Dutton #2
“I could make it sound believable.”
“Could you?”
“Yes, and you shouldn't be on a dating app, Brooke.”
“Okay, so you're a conversation bouncer. That’s something new for me to know.”
“What the hell is a conversation bouncer?”
“You, it seems.”
And like before, we find ourselves in a stare-off.
I cave first.
“Let me see your questions.”
I reach for them, but she jerks back. “Say please.”
Her head tilt and firm tone as she tells me what to do makes my cock jump, and it wakes me the fuck up fast.
I lean away from her and point to the goddamn list.
“Please proceed.”
“Okay,” she responds quickly, beaming a wide smile.
“So, if we are going to make this town like you, we need a plan. First, and the most obvious, is by becoming friends with me. People will start to ask questions they haven’t thought to ask before, and since they all love me, these will be positive questions. ”
“Full of yourself much?” I ask.
She shakes her head.
“No. I just know who I am. I also know that Mrs. Whittaker takes her evening walk at six thirty each night, and if you were to look out my front window right now, my guess is, she’s about to walk by my house and see your truck parked outside.”
My lips twitch as I look out the window.
Well, fuck.
“And next …”
“Next, we need you to tell me the top five people who dislike you the most. Those will be our main targets.”
I chuckle. “Our main targets?”
Brooke slowly puts her checklist down and folds her arms, pinning me with a look that screams annoyance.
“If you get the people who dislike you the most to change their minds, everyone will follow. Now, who did you piss off the most?”
Her plan has logic to it. Fuck. Brooke is smart. And the whole Mrs. Whittaker thing is gold. She talks more than anyone in this town.
“Well,” I say and rub the back of my neck. “There’s Mrs. Buckley.”
Brooke gasps. “The flower shop owner. What did you do to her?”
I side-eye my new friend and avoid the question. “Then Mr. Vans.”
“Oh. My. God,” Brooke says, her voice dramatic. “How? He’s so sweet.”
Still ignoring her, I say, “And Mrs. Locke.”
“Eh, that one makes sense, but I’ll have to kill you if you repeat that to anyone.”
I shake my head and fight a smile.
Brooke is pretty entertaining. I have to admit it.
“And Mr. Zink.”
Brooke chuckles.
“All right, that's four. Who is number five?”
“Umm.”
I don’t need to think over this one. There is one person who hates me the most and will be, by far, the hardest to flip to my good side. Not just because of my past but because I’m now spending time with the person he cares about most in this world.
“Your dad,” I finally say, after I’ve let the suspense build long enough.
I’m not surprised when no comment slips from her lips on this one.
Instead, she bites the end of the pen and looks straight ahead, away from me.
“That’s not going to be a problem, is it?” I ask.
Of course it’s a fucking problem, but I need to know where she stands on this. If I can't change Sheriff Sloan’s mind, I may as well abandon this whole plan.
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive, but we’d better save him for last.”
She says it like we have a hit list. Which, well, I guess we do.
“Or we do him first and, as you say, the rest will follow.”
“Yeah, but I know him the best, and I say we save him for last.”
Another valid point.
“All right.”
She turns to face me. “No argument?”
“Nope. I trust you.”
“Wow. So quickly?”
I groan and scrub a hand over my face to keep myself from smiling at her flirty tone.
“You know what I don’t trust?” I ask, changing the subject.
She leans forward to set her notes and pen on the coffee table, then relaxes into the couch as she turns all her focus on me. Her hand smooths over her bare legs for a brief moment, but I snap back before my thoughts get carried away.
“What don’t you trust, Dutton?”
My gaze locks on hers.
“Dating apps.”
Her head falls back on a laugh.
“It sounds like you formed this opinion from experience.”
I nod. “I’ve watched documentaries on missing women being murdered because of shit those apps cause, and I think you shouldn’t be on them.”
“Ah yes, a Netflix expert on murders.”
She rolls her eyes so dramatically that it makes me clench my jaw. She thinks I’m overreacting.
Typical Brooke to disagree with me just because she can.
“Delete the app from your phone, Brooke.”
My voice is firm and to the point, and by her narrow eyes and tilted head, it’s clear she doesn't care for being told what to do.
“It’s fine.”
“Brooke, come on.”
“The guy I’m talking to is named Tony, he lives in a different small Wyoming town, and he enjoys Legos and iced coffee. Trust me, he is harmless.”
“Sounds like a whack job.”
I don’t have time to react before her pen hits me in the chest.
“Careful, Dutton. You almost sound like you care about me.”
Yeah, I fucking caught on to that, too.
I force my best smile.
“Hey, that’s what friends are for, right?”
She rolls her eyes again, but this time it’s with a genuine smile. “Exactly.”
Yeah … I’m going to need her to delete that app sooner than later.
Friends or not, if someone lays a hand on Brooke and she doesn't consent to it, I’ll kill ’em.