Chapter 22
CHAPTER 22
M icah honestly didn’t know what to do. He felt like he’d been thrown out of the frying pan and into the fire.
Cheyenne grabbed a handful of her hair and spun it in her hand. She seemed moments from yanking it out with her fist. “Oh my gosh. I’m so sorry. Oh my gosh. I can’t believe this. I should not have dragged you into this. I have no idea what I’m doing, and now you’re in trouble.” She let go of her hair and stomped her foot. “Is this going to affect you being a part of the Navy SEALs?”
Somehow, her angst calmed Micah down. “Hey, it’s okay.” He put his hands on her shoulders. “It’s going to be okay. We’ll figure this out.”
Cheyenne threw her arms around him, fisting his T-shirt in her hands. “I’m so sorry. I never should’ve come to South Port, and I definitely never should’ve let this happen. This is one hundred percent my fault. I’ll call my brother right now.”
Micah held her for several seconds, trying to clear his own worries and focus on the moment. He’d learned a few things from having a stepfather and many uncles in various branches of the military; in particular, they had taught him how to remain calm in a crisis. He was trying to do just that. Why hadn’t Raine called his father or his uncles already?
He pulled back and stared into her tear-filled eyes. “I wonder if Raine knows something.”
Jolting out of her breakdown, she frowned up at him. “What?”
Maybe it was stupid, but he really loved how she scrunched up her nose when she was confused. That kind of thought didn’t fit this situation, but this love thing was new to him.
Love. Had he just thought of love?
Okay, now he needed to stop himself from having a mini breakdown.
Cheyenne searched his eyes. “Micah, what are you talking about?”
He realized he’d let his thoughts go into a spiral. “I called Raine because I knew I could trust him. He’s been a huge part of this whole thing, and you know about his brother Truman and how he was killed and everything.”
“Yes.” Cheyenne’s face fell a little. “I know Raine. He spent a lot of time at the ranch, trying to figure out what his brother was doing. I felt so bad for him when everything happened. I know he blames himself.”
“Why wouldn’t he rat us out? I mean, I hoped he wouldn’t since he’s been so intricately involved in this, but the other part of me thought he would. He’s the only one from the group who didn’t go to DC. Well, a lot of my parents’ beach crew are still here. I could’ve called Oliver Stone or Lucy at the boutique, but Raine is the guy who came to my mind. I wonder if he knows something that he wants to tell us at dinner tonight. He said that his wife was out of town. I wonder …”
Cheyenne twirled her hair again. “Wow. Maybe.” She bit her lip. “Maybe you sensed that, and that’s why you called him. Like there’s some frequency in the air that you were connected to.”
He grinned. “Is that from your psychology class too?”
She glared at him and then huffed a laugh. “Fine. I don’t know what I’m talking about.” She continued to mess with her hair. “We should really get back if we’re going to make it to Raine’s house. It’s almost time for dinner.”
Micah sucked in a breath and let it out, feeling confused and worried and a bit excited all at once. He took her hand and led her toward the truck. “I guess that’s all we can do. Raine didn’t leave us any other options.”
She gave him a funny look as he opened her door for her. “I can’t believe you told him we had a sunset cruise.”
He couldn’t help but laugh. “Well, I was kinda looking forward to dancing with you.”
She started to hike herself up into the truck but paused to look at him. The way she looked at him sent all kinds of signals. “You wanted to dance with me?”
He gently turned her away from the truck and put his arms around her, nuzzling her neck. “I wanted to dance with you.”
She went up on her toes to kiss his lips. It didn’t take more than five seconds of kissing this woman to feel like his breath had been taken away. He had never felt like this with anyone else.
She broke away and gazed at him. “What’s happening to us, Micah?”
The vulnerable way she asked it said she felt the way he did, and he loved it. He pulled her close to him and whispered in her ear, “I don’t know, but it seems like I’m falling for you, Cheyenne Cross.”
A long moment passed, and then she said, “Seems like I’m falling for you too, Micah Jamison.”