Felicity couldn’t think of a way to bring up his comment once they got back on the road, Bennett driving this time. She couldn’t stop thinking about it though. If he remembered everything, did that mean he hadn’t been as affected by whatever their drinks had been spiked with? If the skeezy bartender had given them the same dose, that would make sense, since Bennett was so much bigger than her. But did that also mean he’d been thinking semi-rationally when they’d gone through with everything—the declarations of love, the license, the marriage?
She remembered at the diner, when he told her how beautiful she was, how smart and brave, and she wondered if he’d meant that. Could his inhibitions have been lowered but his true feelings not changed by his spiked drink? That line of thinking made her emotions go haywire—hope and wariness and worry that she was being naive, that she was inventing things to make herself feel better.
Tired of the thoughts rolling over and over in her head, she turned to Bennett as much as her seat belt would allow. She saw him glance at her from the corner of his eye, his body stiffening, as if he was bracing for whatever she was going to say. That reaction made her relax, strangely enough. The idea that he was more worried about that conversation than she was made her brave…although not brave enough to actually have that conversation.
“Where are we going to stay?” she asked instead.
He blinked twice, as if he was mentally adjusting to a topic he wasn’t expecting.
“Once we get back to Simpson,” she continued, still too wound up to risk any awkward silences. “Since we’ve been banned from their only motel. Lou said we could stay with her and Callum, but I don’t know them well enough to sleep down the hall from them.”
From Bennett’s expression, he strongly agreed with that. “What else’s close by?”
“Um…” She opened a travel app and did a quick search. “Nothing within ten miles…or fifteen…” As she broadened the search, she shivered. She hadn’t realized how very isolated Simpson was. What happened in the winter, when the highways closed because of a blizzard? Was the choice either rooming with strangers or staying in her car? A few more options popped up once she expanded her search to twenty miles and even more when she went to thirty. “Here we go. There’s a so-called bed-and-breakfast in Liverton, which is south of Simpson, but the pictures make it look like a murder cabin. We’d be better off in the car, I think. Connor Springs is about twenty miles west, and it has a few places. Rosehill is thirty miles away, but it’s an upscale ski town, so we’ll be paying a lot more.”
“The second one.”
Felicity clicked on the first Connor Springs option, a decent chain hotel, but they were full. She tried the next place, a more run-down-looking motel, and that one was closed for repairs. “Or to clean up after the last serial killer went through,” she muttered.
He made an inquiring grunt.
“Sorry. My imagination is still stuck on the murder cabin.” She started checking the Rosehill listings, but everything was booked. “There’s not even any snow yet. Why are people packing the place now?”
“Trees.”
“What about them?”
“The aspens.”
“Pbtt.” She blew a raspberry, even while ignoring the fact that she’d been excited to come to the mountains for that very reason. “They’re aspens. All they do is turn yellow. Maybe some of these hotel-room hoarders should try the East Coast. They have all sorts of leaf colors there.” Her grumping was interrupted when an available room at a Rosehill boutique hotel popped up. She eagerly read the details as her finger hovered over the Book button. “Oh, for Pete’s sake.”
“What?”
She tapped the button to book anyway and started entering her credit card information. “There was one room open in Rosehill. I’m grabbing it now.”
He paused as if waiting for her to continue and then finally asked, “What’s wrong with it?”
“Nothing.” Her voice came out a touch sullen, even as amusement at the situation rippled through her, easing her sour mood. “It’s beautiful. It costs an arm and a leg, but according to the reviews, it’s worth every penny.”
He huffed, and she could feel him waiting for the rest of her answer.
“Fine. It’s the honeymoon suite.”
After a moment of silence, a laugh ripped from his chest, so loud and booming and unexpected that it was irresistibly infectious. Felicity joined in, and every time another bellow of laughter came from him, she had to echo it. Uncontrollable Bennett laughter was the absolute best.
Once she finally settled and caught her breath, she asked, “Do you get the feeling we’re cursed?”
“Nope.” He paused before continuing. “Think the universe is trying to tell us something though.”
She smirked at him. “The universe made us get married?”
“No. I blame Ronan for that.”
“Me too!” She sat up straighter. “Who brings two people—both obviously off their asses—not only to get a marriage license but to the chapel? He helped us pick a wedding package! You saw our pupils in that picture. We looked like aliens!”
Bennett laughed again.
“I mean,” she kept going, warming to her subject. With everything else happening, she never had a chance to really think about Ronan’s part in their impulsive marriage. “We would’ve happily kept telling each other how beautiful we were while eating pancakes if Ronan hadn’t come along and enabled us.”
“I did text him,” Bennett said, sounding a little guilty.
“True, but we’d just been shot at. We were feeling an immediate need for backup.”
At the mention of being shot at, all the residual laughter left his expression.
“I’m fine,” she stressed, guessing at what caused his quick switch from amused to stone-cold serious. “When you see the teeny-tiny mark on my leg, you’re going to realize how ridiculous you’re being. It barely touched me.”
“But it was too close.” He glanced at her for just a brief second, but the raw agony in his eyes took her aback. Needing to ease that pain, she reached over and squeezed his hard thigh.
“It was, but we survived.” Even though he was focused on the interstate in front of them, she still kept her gaze steady on his profile. “We watched each other’s backs and called in backup—who might have gotten us married, but that’s better than shot, right?” When he just gave her a sideways smirk, she moved her hand off his leg and whacked him on the shoulder. “Right?”
He laughed. “Much better.”
“Humph,” she grunted, sitting back in her seat. “You better say that, buster, or you’re getting locked out of the honeymoon suite tonight.”
His laugh rang out again, and she smiled at the beautiful sound, proud she was able to draw that humor out of him. “I’m really good at breaking in to locked hotel rooms,” he said.
Grinning, she met his gaze. “Me too.”
As much as she wanted to stop and spy on the militia for a bit, see if Dino had made it home yet, it was dark by the time they got to Simpson. There was no way to drive to their hiding spot without headlights, and keeping the car’s lights on during the drive up the logging trail to the copse they used as a spying point was just suicide. Even if they didn’t drive off a cliff in the dark, the militia—and everyone within miles—would know where they were headed, and they’d probably guess why as well.
Instead, Felicity and Bennett stopped at Levi’s for a late dinner. They’d just gotten their food when Bennett nudged her and lifted his chin toward the door. Felicity looked up and groaned. The murder club ladies and their assorted husbands were weaving through the tables directly toward them.
“But I’m so tired,” she whined under her breath. “They’re going to want all the details, and I’m going to have to admit that I let Dino slip through my fingers in Vegas. Why did I think it was a good idea to expand my bounty-hunting army?”
He snorted, shifting a little closer to her. “Should’ve just added your general and left it at that.” He’d taken up what had become his usual spot plastered against her side, both their backs facing the wall.
“Captain,” Felicity corrected absently. She saw the determined look on Lou’s face as she led the murder-lady charge, and she took a huge bite of her brisket so she wouldn’t be able to talk.
“Felicity! Felicity’s stalker! It has been two days—more than two days—and none of us”—Lou made circle motions with her arms, indicating the group around her—“not a one has heard anything from you. Not a word. Not a peep. Not even a text. We were worried!”
Felicity instantly felt guilty. She hurried to chew and swallow the bite of food in her mouth while the group pulled chairs around their small table. When everyone was seated, they were pressed shoulder to shoulder, leaning in toward Felicity and Bennett.
Resisting the urge to draw back from all the curious eyes, Felicity braced herself and opened her mouth to say…something. She was exhausted and had no idea what information she should share and what should be held back. The memory of the motel owner finding out about Dino lingered in her mind, and she didn’t want to give anything away in the middle of Levi’s that would cause them problems later. She closed her mouth and tried to order her thoughts.
“We got married.”
There was dead silence as Felicity turned her head to stare at the man who, yes, was technically her husband, but she didn’t think they’d be spreading that news around. He lifted one eyebrow in a way that was both questioning and challenging, and the spark of humor in his eyes turned her bewilderment to amusement.
“Wait…what?” Lou was the first to speak. “Weren’t you just stalker and stalkee a few days ago?”
“Inside joke?” Felicity offered weakly, but Lou still looked skeptical, so she tried again. “Aren’t most husbands just legal benevolent stalkers anyway?”
The women looked at one another and shrugged.
“Fair enough,” Daisy said.
“Hey,” Chris protested, and Daisy gave his knee a reassuring squeeze, although Felicity noticed she didn’t retract her statement.
“Congratulations!” Ellie cheered, which set off a round of well-wishing from everyone, even a guy she was pretty sure she’d never met who was sitting by Rory.
“Ian?” she guessed. “I’m Felicity, and this is Bennett.”
The gorgeous man lifted his chin in greeting as Felicity wondered what was in the water around Simpson to produce so many attractive people. Maybe they’re all vampires, she thought, punchy with exhaustion, and barely held back her giggles.
“Were you planning to get married?” Chris asked, leaning back and throwing an arm over the back of Daisy’s chair. “Last I saw you, you were leaving me in your dust on Moose Peak Road. Thought you were chasing a skip?”
Felicity held up her fork in a shrug. “We followed him to Vegas, he disappeared, and we figured we’d get married.” It was technically true, although the timeline was a bit wonky in this condensed version.
“No ring?” Ellie asked, eyeing their bare left hands.
“Nope.” Felicity used the take-a-bite trick to give her a few seconds to think—plus she was actually hungry. “Too dangerous in our lines of work. We could lose that finger if we caught it on something.” She wiggled the digit in question.
“Ian got me a panic room instead of a ring,” Rory said, looking at her husband fondly. He grinned back at her, looking smug.
Behind her hand, Daisy mouthed My idea to Felicity, who took another bite to hide her laugh.
“Did you follow your skip back from Vegas?” Callum asked, apparently not that interested in the current ring conversation.
“Nope,” Felicity said, feeling that pang of guilt again. Even though Bennett had made some good points about what might’ve happened if they’d stayed in the car rather than go inside the bar, it was still her fault they’d lost the skip’s trail. She lowered her voice, even though no one was sitting at any of the nearby tables. “Clint was with him, so we’re assuming they’ll both come back home to roost.”
“You know where he lives.” Callum dipped his chin in what Felicity took as a gesture of approval of their actions.
She grinned up at Bennett. “That’s what B said, but it sounded much more menacing.”
Callum looked slightly offended. “I can do menacing.”
Sharing an amused look with Felicity, Lou patted his forearm. “You’re very menacing when you want to be, sweetie.”
“What’s the new plan?” Daisy asked, and everyone looked toward Felicity again. She went to put more food in her mouth to give her time to think, but her plate was empty. Laying her fork down mournfully, she delayed by wiping her mouth with her napkin instead.
“Back to surveillance,” she said just a touch gloomily. They’d been so close to bringing Dino in, so it was hard to go back to square one. From the long faces of the murder ladies, they were hoping for more action as well.
“Wait.” Lou sat up straight. “Do you have a place to stay? You can come home with us.”
Felicity shook her head with a smile. “Thank you, but we’ve reserved at a place in Rosehill.”
“Are you sure?” Lou looked a little disappointed. “We have plenty of room, and Callum makes a mean chili.”
Chris coughed a laugh, and Lou looked at him, confused. “What?”
“They’re honeymooners,” he reminded her gently, although a smile still lurked in his eyes. “They probably want their privacy.”
“Oh!” Rory said, sounding startled, as if she’d just had a revelation. “Because they’ll want to—” She broke off and studied the checked tablecloth while Chris fought another laugh. Ian’s eyes were fond when he looked at his wife, and he gave her a gentle side hug.
By this time, Felicity’s face was flaming hot, so she knew it had to be bright red. She didn’t dare look at Bennett, since he had to be just as embarrassed.
“Okay!” Felicity said too loudly as she stood. Bennett followed her up, quickly dropping money on the table to pay for their meal and tip, as if he was as eager to leave as she was. “Good to see all of you. I’ll keep you updated. Chris, we still need to have that talk. Have a good night! Bye!” She spilled all the words out as quickly as possible, not giving them any time to respond as she grabbed Bennett’s hand and left the table, quickly skirting the large group and making her way through the restaurant.
Once she was outside, she took a couple deep breaths of the bracingly cold mountain air and turned to Bennett, surprised to find him smirking at her.
“Zip it,” she warned, and he laughed out loud.
This honeymoon suite was definitely not a not-honeymoon suite.
Everything about it screamed romance. It was one step away from having a heart-shaped bed. Felicity stared at the complimentary bottle of champagne and told herself to stop freaking out. She’d spent two nights with Bennett in a different honeymoon suite and one night on the floor of his car, and both of them had survived. Her gaze shifted to the bathroom door, which was currently blocking her view of Bennett, and then she moved to retrieve her phone charger from her bag.
Very carefully not looking at the painting of an embracing couple hung on the lace-patterned wall, she plugged in her phone, deciding to deal with a different uncomfortable situation to take her mind off this one. As soon as the battery was charged enough, a series of beeps made her cringe.
“Forty-nine texts and thirteen calls,” she said under her breath as she looked at the screen. “That’s not so bad.” Honestly, she’d expected more.
Without listening to her voicemails or doing more than glancing over the unread texts, she called Charlie’s number.
“You’re not dead.”
“If I am, I’m a zombie.”
“You’d hate being a zombie,” Charlie said in a hushed voice. “I’ll come chop off your head as soon as I get my hands on Mom.”
“Deal.” Felicity really would hate being a zombie. “You need me to call back later?”
“No, I’m—hang on.” Charlie went silent for several seconds. “Yep, I’ll call you later. Wish me luck.”
“Good luck!” Felicity whispered, even though she wasn’t the one who needed to keep her voice down. She had a moment of regret that she wasn’t there to watch her sister’s back, but she was even more determined to bring Dino in after what had happened in Vegas.
Next, she dialed Molly.
“If you’re not dead, I’m going to kill you myself.”
Felicity grinned. “Not dead, but I have a very good reason I haven’t contacted you in two days.”
“Mmm-hmm.” Molly didn’t sound like she believed her. “And what’s that?”
“Charlie stole my phone charger last week, and we had to chase Dino to Vegas.”
“We?”
Felicity winced. Of course her sister picked up on that. “Me and Bennett.”
“Bennett Green?” Molly didn’t sound too much happier than she had when she’d first answered her phone. “He’s still hanging around?”
“Yeah, but he’s been very helpful.”
“Mmm-hmm.” She sounded even more doubtful that time. “Did you get Dino?”
“No.” Felicity was annoyed by that fact all over again. “After a full day of surveillance, he disappeared on us.”
“So why didn’t you call me last night?”
Felicity let out a huff. There was no way around it. Her sister would never be satisfied with the short, semiaccurate summary she’d given the murder ladies. “Dino had someone spike our drinks, so we were kind of out of it last night.”
There was an echoing silence on the other end of the call before Molly screeched, “What?”
Wincing, Felicity held the phone away from her.
“Are you okay?” Molly was still talking—although at a less ear-piercing volume—when Felicity put the phone back to her ear. “What happened? What’d they drug you with? Did you go to the ER?”
“Yes, still working on that, not sure, no,” she answered.
Molly must’ve figured out which answer went to which question, since she asked, “What do you know so far?”
“Bennett and I were at the bar when a fight broke out—a very pathetic fight that I was not a part of,” Felicity quickly added before her sister could ask. “We think it was a distraction so that someone could slip something in our drinks without us noticing. Our main suspect is—”
“Your stalker?”
“No,” Felicity said with absolute certainty. “The bartender. I’m guessing he was paid by Dino, because the bar owner said he walked off the job when we went in there this morning to punch our main suspect in the throat—or the balls. We hadn’t come to a consensus on the location yet.”
“Are you sure it wasn’t Green?” Molly asked. “The number one suspect is always the stalker.”
Felicity rolled her eyes at the empty room. “The number one suspect is always the husband. I learned that from old reruns of Murder, She Wrote.”
Bennett chose that moment to emerge in a cloud of steam from the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his middle. His eyebrows shot up at her last statement, and she waved a hand in an I’ll-explain-later gesture. Tearing her eyes from his once-again-naked chest, she unfortunately ended up staring at the painting of the embracing couple. With a heavy sigh, she closed her eyes and tipped her head back.
“Just because he acted drugged too doesn’t mean he was,” Molly continued as Felicity fought sleep. “It could’ve been just to throw you off.”
Felicity was too tired to keep defending Bennett without letting him know what they were talking about, so she continued her tale, hoping Molly would drop the issue. “Dino ran after us, possibly with a gun.”
“Definitely with a gun,” Bennett muttered, just loud enough for Felicity to hear, with a pointed glance at her still-covered calf.
Ignoring Bennett’s comment, she grimly plunged ahead, wanting to get the call over with so she could climb into the very comfortable-looking bed. “We made it to a well-lit and populated diner and ate pancakes, and then Bennett’s friend Ronan picked us up and drove us back to our hotel.” After helping us get married. “The next morning, the bartender had quit, the bar owner wouldn’t give us his name or location, plus Dino and Clint had checked out of their hotel, so we gave up and drove back to Simpson.”
“Hmm…” Molly’s hum was so skeptical that it basically accused Felicity of leaving out huge chunks of her story. “So what’s your plan?”
“We’re going to stay and see if Dino returns to his militia’s compound. I’m extra determined to bring him in now.”
“Okay. Be careful—of everyone—and keep me updated…daily. Buy another phone charger.”
“Charlie’ll just steal that one too.” Felicity wasn’t even mad about it anymore, it happened so often.
“At least you’ll have it while you’re in the mountainous boonies. What’s it like there?”
“Beautiful.” Especially her current view of Bennett’s chest. “Weird. There’s an unusually high percentage of very attractive people here.”
“Huh. Maybe I should go visit to see for myself,” Molly teased. “Need backup?”
“Oh please,” Felicity scoffed. “As if you’d look at anyone who’s not John.”
“I look at other guys,” Molly protested, and Felicity heard John object in the background. “Fine, I never look at other guys. Happy now?”
Felicity was pretty sure that last bit wasn’t directed at her, so she stayed quiet.
“Okay, John’s here now, so neither of us is going to get a word in edgewise.” More male grumbling on Molly’s end of the call proved her point. “Stay safe, I love you, and remember what I said about cute guys in stalker clothes.”
Felicity didn’t want to hear more about that subject, so she resisted calling out Molly’s nonsensical metaphor. “Love you too.”
Once she’d ended the call, she instantly felt the tension of the room press down on her, making her skin heat and prickle. Without letting her gaze wander over to the mostly naked man sharing the honeymoon suite with her, she unzipped her bag, hoping to find something to use for pajamas. The slightly wilted bouquet of blush roses lay on top where she’d carefully placed it that morning, unable to leave it in Vegas. After all, it was her wedding bouquet. She may never have another one.
Gently placing it to the side, she dug through her clothes. Wrinkling her nose, she sniff-tested a few tanks. Her trip to the mountains was stretching longer than she expected. Soon she was going to have to find out if Simpson or Rosehill had a laundromat.
“Here.”
Startled out of her gloomy thoughts, she looked up to see a folded T-shirt inches from her face. She kept looking up, up, up from her crouched position to see that Bennett had lost the towel but had gained a shirt and shorts. Since he was still holding his T-shirt extended toward her, she accepted it with a “Thanks? What’s this for?”
“You. To wear.” He gestured at her body without looking squarely at her, the edge of his cheekbones splashed red. “To bed.”
“Thank you,” she said again, accepting the shirt, humor creeping back at the sight of Bennett, awkward and tongue-tied from that short discussion about her pajamas.
He glanced at her suitcase, his gaze catching on the bouquet, and his lips curled up in a tiny, pleased smile. As sappy as it was, his expression made her extra glad she hadn’t abandoned the flowers in Vegas.