I couldn’t help but smile, but as the laughter died down, the inevitable happened.
“So, what’s next?” Mrs. Callahan leaned forward, eyes gleaming like a schoolgirl with a secret. “You can’t keep us in suspense, Lila.”
Several others chimed in, voices overlapping. “Yes, what’s the next book?” “Give us a hint.” “You know we won’t last a week without knowing.”
The pressure made me grin, but I shook my head. “No spoilers tonight. You’ll have to keep your eyes open around the shop over the next few days. Look at the displays, check the postcards tucked into the stacks, and maybe see what the pastry case has to say.” I gave a smirk.
Groans and protests filled the air, but also laughter. They knew the game. Every month, I left breadcrumbs, sometimes as obvious as a themed drink, sometimes as subtle as a phrase scrawled on the chalkboard menu. They might moan and groan, but they loved the mystery of it.
“Tease,” someone called out, and I bowed dramatically, earning more laughter.
From the back, Briggs leaned against the wall near the windows, arms folded, eyes scanning the room as if danger might lurk behind the cupcake tray. He looked professional as ever, but when my gaze caught his, he dipped his chin in the barest of nods.
Redhawk had come up empty-handed on the security camera footage in town. In fact, I was fairly certain the entire investigation was at a dead end. I wasn’t sure why Briggs was even still here.
East had claimed a spot near Maggie, keeping her company while she held court from a cushioned chair by the pastry case with Sage. Maggie looked radiant now, her laughter bright, while he lounged at her side with one boot hooked over the other. He didn’t talk much, just listened, that unreadable gaze of his flicking often to me. Sage kept tossing me knowing looks every time my eyes brushed over her brother, which was too often.
It had been a week of nights under the Holt farmhouse roof, of catching his gaze across Maggie’s table, of him sneaking into the guest room. Nights that were blowing my mind. He was quickly ruining me in all the best ways.
When the crowd finally thinned, hugs were exchanged, plates scraped clean, and promises made to search for hints, the shop fell quiet. Briggs offered to walk Sage to her car, with Maggie giving East a pointed look that promised he wouldn’t be gone long.
That left the two of us in the softened quiet, the hum of the espresso machine the only sound. I wiped a streak of frosting from the counter, though the surface was already spotless, just to keep my hands busy.
His boots thudded softly across the floor until he was close, his warmth brushing over my skin. “You wore yourself out tonight.” His voice was rougher than it had been in front of everyone, low enough to catch in my stomach as his arm snaked around my waist into the flesh there.
“I’m fine.”
“You’re stubborn.” His mouth touched the edge of my temple, placing a kiss there. His breath feathered across my skin, and I was helpless. Already, everything loosenedinside me. East had some magic power to turn me on just by being close to me. “Let me help you, sugar.”
“And you’re bossy,” I shot back, tilting my chin to look back at him, turning in his arms. “How are you going to help me, hmmm?”
The corner of his mouth curved. They stayed steady, dark, like he was weighing something. “Needy?”
Silence stretched. My pulse thundered, too loud in my ears. The kiss was careful at first, but I knew how it went now. My hand rose of its own accord, curling in the front of his shirt, and the care shattered. His mouth deepened against mine, sure and hungry, until the counter pressed into the small of my back and every thought scattered.
We broke apart breathless, too soon, his forehead resting against mine, his hand firm at my waist.
“This isn’t smart,” I whispered, though my lips ached for him still. “I’m at work. Briggs is going to be back any second.” My eyes darted to the door.
“No,” he murmured, pressing against me so I could feel how hard and ready he was. “But I can’t keep my hands away from you, and you’ve been so far away all night long. I’ve been good.”
And standing there in the quiet of Chapter & Crumb, the taste of him still lingering, it was impossible to argue. “True. You were.”
The shop still hummed with the echo of his kiss. My breath was shallow, my lips tingling, the taste of him lingering even as the door chime snapped me out of his arms. He cleared his throat, gave me a little wink, andstepped behind me slightly, probably to hide the bulge in his jeans.
Wade filled the doorway first, broad-shouldered and purposeful, rain clinging to his jacket. He gave his brother a slight eye roll. Briggs followed, his expression all business.
“Evening,” Wade said, voice clipped. His eyes flicked once to East, then to me, sharp enough that it felt like he’d read everything in the room. But he didn’t comment. “We’ve got an update, Lila. Figured it was better to keep you posted.”
I definitely preferred that, even though my stomach was doing somersaults. East’s hands came down on my shoulders, and his fingers began to dig into the muscles that had tightened there. “I’ll be alright,” he whispered.
Briggs closed the door behind him and set his Stetson down on the nearest table. “It won’t take long. Wade and I have just been verifying some things.”
I leaned into East, feeling the comfort he was giving as I tried to breathe. “All right.” My voice came out steadier than I expected.
We pulled inheritance records, old deeds, family ties. Briggs and Rhodes have been looking through your grandmother’s property holdings. Everything is clear—except for one detail,” Wade said as he opened a folder that he’d clearly been stuffing full of photocopies and random notes. Very old-school of him. I’d tease him right now if I had any spit left in my mouth.
The paper gleamed under the soft lights, stark black type against a white background. My eyes caught on aname I hadn’t seen in decades. A name that didn’t belong in my shop tonight, in my life at all.
