Her lips quirked at that. “Fair warning -- I like things hot.”

“I love things hot,” he said.

Jake just grinned. “Aw man, she’s gonna eat you up and spit you out. I’m so happy.”

“Shh,” Caleb said. “I don’t want to miss him getting his ass handed to him.”

Ivy just cocked her head at Kel. “Think you can handle the heat?”

“Oh yeah.”

“Five minutes.” And she shut the window on them.

They moved to one of the two picnic tables at the entrance to the courtyard in front of them, where they sat to wait for their food. Caleb looked at Kel and shook his head. “Man, as much as I enjoy seeing you get your ego squashed, I feel duty bound to warn you. Whatever’s making you smile, it’s never going to happen. Ivy’s not the girl you have fun with and walk away from. And plus, she hates cops.”

“Agreed,” Jake said. “You’ve got a better shot at stealing Sadie away from Caleb. And good luck with that. Your cousin’s woman is batshit crazy over him, God knows why.”

Caleb just smiled, apparently not feeling the need to defend his relationship.

Kel was happy for him. Very happy. Caleb hadn’t given his heart away … ever. And for good reasons, which Kel had hated for him. “About time you found someone who deserves you.”

Caleb was quiet a moment. “I like having you here,” he said, kind enough to leave out the tone of recrimination. It’d been a long time, too long, which had been all Kel’s doing. He’d spent the first ten years of his life here in the city, he and his sister and his parents. They’d lived next door to his aunt and her kids, including Caleb. Kel hadn’t realized at the time, but they’d all been poor as dirt, even though his parents had always managed to make it seem like they’d had everything they’d needed.

Then his mom had destroyed that happy illusion with a single, shattering mistake, creating a huge rift none of them had recovered from. Two years later had come yet another blow. His dad had died, and Kel and his older sister Remy had gone to Idaho to be raised by their grandparents.

It’d sucked.

“You see Remy yet?” Caleb asked.

Kel’s sister had moved back here to San Francisco after getting married last year. And no, he hadn’t seen her yet. And yes, he was stalling.

“Okay … how about your mom?” Caleb asked.

Kel slid him a look.

Caleb raised his hands. “Hey, just asking.”

“Uh huh. Do you ask all your employees such personal questions?”

“No, just my brother.”

“I’m your cousin.”

“You’re my brother,” Caleb said with meaning.

Kel sighed and looked over at Jake.

Jake shrugged. “He likes to adjust facts to suit him. But you knew that already.”

Ivy came out of the truck with three baskets. She served Jake first, then Caleb, and finally Kel. She handed him his basket and stood there at his side, a tiny pixie of a woman in that sassy apron, elf headband, and painted on jeans faded to a buttery softness. Her boots were serious and kickass, and because he was a very sick man, they turned him on.