Page 33 of Cheyenne

“Me, too.”

Micah tapped on his phone. “What kind of pizza do you like? I like anchovies and pepperoni.”

Cheyenne scrunched up her nose. “I like Hawaiian.”

Micah grinned at her. “So you want Hawaiian for half of it. It’s a good thing I really like you, because if I had known that you are the type of person that likes pineapple on her pizza, that would’ve been a deal breaker for me. Good thing we’re just friends.”

She laughed. “Yes. For so many reasons.”

Micah looked offended. “Hey, I was just kidding. Why are you glad that we’re just friends?”

“One, because you clearly work out too much. I mean, muscles like that take time, and I wouldn’t want you to spend all that time away from me.”

“O-kay.”

“Two, you are totally a protective alpha-male type. I mean, you gladly took the creepy amulet.”

“And this is a bad thing, how?”

“I feel safe around you. Don’t you know that’s the worst thing you could do for a woman in a relationship?”

He leveled a look at her.

“Kidding, of course,” she said, smiling.

He rolled his eyes. “What’s another reason?”

“I’ll get back to you.” Dang, she liked flirting with him. “Can I go out and look around?”

Micah unlocked the door to the back patio and opened it for her. “Of course.”

She walked outside, and he followed. “Why don’t you text Trey and tell him that we are hanging out and eating pizza, and I asked if I could see the original map? No big deal. You don’t have to tell him anything else.”

Micah snapped his fingers. “You’re brilliant.” He pulled out his phone and started typing out a message. “Hey, you know what? A deal breaker for me would be that you’re too smart. I mean, no guy likes to have a woman give him brilliant ideas.”

She turned back to see that Micah had a coy look on his face. She laughed. “Nice one.”

He laughed too.

The pool, deck, and hot tub were clearly in immaculate condition. Cheyenne followed the path down toward the beach and pushed through the gate. She took her flip-flops off and walked barefoot onto the sand. Even though they had been playing in the water today, she felt drawn to the ocean.

She strolled farther out so the water could lap at her toes. There were other people out on the beach, families playing and people holding hands and strolling. So many thoughts went through her mind. It wasn’t just that she was here on this treasure hunt. It wasn’t just that she was starting to have feelings for Micah. It was that another part of her could see herself living in South Port. For most of her life, she’d thought she would go back to the ranch, settle down with her brothers and their children, ride horses and all that. Yet when she felt the ocean onher feet and smelled the salty air, something inside her felt like it was loosening and coming free.

Micah appeared to be texting back and forth with Trey. He looked up and waved.

All sorts of butterflies erupted inside her. She liked this guy. She didn’t want to dwell on the fact he’d made it clear that he couldn’t do a relationship. Well, she had too.

She had to focus on finding the treasure. That was the only priority that could matter right now.

“Hey,” he said from right next to her. She jolted, and he laughed. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It’s okay,” she said, putting a hand to her chest.

He held up his phone. “I got the code. Should we take the amulet and try to read the original map with it?”

Excitement pulsed through her. “Absolutely.”

CHAPTER 17

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