Pepper didn’t think so, but it was as good an excuse as any. “I didn’t want you to think I did anything to get in your way.”
“You stole him right out from under my nose.” Kendra glared for a second before her expression broke, lips folded to blow a long raspberry. “I don’t think so. I mean, yeah, he’s cute, but he’s too old for me.” She glanced over her shoulder at the guy working the coffee bar. “Now he, on the other hand, is both cute and closer to my age.”
“Well, nice surprise, ladies. Can I join you?”
A familiar voice interrupted their conversation, and Pepper couldn’t help but smile as Lynn’s friend Suz slid onto the chair next to them. “Hey, you. What are you doing down in this neck of the woods?”
“I just finished an interview at the precinct around the corner. Something for my job with the special events page at the Bay City Press. And then I had to say hi to everyone—one of my brothers is stationed there, so the whole department is like family.” Suz turned toward the drink counter and waved a perfectly manicured hand. The young man Kendra had been admiring waved back.
“Do you know him?” Kendra asked.
“I have a feeling Suz knows most of San Francisco’s population, especially if they’re male,” Pepper teased.
“Guilty as charged.” The gorgeous blonde flashed her brilliant smile. “Why live in the City of Love if you don’t believe in sharing the message?”
Pepper could see more and more why everyone down at DreamMakers enjoyed having the woman around. “What do you think of this area? Kendra and I are going to be living here.”
Suz paused and considered. “It’s not as safe as some, but it’s not as bad as others. If you keep your eyes open, you should be okay. Which apartment? And it better have security at the door, or I will harp on your ass.”
Kendra pointed next door. “The Towers. And yes, they have security at the front door, and we have both a deadbolt and peephole.”
“Make sure you use them,” Suz warned again. “Drives me crazy when I see people propping the front door open with a box, or letting somebody in who casually stood in line behind them, waiting until the security code gets entered.”
Pepper pretended to cover a yawn.
“Trust me, you don’t need to continue the lecture. If Parker lives up to his usual standard, I will not only get briefed for longer than you could talk about the dangers for a woman in public places, he’ll provide me a report in triplicate and expect me to memorize it and initial the bottom of each page after I finish reading it.” She sighed. “I thought he’d outgrown it, but in the past couple weeks he’s gotten even worse than before I went to college. I wonder at what point he’s going to actually realize that I’m no longer twelve.”
“That’s what family does, hon. They worry about you. I’ve got the five brothers, plus my mom and dad—all of whom are cops. Either I could let it make me crazy, or I could learn to live with it.” Suz turned to face the eager young man who had brought her drink to the table. “Well, aren’t you a darling? Thanks, Timothy.”
She slipped him some money, and he smiled at them, his gaze darting over Kendra as he backed away without a word.
“Maybe since I’ll be living close by, you should introduce me to Timothy,” Kendra suggested. “He’s cute.”
“He’s a baby,” Suz admonished her. “A cute baby, I give you that, but it’s hard to find them attractive when they still look like they might be surprised they have pubes.” She ignored the sputtering, taking a sip of her coffee before looking far more serious as she addressed Kendra. “I thought you were interested in Jack Hunter?”
Kendra rolled her eyes. “Fat lot of good that did me. Pepper snapped him up.”
“It wasn’t like that,” Pepper protested.
Suz looked very interested in this new development. “Oh, so that’s what had Lynn attempting to interrupt my date last night. Hmmm, this is juicy. And so is Jack, if I might say so.”
“I thought you said he was too big of a flirt for me,” Kendra complained.
“He was. He is.” Suz rested an elbow on the table, leaning closer to Kendra. “Look, the man has been setting the world on fire, but I think it’s because he couldn’t have what he wanted. And what he wanted…”
She tilted her finger across the table at Pepper.
An electric pulse raced through her belly in response. “Oh, stop it. He has not been longing for me forever.”
Suz shrugged. “I call them as I see them, and I think that boy is smitten. But you can go on denying it if it makes you feel better.”
“I’m going to pout,” Kendra announced. “I don’t think this is very fair. Why do some girls always get the guy?”
Pepper opened her mouth to protest, but Suz beat her to it, patting Kendra sympathetically on the hand. “I know it seems one-sided when someone like me has all the boys following her like bees beaconed to a flower patch. Like wasps to an open bottle of beer. Like ants to a picnic.”