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Molly is at the front desk when I arrive, and her smile spreads when she sees me. She’s in her late thirties and the only female police officer in Bluebonnet.
“Are you bringing some baked goods?”
“You know it.”
Molly gets out of her cubicle, her blonde ponytail swaying with movement. “Nico will be so pissed he missed you.” I hand her the box, and there is no missing the giddy twinkle in her irises.
“He’s not working tonight?”
“Oh, he is, but we just got a call, so he went out on patrol.” She opens the box and peeks inside. “Carrot cake cupcakes!” Molly pulls one out immediately and takes a bite, letting out a happy sigh. “How you make something that has a vegetable in it taste so good, I’ll never understand, but these are divine.”
“I’m so happy to hear that. Anyway, I have to go, but you guys enjoy those and say hi to Nico.”
“Thanks again, and will do.”
With a wave, I get out on the street. I was so ready for today to be over.
Making a point to avoid The Hut, I walk back to ReadingNook, where my truck is waiting for me. Unlocking the car, I toss my backpack onto the passenger seat and slide the key in place, starting the ignition. I expect the familiar loud rumble of the engine roaring to life, but there is nothing.
What the…
My brows pull together as I turn the key and try again to start the car, but once again, only silence greets me.
“Perfect, just freaking perfect,” I mutter to myself as I pop the hood and get out of the truck.
I pull the hood up and turn on the flashlight on my phone as I illuminate the engine and poke around, not that I know much about cars. Between Chase, Emmett, and Miguel, I learned how to change the oil and change the tire if I ever needed to. I also took my car to the shop religiously to make sure it was working properly. But recently it started to make some weird noises. I was planning to check it out, but these past few weeks were just so busy I barely had enough time to breathe.
“What’s going on?”
The fine hair at my nape rises when a warm breath tickles my skin. I jump at the sudden question, my back colliding with the hard chest behind me. My heart is beating a mile a minute as I turn around and come face to face with the last person I want to see.
“Miguel.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
MIGUEL
Rebecca turns around, and those big, hazel eyes meet mine like a deer caught in the headlights.
“Miguel.”
My name is a whisper, and I can feel it all the way to my bones. My stomach tightens as I just stare at her, drinking her in. It’s the only thing I can seem to do—taking her in, exploring every little detail of the woman who used to be my world, and noticing the smallest of changes that happened since the last time I saw her. The way her red hair is pulled in a high ponytail. A few runaway strands curled around her face. Those slightly parted pink lips just beg me to lean down and press my mouth against hers.
Fuck.
It’s like now that I’ve kissed her, I couldn’t think about anything else but how good it felt and how much I wanted to do it again. How much I wanted to touch her. Feel her. How—
“Are you trying to give me a heart attack?” she hisses softly, breaking me out of my thoughts.
“No. I was walking back to my car when I saw you crouched down in front of your truck, muttering to yourself.”
Once Mom and I came back home, I tried focusing on work,but then my dad came, and my concentration went to shit. The tension in the room was palpable to the point you could cut it with a knife, so when my phone buzzed with the incoming call from Lucas, I didn’t think twice before agreeing to meet him and another one of our friends for a drink. Anything to get out of the house.
Then, as I was driving into town, I might have seen the lights still on in the Reading Nook, and I might have parked close by so I could have an excuse to walk by the café later to check if she was still there.
Rebecca looks over my shoulder. “Where’s your date?”
My date?My brows pull together. “What are you talking about?”
