“It’s probably the only thing that gets hard for you anymore.” Bently chuckled and Mikel burst out laughing. He needed to poke the bear for his plan to work.
“Bently likes a woman who won’t give him the time of day,” Mikel said, changing the subject.
“What? Your charms are not working on someone for once?” Andre’s smug smirk brought a wave of defeat crashing over Bently like a bucket of ice water.
“They seem to have the opposite effect on her actually,” he grumbled.
A very beautiful woman with dark hair entered the bar, her gaze scanning the room until it locked on his and she smiled. He grinned as a spark of determination lightened his chest. “You know what they say though, try, try again. I think I’ll practice a little more with Mia.” He laughed.
Mia approached them with a hesitant smile directed at him. Andre’s body tensed beside him. Jackpot.
“Hey, baby,” Bently said, standing up to give Mia a hug.
“Another.” Andre waved to Charli, having downed his first whiskey already.
“Sorry I’m late,” Mia said, adjusting the strap of her dress. The woman was gorgeous, but she still did nothing for him. Her touch didn’t elicit sparks. Mia’s closeness didn’t make breathing difficult. He saw her the same as Charli—as a friend.
“You’re right on time and my you look delicious.” He put the flirt on extra thick, knowing it was going to drive his friend nuts.
Mia laughed. “Is he always this much?”
Mikel answered her. “Bently never changes. His ego is bigger than anyone else I know.”
“That’s not all that big, unlike some of my other body parts,” Bently said, purposely revving up his buddy.
Andre scowled.
“Don’t mind our rude friend—he’s just cranky because he hasn’t gotten laid in a loooong time,” Bently joked as Andre turned around to face them.
Mia’s eyes darted from Andre to the dance floor, her cheeks glowing with a slight blush. “That’s okay. How about a dance?” she asked Bently.
He hooked his arm around her waist and led her towards the other couples. Mikel was talking to Andre while his best friend glared daggers at him.
He spun Mia and nodded to Mikel who got up and winked on his way out. She felt good against him, but as beautiful as she was, she didn’t make him want to throw caution to the wind and . . . and what? Break his rule for one night that was sure to be amazing, just to get her out of his system, and then? It wasn’t like he could do more than one night with Belle anyways. Maybe he needed to make that clear to her. She may not like him very much, but the way her body reacted to his told him she was attracted to him too.
“How are you enjoying Shattered Cove so far?” he asked Mia. He could ask Belle for a brief encounter—a short and dangerous hookup.
“It’s nice. And small.” She smiled.
“It sure is.”
She chuckled before resting her head on Bently’s shoulder as they moved to the slow music. Bently slid his hand down her waist to the small of her back, knowing full well it would drive his friend crazy. The man was too stubborn for his own good. Anyone with two eyes could see these two had a thing for each other. If Andre wasn’t going to man up, it was Bently’s duty as his best friend to push him into the deep end.
A rough tap on his shoulder brought a smile to his face.
“Mind if I cut in?” Andre said brusquely.
“About damn time.”
Mia looked between the two men.
“I gotta get going anyways. You’ll make sure she gets home safe?” Bently asked.
“Of course.” Andre wrapped his arms around Mia as they started to dance.
At least he could still do something right. Now, he needed to man up and ask Belle if she’d be interested in fucking this out of their systems for one night only. The sooner he had her, the sooner he could move on with his life and get out of this funk.
Chapter 6
Bently
A knock sounded at Bently’s closed office door.
“Come in.” He shuffled the papers on his desk into a neat pile as Officer Luke Parsons walked in.
The older man nodded and pulled out a seat for himself across from Bently. “Good afternoon, Sheriff. Man, after all these years, it still seems weird that the same newbie I trained is now my boss.” Parsons tapped his fingers on Bently’s ancient wood desk.
“Tell me about it.” Bently smiled.
“I heard your truck got done in last week.”
Bently sighed. “Yeah, probably kids. What can I do for you today?”
Parsons sighed and leaned back in the metal chair. “I had a run-in with a group of kids spray-painting those abandoned buildings on Kent Street.”
Bently nodded. “Did you catch ’em?”
“I may be old, but I’m still light on my feet.” Parsons chuckled.
More like your partner is. Bently eyed the man’s bulging belly.
“We caught two of them.”
“You got them fingerprinted and booked?”
Parsons sat a little straighter. “One kid was Mary Braxton’s boy. I gave him a warning and brought the other one in for booking.”
Bently’s brows furrowed. “Why not give both of them a warning, or book the lot of them?”
“It was just kids being kids. Abandoned building and all, I didn’t think there was much harm done. Scared the shit out of them when we blared the sirens.”
“So why arrest just the one, then?”
“I just had a feeling that this one was trouble. Maybe you want to consider him for that mugging involving Andre Stone. Fits the description he gave us.” Parsons set a file on his desk. Just one more in the seemingly endless pile of paperwork.
“Why didn’t you bring this to Deputy Vargas?” Bently asked.
Parsons rolled his eyes—something no one else in the small department would dare do. But the man was old enough to be Bently’s father, and taking orders from a man young enough to be your son was hard on most people. “The princess was not in her office. Probably getting
