Page 18 of The Scenic Route
Ellie protested, “George talks.”
“We only have your word on that,” Daisy said in a teasing tone before returning to the topic under discussion. “Chris said there’s a Denver address, but nothing much else. Not even a speeding ticket. Either this guy’s a total Boy Scout, or… Actually, I don’t know what the alternative is. A fake identity?”
“It’s my real name. I just don’t speed,” Bennett said, sounding sulky in a way that was strangely adorable.
Felicity turned her head to hide her smile from him, mentally scolding herself for finding her stalker—ex-stalker—much too appealing.
“I don’t have any speeding tickets,” Rory said in protest, “and I don’t have a fake identity.”
“Exactly,” Bennett muttered.
“That’s because you never left your bunker until you started dating Ian,” Lou said matter-of-factly. “Is this Mr. Green—totally made-up name, by the way—a licensed PI?”
“No license required in Colorado,” Daisy reported.
“I wouldn’t have picked Green,” Bennett huffed, making Felicity look at him in question. “If I picked my name, I would’ve chosen something better thanGreen. It sounds like a Clue character.”
Felicity couldn’t hold back her laugh at that, and she missed a chunk of the women’s conversation. When she tuned back in, Ellie was talking about needing to get home. Felicity lifted her eyebrows at Bennett, who plucked out his earpiece, handing it back to her and then starting the SUV.
Although she kept hers in for the trip back to the Black Bear Inn, Felicity didn’t learn anything new or interesting. Various male voices arrived, and everyone chitchatted so casually she had the paranoid suspicion that they’d found one of the listening devices. When Bennett parked in the spot in front of her room, she pulled out her earpiece and put it in its case with the other.
“Do you agree?” Bennett asked.
“With what?” she asked, wondering if she’d missed whatever it was she was supposed to be agreeing with. He spoke so rarely, and his voice was so mesmerizing, that she couldn’t imagine not listening to everything he said.
“What Lou said?” When she gave him a look, he elaborated. “About me being creepy?”
Surprised, Felicity didn’t answer immediately.
Bennett tensed, his mouth drawing into a tight line. “Fair. I did stalk you, after all.”
“No.”
“What?” he asked, his body still tense.
“You’re not creepy.” It was the truth, but Felicity still found herself blushing when she said it. “You remind me of Norah.”
“Norah?” he repeated. “I remind you of yoursister?”
“You’re both really smart and good at your jobs, but neither of you is exactly…socially proficient.” Felicity winced, hoping that hadn’t sounded as insulting to him as it did to her.
It must not have, since Bennett relaxed slightly, leaning ever so slightly closer to her. “So not creepy.”
“Not creepy.”
“Even though I stalked you.”
“It was more of an annoying stalking, not a creepy stalking.”This is one of the weirdest conversations I’ve ever had.
For a long, quiet moment, he searched her eyes as if determining her sincerity, and then he sat back and smiled faintly. “Good.”
Realizing that she’d been staring right back at him, Felicity fumbled for the door handle. She popped it open as her stomach gave a pang of complaint. “So…dinner?”
With a nod, he glanced at the dashboard clock. “Out here in fifteen?”
“It’s a date.” It took enormous effort to hold back her flinch at those words. “Or a plan. It’s a plan then. Let’s call it a plan.”
He actually chuckled. “Who’s not socially proficient now?”
