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plastered with them. Sarah’s a cutie-pie,” he pronounced, and if he reached over to pinch her cheek, she wouldn’t have been surprised. “I think we’ll keep her.”
    “Sarah?” Judith was looking more anxious than disapproving now.
    “Taylor’s okay,” Sarah said, and realized that she really did believe he was. “Taylor, thanks for stopping by and, um, checking on me.”
    “No problem.” He ignored Judith’s stares, and sidled up to Sarah, dropping to a mock whisper. “No offense, my dear, but you might want to jump in the shower and change before you brunch with Ms. Mom. You’ll feel much better.”
    “I was planning to,” she said.
    “Oh, and here.” He handed her a can from the case of soda he had carried in and put on her kitchen table.
    “What’s this?”
    “Fabulous stuff. Buy it in Chinatown by the caseload,” he said. She realized she couldn’t read the label—she thought the label was Chinese, or possibly Korean. “I like to call it Hangover Remover. You chug that down like a good girl. Do you club?”
    Her eyes widened. “Um…”
    He smiled, and it was like being smiled on by a benevolent god. “You are so sweet! Well, we’ll stick to dinners first, but I like you,” he said expansively. She liked him, too, she realized. “Here.” He reached into his back pocket, and pulled out a business card. She read it: “Taylor Mayerling. Marketing Communications Manager, Demille Plastics Company.”
    “Plastics?” she said.
    Kit grinned. “There is a great future in plastics.”
    “ The Graduate. That’s so easy.” Taylor frowned at him, then turned back to Sarah. “Well, it’s not sexy, but it’s a paycheck.”
    “I hear you,” Sarah said, then winced again.
    “Gotta run, but you call me and we’ll do dinner. I’d ask for your number, but…” He looked at Judith and smiled. “Well, some other time. Oh!” He took the card back, grabbed a pen off of her table and wrote on the other side.
    She glanced at his hasty scrawl. “Martika?”
    “That’s her number. If you change your mind about the roomie thing, give her a call.”
    He hugged her, and it was nice—even if Judith was frowning. Kit just gave her a friendly half nod, and the two of them trooped out, closing the door behind them.
    “Who were those characters?” Judith said.
    Sarah smiled, looking down at the card. “Friends,” she said. “My first friends here.”
    Judith’s lips pursed. “You really need to be more careful, Sarah. They could be dangerous.”
    “Do you really think so?”
    “Sarah,” Judith said. Now that the men were gone, disapproval replaced fear. “Honestly. This isn’t Fairfield.”
    “So. We’re having brunch?” Sarah didn’t want to be reminded, or lectured.
    “I know you’re looking for the perfect job, but I thought you might want to try advertising. I mean, you’ve done P.R. and a little ad sales, so why not try the agency?”
    Ordinarily, Sarah would have considered the agency on the same level as, say, becoming a freelance sump pump service tech. But she didn’t have a lot of options. “I’m a little less picky than I thought I’d be,” Sarah replied.
    Judith smiled. “I thought we’d eat and go over your résumé. I seem to remember a spot opening up on Account Management,” Judith said, all business now. “I don’t have any particular restaurant in mind, but I’m sure there’s going to be something fairly close by. This is West Hollywood, after all.”
    “What, is that a good restaurant part of town?”
    Judith sent her a little puzzled grin. “Sarah…don’t you know about West Hollywood?”
    Sarah frowned. “What about it?”
    “Your friend Taylor is a shining example of the residents of West Hollywood,” Judith said.
    “So what?” Sarah huffed impatiently. “I like Taylor. And he’s right, I need to shower and change my clothes real quick…”
    “Notice how many men are around here?” Judith interrupted. “Good-looking, well