Page 14 of Tempt Me

“I’m no lady,” Charlotte scoffs. “But tell me about these odds…”

“Twenty to one he comes up with nothing.”

“Thanks, Alistair,” Caden says dryly. His eyes keep flashing to me. I feel totally unprepared for this moment, which seems a bit ironic given how much time I used to spend thinking about the day Caden returned to Magnolia Bay. I take another gulp of wine.

“I’ll take that action,” Charlotte says.

Everyone is laughing and acting like this is normal. That he’s here. Just slipping back into the usual pace of town in the summer. Like he didn’t up and vanish, breaking my heart almost past repair and turning my life on its head.

It’s all too much. I can’t breathe.

“Excuse me for a minute,” I say, pressing my glass into Charlotte’s hand and fleeing out the patio doors.

It’s quiet out here. There’s only one small party at a table for four. I walk over to the railing and look out across the bay, taking a deep inhale. I’m okay. I can handle this. It was a shock at first but?—

“Isla.”

I whirl around. Caden followed me. He’s breathing deeply too, his stupid giant chest heaving. My eyes flash to his arm, to the intricate design that patterns the thick ropes of muscle.

“Where have youbeen?” I blurt out.

I wasn’t planning on saying that. I don’t know what plan I had, but it probably should have involved icy silence and maybe a haughty look or two, to show I’ve moved on. Instead, I feel cracked open like an egg, my heart spilling out like a runny yolk.

“Argentina,” he says.

I’m shocked he actually answered me.

“Argentina?”

He nods. “I was working at a winery there.”

“A winery?” I sound like a parrot but I can’t help myself. I don’t know what I pictured—him living the high life in Monaco or cruising the Amalfi Coast maybe. Billionaire things.

“And you?” he asks. His voice is faintly gentle. “How are you?”

I want to laugh and I want to rage at him and I also feel so very tired. “I’m fine,” I say.

“Good,” he says, nodding again. “That’s…that’s good.”

There’s an awkward silence. I wonder what he’s thinking about. And if he’s wondering what I’m thinking about. I’m not sure even I know what I’m thinking.

“Did you really come back to solve your mother’s murder?” I ask.

His gaze drops to my mouth for a brief moment, but it’s enough to send a flicker of heat up my spine.

“Yes,” he says. He stares out at the bay and scratches the back of his neck. My eyes are drawn to the way his tattoo dances across his bicep with the movement. “Noah told me I was a suspect at first.”

“I know,” I say.

His eyes snap back to mine. “You do?”

“I was the one who convinced the cops it wasn’t you.”

Caden looks surprised. What did he think would happen? He basically fled the scene of the crime.

I make a sort of halfhearted gesture. “I was your alibi. Remember?”

His jaw gets tighter, a line of tension running through it. “Of course I remember,” he says, his voice a low growl. I feel it echo in my chest. For a moment, we just stare at each other. I wonder if he’s thinking about that night now, just like I am. My head pounds and my skin itches. Caden’s gaze drops to my mouth again and I lick my lips.

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