Page 8 of Had to Be You

Laura nodded. "The first week he was on duty, they called in a suspicious person lurking around my house. I was taking a bath and answered the door in a robe and nothing else."

"And that didn’t work?" Kennedy appeared shocked.

Laura motioned her hand toward their surroundings. "Apparently not."

"Right." Kennedy chuckled. "Sorry."

Grady hadn’t been the first man the mafia had tried to intervene with to make a love connection with Laura, yet none of them stuck. Most people in town were not fans of the trio’s stunts, but Laura always appreciated being included in their attempts to play matchmaker. Sadly, none of the contrived meet-cutes had worked out for her.

She was still single with zero prospects despite being active on several dating apps and everyone and their mother trying to set her up. Each time she went on a date, whether it was arranged by a well-meaning friend, a happenstance meeting, or an online situation, Laura always went in with an open mind and a positive attitude. And each and every time, she left feeling defeated and deflated.

Dating in her mid-thirties was proving to be a minefield of men with more baggage than all of the Kardashians combined. Laura wasn’t sure where the eligible, honest, hard-working, family-oriented men who were ready to make a commitment were hiding, but she would love to find them.

"Holy, fresh meat, Batman," Kennedy said without moving her lips.

Laura perked up in her seat. "Where?"

"Ten o’clock."

Laura discreetly glanced to her left, but the only people she saw were Keaton Savage, a championship MMA fighter who moved to town around the same time as Laura and opened up an MMA studio. And a few seats down from him was his cousin, Ford Savage, who had been in Whisper Lake for about a year and had recently gotten together with Laura’s friend Chrissy.

Laura was about to ask where the fresh meat was when she leaned forward and saw it with her very own eyes. Beside Keaton was a man with dark hair and a strong jaw, and, oh boy, he turned to talk to Ford and smiled. When he did, the heavens opened, angels sang, and a very deep dimple appeared in his right cheek.

Tingles spread through her from the crown of her head to the tips of her toes. Every cell in her body came alive with awareness and attraction for the dimpled man. Her mouth watered, and her heart skipped all the beats.

"Hello ladies." Mrs. Dobrinski lowered herself into the chair beside Laura. "Don’t you both look lovely."

"Hi, Mrs. D." Kennedy waved to Mrs. D.

"Thanks; you look lovely too. I love that color on you; it really brings out your eyes." Mrs. D wore a pale green, flowing dress that matched her green eyes.

"I see you’ve spotted the newest Savage in town."

"Newest Savage?" Kennedy leaned closer in aGrease, tell me more move.

Mrs. D tilted her chin toward the man that Laura had just been drooling over. "That is Knox Savage, Ford’s younger brother. He just retired from the Navy, and from what I’ve gathered, he is quite the flirt."

Of course he was.

That was red flag number two for Laura. She’d always had a type. Tall, dark, and charming. She loved confident men who had good banter. Unfortunately, the men who had those characteristics always ended up being liars and cheaters.

At her age, she was done with charming, attractive flirts. She’d wasted enough time being stuck under the spell of men with bad intentions. Or no intentions at all, which in her book was the same thing.

She wanted to have a family. She wanted a ring on her finger, and kids running around. Tingles, drooling, flirting, and charm were not going to get her any of those things.

Without getting permission from her brain, her eyes sliced back to Knox Savage. Damn, even his name was sexy. He was facing forward again, so she drank in his profile. He was a beautiful specimen of a man, for sure.

But make no mistake, Knox Savage was a walking red flag, and her plan was to stay far, far away from him.

3

Knox leanedagainst the bar as he sipped his second beer and looked out over the small town of Whisper Lake. The castle, where the wedding and reception were being held, sat on top of a bluff. It was a view he’d never seen before. When he’d vacationed here as a kid, Stone Castle was abandoned and closed to the public.

"Can I get you another one?" Chloe asked with a lingering smile. The attractive bartender had bright blue eyes and a pixie cut of light pink hair. She had two dimples that were both pierced, and she’d insinuated that she had several more piercings a little further south.

She was cute, bubbly, clearly interested, and had just celebrated her twenty-seventh birthday, which made her too young for Knox. He didn’t date anyone who was born after he turned double digits. Nine years younger was his cutoff. He was thirty-eight, so he didn’t date anyone younger than twenty-nine.

It was close, but he was a stickler for rules. Once one started making exceptions, it was a slippery slope. So, unfortunately, nothing would be happening between him and Chloe. But she was providing him with welcome company as he did his recon work on Chrissy Caldwell. The bar was the perfect vantage point for surveillance. He needed a break from the dance floor because he was starting to feel the effects of not sleeping for the past thirty-six hours.

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