“Yeah, it took me a while to figure it out. These photographs are amazing,” I comment with a smile. Deciding whether I should come back later to buy it. It’s stunning.
“They are. Lizzie is very talented.”
His words catch me off guard, and I focus back on him. “They’re Lizzie’s? All of them?”
I can’t hide my shock. In all the time we’ve spent together, she never once mentioned she’s a photographer.
He nods with a smile, clearly proud of his aunt. “She’s extremely talented.”
“I’d say,” I marvel. “I wonder why she doesn’t try to have them in a gallery in the city somewhere. She’s better than many others I’ve seen.”
“She doesn’t do this for the money but because she loves it. She’s had galleries approach her, but she never needed the validation. I think she likes just having them displayed around town.” Pride fills his voice. And I get that, how not everything needs to be monetized. And these pictures fit perfectly into this place.
“That sounds like Lizzie.”
“Yeah.”
I’m not sure what else to say, when we’re interrupted by an older woman in her sixties walking up to our table and placing our food and coffee in front of us. I didn’t even notice Amber never brought us our drinks.
“I’m sorry for the delay on your coffee, dearies.” Her smile is infectious and lacks any of the contempt I’ve been treated to by Amber.
I thank her with a smile, already knowing I’m going to like her. Some people just have that presence you know you’ll feel comfortable in no matter what because it comes without judgment.
She turns to me with a warm smile. “I’m Mrs. Tabitha. I own this joint.” Her usage of ‘joint’ causes a chuckle to escape me. “I’d like to formally apologize for my niece’s behavior. She’s a handful.” She leans in conspiratorially, catching me off guard, and whispers, “And don’t worry, I made sure no one spit into your food.”
Kade, who clearly heard her, bursts out laughing, causing the whole restaurant to turn and blatantly stare at us while Mrs. Tabitha straightens. She winks at me before she walks off. I’m pretty sure if she could have, she’d have done a ‘mic drop’ move that rivaled any of the memes available.
“Oh, my god,” I whisper before I cover my face with my hands, wishing the earth would swallow me whole. “Do you think the whole place heard me?”
Kade’s body is still shaking with laughter when he reaches over to pull my hands away. “No, she was standing behind you when you said it. You just didn’t notice. You’re good at tuning out stuff around you that you don’t want to deal with.”
“It’s a special talent of mine. Amongst others,” I quip, glad no one else heard me but also mortified the owner did.
I pull my hands from his and reach for my coffee, trying to dispel the embarrassment. I let the strong brew warm me from the inside before I dig into the pancakes. I watch Kade follow suit while I chew.
A moan rips from my throat as soon as the flavors hit my senses. I didn’t know pancakes could taste this amazing. I keep eating and don’t pay attention to Kade until he stops my fork halfway to my mouth, and he threatens in a dark whisper I’ve come to think of as his bedroom-voice.
“Moan like that one more time, and I be drag you out of here to my truck, drive you to the first secluded area, and fuck you so hard you’ll be feeling me for days to come.”
My mouth drops open and my breath stalls in my chest, while my pussy—the traitorous bitch—gushes at the prospect. I’m shocked he’d say this in a crowded restaurant, but more so, I’m taken aback by my own visceral reaction to his behavior.
“Fucking hell, you’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
“I…” I can’t form actual words to convey what I’m currently feeling. It ranges from shock to arousal to mortification at being spoken to like that in public and get turned on by it.
“You do.” He bites his lower lip, like he’s as turned on by all of this as me. But then his eyes are drawn to something over my shoulder and his spine straightens, all traces of wanting to devour me whole gone, replaced by a pleasant smile.
“Hi Wayne, Lizzie.” His voice is even, betraying nothing while I’m breathing hard, trying to control my reaction, when his words register, and I freeze. My eyes grow wide.
Holy shit.
Please someone tell me my father and his wife aren’t standing behind me while I was this close to jumping Kade and ripping his clothes off in public.
“Hi, you two.” Lizzie is the one to speak first. “What are you doing here?” The surprise in her voice is evident.
I don’t turn around, still trying to get my emotions under control. Letting Kade take control of the conversation.
“Just having breakfast. The power went out at the farm yesterday, so I thought I’d bring Montana to town for breakfast.”
“What happened to the backup generator?” Wayne asks.
“Didn’t work. Not sure what’s wrong with it.” Kade shrugs, clearly not all that concerned about what my father and Lizzie might think about finding us here together.
“Fuck, I hope it’s nothing major.”
“It might not be. You know I’m hopeless when it comes to machinery like that.”
I quietly listen to the conversation between Kade and my father while I concentrate on my pancakes like they’re the most fascinating food ever.
“Well,” Lizzie’s voice chips in. “I’m glad you were there to take care of Montana.” I start choking on my food as soon as her words register.
Her hand stars connecting with my back, trying to dislodge whatever is causing me to choke, unaware of the innuendo her words carry.
“You
