A Little Something Extra

“This is pointless.” The whole conversation was just making Mitch feel more hopeless. “Jodie doesn’t want a relationship, business or otherwise. Every time I broach the subject, she shuts it down and gets a look in her eyes that says she’s about to run for the hills.” He sounded pathetic. Any minute now he’d be dyeing his hair black and writing emo poetry.

“Are you sure you want a relationship?” Flynn speared a sausage from his cousin’s plate, earning himself a glare. “Or is it just that Jodie’s the first woman who doesn’t come running when you snap your fingers? I mean, you spent years telling us how you’re good with being single. Seems a little suspect that you suddenly want Jodie. Maybe the fact she doesn’t want you is what’s attracting you. The interest will fade once you catch her. You sure you want that to happen?”

“Have you been reading Abby’s Cosmo again?” Mitch asked and received the same one fingered salute he’d shared with his cousin.

“It was the stabbing,” Josh said. “It changed his life, and he realized he didn’t want to die old and alone. He had an epiphany.”

Matt snorted. “He didn’t have an epiphany. He had morphine. A man doesn’t decide he wants a relationship just because he gets stabbed.”

As usual, they were getting off track. Mitch held up a hand to get their attention. “Even though Dr. Phil over there thinks my relationship is some form of PTSD—”

“Dude,” Josh interrupted. “You don’t have a relationship. You have booty calls. That’s why we’re here.”

“—I just want more of a commitment from Jodie than hit-and-run sex.”

“Can’t we Google the answer to wooing Jodie?” Matt said. “There’s got to be a site somewhere that lists ways to romance a woman. I’m sure all you need to do is buy her some flowers and chocolate then declare undying love. Women love that crap.”

If only it were that simple. “Romantic gestures won’t work. Jodie hates them.”

“Women say that, but they don’t mean it,” Flynn said. “It’s a trap.”

“You’re all idiots,” Lake said, and he wasn’t wrong. “Mitch can’t do what you guys did. It wouldn’t work for him. He needs to go with his strengths. He needs to formulate a plan of attack and treat this like another business deal he’s putting together. He’s known for his sharp negotiation skills and for getting what he wants. Do the same with Jodie. Research. Plan. Execute. That’s the way to go. Preparation wins the war.”

The men stared at him for a few minutes, dumbstruck by the volume of words that had just come out of his mouth.

“How many sentences was that?” Josh looked around at the others. “Ten? Twelve? I think that’s a new record.”

Grunt, or Samuel Dayton to those who took their lives into their own hands by using his given name, strode up to the table. The American was built like a tank, used even fewer syllables than Lake and was wrapped around the finger of Matt’s younger sister Claire.

He slapped a folder down in front of Mitch.

“What’s that?” Josh reached for it, but Mitch smacked his hand away.

“It’s a background report on Jodie. I need all the help I can get.”

“As a cop,” Matt said. “I’d like to point out that you are seriously skirting the stalker laws.”

“As a lawyer,” Mitch said. “I’d like to point out that I have a degree in skirting the law.”

With a shrug that said he’d tried, Matt turned to his brother-in-law. “You staying for breakfast?”

“Claire’s pregnant,” was Grunt’s reply.

“Claire’s been pregnant for weeks,” Flynn said. “She’ll be pregnant for a whole lot longer before the babies pop out. You’ve got time to eat.”

“Priorities,” Grunt said. “Got to look out for my wife.” With that, he turned and stalked back out the door.

“I seriously worry about him.” Flynn watched the big guy go.

“You know,” Josh said as Mitch flicked through the folder, looking for an angle to use to get through to Jodie. “You’re missing one obvious play here.”

“What’s that, oh wise one?” Mitch didn’t look up from his reading.

“You have an agreement with Jodie,” Josh said. “Friends with benefits, right?”

“So?” Mitch said.

“So,” Josh said. “Seems like she’s only keeping half the deal. You need to enforce the other half. How can you be friends with benefits if you don’t have the ‘friends’ part? And what is dating but a form of friends with benefits? Just tell her you want to be friends, then hang out, get to know her and worm your way in when she isn’t looking.”