Everybody Knows (Sunnyside #1)

by Jacie Floyd

  There wasn’t a single woman in town he hadn’t known since birth, who didn’t know about his sordid past, who didn’t think he was some sort of medical hero.

  Except for Harper.

  Well, hell. That wasn’t an acceptable thought to have in his head.

  That couldn’t happen.

  Shouldn’t happen.

  Wouldn’t happen.

  Harper was having a hard enough time getting along with the natives without having him screw up her future. They’d scorn her for coming between him and Kate. And after he left, they’d blame her for running him out of town. No, there was no way that was going to fly.

  Just four more months before he could leave. He could handle four more months of seeking his sexual adventures somewhere else.

  Zara Spencer, one of his former girlfriends in Chicago, worked in an orthopedic practice in St. Louis. Just three short hours away. They’d gone at it like rabbits when they’d both been residents. But that was such an intense time with no way to maintain an emotional relationship.

  He’d tried to have a normal relationship for a while in medical school, had even gotten engaged, but his fiancée had gotten bored waiting around for him to make time for her. He felt bad for the spouses and kids of married residents. All any of them had time for was sleep and medical rounds, food and medical training, sex and medical mysteries. And, oh, yeah. The only other thing they had time for was medicine, medicine, medicine.

  There was no room in their lives for anything else.

  Sometimes Zach found it so demanding he forgot to eat and sleep. But sex, looming always beneath the surface of his consciousness, became a basic adrenalin release that was necessary for his continued existence.

  Zach and Zara had formed a bond, sharing some pretty grueling shifts at the hospital, some insane study sessions, and some stripped down to the nitty-gritty fundamentals of sex. In a locker room, in a supply closet, up against a door, in the backseat of his car, wherever they happened to meet up when their shifts ended. For months after they went their separate ways, he could hardly think of her without getting hard. The memories of their time together generated a lot of affection and a bushel full of heat.

  Whenever the isolation and expectations of Sunnyside got too much for him, he headed over to St. Louis where he and Zara could let off some steam together.

  As the newest member of a big practice, she didn’t have time for a social life. She and Zach agreed that the opportunity for them to put in the work to make it as a real couple was long past. But they had a lot in common and enjoyed each other’s company. And their physiological chemistry clicked on all levels. Zara was literally the path of least resistance when Zach needed to get laid. With none of that awkward getting-to-know-one-another crap.

  It wasn’t romantic, and it wasn’t perfect, but it was mutually satisfying and worked for both of them. Time to call Zara and sync up their schedules. She was making some decent money now, had a nice place in the Central West End, and always welcomed him with open arms. Yes, he should definitely give her a call, take her out for a nice dinner if she had time for that, and then spend the night naked and rubbing up against one another.

  Oddly, though, Zara hadn’t been as enthusiastic about meeting him the last time he’d visited. And the idea of calling her didn’t provide him with the warm glow of expectation he usually experienced. Instead, Harper Simmons face flashed to mind. Again.

  But that would never work.

  If he’d met her in Chicago, sure, he’d have tried to get her into bed. But now, she was too close to home. And there was no reason to think she’d even be interested.

  Except she had flirted with him a couple of times.

  And even though she lived here, how long would she really be willing to stay? She was enjoying the novelty of small-town life for now. She might think it was an adventure, but would she like it when the reality set in, and she couldn’t buy a designer purse anywhere within a hundred-mile radius? Hell, she probably couldn’t buy a falafel within a hundred-mile radius.

  So how attached would she get to this town she’d temporarily adopted?

  She was smart and funny.

  Cute, definitely. More than cute. Hot, actually.

  Great body. World class.

  Beautiful mouth. Kissable. Lickable. Suckable. Oh, yeah.

  Mischievous eyes. Mischievous, but observant. And knowing.

  Way out of his league, normally, but who would there be for her in Sunnyside? Chuck, the mechanic? Wayne, the bartender at the Lucky Dog? Stewart, the grill cook at Lenore’s? All good enough guys, but nowhere near good enough for Harper.

  Liam, maybe. Brilliant mind. He could match Harper for education and worldliness, but he had that moody self-destructive thing going. As much as Zach was pulling for Liam and hoping he’d manage to get his shit together, there was still a desperate, dissipated edge to the man that Harper would find distasteful. Probably.

  Or, maybe he was exactly the kind of guy that appealed to her.

  God, Zach hoped not.

  Chapter Ten

  Pulling the library door closed behind her, Harper spotted Zach turning into the park. Suddenly, her day took an upswing. Or it did until she remembered she looked worse than a mangy, wet cat. Despite his weariness and the dark circles under his eyes, the sight of Zach’s calm and confident good looks sent something warm and gooey oozing its way to her lady parts.

  Hot Doc. She smiled as she remembered Nathan’s words from earlier. Tired Doc was what he looked like now. Had she really only known him for twenty-four hours?

  It seemed like forever, but maybe that was because he offered the only lifeline between her real life and this town she’d moved to. She had to find a way to fit in, and he might be the only willing and available guide.

  “On your way home?” he asked. “Or to Rachel’s, I mean.”

  “On my way to get something to eat and stop by the nearest grocery. How about you? Have you eaten?”

  He looked surprised by the question. “Not since lunch.”

  Expecting him to refuse, she put the offer out there. “Do you have time to join me or are you on your way somewhere?”

  “Why don’t you go on to the house and freshen up?” he suggested. “If you can wait another day to hit the grocery, I’ll pick up a pizza and bring it by.”

  “Sounds good.” Better than good, actually. Working all day in the sticky heat had exhausted her. She didn’t really have the energy to walk the extra block or two just to be stared at or snubbed by more of the locals.

  “Veggie with cheese okay?”

  “Veggie, yes, if the vegetables are fresh, not canned or frozen. Cheese is fine. Extra cheese is better. But only if it’s real cheese, not that fake stuff.”

  “I’m on it.”

  “Some drinks and a salad too, please, if they’ve got it.”

  “No problem. Meet you back at Rachel’s in about a half an hour.”

  Sneaking peeks at one another over their shoulders, they went their separate ways. As determined as she was to shake off her interest in him, Harper wondered if the synchronized over-the-shoulder glance they shared signified another bona fide moment or simply coincidence.

  Zach breezed through the back door of Rachel’s house like he would if Rachel were home. But then he remembered that she wasn’t home. Another female was there who might be naked or in some other state of undress, and maybe he should have knocked. He wouldn’t want to violate anyone’s privacy. But what the hell? He was in now.

  A quick glance confirmed Harper wasn’t in the kitchen, scantily clad or otherwise. On this crappy day, he couldn’t be that lucky.

  “Pizza’s here, hot and ready,” he called up the stairs when he heard her thumping around in the guest room. “And so am I.”

  Cleo appeared before Harper did, checking to see if he’d brought her anything interesting. Harper bounced down the stairs with the exuberance of a teenager. Clearly, she’d had a shower and put on clean shorts and a soft-butt
ery yellow T-shirt that fit her toned body like spray tan.

  Again, her hair was pulled up on top of her head. But slightly damp tendrils escaped the clasp to frame her cheeks and neck. Her face had been scrubbed clean of all makeup. She smelled fresh and girly and, frankly, good enough to eat. Better than the pizza.

  “If today’s any example, the heat and humidity here are killers. They’re doing a great job of murdering my hair.”

  “Just another thing to love about Southern Illinois. You can’t avoid the heat in the summertime. The humidity is worse than a wet blanket. And if there’s the hint of a breeze, take cover. It usually means there’s a tornado headed this way.”

  “Really? Tornadoes come through here?” She went to the window as if searching for one.

  “Not right this minute.”

  “How will I know?”

  “If there’s enough warning, the tornado siren will go off.”

  “What does it sound like?”

  He gave her a long look, wondering if she really meant it. “Um, like a loud siren?”

  “No kidding.” She punched him in the arm for the sarcasm.

  “Believe me, if you hear it, you’ll know. It’s loud enough to wake the dead from a sound sleep. Which is kind of the point.” He retrieved plates and handed them to Harper.

  “Thanks.” Setting them on the table, she ripped open the bags and boxes. “This salad looks scrumptious. I’ve been wanting something green all day.” Inhaling a deep breath, she expanded her chest, drawing Zach’s attention to the perfection of her breasts. “The pizza smells divine.”

  He turned away to fill glasses with ice while she rummaged for silverware. “I didn’t know what you’d want to drink. I brought green tea, water, and soda.”

  “Oh, God, soda. That’s tempting. I don’t usually drink caffeine, but I could use the energy boost.”

  They both selected a drink and settled at the table. Harper looked so delicious, Zach couldn’t stop staring at her. After a moment, he cleared his throat and searched for conversation. “How did it go at the library today?”

  “We accomplished a lot, but there’s so much more to do before we can begin on the actual renovations. Most of the workers said they’d be back tomorrow, which is good. No point in starting from scratch with a new batch of volunteers.” She paused for a bite of pizza and had to loop a string of gooey cheese from the crust into her mouth. “Will I be able to get into the house tomorrow?”

  “I’ll take you over for the grand tour in the morning. A couple of church ladies will stop by to do a final cleaning. They should be done before lunch.”

  Her eyes gleamed with enthusiasm. “Perfect. My furniture is arriving from Chicago tomorrow afternoon. If you come by here again at seven, we can go to the house and then I’ll go to the library and work until the moving van arrives.”

  “A lot of people will be working on setting up the Fireworks Festival for Wednesday. But I can try to scrounge up a few more volunteers. If you need more.”

  “Let’s work with the ones that show up, since it’s just a half day. My contract doesn’t go into effect until next week, but anything we get done this week, the better off we’ll be. I’ll take a break to unpack, enjoy the fourth, and resume with the volunteer helpers on Thursday.”

  He nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”

  She swirled the ice in her glass, and he could see the gears whirling in her brain. “I’m going to ask Andrew Berkman if we can pay the workers for their time. Wouldn’t that get us a bigger workforce and generate some goodwill, too?”

  “Are you kidding? You’d have people lined up all the way to Tucker’s gas station if you could pay them.”

  “I can’t guarantee Andrew will go for it, but that’s one of the things on my list to ask.”

  He didn’t really like the warmth that came into her voice when she talked about Berkman. Not that Zach had anything against the man, but he wondered if there was something more going on with Andrew and Harper than boss and employee. It stood to reason with her looks and personality and his money. They’d make a dynamic couple. “Have you met him?”

  “No, he’s kind of reclusive. Not like Bill Gates or some of the other techno-philanthropists who get out into the public eye to front for their pet causes.”

  “How did he hire you?”

  “He has a couple of assistants. I interviewed with one of them. After I made it through that round of applicants, I Skyped with Andrew, just like I did with the town council. We hit it off as well as two people can through technology, I guess. He said he liked my credentials and my youthful enthusiasm, and”—she flung her hands out, palms up—“here I am. The final decision was his to make, apparently.”

  “I can see why he was taken with you. You must be pretty photogenic. That would make a good impression.”

  You haven’t seen my credentials. And you haven’t met my mother or my sister,” she said, with steel in her eyes. “Or my former fiancé.”

  “What would they have to say about it?”

  She ticked points off on her fingers. “My mother is a fashion stylist who works with top models, actresses, and other performers. Even politicians. My sister is a well-known fashion model with her own official fan clubs, and my fiancé was a fashion photographer. So believe me, I know what photogenic looks like, and it’s not me. Plus, while I hope I know how to make a good impression, and I know a thing or two about wearing clothes and makeup to my advantage, one of my favorite things about being a librarian is not having to rely on my appearance to get a job.”

  Not having to rely on them and them not playing a part wasn’t the same thing. How could anyone discount her beauty? “But they don’t hurt.”

  She put her pizza down and sat up straighter. “My resume speaks for itself.”

  “I doubt they’ll be putting pictures of your resume up on the foundation’s website when the library reopens.”

  She stared at him in confusion again, a little crease between her eyebrows. “Are you saying they’ll put my picture on the foundation website for any reason other than my position as library director?”

  Now he was the one staring in amazement. “You don’t think your looks had anything to do with getting this job?”

  “I really don’t.” She crossed her arms as if that would end the discussion.

  She had to know what a knockout she was. How could she not? “You really don’t know how beautiful you are?”

  She wrapped a stray tendril of hair around her index finger and looked everywhere but at him. “Compared to whom?” she asked with a laugh. “Everything’s relative, you know. And if you had my relatives, you’d see why I had to make my peace with my less-than-perfect looks a long time ago.”

  “If you’re the dog in your family, I’d love to meet your mother and sister.”

  Harper pointed to the space behind her. “Yeah, get in line. You wouldn’t be the first man to use me to get to them.”

  “No way!”

  “Believe it.” She shrugged. “And you may get your wish. India and Fiona will probably come to visit at some point in the next two years. Right now, I’m trying to hold them off until I get settled.”

  “What happened with the former fiancé? You don’t mean he dumped you for someone more beautiful?”

  “He was always on the look-out, but he was mostly using me to get to India and Fiona, to further his career. It wasn’t a very attractive characteristic and when I got past the superficial charm, there were other negatives as well, so we agreed to split.”

  “Mutually?”

  Her pretty mouth curled into a grimace. “It seemed so at the time, but now he makes growly noises about me and my family in the media and to our friends, so I guess he’s having second thoughts.”

  “What a dumbass.” Zach meant that most sincerely. “That’s not a good way to go about getting you back.”

  “No, it’s not, but we’re history. Since getting back together is outside the range of possibility, no matter what metho
d he tries, he’ll have to get over it.” She snagged another slice of pizza. “So let’s talk about the future. Tell me more about my house.”

  “The family returns tomorrow, and Rachel will want her house back. Not that you can’t stay with her tomorrow night if you need to. Or for as long as you like. If your bedroom isn’t set up yet on Oakley, the water isn’t turned on, the electrical doesn’t work, or something unexpected happens, plan on staying here again. She’s looking forward to meeting you.”

  “I want to meet her, too, but I hope to vacate her house tomorrow, if at all possible.” Concentrating on her pizza, Harper avoided his gaze. “You said your family will be back. Who does that include?”

  “Rachel, my dad, my brother Josh, and his girlfriend Susannah. We all went to my grandparent’s farm on Friday to celebrate Dad’s birthday, planning to stay until Tuesday, but the best-laid plans...”

  “You were called back to Sunnyside on Sunday for Malcolm.”

  “Yes, which turned out to be a good thing since I was needed here later that night anyway.”

  “Good for me, too.” She added “seriously,” when he eyed her skeptically. “I don’t think Malcolm or anyone else would have been as helpful as you’ve been.”

  “They’d have gotten the job done, each in their own way. Different from mine.”

  “I’m glad we didn’t have to put it to the test since none of them seem to like me.”

  “Sure they do.” He gave in when she scowled. “Okay, just give them time.”

  “I will if they will.”

  Her acceptance in the town was a no-win topic, and he returned to the original one. “Josh and I live with Dad. Josh’s girlfriend Susannah lives with her mom on the next block.”

  “High-school romance?”

  He liked talking to someone who didn’t know the Novak family history, chapter and verse. “More like Romance Interrupted. They dated in high school and split up over something silly. Susannah went to nursing school in Springfield and was engaged to someone else for a while.

  He added more ice to his glass and poured in more soda. “Josh indulged in the usual underage self-destructive behavior when he went to college, but got it together before going to med school in St. Louis. When he came back here to do his residency, they ran into one another at the hospital where she works in Labor and Delivery, and everything clicked. They’ve been inseparable ever since. They’re talking about getting married in the next year or two.”