“If I have to define it, the answer is no.”
A bowl of cereal standing at her kitchen counter and she was done in five minutes. It’d taken more than that to drive to this place. Now they were going to have to go inside and order and wait for everything to get prepared and probably have conversations in the meantime. Everyone knew that talking while you ate made eating take longer.
Jill’s inability to just sit and have a meal and conversation that lasted for more than ten minutes drove her mother insane. Her mom, like most of the town of Bliss, loved to sit around and talk. They dressed the events up with food and drink and called them barbecues and picnics and potlucks and block parties to make it seem like it was a meal, but truly it was just an excuse to sit around even longer and tell stories and gossip.
It had always driven Jill crazy.
It wasn’t that she was opposed to eating with other people. But her main focus was the eating and if there was some conversation on the side as well, fine, but no one needed an hour and a half to finish a hot dog and potato chips. In fact, left alone, Jill could eat a hot dog and potato chips and even have dessert done in less than ten minutes. People just needed to focus.
And no, the prepackaged Hot Cakes snack cakes that she counted as dessert weren’t as good as her mother’s homemade fudge brownies, but Jill was generally willing to sacrifice a little bit of homemade goodness for a saved hour in her schedule. And hey, those Hot Cakes people knew what they were doing.
“How long do you think this is going to take?” she asked as she joined Zeke at the front door to the building.
He pulled the door open and looked at her with a grin. “Longer than you’re gonna want it to.”
“It’s that obvious?”
“That you do not want to walk in here and have breakfast with my entire family and half the town? Yes, it’s that obvious. What’s that about anyway? Are you antisocial, shy, or just anti-people in general?”
“I’m anti-wasted time.”
“Eating breakfast is wasting time?”
“Telling my whole life story to a room full of strangers while trying to eat breakfast is a waste of time.”
His grin grew. “You really are from a small town.”
Then he nudged her through the doorway.
8
Everyone in the place looked over and when they realized there was a stranger standing in the room, they all got quiet.
Yep, she was from a small town all right. This was exactly what happened when people walked into Parker’s café or Blissfully Baked—where they sold pie, not weed—in downtown Bliss.
“Morning, everyone,” Zeke greeted the room.
His hand came to rest on Jill’s lower back and he nudged her again, making her step forward. She took a few steps and found that he was steering her between the tables toward the back of the room even as he chatted and greeted people along the way.
None of that surprised her, of course. What was astonishing, however, were the people who greeted her. By name.
She glanced up at Zeke.
And caught him pointing at the top of her head and mouthing, “Penguin girl.”
“Penguin girl?” she repeated.
He didn’t look even slightly sheepish. “Veterinarian is harder to lip read.”
She rolled her eyes. Then turned back to the room and raised her hand in a wave. And her voice. “Hi, everyone. Yes, I’m the penguin girl. My name is Jill. They will be here on Thursday. They’re absolutely as cute as you think they are. But no, you can’t visit them. For a while.”
She added that last part without thinking. She should not have said that.
Everyone took in the information, nodded, and went back to their breakfasts.
Geez. Small towns.
Zeke pinched her side. “Just like home?”
“So much.”
“What are we having this time?” the older woman behind the bar called.
She had long silver hair that was braided and fell nearly all the way down her back. She had tanned skin like that of someone who’d spent years outdoors in this hot Louisiana sun. And she had a bright smile.
“This time?” Jill asked.
“I was in here earlier. Right after I rolled out of bed.” He gave her a grin. “Bragging about my amazing night.”
“So you did brag to your friends.”
“Told you I would.” He gave her a hot, if slightly amused look. Then he glanced toward the bar. “Eggs Benedict and hash browns, I’m thinking,” Zeke told the woman.
Jill looked up at him. “Really?”
“Cora’s hash browns are amazing.”
“I just told you that I wanted cereal and I didn’t like spending a lot of time on meals and you ordered eggs Benedict?”
“I figure if I’m gonna convince you that taking your time with meals is worthwhile, I’d better give you some of the best food you can get,” Zeke told her. He pulled out a chair at one of two long tables at the very back of the room and nudged her into it.
There were already people sitting at the tables. They looked over and smiled, but they didn’t even pause their conversation as Zeke and Jill joined them.
Zeke dropped into the chair next to her and leaned back, stretching his arm out over the back of her chair and crossing one ankle over his opposite knee. He was the epitome of relaxed and laid back.
Eggs Benedict was brunch food, dammit.
How had this happened?
Last night she’d been walking back to her motel room from the convenience store with pistachios and a Diet Dr. Pepper. Now, less than twelve hours later, she’d had the best sex of her life, found out that her house contractor was the same guy who built the penguin habitat, who was also her neighbor, who was also the guy she had that hot sex with, and she was now basically at brunch.
“Rock-paper-scissors continues to be the only fair way to do this,” one of the men sitting at the table with them said.
Jill instantly realized that this was Zeke’s twin brother. They were clearly identical twins. Even down to the long hair. His twin had his pulled back into a bun at the back of his head. He was also obviously a cop. He was in his uniform as he lounged at the table.
Zeke leaned over. “Zander, my brother,” he said softly.
Zander didn’t have the same tattoos in the same places on his arms, and he didn’t have a glint of gold in his earlobe, but he was incredibly good-looking, with his dark eyes, beard, and muscles. And yes, what they said about men in uniform was true. They were hot. Period.
Of course, that seemed to be a regular thing around here.
Michael, the handsome paramedic from last night was there too. Also in uniform. He gave Jill a smile and a wink.
And sitting next to him was freaking Donovan Foster.
Jill sucked in a quick breath and then realized she’d sat up straighter. She swallowed hard and sat back.
Zeke chuckled beside her. “I’m guessing you know who Foster is?”
“I, um…yeah.”
She didn’t watch much TV but when she did—big surprise—she tended toward nature shows, particularly ones that featured wild animals. It was no coincidence that one of her favorites had been hosted by Griffin’s brother, Donovan.
She hadn’t known about Donovan Foster or his show until she’d met Griffin, but once he’d spilled the beans about his TV-star brother, she’d checked him out and had been hooked.