“You two are impossible,” she said with a smile as one of the waitresses placed Cohen and Danielle’s meals on the table.
“He’s the impossible one,” Danielle snapped. “I’m from here. He’s the stranger. This should be my booth.”
Cohen stole a fry from Danielle’s plate. She tried to skewer his hand with her fork. “Easy, there,” he warned, grinning. “You just did agree that I am here to protect the town.”
Danielle opened her mouth to reply, but Lila took her hand and tugged her out of the booth. “A moment, please,” Lila said.
Danielle glared at Cohen. “Touch my fries, and I swear, I will curse you into the next century.”
Danielle stood from the booth, and Lila motioned with a nudge of her head for Danielle to follow her.
“Look,” her best friend said, “I know Mason is going to be your husband one day very soon, but I can only take his brother in very small doses.”
Lila giggled. “Small doses? You do know that I don’t believe you, right? You purposefully come into the diner when you know he is there and likely sitting at the booth.”
“Mybooth,” Danielle pointed out with a frown.
“Yup, whatever you say.”
“Don’t do that. Don’t think that you know what is going on because, as I’ve told you a million times before, there is nothing happening between the Sheriff and me.”
“Fine, fine.” Maybe one day, Lila would believe that.Maybe. It was unlikely. There was a better chance of Half Moon Key getting reliable internet and electrical services. “But just for the record, I think that maybe you need to cut Cohen some slack.”
Danielle pursed her lips. “Is that a joke?”
“No, it’s not. I think that you two have way more in common than you might think. Maybe instead of jumping down his throat next time you share a booth, ask him about his life.”
Danielle shook her head. “Nope. I don’t need to know any more about him than I already do.”
“You really are stubborn.”
“That’s the pot calling the kettle black.”
Lila snorted. “I know, but at least I realized what Mason was to me.”
Danielle threw her hands up in the air. “You cannot compare what you have with Mason with what I could have with Cohen. That’s not the same thing at all. You and Mason work together. Cohen and I would probably kill each other in a second if we ended up together.”
“Maybe that’s just passion.”
“Maybe you’re newly in love, and you think that the entire world needs to be just as in love as you are.”
“Not a chance.”
Mason chose that very same moment to pass by. He winked at her, grinning that secret grin that always made her heart skip a beat or two.
“See? All he has to do is look at you, and you’re a big slab of jelly.”
“Jelly doesn’t come in a slab,” Lila pointed out.
“Look in the mirror right now, and you’ll know exactly what I mean.”
Lila giggled. “Look, if you really don’t think that you could see yourself with Cohen, maybe stop stealing the booth from him.”
“Not a chance. Men have been taking things from me since the day I was born. I am not gonna let that outsider come into my small town and takemybooth. Everyone for miles and miles knows not to sit there, but he does it to piss me off. I know that’s why he does it.”
“I don’t think either of you knows why you do what you do,” Lila replied.
“What’s going on here?” Mason asked, wrapping his arm around Lila’s waist and holding her close. “It looks like a very intense conversation being had here.”