She glared back before batting her eyes at Tim. “Zoe was explaining that you saw the accident with the t-shirts. I panicked. I would have returned and paid for the shirts, but I saw Zoe had already taken care of it.”
Not knowing either sister well enough to know if that was true, he nodded.
“We should go,” Zoe said. “I said we’d be there at twelve-thirty.”
“We’re meeting a friend for lunch,” Gabby said. “Would you like to join us?”
“I’d love to, but I’m meeting my brother and his fiancée.”
“That’s too bad,” Gabby said.
“Some other time.” He looked at Zoe. “I’m sure we’ll run into each other again, being neighbors and all.”
Zoe licked her lips, causing more than a few erotic thoughts to flood his brain. He adjusted his ball cap, then shoved his hands in his pockets. Jase and Bree were probably waiting for him but he wanted to linger, to spend even a few more minutes next to Zoe, but it was starting to get awkward.
“See you around.”
“Bye,” they both said.
The switched back to Portuguese as he walked away and he grinned, fighting the urge to look back over his shoulder. They were definitely talking about him. Maybe they were checking out his butt.
* * *
A small bellover the door jangled as he pushed into the small restaurant Bree said she wanted to try. Dozens of different kinds of pastries filled the display case to his left, calling out to his sweet tooth,eat me. Whatever kind of food they served here, he was saving room for dessert. Hell, he might have only dessert. And one to go.
A young girl walked around the counter, holding a long menu folder. “Welcome to the Cafe. Will you be dining alone or will others be joining you this afternoon?”
Tim stared down at her. She was very articulate for someone so young. He took in her long blond hair, gathered in a braid that hung over her shoulder and her bright blue eyes.
“How old are you?”
Her weary sigh and barely contained eye roll told him it wasn’t the first time she’d been asked that question.
“I’m thirteen. I only work six hours a week. My mom owns the Cafe and I’m trying to earn tips to help pay for a school trip to New York.”
She’d definitely recited that more than a few times. Over her head, he spotted Jase exiting a short hall at the back of the dining area.
Tim pointed in that direction. “The rest of my party is already here.”
She turned to follow his gestured and then flashed a smile. “Perfect. I was getting their waters ready. I’ll be right over to take drink orders.”
Spinning so quickly he had to dodge the whip-like action of her braid, she headed back behind the counter next to the pastry display. He wove through the dozen or so tables occupied with couples and small groups in various stages of their meals to the back of the restaurant and the long table against the back wall.
Planting a kiss on Bree’s cheek, he thumped Jase on the back of his head and took the empty seat across from them, next to Denise.
“Hey. Where’s Chris?” He hardly ever saw Denise without her husband attached to her. Thursday had been the first time in weeks he’d seen her alone.
“Went to see a man about a boat,” Denise said.
He glanced behind her chair at the large, canine-shaped mound that was her service dog, Sprocket. Straightening up, he asked, “Is that because you already have a horse?”
“Ha, ha, ha, ha,” she fake laughed.
He grinned. There’d been a time when he’d thought about asking Denise out, but after spending some time with her he knew they’d never have worked out. She was too independent. Not that he had anything against independent women, but he needed at least the illusion of being needed. It wasn’t ego. He enjoyed taking care of a woman. He wasn’t going to apologize for being an old-fashioned romantic—even if that didn’t get him a lot of dates nowadays.
“How’s the old lady doing?” Denise asked.
“You were right. She’s in the running for the laziest dog in the world. If I didn’t walk her, I’m not even sure she would move to go to the bathroom.”
