Page 106 of Fire and Icing

“What?” She swipes at the wrong cheek.

“Here,” I reach over across the display of cake pops and run my pointer finger down her cheek.

Her eyes are on mine.

I pull my finger back and hold it up.

“Frosting,” I announce, then I put my finger in my mouth and lick the icing off.

I’m not thinking much of it, but Syd’s off to the side of us, fanning herself on a seventy degree day. When I glance back at Emberleigh, she’s blushing.

A family walks up behind me. Emberleigh’s chin tilts up in that determined stance of hers, and then she softens her expression as she turns to address the family.

She’s flustered. And while I don’t want to be the cause of her discomfort—ever—I’m nearly ecstatic over the thought that I can affect her like that. It has to mean something. If she didn’t care, I wouldn’t get to her like this. But I do.

Grinning, I jog back toward the chili booth, downing both cupcakes before any of the guys can ask me to share.

I’m ladling out a bowl of chili for an older gentleman when a guy I recognize steps up to the booth. That’s the man Syd was with on the sidewalk.

“Hey, Evan,” Cody says.

“Hey. How’s it going, Cody?”

“Good. Good. What can I get ya?”

“Chili, just one bowl.”

“Coming right up.”

I watch their exchange, studying the guy. It’s him. I’m sure of it.

As soon as he walks away, I ask Cody, “Who is that guy?”

“Who? Evan?”

“Yeah. The guy who was just here.”

“I’ve known him since elementary school. We grew up together. He works at the bank now. Why?”

“No reason. He just looks familiar. Probably saw him at the bank.”

I know I saw him on the sidewalk with Sydney. I’m not merely nosy, something’s off. The way he looked at her then—too familiar, cozy even.

And if that’s the case, why hasn’t Emberleigh ever mentioned a man in Sydney’s life? She would have, at least in passing. She flat out told me Syd isn’t seeing anyone.

I glance toward Sydney, but she’s got her back turned, busy in the booth.

My eyes land on Emberleigh. She’s laughing while she hands two cake pops to a young mom.

Greyson’s voice interrupts my train of thought. “You’ve stirred that chili ‘til it’s nearly puree, Rookie. It’s not a love potion, you know?”

I chuckle, pulling the wooden spoon out of the vat and setting it aside.

If only it were a love potion…

“Maybe it’s the cupcakes,” Patrick quips. “Dustin’s definitely under Emberleigh’s spell.”

Cody doesn’t say anything. He just lifts an eyebrow and gives me a half-smile full of easy, wordless camaraderie.

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