Page 40 of Cheyenne

“But I’m not.”

“Oh yeah?”

“No. I mean, I think if you were going to do something stupid, like search for the conquistador gold … which would be stupid, you know …” He let the last words hang in the air to make a point.

“What are you saying, Nash?”

“Nothing. I just mean I hope you are just snorkeling, having beach time, and enjoying yourself, because it’s dangerous to look for that gold. No good ever comes of it.”

She remembered the recent craziness when her family had discovered that some of the gold had been in Wyoming and melted down with the help of her dad, Kelly Hamilton’s parents, and Ms. Connie from Windsong Reservation. Not to mention that Truman Birch had recently been killed. She thought of Raine Birch. He lived in South Port too. Would she run into him?The last time she’d seen him, he’d been mourning the death of his brother.

“Chey?”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t do anything stupid, okay?”

Guilt rose in her chest. She had already started doing something stupid. Still, it wasn’t the time to confess to Nash. She didn’t want to go home. She wanted to stay and hang out with Micah. “Okay.”

But wasn’t taking the amulet back a bit sketchy as well? Yes.

“Chey, I love you.”

That was the thing she did like about her brothers: they were caring. Even though at times they could be overbearing, they cared for her and loved her. “I love you, too.”

She hung up and put her phone down. Then she prayed. “Heavenly Father, please help me this week to know the right and the wrong thing to do. Please protect me and Micah and even Eli. Please help me have a vision for my life and the next step. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.”

She got up from her prayer and felt more at peace. They would give the amulet back, then she would enjoy the rest of this trip for the vacation it was. Everything would be fine. She would have to remember that Micah was becoming a SEAL. He was a nice guy, but they could not have a relationship. They could only be friends.

Too bad she couldn’t take those kisses back.

Her phone dinged with a text message. Her heart leapt when she saw it was from Micah.

You good?

She hurried to text back.I’m good. Are you good? Haunted by … you know what?

No one haunts me,he replied, making her smile.Okay, just wanted to check in with you. See you tomorrow.

Awesome. See you tomorrow.

Night.

The smart thing would be to stop spending time with Micah Stone … but Cheyenne didn’t want to do the smart thing. Plus, they had business to take care of.

CHAPTER 19

Micah

When Micah arrived at Cheyenne’s condo the next day, he felt a bit self-conscious. Nervous. Like a teenager picking up a pretty girl for a date. It was ridiculous. He hadn’t dated a lot of women, but he’d dated his fair share. It wasn’t like he was a newbie.

Deep down, he knew Cheyenne was different. The previous night, as he’d lain in bed, all he’d been able to think about was the way she teased, the way she laughed, the way she took a lock of her hair and twirled it when she was deep in thought. He felt like he already knew everything he needed to know about this woman.

He wanted her.

And it was a bad, bad time to want a woman. Right before he was about to start SEAL training. The whole thing utterly confused him. He didn’t know what to do. So he pushed all those thoughts out of his head and focused on the here and now.

Today would be chill. No big deal.

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