1
PEPPER
High-pitched screams accosted Pepper the moment she stepped out of the Paris café and onto the crowded sidewalk. She squinted into the bright autumnal light to locate the direction of the chaos. A gaggle of American teenagers who were huddled under the awning of a gelato shop shouted and pointed and screamed their names. They flailed about in an unchoreographed dance, then rushed toward them. A few were sobbing. Another simply stood frozen with her hands over her mouth.
Next to her, Lisa stepped backward and stumbled. Pepper steadied her. Lisa hated this.
The crowd pulsed forward, gathering closer. Lisa shook like a cold puppy.
A girl, blonde and shiny as polished gold, seemed to be the leader. She reached them first, squealing and bouncing on her toes. “Oh my God, oh my God, it’s you.”
“We, like, totally—literally—just saw your movie.” This was from the tallest of the group, with legs and arms like a gangly giraffe.
There were at least eight of them, all dressed in the same school uniform and long white socks. A school trip, the kindrich kids who attend private school take. The kind Pepper had attended. She used to be just like these girls: starstruck and dreaming of someday being the one on the screen. Her dreams had come true. With that, came this.
Truth? Pepper loved every minute of it. Her best friend, on the other hand, most certainly did not. Lisa cleaved to Pepper as if they were on the skinny ledge of a tall building.
The door to the cafe opened and Stone and Rafael rushed to their sides. Stone put his hand on Pepper’s elbow and attempted to steer her away from the young women. Too late. Everyone in the near vicinity, including the patrons in the gelato shop and those in the bakery to their right, had turned to watch. People seated at the outside café had paused eating and drinking French wine to stare.
“Here we go again.” Pepper looked up at Stone. His broad chest and wide shoulders had tensed. Her former marine fiancé went into fight mode whenever this happened. In LA, they were accosted often. So far in Paris, they’d been left alone. Either people didn’t recognize them or were much too French to act impressed.
Stone spoke through clenched teeth. “Yeah. Again.”
“Buckle your seat belt,” Rafael said under his breath.
Lisa broke free of Pepper to cower close to Rafael. “Don’t let them touch me.”
Rafael put his arm protectively around her. “I’m here. It’s all right.”
The girls were inches from them now. They moved in one communal piece, as though their matching uniforms glued them to one another.
Stone put out his hand to keep the girls from getting any closer. They seemed to respect authority, because they stopped. In various states of elation, they stared. The tiniest of them,skinny the way Pepper had been at that age, continued to say their names over and over in a chant of adoration.
A redhead panted. “We love you so much. Is it true you’re best friends in real life?”
Pepper stepped forward, hoping to put a shield between Lisa and the girls. Stone lingered close. “Wearebest friends. We’ve been that way for thirteen years. How did you know?”
“We read an article about you on the plane over here,” said a girl with dark curly hair and a pug nose. “We’ve all seen your movie three times.”
“Last night. We saw it again last night,” the redhead said between breaths.
The gangly one had located a scrap of paper from her pocket and thrust it at them. “Can I have an autograph? My mom’s going to freak that we met you.”
Pepper took the paper and signed her name with a flourish. This was way too much fun. She handed the paper to Lisa. Her skin had gone as white as the quartz tile in their hotel.
They signed the rest of the girls’ slips of paper as more questions were fired at them.
“Did you like kissing Brad Michaels?” one asked Lisa.
Brad was Lisa’s love interest in the movie they’d made together with Genevieve Banks. He and his brother were teen heartthrobs because of a television show they’d acted in a couple years ago. One night after the premiere, he’d been chased all the way to his hotel.
“It’s just a job,” Lisa said, sounding as fragile as a crystal glass. “Kissing another actor isn’t like kissing someone in real life.”
The redhead hadn’t stopped staring at Lisa. “I heard your interview after the shooting at the music festival—how you get afraid all the time from loud noises and stuff. My brother’s a vet,and he’s just like you. My whole family thinks you’re super brave to talk about it.”
“Thank you,” Lisa said with a small, sad smile. “It was hard to talk about, but I’m glad I did it. My husband’s a vet as well.” Lisa snuggled into Rafael’s chest. Pepper knew this meant Lisa’s legs were shaking. “He’s the brave one of the two of us.”
“Pepper, we heard you’re getting married,” said one of the girls who hadn’t yet spoken. “Is that him?” She pointed at Stone.
