Morning light was peeking around the curtains when she woke with a start in exactly the same position she’d fallen asleep. Bennett breathed underneath her in heavy exhales that were not quite snores. Moving carefully so as not to disturb him, she turned her head to look at the clock next to the bed and saw it was a little before eight in the morning. She’d only slept for a handful of hours, and her body felt heavy with the need for more rest.
Dino popped into her brain, though, and she knew it’d be impossible to sleep again. If Dino and Clint disappeared into the crowds of Vegas, she’d kick herself the whole long drive home. Bennett had been right though. She felt sharper and almost back to normal after a good meal, a shower, and some sleep in a comfortable bed.
Well, she thought, feeling the rasp of chest hair against her cheek, some sleep on a comfortable man.
She eased off him—or she tried to at least. His arms wrapped around her, holding her tight to his chest like he was five and she was his precious stuffed animal. Tempted to sink back into his warm embrace, she made herself move. Scooting down toward his feet, she tried to escape his hold that way, but his grip tightened, and she could feel his disgruntled sleepy mumble vibrate against her. Her predicament made her laugh, and she felt him start as he awakened.
His arms instantly released her, dropping her to the bed so suddenly she almost tipped sideways. Catching herself, she pushed off him and scrambled from the bed.
Telling herself to stop acting like an awkward teenager, she met his eyes. “Good morning.”
His grunt questioned the accuracy of her statement, making her smile.
“Ready for a stakeout?”
“Not really.” His bass voice was scratchy and rumbly in the morning, and she felt her grin getting wider.
“We might get to tackle some guys,” she said in a wheedling tone, as if offering him a treat. When the corner of his mouth kicked up in a partial smile, she felt like she’d won a prize.
“Fine.” He reached above his head in a full-body stretch, and she allowed herself to stare for a solid second before forcing her feet to move to the bathroom. Whoever invented the term “eye candy” had to have been thinking of a shirtless Bennett.
An hour later, Felicity sipped her take-out coffee and groaned. “We might as well have stayed in bed longer.”
He gave her a sideways look, the one that lately she was finding much too endearing.
Hiding her smile against the lip of her coffee cup, she eyed the old pickup parked several rows in front of them. They’d paid for a day of parking in the tattered hotel’s ramp and spent the first forty-five minutes searching for their skip’s pickup. Now, they stared at the parked Ford and waited.
“Stupid security cameras,” Felicity mumbled, glaring at the ceiling-mounted electronics. She would’ve loved to break into the pickup to search it, but that was guaranteed to send security running, and staking out Clint and Dino would be hard to do from the inside of a Vegas jail cell. Still, the windowless hard-shell topper had a beast of a lock on it, which meant it was almost guaranteed to contain something interesting.
The minutes ticked by, turning into hours. They took turns watching while the other one went on foot to get snacks and use the bathroom at the diner next door to the hotel. Seeing Clint and Dino’s hotel and the scruffy area around it made her appreciate their wonderful not-honeymoon suite at Ronan’s. As afternoon faded into evening, Felicity started to wonder if Clint and Dino had dumped the pickup here. She cringed at the thought.
“How long ago did you work for Ronan?” she asked between chewing carrot sticks, trying to distract herself from all the possible ways this stakeout could go wrong.
One shoulder lifted in a half shrug. “About two years ago.”
“You investigated his casino employees?”
He gave a short nod.
“Did you go undercover?” She bit a carrot stick in half with relish as she thought about how fun investigating in a casino could be. “Maybe as a high roller who likes blackjack?”
This time, he combined his sideways look with a slight eye roll, making her grin around her carrot.
“Just saying. You could’ve had some fun with it.”
He just shrugged, as if he didn’t understand the concept of fun.
“Who was the thief?” When he paused, she clarified, “Not their name, just the position. I’m writing the screenplay in my head. It’s a blockbuster.”
“Wasn’t an employee,” he said, just when she thought he was going to keep her hanging. “His partner.”
She felt her eyes widen. “Business partner or romantic partner?”
“Both.”
“Nooooo.” Her head fell back against the seat. “Ronan’s a sweetheart. He deserves so much better, and I’m not just saying that because he’s letting us stay in his not-honeymoon suite.”
Although she expected Bennett to stiffen up, he actually gave her a half smile and said, “He does deserve better.”
Something about the way he looked at her made Felicity’s face warm. She mentally scolded her traitorous cheeks, telling them that there was absolutely no reason to be getting all flustered by a considerate, caring Bennett, but it didn’t do any good.
To her great relief, the elevator opened, and the very men they wanted to see strode toward their pickup. Felicity went still, impatiently waiting as she watched Clint and Dino walk across the parking ramp. Once they turned toward their pickup, showing her their backs, Felicity put a hand on her door handle.
“Ready?” she whispered, her heart rate kicking up enough to make her bare her teeth in an anticipatory grin.
He gave her a full-on smile back. “Let’s do some tackling.”
She slipped out of the car, soundlessly closing the door most of the way. Catching Bennett’s gaze, she tipped her head toward a concrete pillar standing between them and their quarry. He gave a slight nod, and they both made their way to it, concealing themselves from the two men.
Felicity peeked around the column. The men were at the pickup, Clint manually unlocking the driver’s door with a key as Dino waited to be let in. Felicity’s leg muscles bunched as she watched for her moment. They’d have to be fast, before security came running and muddled things up. As soon as Dino went to get into the truck, she decided, she’d sprint across the remaining distance and pull him back out and down on the ground.
She poked Bennett, who was peering around the opposite side of the pillar. When he turned to her, eyebrows raised in question, she mouthed, “I’ll grab Dino. You handle Clint.” He nodded again before returning to his surveillance.
Felicity followed suit, watching Clint reach across the cab and pop Dino’s door lock. Just as she burst into a run, the elevator dinged, and Dino whirled to his right to face the opening doors, pulling a black handgun from his waistband that’d been hidden beneath his loose T-shirt.
Although Dino was still facing away from them, the sight of the gun made Felicity instantly put on the brakes. She stopped abruptly, barely keeping herself from hurtling forward and landing chin-first on the concrete. Her head whipped around to find Bennett a few steps away. Reaching out, she grabbed a handful of his shirt and backtracked, pulling him with her until they were behind the column again without being spotted by Dino or Clint.
Loud, rowdy laughter rang through the parking garage, echoing off the concrete, contrasting strangely with the grimly serious expression on Bennett’s face—the same look Felicity was sure was on hers as well. Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, she risked a glance around the column, seeing that Dino had lowered the gun but kept it out, tucked behind his left leg so the newcomers couldn’t see it.
She and Bennett stayed in place as four people—the source of the raucous laughter and loud voices—made their way to their Jeep. Felicity made a face. For some reason, she’d always loathed Jeeps.
Bennett must’ve noticed her reaction, because he gave her a questioning look, but she just shook her head. Her odd aversion wasn’t a priority right now, not while Dino’s gaze scanned the parking area, the gun still in his hand. Finally, with one last look around, he tucked the gun in his back waistband and yanked his T-shirt down over it. Climbing into the truck, he pulled the door closed behind him with a loud slam.
The pickup backed out of the space as frustration filled Felicity. She’d taken down some armed skips before, but she wasn’t about to run right into the barrel of a loaded pistol. As Clint gunned the pickup, sending it shooting toward the exit, she headed back to the car.
Automatically, she went for the driver’s side, but Bennett gave her a look so full of hope and pleading that she almost laughed despite the situation.
“Fine,” she said quietly, even though there was no way Clint and Dino could hear her on the other side of the parking garage. “But you’ll owe me.” Reversing direction, she hurried to climb into the passenger seat. Her reward was a sweet smile from Bennett before he sped after their escaping skip.
Night had fallen during their last stretch of waiting, but the multitude of lights made it feel more like daytime. The heavy traffic forced Bennett to stick close to the rear of the pickup, with only a half dozen or so cars separating them. Clint left the Strip and wove his way through the city, finally pulling into the small parking lot of a seedy-looking bar that reminded Felicity of Dutch’s back in Langston.
Bennett drove slowly around the block, only turning in and parking after Clint and Dino had gone inside.
“What’s the plan?” he asked, turning off her car.
“My plans haven’t been working so well lately,” she said a little sourly but shook off her spurt of ill temper. They hadn’t lost Dino yet, and here was another chance to bring him in. “Let’s play this by ear. We’ll go in, take a look around, and then come up with a plan. I’d rather not try to tackle Dino in the middle of a bunch of Vegas militia members.”
“We could just wait out here for them to come back out.”
Although Bennett’s suggestion was reasonable, she was about to crawl out of her skin with boredom at the thought of spending any more time sitting in her car, waiting for the skip to come to her. “No harm in having a quick look around. We’ll make sure Dino doesn’t get a glimpse of us.” When Bennett eyed her askance, she sighed and gave him her best pleading puppy-dog eyes. “Pleeeeeease? Just for a minute? I’m so sick of this car. My butt groove is already imprinted on this seat. I’m going to meld with it soon, and then I’ll never be able to leave it. I’ll be like a weird cyborg Transformer.”
With a huff of laughter, he gave an exaggerated sigh and opened his door. “C’mon then.”
“Thank you!” She hurried to get out before reason took over and she talked herself out of going inside. The chilly desert night air slapped some sense into her, but it was just enough to get her to grab her jacket from the back seat. The long drive to Vegas and their extended stakeout had worn down her usual practical nature, and the adrenaline junkie was in the driver’s seat now.
Almost giddy at the idea of an adventure—as tame as going into a dive bar promised to be—she caught up to Bennett and linked her arm though his. When he gave her one of his patented raised-eyebrow looks, she just snickered and pinched his side, making him jump and stare down at her. It was hard to tell in the spotty lighting of the parking lot, but she was pretty sure he was blushing.
Feeling a tiny bit bad for embarrassing him, she returned her hand to his ridiculously large biceps. “Sorry. I’ll be good.”
His quiet grunt sounded skeptical, and she grinned at him. Although they’d only met each other a short time ago, he already knew her so well.
The bouncer looked them up and down, glowered more fiercely, and then jerked his head toward the door in an indication to go inside. Felicity, who’d been about to pull her ID from her pocket, gave a mental shrug and walked through the doorway, Bennett so close behind her that she thought she could feel his body heat.
The noise hit them like a wall. The bar was crowded, everyone competing for who could talk the loudest. An old-school country song played but was almost drowned out by the voices and laughter. For some reason, Felicity half expected a clichéd record scratch leading to complete silence and staring when she and Bennett entered, but no one even looked at them.
She scanned the crowd, searching for Clint and Dino, but the low lighting and large number of people made it impossible to pick them out. Glancing over her shoulder, she gave Bennett a questioning look, and he shook his head. Apparently, even with his greater height, he hadn’t spotted them either.
As she worked her way toward the bar, Bennett followed closely, one hand on her waist. Her attention wanted to drift to the electrified skin under his touch, but she forced herself to keep scanning for any glimpse of Dino or Clint. It would be bad if one of the two men spotted them first. She’d never met Dino before she started her search, but she assumed he’d seen at least a picture of her, since his militia friends were after her.
They made it to the bar without seeing any sign of either of the two men. Although she knew she should be disappointed, since that was the entire point of coming into the bar, she was secretly, guiltily relieved. Felicity felt like she’d been working constantly since Jane took off. Being in a bar, as seedy as it was, was a welcome change of pace. She just wanted to relax and enjoy herself for five minutes, and then she’d go back into bounty-hunter mode.
A man slid off his barstool and moved away, and Felicity claimed the seat with an inelegant pounce. Bennett slid in half next to her and half behind her where he could guard her back and keep an eye on the crowd at the same time. The guy on the next barstool made an irritated sound as he turned to confront the person who’d gotten in his space. When he laid eyes on Bennett, he deflated and turned his attention back to the drink in front of him.
Felicity watched the byplay with appreciation. Having someone Bennett’s size at her side was a benefit—plus a time-saver. Normally, being small and delicate-looking, she had to prove that she couldn’t be pushed around. With Bennett around, the bullies didn’t even try.
The bartender, a tall, scarecrow-looking white man with greased-back hair, stopped in front of them. “What can I get you?”
Despite her desire for a normal night out, she wasn’t feeling reckless—or stupid—enough to actually drink. “Orange juice, please.”
“Water,” Bennett grunted, obviously being of the same mind as she was. They had to bring the skip in, and then they could get stinking drunk. The idea of partying with Bennett held a strong appeal, so strong that her cheeks flushed with anticipation at the idea. She could let her guard down, have fun without worrying about what her wilder sister was doing or what bad things could happen to her. Bennett would be there. He’d protect her.
She dropped her eyes and studied the battered wood of the bar. Her thoughts seemed like a betrayal—to Charlie, to her job, to her feminist ideals. She did love her sister and working as a bounty hunter, but sometimes she got tired. The idea of someone else looking out for her for a change was oddly tempting.
Two glasses—one with juice and one with water—slid into view, breaking into her thoughts. Before she could pull out some of the cash she’d stashed in her pocket that morning, Bennett was already handing over a bill. When the bartender held out the considerable amount of change, Bennett waved him off. With a nod of thanks, the bartender stuffed the bills in his tip jar and turned to the next customer.
After taking a sip of her drink, Felicity rotated on her stool to survey the crowd again. After her earlier thoughts, she felt guilty enough to redirect her attention to their original goal—bringing in Dino. People were thick by the bar, though, and her seated position made it even harder to see over everyone’s heads. Customers crowded in on both sides and even behind her, trying to get the bartender’s attention. Even more grateful for the buffer of Bennett, she leaned into his enveloping warmth.
In turn, he placed an arm around her, tucking her closer to him. Giving up on looking for Dino and Clint for a moment, she allowed herself to enjoy his closeness, closing her eyes and tipping her head against a chest that was too hard to be comfortable, but she still didn’t ever want to move.
Shouting made Bennett tense, and Felicity lifted her head, scanning the crowd as well as she could until her gaze landed on the source. A fight had broken out at the end of the bar, four guys who were pounding on one another in an apparently indiscriminate way.
“I don’t get it,” Felicity said, craning her neck to see better. “Who’s on whose side? Or are they all on their own sides?”
“Think they’re too drunk to know whose side they’re on.” Bennett shifted so his body was between her and the fight. When she raised an eyebrow at him, he pretended he didn’t see it.
“Unless they have go-go-gadget arms, I’m not getting hit by a stray punch all the way over here.”
He set his jaw, although a flush crept up to his cheekbones. “Someone might throw something or pull a weapon.”
“That’s true, I suppose.” The bouncer hadn’t even looked at their IDs, much less checked them for weapons. A good chunk of the crowd had to be packing.
She leaned around Bennett so she could see the fight. Two bouncers fought their way through the gawking crowd, and each grabbed two of the men by the backs of their necks or their shirts, pulling them away from each other. Once separated, the men were quickly marched toward the exit.
“That was a Vegas bar fight?” Felicity asked, slightly disappointed as she turned back to her drink. “I’ve seen worse at the grocery store in Langston when they’re having a sale on avocados.”
Bennett’s chest shook with laughter, and she leaned into him again, idly people watching as she finished her drink. Although she’d always kept an eye out for Dino, the people within her view had stayed blessedly skip-free. The fight, as pathetic as it’d been, had been the most excitement she was going to get, and the crowd provided little entertainment. Glancing at Bennett’s glass, she saw his water was gone. Time to get back to work. With a sigh, she made herself slide off her barstool.
“Better get to it…oh.” Her feet hit the ground, and her knees folded, wanting to drop her on the sticky floor. Stiffening her legs, she grabbed the edge of the bar with one hand and Bennett’s arm with the other. She looked up at him, and he matched her grim expression with one of his own. Her eyes darted back to where their empty glasses had sat just a second ago, but they’d already been swept away by a bar back. “You too?”
Bennett dipped his head in a short nod. “Let’s go.”
The sibilant sound of his s was drawn out an extra fraction of a second, and her heart began to beat faster. They’d both been drugged, and things could get really bad, really fast. She released her grip on the bar and his arm, instead taking his hand. Although she’d just been daydreaming about having some drinks with Bennett, that was some vague time in the future, when everything was wrapped up and they’d be safe. Now was not the time to be vulnerable.
She looked over at the bartender, her number one suspect, but a woman had taken his place serving drinks. Felicity’s suspicions increased, but Bennett tugged at her hand, reminding her that they had other priorities right now. Bringing whoever spiked their drinks to justice could wait until the drug had made its way out of her and Bennett’s systems and their brains and bodies were working normally again.
The floor felt wavy under her feet, but she gritted her teeth and charged through the crowd. When she stumbled, Bennett took the lead, and that was easier. She moved in his wake as he barged through the crowd, using his body like a snowplow to make a path through the mass of people. It felt like forever before the door loomed before them.
Felicity felt the back of her neck prickle, and she turned her head to look behind her while clinging to Bennett’s hand to keep her balance. In the shifting crowd, a familiar face smirked at her.
“Dino,” she said as Bennett pulled her through the doorway into the blessedly cool outside air. “B, we need to go back. Dino’s right there.”
“Can’t get him now.” Bennett looked furious, but she knew it wasn’t directed at her.
The logic of what he’d said took a few seconds to sink in, but when it did, a burst of fear detonated in her chest. She and Bennett had turned from the hunters to the hunted after being dosed. “We have to get out of here.”
The bouncer watched them leave, sneering, and her paranoid drugged mind wondered if he was in on it. Then his face blurred, and she doubted everything she was seeing, not sure what was imagination and what was reality. Bennett tugged on her hand, and she hurried to keep up, fighting to keep her too-soft knees from folding underneath her and dumping her on asphalt that smelled of pee, gasoline, and vomit.
It wasn’t until they reached her car that their predicament really dawned on her. There was no way either of them could drive right now. They’d kill someone—and themselves. Felicity pulled out her phone with numb fingers. “I’ll get a Lyft.”
“No time.”
Felicity followed his gaze, trying to turn her head but forgetting how, so she ended up rotating her whole body. Once her spinning vision settled slightly, she saw Dino emerging from the bar with Clint close behind him. “We should run, shouldn’t we? Yes, let’s run.” Without waiting for a response, she took off as fast as her rubbery knees would carry her.
She was still holding Bennett’s hand—or maybe she’d never let him go—and she was glad for the connection. Her balance felt precarious, so she didn’t want to try to turn her head to look at him. Instead, she relied on the firm press of his fingers to let her know he was right there with her.
Behind them, she heard a shout, and she knew they were being pursued. The cars on the road flew by in blinding streaks of headlights, and Felicity had enough presence of mind to not attempt to cross the road in her current state. Instead, she locked her eyes on the neon sign a few buildings down on the same side of the street as the bar they’d just left. The curly letters read Dinner—no, Diner, she corrected herself. Clutching Bennett’s hand, she ran with everything she had.
There was a crack just as a line of fire burned across the side of her calf. A mental image of Dino’s gun flashed in her mind, and Felicity dodged sideways, crashing through a sand sagebrush into a laundromat’s parking lot. She wasn’t sure if she’d dragged Bennett through the shrub or if he pulled her, but it didn’t matter. They were both still upright and running and alive…for now.
Bennett pulled out in front of her, and she was vaguely offended by that. It’s the roofie, she told herself, even as her brain was screaming at her to stop obsessing about their relative running speeds and focus on getting away. The competitive part of her mind wouldn’t shut up though. Once she was no longer drugged, she decided, she’d challenge him to a trail race. Let’s see who’s faster in my territory, she thought smugly, just before her toe caught on the pavement and she headed for the ground, face-first.
Somehow, the running-while-roofied gods were with her, and she managed to get her feet under her again before she ate asphalt. Once she regained her sprinting rhythm, she looked up to find the neon sign again and discovered it was right above their heads.
Bennett must’ve had the same plan as she did, because he yanked her right through the front door of the diner. The brightly lit interior made her squint a little, but she was happy to see that more than half of the red and white booths were filled, as were a handful of the shiny Formica tables. Surely their pursuers wouldn’t walk barefaced into a place with dozens of witnesses and almost as many cell phone cameras to continue shooting at them.
Slowing to a walk—albeit a fast walk—they headed toward a booth in the far corner, next to the emergency exit and the door to the kitchen. Not wanting to let go of Bennett’s hand, she stayed right next to him rather than moving to the other side of the booth. He didn’t seem to mind, ushering her into the seat before he lowered his considerable bulk onto the bench. Shifting his captive hand into her lap, she grabbed their linked fingers with her other hand. She felt overheated from their run, but she still wanted to touch as much of Bennett as she could reach.
With his free hand, he placed his phone in front of him and then reached over to grab one of the laminated menus standing behind the syrup containers. Clutching his other hand in both of hers, she watched, fascinated, as he used a stick-straight pointer finger to poke out a text to Ronan.
Pleas com get uss
Then he sent a picture of the address on the back of the menu, and Felicity gave a nod of approval.
“Ronan will rescue us.” Her words were blurry, slurred but comprehensible. At least she was pretty sure Bennett could understand them.
His nod confirmed it. “Ronan’s a good guy.” He also drew his words out too long, as if they were sticky taffy that he played with before putting in his mouth.
The server—young and doe-eyed, with smooth brown skin and a red-and-white-striped uniform that matched the decor almost too well—stifled a yawn before asking, “Coffee?”
That seemed like a good idea, even though Felicity normally hated coffee. Maybe the caffeine would help counteract whatever drug they were given. “Please.” She was proud that the word came out fairly decently.
The server placed a carafe on the table, and Bennett immediately reached for it. “What else can I get you?”
Felicity glanced at the menu, but the words wouldn’t stay still, instead jumping around like little ants running across the laminated surface. Brushing her hand over the menu to check if she could feel the letters move, she searched her brain for diner food. “Pancakes!” Her voice came out too loudly and too proudly, as evidenced by the server’s startled expression.
“Ooookay,” the server said. “What kind?”
Her brain was swirling, making it impossible to hold on to her slippery thoughts. Unable to come up with an answer for a question she’d already forgotten, she looked to Bennett for help.
“Pancakes,” he said solemnly, pointing at a picture on the menu as if the server needed help identifying what exactly pancakes were.
“What kiiind?” The server drew out the word in a different way, not like her tongue was suddenly uncooperative but like she was talking to someone who didn’t understand her language. “Chocolate chip, banana nut, strawberry, boysenberry, or cream cheese? And do you want any sides? We have hash browns, bacon, sausage, ham, or eggs cooked however you want them.”
They looked at each other and both shrugged.
“Just…pancakes,” Felicity said, as if that were the answer. “With syrup.”
Bennett gave a firm nod. “Definitely syrup.”
Feeling a rush of affection, Felicity squeezed his hand with both of hers. “We think so much alike.”
Bennett beamed at her.
With a deep sigh, the server turned away, muttering about drunk people being a pain in the ass.
Turning to look up at Bennett, Felicity was distracted by the way the fluorescent lighting highlighted his dark brown hair, bringing out glints of deep red and blond. Forgetting what she was about to say, she breathed, “You’re so beautiful.”
“You’re the beautiful one.” He used his free hand to trace over one of her brows and then pinch a small section of hair, pulling it gently through his fingers. “I want to touch you all the time.”
“Same, obviously.” She held up his captive hand with a laugh.
“Your hair is so soft.” He kept stroking it. “And you’re so smart and brave and beautiful.”
Humming with contentment, she closed her eyes. Now that her adrenaline had faded, she felt the fogginess settling more firmly in her mind. “That why you stalked me?” The words came out more slurred than ever.
Surprisingly, he seemed to understand her question. “I tried not to, but ever since I first saw you, I couldn’t focus on anyone else. Can I tell you a secret?”
Opening her eyes just a crack, she allowed a slow smile to stretch across her face. “I loooove secrets.”
“I suspected I should’ve followed Charlotte.”
Genuinely surprised, her eyes opened the rest of the way. “You did? But we were so sneaky. She even took Moo’s weedmobile.”
“I still knew she was more likely the one going after Jane.” His hand left her hair and wrapped around the back of her neck. “Then once I got to Simpson and found out you were searching for Dino, I couldn’t leave you to chase him alone. Too dangerous. You might’ve gotten hurt. I had to stay and help you. I called my client and told them I needed to deal with an urgent personal matter before I could start work on their case again. Told them if they didn’t want to wait, they could get a different PI, and I’d return their retainer.”
“Really?” Felicity stared at him. “You gave up a job just to help me bring in Dino?”
“I didn’t really give it up. The client agreed to wait until my personal business is finished.” His lips curled up smugly, which was almost as adorable on him as his pouty look. “I’m the best at what I do.”
“Still, you risked all that to help me?”
His lids lowered, and he peered at her through ridiculously thick lashes. “I didn’t want to leave you. I think I love you.”
Her huff of laughter was more of a sigh. “You can’t fall in love in a week, silly.”
“Can’t you?”
The clatter of plates on the table caught their attention.
“Pancakes,” Felicity breathed.
“Pancakes.” Looking down at her, Bennett gifted her with one of his gorgeous, full-faced smiles.
“Yeah, yeah, pancakes.” Their server sounded equal parts exasperated and ready to laugh. “In-love drunk people are even more annoying than regular drunk people.”
Turning to the server, Felicity asked curiously, “Do you think someone can fall in love in a week?”
“A week?” The server looked skeptical, but then her expression softened. “I don’t know, but you look pretty gone for each other. If anyone can fall in love in a week, it’s you two.”
For some reason, this made excited sparkles fizz in Felicity’s chest, and she looked up to smile at Bennett. He looked down at her with an expression so tender and gentle and utterly infatuated that her breath caught. Her heart started beating wildly, her blood rushing quickly through her veins.
“You make me feel like I’m chasing a skip,” she said.
“Really?” He beamed even more brightly at her. “You make me feel like I just got video evidence of a husband cheating on his wife.”
Warmth flooded her. “That’s so sweet.”
“You’re both so weird,” the server said, turning to walk away from their booth. “Let me know if you need anything else.”
Felicity barely heard her, the words flowing unnoticed past her ears. All she could see was Bennett’s wonderful face.
“What happened to you?” It was Ronan’s voice that jerked them out of their little world of two.
Felicity clutched Bennett’s hand, which she still hadn’t let go, and leaned against him as she beamed up at her new friend, Ronan. “We fell in love!”