“I thought you ladies might need some fresh towels.” He moved and whispered into Téa’s ear but loud enough for Jessie to hear, “Did you manage to convince her to stay for breakfast? I heard you in the hall. Brian is an excellent cook.”
Both Michael and Téa turned in Jessie’s direction waiting for her approval. They had a clear view of her in the bathroom and her of them as she continued brushing her teeth.
Jessie rubbed her forehead. Téa was taking this do anything for you to its limit. It was obvious she wanted to stay, and Téa knew Jessie wasn’t going to leave her there alone.
Téa was going to owe her big for this one. “Fine, but we’ve got to get on the road right after breakfast.”
Michael flashed a wide smile, “I’ll let Brian know to make extra pancakes. He loves to cook and is glad you guys are staying. Did you need some other clothes to change into? I’m sure I can find some sweats and t-shirts.”
Téa took the towels from him, “Thank you, but we have a change of clothes in the car.”
Michael raised an eyebrow.
“It’s not what you think. Jessie and I sometimes have to do overnighters for our job. We both keep a backpack full of things we might need. A change of clothing is one of them.”
Michael seemed pretty satisfied with that answer and relaxed in relief. “Okay, then I’ll see you both in the kitchen in thirty minutes.”
Téa got real close to Michael. She positioned her head so close to his that she was a breath away from touching his lips. Then she whispered, “Sounds good.”
Chapter 8
Brian was in the kitchen making breakfast when Michael came down, fresh from taking a shower.
“How is it that you roped me into making breakfast when I should be upstairs sleeping?”
Michael went over by the stove and grabbed a sausage. “Oh…I don’t know…maybe guilt? If I remember correctly you made me wait outside in the car for almost twenty-four hours when you were dating that red-headed actress. You’d mentioned something about you’d only be gone a few minutes.”
Brian turned around with the spatula in his hands. “I think this pretty much means we are even.”
“Almost, I still need you to keep Jessie occupied. Then, we’ll be even. If it were up to her, they would have been gone last night and definitely on the road right now.”
“She sounds like a smart girl.”
Michael tossed the last piece of his sausage in his mouth. “Well, they’ll be down any minute so keep making them flapjacks.”
“By the looks of those ladies, I’m surprised they even eat flapjacks.”
“You should know better than anybody not to judge a book by its cover.” Michael took a look around the kitchen. “The party planners did a really good job of cleaning this place up last night.”
“Yeah, you better be glad they did because if they hadn’t, you would be taking two lovely ladies out to breakfast whether I owed you or not.”
Just as Brian was finishing making the scrambled eggs, Téa and Jessie walked into the kitchen. It was a beautiful eat-in with restaurant-style appliances. The sunlight was beaming through the skylights and the patio window opened onto a large deck that sat over what looked like a man-made pond.
The view was soothing, but Jessie was starving. She hadn’t really eaten anything since late-afternoon yesterday. All she could think about was having some of that fresh fruit and those pancakes.
Téa and Jessie had changed their clothes. Téa was wearing fitted jeans and a t-shirt while Jessie was wearing fitted jeans and a sweatshirt. Jessie also hid her hair underneath a baseball cap. Her face was free of all makeup. She was as beautiful without makeup as she was with it. Téa on the other hand wasn’t wearing a lot of makeup but did have on a little bit. Brian was impressed that Jessie hadn’t tried to impress him. If anything, she looked as if she didn’t want to be bothered. The two ladies couldn’t be more different if they tried.
Jessie sat on the stool next to the island. “Thank you for making breakfast. It seems your brother has a way of making you do things you probably didn’t want to do just as Téa does with me.”
Brian smiled at her, and for the first time it seemed genuine. “No problem. Almost anything for the ones you love right?”
Téa picked up a sausage from the dish just like Michael had earlier. “Hellooo! We’re standing right here.”
Brian finished the eggs and put them out on the island with the rest of the food. “Breakfast is ready.”
Everyone engaged in chitchat as they made their plates and sat around the island. Brian was actually very witty. Jessie found it easy to talk with him.
Brian wanted to get to know Téa a little better, too. Michael seemed to be genuinely interested in her, and they had both had enough of the opportunists. “Téa, Michael hasn’t told me very much about you. What do you do?”
Téa took a sip of her orange juice before answering. She knew this was somewhat of an interview. “You could say I’m somewhat of a geek. I work for Jessie playing around with computers and stuff.”
Brian turned to Jessie, “You own your own business? What kind is it?”
Jessie put down her fork, “I own a Network and Security Management company called Ramses.”
Michael was thinking the same thing as Brian, “I’ve never heard of Ramses. Where is that based out of?”
“We are based out of Phoenix. I actually live in Phoenix. Most of our clients are referral only unless you know some of our clients you probably wouldn’t have heard of us.”
“So, is this like home security or something?”
Jessie smiled coyly, “Or something.”
“So, if I wanted to hire you for a new home security system, could you help me out? The paparazzi are out of control.”
“Sure, I could give you some recommendations.”
Michael and Téa were engrossed in their
