Now Kelly directed her look toward him. “The kids will take anything sweet and the men will take anything so long as it’s food. Besides,crepes. There’s no way to go wrong with them. At all.”
Joy had to try to cover her mouth with her hand in a half-assed casual way to suppress her laugh now. Kaeden just didn’t get crepes, but clearly the women in front of him did. There was the blonde Joy thought was Jill and another blonde she thought was Jennie, but it was entirely possible she was switching the two. She had only met them that morning.
“Tell me you’ve had crepes.” That was maybe-Jill talking, hands on her hips as she looked at Kaeden.
Maybe-Jennie joined in. “Crepes are ah-may-zing. Gooey and light and perfect. The reviews for this place say they’re incredible.” She put a hand on her stomach as they inched forward in the line. “My stomach is going to revolt if I don’t give it one soon.”
Samantha walked up to the group and nudged maybe-Jill. “Men never get the draw of a good crepe until they’ve had one. It’s just above their heads.”
Kaeden snorted and all the women swung their heads comically in his direction. Joy lost the ability to hold in her laughter. She couldn’t help it.
He pointed in her direction. “No I-told-you-sos. I get it. They like crepes.”
“Love,” the women said in unison.
Kelly said, “Like luuuuv love.”
The women ended up chatting together while they all moved up in line and Kaeden and Joy were left paired together while the line crept forward.
She tried to ignore the fact that to keep half the sidewalk clear for pedestrians he was standing close enough to her that their arms were almost brushing. Close enough to feel that heat of anticipation at the almost contact.
“You look like you’re not going to hold it in.”
Joy shook her head. “What? The I-told-you-so? It’s staying in me just fine.” She could only grin at him as he scowled at her and Joy realized how good it felt to laugh, to be playful. And how surprising it was that it was happening with this man.
She hadn’t had this kind of laughter in a while and she wouldn’t have it again for a long time. Not when she had to move on soon. There would be nothing but strain and unease and the insecurity of trying to find a new situation for at least a month or two. She remembered when she thought her job at a tech firm was stressful. It was nothing compared to living in a car or a seedy motel and wondering if you’d be safe through the night.
None of the places she’d holed up in the last two years had been like this and she doubted wherever she went to next would be either.
Kaeden cut into her bleak thoughts. “So what kind should I get?”
They were getting closer to the front of the line now and Joy looked at the sign with the list of options. “The monte cristo and the lemon souffle are my favorites. Strawberry shortcake is really good too, though. But the women were right. You can’t go wrong with any of them.”
Samantha shouted back an “amen” to Joy before stepping up to place her order.
Kaeden laughed but he nodded. “Alright, I’ll get those ones.”
“What do you mean,those ones? I was giving you choices not a list. You can’t eat three crepes.”
His brows went up. “I thought these things were gold. Why wouldn’t I eat three of them?”
“They’re big.”
“And?”
Twenty minutes later Joy was still shaking her head at him but now it was because she was watching him take the last bite of his third crepe.
“So you liked them?” she asked.
“I think the word you’re looking for is luuuuuuv,” he said drawing the word out like Kelly had.
“I can’t believe you ate three of them.”
Kaeden patted his stomach. “I’ll nap it off.”
“That’s not the way that’s supposed to work. Napping it off is supposed to send it straight to your thighs.” She let her gaze travel the length of his body. Not that she hadn’t already been noticing it. It was hard not to with the way the man looked. He was hard in all the right places but trim, too, like maybe he was a runner or something. There was definitely nothing going to his thighs but muscle.
“Besides,” she said, “You have a trail ride after this. Remember your schedule?”