“Bullshit. You haven’t eaten this morning. And you burned a lot of calories last night.”
He gave her a grin that made her tingle in spite of the niggling thoughts of being a penguin fraud.
“Besides, once you try this you will be hungry.”
Deciding that arguing with him was also a waste of time, she took the spoon from his fingers and dipped into the bowl. She took a small taste.
Huh. Not bad. She didn’t mind oatmeal and cream of wheat and this had a perfect combination of sugar and cinnamon. She looked at Zeke.
He smiled. “Right?”
“Yeah. Okay, you were right.” She took another bite.
He watched her eat for a minute or so, munching on a strip of bacon. After she had taken about four bites, he pushed his plate toward her. “Okay, now try this.”
He’d eaten about half. But there was plenty still left. The portions here were huge.
“You don’t like grits?”
“Grits are fine. Sometimes. But they’re no eggs Benedict.”
“Grits are probably more my thing though,” she told him. “I like simple and straightforward. Eggs Benedict is… complicated. There’s lots of ingredients and it takes a lot more time.”
“I hear you loud and clear, Kansas. Taste the fucking eggs Benedict.”
She really did believe that he understood her analogy with breakfast food and how she preferred her life and relationships.
But she still leaned over and cut off a piece of the eggs Benedict. She took the bite, fully expecting to enjoy it.
What she hadn’t expected, however, was to moan out loud.
“Oh my God,” she said, after she swallowed. “That’s amazing.”
He lifted a hand and tugged on the end of a strand of hair. “A little extra time and a few extra ingredients are sometimes worth it.”
Yeah, she didn’t miss his analogy either.
She also didn’t miss that it was the morning after, they barely knew one another, and he was already pressing for more.
“I’ll give you that,” she said. “But I don’t have time for eggs Benedict in my mornings. And the grits do the job. When all is said and done, all of the food gets broken down into the same parts that your body uses for nutrition and energy. All I need are the calories to get me through the day. It doesn’t really matter where they come from. So I definitely opt for simple.”
“You’re not wrong,” he said. “But if you’re only focused on what happens after, you’re missing a lot of pleasure of the initial experience.”
Yeah, yeah.
“Here you go.”
They were interrupted by another woman. This one looked to be in her mid-fifties. She had brown hair the same mahogany color as Zeke’s and the same brown eyes. She set a paper grocery bag on the table next to Zeke.
“Hello,” she said to Jill. “I’m Elizabeth, Ezekiel’s mom.”
“Hello.” And now she’d met his mother. Who called him by his full name. Wonderful.
“And you just happened to be coming in here and thought to bring me this…stuff?” Zeke asked, pushing the bag further under the table.
“Of course not,” Elizabeth said. “Your brother texted Fletcher, who texted your dad, who texted me that you were here with the pretty new penguin veterinarian.”
Jill pressed her lips together. Yep, she knew exactly how texting trees like that worked.
Zeke didn’t say anything.
Elizabeth nodded and addressed Jill. “And he’s not saying anything about that because he would have done the very same thing. I swear Leo and Ellie are the only people who spread more gossip than my boys.”
“Knox,” Zeke finally said. “Knox knows as much.”
“Knox might know as much, but I said spread. He doesn’t talk about what he knows the way you and Alexander do.”
And Zander’s full name was Alexander. Okay, then.
“Anyway, it’s very nice to meet you, Jill.”
“Thank you, you too, Mrs. Landry.”
“Oh, Lord, there are way too many of those around here. Call me Elizabeth.”
She really had a point about the number of Landrys. Mrs. or otherwise.
“And I used the ocean breezes dryer sheets for you,” Elizabeth said to Zeke. “But if you like them, you’ll have to get me some more. I’m out.”
Jill looked from his mother to Zeke, then leaned to look into the paper bag Elizabeth had given him.
He pushed it further away with his foot.
“I’ll see you both later,” Elizabeth said with a smile. Then she turned and headed out.
Zeke blew out a breath.
“Ocean breezes dryer sheets?” Jill asked.
“She was…kidding.”
Jill leaned in and propped her chin on her hand. “Was she? Or did she just hand you a grocery bag full of clean clothes that she washed, dried, and folded for you?”
“She…helps me out sometimes when I get really busy with projects. Like huge, impressive, never-before-attempted-in-Autre penguin enclosures.”
“Your mom does your laundry for you,” Jill summarized.
“Sometimes.”
“Okay.”
“She likes doing it. She says she loves it when we let her mother us.”
“Okay.” Jill picked her fork back up.
“It makes her feel good.”
Jill took a bite.
“And she uses those dryer sheets for other people too.”
Jill swallowed and shook her head. “Zeke, I would love to have someone else do my laundry. I am not judging you. Go for it. Let her do it all, all the time. Hell, throw mine in with yours if you get a chance. I’ll buy the next box of dryer sheets. And you can pick the scent.”
He paused with his mouth open. Then shut it. Frowned. Then opened it again. “Really?”
“Of course. Having someone do my laundry for me? That’s right up there with grocery delivery services.”
He nodded, seeming to accept that. That was good. She totally meant it.
“By the way, we don’t have grocery delivery services here.”
She sighed. Yeah, she’d figured.
It was amazing to Zeke how much he liked watching Jill eat grits. Grits were not a sexy food. They weren’t even all that interesting, to be honest. They were a side dish, a base, a filler. But watching her eat the grits, when it was clearly out of her norm, and because he’d encouraged it, made him stupidly happy.
She also ate a third of his eggs Benedict and stole his last two pieces of bacon. And he happily gave them up. Which was a sure sign that he liked this girl more than most.
It was very clear Jill was holding herself back. She’d admitted as much when she’d told him she was from a small town. She knew what it was like for people to get involved in her business.
Jill was obviously a very independent person. She was used to taking care of herself. She liked things a very certain way and in the short time he’d known her she’d already made it very clear that she liked things simple and straightforward.
Zeke could get on board with that. Simple and straightforward was a great way to be. When things went as expected, it made things much less dramatic. And with a big family like his, there always seemed to be some drama, even when things were going smoothly.