“I suggest you see if she needs dinner out occasionally,” Noah chimed in, catching on to the implication.
“Or, better yet, you might want to bring dinner in,” Dylan joked.
The line hadn’t shortened. If anything, it’d gotten longer, and Kyle wasn’t willing to wait, not when he could have Morgan bring him a cup of coffee once he started work. “Why hold off until dinner? She’s at my house right now, not the farmhouse. I could bring her breakfast.” He knew better than to get them excited but couldn’t resist having a little fun.
Eve put her coffee down so fast it sloshed over the side. “So she did break up with her boyfriend.”
“No.”
“Then what’s she doing at your house?” Riley asked.
“She was sleeping when I left,” he replied, pushing the joke a bit further.
“Holy shit!” Brandon exclaimed. “You spent the night with Lourdes Bennett?”
“Kyle, you should be more careful!” Eve warned. “You don’t want an angry boyfriend to come calling.”
Having provoked the reaction he’d been looking for, Kyle lifted a hand. “I’m just messing with you guys.”
Brandon did a double take. “So she’s not at your house?”
“She is, but strictly for practical reasons. We couldn’t get the heat to come on in the farmhouse yesterday, and I didn’t want her to freeze to death. So I let her stay in one of my spare bedrooms.”
“She agreed to that?” Noah asked. “She went home with you?”
He shrugged. “I offered to get her a room at Eve’s B and B but she wouldn’t hear of it.”
“What’s wrong with my B and B?” Eve demanded. “It’s the best in town—no matter what A Room With A View has done to steal my business.”
“It had nothing to do with your B and B,” Kyle said. “She wouldn’t go to A Room With A View, either. She doesn’t want to be seen in public, needs a break from all that, like I told you.”
Brandon clapped him on the back. “Lucky you. She’s rich and famous. I say you help her forget this Derrick dude. Sweep her off her feet.”
Of course Brandon would say that. He had to be tired of trying to ignore the fact that his brother was in love with his wife.
Ted Dixon, a bestselling novelist who took a more measured approach to everything, moved the sugar packets closer to Levi. “Do you like her?”
“I do. Surprisingly, she’s as nice as she is pretty.” Kyle couldn’t help wondering if Olivia cared that he was admiring another woman. He was ashamed for even having that thought; it was the kind of thing that had made him start avoiding family events. He’d once believed that, with time, he’d get over her, and all the weirdness would go away. But after six years, the feelings themselves hadn’t gone anywhere. He just felt worse for having them.
Dylan dusted the crumbs of his muffin from his hands. “Then I’d say she’s fair game.”
Kyle waved them off. “She’s only staying in town for a few months. And I’m sure she’ll stick with Derrick in the end. He’s perfect for her.”
“In what way?” Eve asked. “You haven’t met him, too, have you?”