Page 62 of Tapped

“The girls have plans with friends all weekend. Daria can get Misty where she needs to be. Denny has a tee time first thing in the morning.” Cadence holds out her arms and flips her high ponytail over her shoulder with more pizazz than necessary. “I’m all yours, baby sister.”

My eyes wander to the clock on the other side of the kitchen.

Cadence’s arms drop to her sides. “Way to make a girl feel wanted.”

I turn my full attention back to her and plaster a tight smile on my face. “Sorry. I have banana bread in the oven. I don’t want to lose track of time.”

Her face screws up. “Since when do you bake?”

“Since I have so much nervous-energy that I can’t sit still.” I shoo her off with the flip of my hand. “Go take a shower while I clean this up. I’ve got to get this stuff portioned and in the freezer. I have enough meals prepped to get Chase and me through next month.”

She puts her hands on her hips. “Why are you acting so weird?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Probably because a killer is after us.”

She has the nerve to shake her head. “That’s obvious. But for some reason, I don’t think that’s it.”

I turn back to the dirty dishes. “You don’t know me well, then. Right now, all I care about is Chase.”

That’s a lie. And I don’t know what I feel worse about—obsessing over a man who isn’t my husband or using that man as a distraction from missing my child. But Micah and I had a connection last night. The type of connection I haven’t had with a man in years. In fact, I don’t remember the last time I felt like this.

“Hey,” Cadence calls. “If you’ve been stuck at home, where did you get these? They’re the best in town, and I know for a fact they don’t deliver because they never know what they’ll have in stock. Trust me, I’ve tried.”

I turn and find her standing at the island where she’s flipped open the box of decadent donuts.

I say nothing, but she keeps talking. “Dad said he was here yesterday morning. And we both know he doesn’t do donuts. And don’t tell me it’s your security guard.”

Shit.

“Evie,” she clips my name in a way it might as well be a demand.

My shoulders slump. Who am I kidding? Even if she hadn’t noticed the donuts, I probably would’ve told her about Micah anyway. “If I tell you something, you have to promise not to tell Mom and Dad. And definitely not Andrew. You really can’t tell him.”

Her eyes widen. “Evie, what are you talking about?”

I move to her and snag a donut. It’s my fourth one today. In fact, I haven’t eaten anything all day besides what could be described as the best donuts on earth.

And here I thought it was waiting on Micah Emmett that was making my stomach uneasy. I thought it was stupid butterflies, but now that I think about it, it’s probably the refined sugar and gluten.

The way it’s going, there won’t be any left for Micah, because Cadence pulls out the barstool next to mine, grabs her own donut, and talks with her mouth full when she demands, “Tell me everything.”

* * *

Micah

Tap.

Tap-tap.

Tap-tap-tap.

Tap—

“If you don’t cut that shit out, I’ll throw your cell out the fucking window.”

I turn my gaze from the target’s house to Brax. “What?”

He motions to the cell in my hand that I was clicking on the console to the beat of the music that’s been set to low just to break up the silence. “What’s with the nervous tic? You’re never like this. I swear, you’ve never been wound this tight—and you’re wound snug even when you’re relaxed.”

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