Page 44 of The Scenic Route
“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 herexpression 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!”
Eleven
As soon as Felicity woke, she wished she were still sleeping. Everything hurt, especially her head, and each beat of her heart seemed to send a pulse of dull pain to every corner of her body. She made a sound of misery but then broke off her groan halfway through because it made her hurt even more. Without opening her eyes, she lay very still, hoping if she didn’t move, the pain would go away.
As she lay there unmoving, a deep groan filled the air around her, and her eyes flew open, her misery forgotten as her memory kicked in, reminding her why she was in a strange bed with Bennett Green.
They’d followed her skip to Las Vegas, spent most of the next day sitting in her car in a parking garage, staring at Clint and Dino’s pickup truck, and then followed them to a dive bar.
Bennett rolled over onto his back. “Please shoot me.”
“Me first.”
He cautiously opened one eye. “You okay, Fifi?”
“Really?” She gave a huff, but it was a small one so it didn’t move her aching head too much. “You too with the Fifis?” She reached over to pinch him—nothing too hard, just enough to remember it the next time he considered using her dreaded nickname.
He rolled off the bed in an effort to get away from her. As the sheets were pulled from his body during his fall, she was relieved to see that he still wore boxer briefs. He was partially naked, but at least he wasn’tfullynaked. She tried to convince herself that she wasn’t thetiniestbit disappointed the important bits were covered.
Belatedly, she looked under the covers. With mixed feelings, she regarded the unfamiliar oversize T-shirt that went almost to her knees. When she checked, she found she did have her own underwear on.There’s that at least, she thought before turning her attention back to Bennett. While she’d been distracted assessing her clothing situation, he’d found some pants and pulled them on. She felt that same pang of disappointment that his muscled legs were hidden, but she comforted herself with the thought that she could still ogle that gorgeous chest of his.
