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“I was worried. You know how I get when I worry. So you can’t be mad.” She finger-waved and dashed for the door.
I plowed down the stairs after her but skidded to a stop at the look on Pepper’s face.
“Beau,” I called as she pushed out the exit.
“I’ll see you in a little while.” Her long coat flared behind her as she hurried away down the sidewalk.
When I turned around, Miss Adeline discreetly backed farther into the back room. Pepper looked like she’d been slapped and the initial surprise was wearing off.
“You live next door?” Each syllable was spoken slowly as if she wanted to get them right.
Crap. Beau and her big mouth. It wasn’t like I cared if Pepper knew. Eventually I was going to have to tell her. But it got out of control and now I looked like a creep.
“I, uh—” I scratched the back of my neck. “I’d just moved in right before I met you.” I sounded like my sister and her fast talking. “And then Beau came into town and I’ve been staying with my brother too and . . .”
She crossed her arms over her chest, clearly not impressed with my explanation. Or lack thereof.
“I just never got around to telling you.” And I didn’t want to look like a stalker. Except all those excuses sounded lame.
“Guess it makes more sense how you came up with groceries so quickly the first time you cooked for us,” she said, but she was like stone. Unreadable.
“Yeah.” I plowed my hand through my hair. “I wasn’t exactly not telling you. I . . .” Damn it. I was so mixed up I didn’t know what I was doing anymore.
“You don’t owe me an explanation.”
I froze. “I don’t?”
“No.”
“But you seem mad.” I dropped my arm to my side.
She didn’t say anything for a long time. When it came to Pepper, I couldn’t seem to make the right moves. That kiss was definitely the right move. And I hoped to fall asleep with her again, even if my back wasn’t too thrilled with me. But all the good things seemed to get erased by the stupid ones.
“It’s like you’re hiding something.” She threw her hands up and paced. “But then you’ll be so open. So I don’t know if it’s intentional or just happens that way. And what right do I really have anyway?”
Her words came out in a long, fast string. Almost as if she were talking to herself instead of me.
“You do things that make me trust you.” She stopped in front of me. “And then you do things that make me doubt you.”
“That’s not my intention.” Which was the pure absolute truth.
“It’s a lot. Fast.” She stepped closer. “We didn’t exactly hit it off.”
“If I’d have told you we were neighbors that first day, Muffy might’ve left me a present on my doorstep.” I hoped we were moving past this. I hated conflict. Especially with her.
“Now that we know where you live, he might just yet.”
The tension from before was gone from the set of her shoulders. Could she get over things this quickly?
“Muffy and I are pals now. He wouldn’t do that.” I snuck a hand to her hip.
“I wouldn’t be so sure.”
“I see how it is.” I eased her closer. Strange how being near her soothed my stress and made my heart beat faster at the same time. “I’m sorry.”
She placed her palm on my chest. “Beau caught me off guard. It made me question if you’re hiding something.”
“For a while, things between us were on thin ice. I wasn’t sure how you’d take it if I was your creepy neighbor. Then I never found a good time.” In retrospect, it was stupid. How could I tell her I couldn’t stay next door now because it was too tempting to be near her?
