been the last time he’d have to watch her ass move under her loose sleep shirt—his T-shirt that she’d stolen and never given back.