Page 14 of Take the Bait

“You’re far too generous.” He locked eye contact with her, and smirked when he noticed her heated eyes lingering on the tattoos on his biceps.

Her eyes darted up to his, then skirted away when she realized he’d caught her. Her cheeks flushed, and then she glanced back at him.

“Thanks for helping me,” she said softly.

Tucker took a few steps to close the space between them, then tucked a stray hair behind her ear. “No problem, shortcake. Does this mean I get to know your name now?”

Her gaze drifted to his mouth, then back up to his eyes. She took a step closer. “And ruin the mystery? I don’t think so.”

She licked her cherry lips, and he groaned internally. “Should I just call you Ms. Taylor then?”

“Only if you have a teacher fantasy.”

Fuck, she was flirting with him now? He was done for. Was he staring at her mouth too much? How much was too much when it came to mouth staring, anyway? “As long as you’re in it, I definitely do.”

A voice hollered from the neighboring tent. “Tuck?”

He drew back suddenly as one of his employees hollered for him from the other side of the tent. Burp girl’s eyes widened. Even he jolted. She’d done it again—made him completely forget about work. What kind of magic did this girl possess?

“Yep?” Tucker yelled back, not taking his eyes off her.

“Still need the cutlery and napkins. You get lost back there?” A chuckle followed.

He grinned, leaned back, and shouted, “A little. Be there in a sec.”

Tucker reached across the table she was sitting on and grabbed a box of napkins and cutlery. She bit her lip and stared at him with a mix of curiosity and hesitation.

“Don’t move,” he whispered.

She nodded, and he jogged around the tent to replenish the napkins and cutlery as quickly as he could, avoiding the inquisitive stares from his employees.

When he returned to where he’d left burp girl, she was gone. He couldn’t say he was surprised—he’d seen the look in her eyes.

But he didn’t care this much as he did the other times she’d disappeared without a trace.

Because this time, he had a lead.

Ms. Taylor worked at Seaside Elementary, and Tucker knew tracking her down would be as easy as making chocolate chip cookies from scratch.

Which is to say—he could do it in his sleep.

5

Hanna scrolled through Zillow listings in her hometown and sighed, spinning in the chair at her desk in the silent moments before kindergarteners rushed in.

She’d given Orange Beach a good, solid try, hadn’t she?

She missed her sister. Her parents. Familiarity.

She’d wanted to be adventurous, try something new—unlike most of the people from her small town who moved right back to it after college. There was no problem with that, of course. But Hanna wanted to bedifferent.

A lot of good that did her.

She now lived in a place with beautiful beaches but no friends within a stone’s throw. The friends she did have were six hours away.

One was her sister, Bella. If she even counted as a friend, that is. The other was her childhood bestie slash college roommate, Madi—who just so happened to be Bella’s wife.

The two had been in marital bliss for six months now after years of secretly pining for each other, and Hanna couldn’t have been happier for them. But she missed them, even if she didn’t miss third-wheeling.

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