Page 11 of Bennett

Matthew smirked. “Should we be concerned?”

Laurel didn’t miss a beat. She set Bennett’s plate down with a little more force than necessary, flashing him a sweet, innocent smile. “Not unless one of you plans on taking me on a bad date.”

Dang it. Why the heck did she say that?

Cooper leaned back, grinning. “Damn. Vaughn, you better be careful. She’s got an escape plan ready.”

Bennett, completely unfazed, picked up his fork. “I’ll take my chances.”

Laurel’s brow quirked at that, but she kept her expression neutral. Instead of replying, she turned and walked away, already hearing the low rumble of laughter behind her.

Cooper, predictably, was the first to start running his mouth.

“Well, damn. Now I wanna know what her strategy is.”

Matthew chuckled. “Probably involves scaling a wall and commandeering a getaway vehicle.”

“Hope not, or I’ll have to arrest her,” the sheriff mumbled.

“Idiots,” Mac muttered. “I wanted to ask her to bring more coffee.”

She was already on it, pouring fresh coffee into a new carafe and hiding a grin behind the steam. That had been fun—maybe a little too fun.

Mr. Double Surnameswasn’t supposed to be intriguing. He was supposed to be another customer. Instead, he was calm under fire, completely unreadable, and apparently sharper than she’d given him credit for.

Not that it mattered.

Men like him were exactly the type she had learned to avoid. Silent, sexy…the kind that made a woman lean in just to hear what they were thinking, only to realize too late that figuring them out was damn near impossible.

And they said women were bad.

Snorting, she grabbed the carafe, squared her shoulders, and headed back to the testosterone table. As she approached, she caught Cooper watching her with an exaggerated squint, like he was solving the world’s most important mystery.

“Here’s more coffee,” she said, setting the carafe down.

“Thanks,” Mac, Gabe, and Matthew said in unison.

She turned to Cooper. “What’s with the face? You look like you’re trying to develop telepathic powers.”

“No.” He pointed at her. “You never answered the question.”

She blinked. “I’ve answered a lot of questions. Be more specific.”

Mac sighed, shaking his head. “The muscle. The one that never tires.”

“Oh.” She tapped her chin, playing it up. “You’re still thinking about that?”

Cooper shrugged. “I need closure.”

Laurel sighed dramatically, as if the weight of their curiosity was too much to bear. “Fine. It’s the heart.”

Silence.

Then Cooper groaned. “You have got to be kidding me.”

“Wow.” Matthew exhaled through his nose. “That was painfully obvious.”

Mac just grunted. “Huh.”

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