Page 5 of Frankie and the Fed (Untamed Rascals #3)

L ily paced our living room, waiting for me to finish stuffing my face with last night’s leftovers. Yes, I downed energy drinks like they were water, but I knew just how many of those cookies I was going to eat, and I needed some protein first.

“Almost ready,” I said as I stuffed the last of the cold cashew chicken in my mouth.

The second I swallowed the last bite, she grabbed my arm and drug me to the car.

“I promise you don’t have to drag me,” I said, laughing. “I’m coming.”

“Right. Sorry.” She let go of my arm just before she could pull me down the porch steps and send us both tumbling.

When we pulled up to the bakery, the lights were on, gold, brown, orange, and red leaves framed the warmly lit windows, the last of Grace’s customers for the day were trickling out, and a warm cinnamon and sugar scent filled the air.

Lily opened the door, neither of us really paying attention to what was on the other side, and I ran right into a tall, solid mass.

“Oh my god. I’m so sorry,” I gushed. Hot coffee soaked into my shirt, darkening the purple fabric and causing it to cling to me.

“No. I should have been more careful.”

I froze. I knew that voice, it had been seared into my mind the second I had heard the melodic, too perfect tones.

Jamie.

Surprised, I looked up into startling gray eyes. The color reminded me of summer storms and cold steel— tread lightly, the calculating, suspicious depths screamed.

“Oh,” I said, recovering from my shock. “Hi.”

A blush crept up my neck at the sight of her tall, blonde perfection. I was just warm from the coffee she so rudely spilled on me. Nothing more.

God, she smelled like cinnamon and vanilla, and I wanted to eat her up.

She’s up to no good, and you still don’t even know what.

It was a useless refrain in the face of the smile that spread across her lips. She was magnetic, drawing me closer and erasing all thoughts of the woman in shadows, spilled coffee, scalding skin, and wet shirts.

“Freddie, right?” She asked .

“Frankie,” I corrected in a totally normal tone of voice and not at all a breathy sigh.

“Frankie.” Her voice caressed the word, and the sound shot straight through me, pooling in my gut and heating my core.

“Hi, I’m Lily.” A hand thrust in between us, breaking the spell and reminding me that we weren’t alone.

And also—She. Was. Up. To. No. good.

I couldn’t forget that just because she was tall and beautiful and had that one crooked tooth.

Jamie broke eye contact with me, and it felt like a blow.

God, Frankie, get your shit together. She’s pretty, but she’s probably not even gay—oh, and doing something nefarious with Tom in the middle of the night .

I mentally berated myself seven ways to Sunday while they chatted. Jamie was just as friendly with Lily as she had been with me. Nicer, because at least she didn’t call her by the wrong name. I ground my teeth at the reminder.

“We have a meeting,” I interrupted before they could get too chummy. I pulled Lily away from whatever was putting that smile on Jamie’s face. “See you around.”

“Oh,” Jamie said, looking back down at me like she was surprised I was still there. Of fucking course, she did. “What’s the meeting?”

She looked around the bakery like she had never seen it before, despite standing in it and ordering from it and spilling Grace’s amazing maple pecan coffee directly down my shirt.

Speaking of which, the heat of the coffee had cooled, and all I could think about was the cold, damp top sticking to my chest and a breeze blowing through at the exact wrong moment, further cooling the wet spot and puckering my nipples. Oh, and I wasn’t wearing a bra.

Oh, god. Did she look? Should I point out the stain again, so she had to?

No, fuck. Get it together, Frankie.

“It’s a coven meeting,” Lily blurted out like an overeager puppy. “We have cookies and talk and maybe try some magic.”

I pulled on Lily’s arm again, trying to drag her away from Jamie and her stupid, pretty face.

“Yep. Just friends hanging out. Now, if you’ll excuse us.” I pulled on Lily’s arm again, and this time she didn’t fight me.

“Have fun,” Jamie called as I stom—walked with dignity and grace—away. “See you around the museum.”

I waved but didn’t look back as I continued to walk gracefully toward the coffee.

“She seems nice. Does she work at the museum?” Lily asked a little too curious about a potentially dangerous woman.

“Yeah, she’s a new tour guide.”

“You knew her name,” she teased.

“I know a lot of names,” I ground out, trying to relax my jaw before I cracked a tooth. I took a deep breath. “She seems nice enough. Just another tour guide.”

Never mind that I didn’t want to jump on any other tour guides’ faces and take them for a ride. I didn’t want to do that with Jamie either.

“We should ask her to eat lunch with us sometime. It’s hard to be the new person and not know anyone,” Lily suggested as we stepped up to the counter and served ourselves coffee while Grace finished closing the till .

“What are we talking about?” Grace asked when she finished counting her stack of bills.

“Inviting the woman we just ran into to have lunch with us. She works at the museum and is new. I thought we could try to be her friends, or at least give her some friendly faces,” Lily filled in Grace while she sipped on her decaf coffee.

Smart.

I, on the other hand, had poured myself an extra tall glass of the caffeinated coffee, wishing it was several shots of espresso.

“Aw, that’s a good idea,” Grace said as she did… something to the register. I’d never used one. I barely understood their purpose in a mostly cashless society, frankly.

“It is,” Lily said, relief evident in her voice, like she wasn’t quite sure that it was until someone confirmed it. “I’ll invite her tomorrow.”

She beamed at me, and I couldn’t begrudge her any attempts at making friends, not tonight. So, I nodded along. Maybe Lily’s meddling would be a good chance to get close to Jamie for my investigation, and it wasn’t a lost cause, after all.