“It is not that bad,” she said.
He cocked an eyebrow and held the order slip out to her. “Translate, please.”
She took the piece of paper from him, held it close, and then moved it farther away. Maybe it wasn’t her best penmanship, but she’d been in a rush to get the order in so she could go to the bathroom before her bladder burst.
“Grilled ham and cheese, brioche bread, side salad.”
She shoved the order back at him, but his attention was not on her. It was on Kevin and Tim, still standing at the counter. More specifically at Kevin, who was staring equally as hard back at Rob.
“Rob, this is Kevin and Tim. Kevin and Tim, this is Rob—he’s the cook.”
Rob held out his hand to Kevin. “It’s a pleasure to meet one of Haven Springs’ finest.” His wink was almost comically exaggerated.
Kevin’s cheeks were bright red and he had a hard time looking directly at Rob, but he managed to mumble a “Nice to meet you.”
“Rob,” she said.
“Huh?” He hadn’t let go of Kevin’s hand and barely turned his head in her direction.
“Food.”
“Oh. Right. Ham and cheese. Got it.” He took the order and pushed through the swinging door to the kitchen.
“Why don’t you guys grab a seat and I’ll get you some coffee? Is regular coffee all right or would you like a latte or cappuccino?” she asked.
“Regular for me,” Kevin said.
“Same here.” Tim led the way to a two-seater table against the back wall.
The back view was as nice as the front view. Jeez, she was as bad as Rob. Taking two cups from the rack, she grabbed the carafe of freshly brewed coffee and took them to their table. Pouring their coffee, she asked, “Do you know what you guys want?”
“Are there any of those napoleon things?” Tim asked.
She glanced over her shoulder at the display case. Elba had been baking that morning before retreating to her office to work on invoices, but Zoe wasn’t sure what she’d made. “Let me check in the back. Do you have a backup in case there aren’t any?”
“What did you put into the case when we walked in?”
“Caramel eclairs.”
His tongue darted out and licked his lips, drawing her gaze to his mouth and his full, kissable lips. Where had that thought come from? She resisted the urge to mimic his action. Barely.
“I’ll just take one of those,” he said.
She blinked and tore her gaze from him and looked at Kevin. “And for you?”
“I’ll have the same,” he said.
“Okay. Be right back.” No, she wasn’t running away, even though it kind of felt that way. She had orders to fill. Food to deliver to tables. Images of full lips to get out of her head.
Returning the carafe to the warmer, she pulled down two plates.
“Psst! Psst! Zoe!”
She glanced over her shoulder toward the kitchen. Rob leaned around the swinging door and gestured for her to come over to him.
“Hang on. Let me serve these eclairs.”
“No. Now.” He ducked back into the kitchen.
