Page 40 of All Signs Point to Malibu

I open my mouth and she pops it inside. Instinctively, I close my lips around her finger and lick the frosting free. Our gazes lock and we simultaneously realize she just fed me. And that my mouth is still holding her finger captive.

Awkward tension simmers between us. She doesn’t immediately retract the finger and I don’t immediately release it. Instead, my tongue actually circles it and Hailey’s expression looks like she’s not exactly hating the unexpected gesture.

“Decided?”

Jesus. Where did he come from?

At the sound of Yates’s voice, I open my lips and Hailey steals her finger back. She looks slightly embarrassed as she turns her attention to the Frost God. “I think so...the carrot cake, the chocolate and maybe the lemon for variety?” She turns to me and I nod, no longer giving a shit about the dessert choices. Hailey Harris’s finger was just in my mouth and all I can think about is tasting other parts of her.

Which blows my mind for so many reasons.

She places the order and although I insist otherwise, pays for it.

Moments later, we say goodbye to Yates and head toward the door, a lingering awkwardness still simmering between us. I need to say something. The last thing between us can’t be a sexually charged finger licking.

Keep it caszh.

I clear my throat as I open the door for her. “Did we just agree on something?”

Hailey glances up at me with a look of relief that I’ve broken the weird vibe. “To deciding on desserts without bloodshed,” she says, extending a fist.

I bump it and we exit.

Outside, I check my watch. “Well, I have to get to practice.”

Hailey nods, then hesitates before asking, “Hey, there’s a kid on your team—I think his name is Kent? That was the name on his jersey.”

“Marcus, yeah, what about him?” I haven’t forgotten the way Hailey looked at him that day when he saved her from the flying ball, then crushed her with the body check.

“Is he...um...good?”

I nod. “Fantastic player. Great potential, but he’s going through some stuff at home.” He’s missed two practices because of his new job, but he’s trying to juggle everything—all the responsibilities on his plate—the best he can, so I’m cutting him some slack. At least working keeps him off the street and away from the negative influences of the crew he desperately wants to fit in with. “Why?”

Hailey shrugs casually. “Just saved me from a wild football, so figured he must be good, that’s all.”

That’s definitely not all, I can tell, but I need to get to practice, so I have to let it go for now. “I’ll meet you at your place later tonight to go over the rest of the planning?” I ask as I walk backward down the street to the Jeep.

Hailey looks surprised. “Tonight?”

“Or I can just handle the rest of the party planning on my own.” Probably safer... Dessert choosing already took a weird turn. I’m afraid what other antics could go sideways. And spending time with Hailey is having an unsettling effect on me. Seeing different sides of her is making it harder to remember I despise this woman. I don’t want Hailey Harris to be three-dimensional. I prefer her to be as one-dimensional as her photo on that billboard I continue to drive past, despite the crater being fixed on the alternate (faster) route.

“Not a chance,” she says, and I hate that it’s relief or potentially excitement I feel. “See you tonight.” Hailey puts on her sunglasses as she heads toward her car.

I head in the opposite direction, but several feet away, I glance over my shoulder at her.

Of course, she doesn’t look back. Why the hell would she?

Get a grip, Mitchell. It’s Hailey Harris. You can trust that woman about as far as you can throw her.

And now all I can think about is scooping her sexy little body up into my arms.

What the hell just happened?

I felt the earth shift more inside the bakery moments ago than during the tremor last week. My finger in Warren Mitchell’s mouth—gross!

Only not exactly gross.

Physical attraction to Warren was never a problem. In fact, in high school, before Liam and I started dating, I’d had the tiniest crush on Warren. I’d been hopinghewould ask me to winter formal the year my gift made me popular, but Liam asked first and he was my science partner and friend...and I have no regrets. Liam and I were absolutely the better fit. And I never thought of Warren that way again.

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