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Chapter 4
“YOU GONNA EAT THAT, PHAE?”
Phae pushed her plate toward Sylvie, who happily snatched up the remaining crinkly fries.
“I’ve got to stop eating these big lunches,” Phae said while eyeing her half-eaten burger and fries. “It costs too much, and it’s too much food. I’m having a salad at home tomorrow, Sylvie, so don’t tempt me again.”
“Nobody said you had to order the deluxe fat special, you know. Look at me. I’m eating a salad.” She ate a fry drenched in ketchup and swallowed quickly. “You don’t have to eat at home to eat healthy.”
“I can’t order healthy food when I eat out. And I can’t leave food on my plate, either.” Phae grabbed another fry and began to munch.
“Just because you paid for it, doesn’t mean you have to eat it. Practice some self-discipline. Put the fry down.”
Phae shook her head.
“The fry. Put it down.” She pointed her fork at Phae. “I don’t want to have to poke you.”
“Don’t act righteous. I know you’re not trying to save me from the fries. You want all of them for yourself.”
Sylvie grinned charmingly. “It can be both things at once, you know. They aren’t mutually exclusive.”
“Okay, tough girl with the scary fork. You win. Take it with you when we leave. You can use it to keep me out of here tomorrow.”
“Actually, I think you should come here every day. You need to get out more, be social, see people and be seen.”
“I work in a beauty shop. All I do all day long is see people. And talk to people. And listen to people. And put up with people and—”
“Okay, I didn’t mean people. I meant men. Men never come into the shop and when they do, it’s only to pick up their wives or girlfriends.”
“Look around this place. How many people are in here? Maybe thirty? And yes, most of them are men, but if they’re not married, they’re related. Leave it alone and let me handle my own love life.”
Sylvie shrugged and raised her hands in surrender. “Okay, already. Tomorrow we’ll eat salads at the shop. Hey, wait a minute. Who’s that?”
Phae turned toward the door. Her heart stopped for a moment when she recognized Kent Holmes. He looked even more handsome than she remembered in a snug knit shirt and casual slacks.
She reminded herself to act naturally. After the way she’d bolted from Miss Eugenia’s garden the other day, Kent must think her either foolish or shifty.
Phae took a deep breath, smiled and waved.
“Oh my God, you know him,” Sylvie said. “Does that mean you have dibs? He’s gorgeous. He’s coming over here. He’s hot.”
“I know. Calm down. And anyway, you should be thinking about Dr. Alan.”
“Doctor who? Oh, right. He’s not really a doctor, you know. He’s a chiropractor,” she hissed.
“Shh. And I don’t have dibs. Well, maybe, I don’t know.” Phae took a sip of water.
Kent strolled up in all his manly glory, impossibly tall in the cafe. “Hi, mind if I join you?” he asked in his wonderfully deep voice.
Phae waved to a chair. “Please do.”
The women avidly watched him sit down, imagining the motions of the muscles under his pants.
“Where’s your ponytail?” he asked with a smile.
“Sylvie took pity on me and did my hair today. Sylvie, this is Miss Eugenia’s puny, sickly nephew Kent Holmes. As you can see, he’s not well, so don’t be too witty or charming. We don’t want to wear him out.”
Kent grinned at Phae and raised a perfectly shaped brow. “I haven’t seen you in five excruciatingly long days and this is how you greet me? Have some pity, woman.” He looked at Sylvie. “It’s nice to meet you. My aunt tells me you work with Phae. My condolences.”
Phae rolled her eyes at Sylvie’s girlish giggle. “Don’t egg him on, Sylvie. He’s impossible to stop once he gets started.”
Sylvie batted her eyelashes at Kent. “I can’t imagine why any lady would ever want to stop you from getting anything you wanted.”
“You need to take lessons from your partner, Phae. She knows how to talk to a man,” he teased. “You should have seen how rude your cousin was the other day, Sylvie. We were having a nice conversation and the next thing you know—whoosh—she was gone, ranting about some class she was missing. I don’t know what I could have said that set her off like that. I had to finish the garden by myself. And my aunt is giving her all the glory.” He shot Phae a handsome sideways glance. “How tall are you, Sylvie?”
Phae snorted and crossed her arms over her chest.
Sylvie answered sweetly, “I’m five-four. And how tall are you?”
“Don’t encourage him,” Phae said. “He’s socially awkward and asks odd things.”
Kent leaned back in his chair and slowly perused Phae. “And you, I’m sure, are the most accomplished socialite in Zeke’s Bend. I can tell by your clothes, the jeans that couldn’t be a day over ten years old. And there’s that big, frayed rip on the knee. You ripped it intentionally, I’m sure, so the guys can get tantalizing glimpses of your lovely knee cap.”
He was interrupted briefly while he ordered some coffee from the waitress.
“And that baggy t-shirt,” he continued when the waitress was gone, “it’s a prime example of feminine wiles. By concealing yourself under loose clothes, you leave it up to a man’s imagination to picture your shape. Far better than revealing yourself in something like a low-cut blouse. And crossing your arms over your chest only adds fuel to the fire.”
He winked at Sylvie. “The true finishing touch to this vamp is her lack of make-up. Take notes, Sylvie. By not enhancing her features with cosmetics, she’s telling the world that she’s bold and free. There’s nothing men like better than a bold, free woman.”
“Okay, Tim Gunn, that’s enough,” Phae said with a disdainful little smile. “Maybe I was wrong when I called you socially awkward. You’re more like socially demented.”
“How do you work with her, Sylvie?” Kent asked, but looked only at Phae. “She’s so cantankerous I’m surprised she doesn’t run off all your customers.”
“She’s an acquired taste,” Sylvie answered.
“Hmm. I could see that,” Kent said, suggestive speculation in his tone.
The waitress returned with his coffee and he thanked her. “See, Phae? I can be polite when no one’s provoking me
.”
Phae unfolded her arms. “Me provoke you? Puh-lease. I can hardly get a word in edgewise.”
Sylvie scooted her chair back and stood. “All right, you two. I’m leaving. No, don’t ask me to stay. I have an appointment in five minutes anyway. What about you, Phae?”
“She’s going to be late,” Kent said, raising an eyebrow as he looked at Phae.
She smiled lazily and returned his stare. “Tell Meg I’ll be late, please, Sylvie.”
Kent grinned. “Actually, Phae’s going to have to cancel that appointment.”
“Cancel my appointment, Sylvie,” Phae said.
“Good grief,” Sylvie muttered as she walked away. “I’ve never seen anything like that in my entire life.”
Kent and Phae inspected one another through lidded eyes.
“I think she sensed our attraction to each other,” Kent said.
“Who said I’m attracted to you?”
“I assumed. Why else would you cancel an appointment? I doubt it’s something you normally do.”
“How do you know what I normally do? I cancelled three appointments to replant your aunt’s garden, so don’t get a big head.”
“You’re not very dedicated to your career are you?”
“Right now,” she said, “I’m dedicated to convincing a certain socially demented man that he is the provoker and I am the provokee.”
He sipped his coffee. “I wish you luck, particularly since I’m certain that provokee isn’t a word.”
Phae watched him purse his sexy lips as he gently blew on his coffee. Sipping coffee shouldn’t have been erotic, but with this guy, it was. When he swallowed, she swallowed.
“Ho! What do we have here?” a voice boomed from above them.
Although she was disappointed to be interrupted from studying Kent’s lips, she smiled at the burly middle-aged man standing beside the table. She said hello and reluctantly introduced Kent to her Uncle Leon.
“Well, then,” Leon said in his usual loud voice. “So you’re Genia’s nephew. Didn’t I see you in here yesterday? How’s that head of yours holding up, boy? All I see is a little bruise. Buck up and tell that aunt of yours to quit bending everybody’s ears about how you’re dying.”
