“Haven’t sussed that out yet. I’ll tell you the second I discover the traitor’s identity.”
God, where was she? He scanned the road, releasing a pent-up breath when she came into sight. “I see Cassie.”
“Good luck.”
Hone’s irritated rumble filled his vehicle. “You don’t mean that. You like Cassie.”
“She deserves better than you.”
Hone grunted. “She could do better than you too, Dickhead.”
“Just remember, cuz. You screw up, I’ll be there to pick up the pieces.”
Hone hit end call and shoved his phone in his pocket. He wanted to go to her, wrap his arms around her, beg her forgiveness. Instead, he waited until she unlocked her door and entered her motel room. His breath eased out in a husky sigh. A good man would leave her alone, get back to his rules.
No one had ever called him a good man.
Cassie unpacked the ice cream, the chocolate, the bottle of wine. Classic he-done-me-wrong cures, purchased at the local shop, on the fast walk back to her motel. The bunch of bananas added the fruit component. Sort of healthy. Maybe the treats would calm her disquiet. She’d spent the entire hike glancing over her shoulder, looking for goodness knows what, but her skin had itched something fierce, as if someone was spying on her.
The freezer door slammed, the back of her eyes stung.
She blinked. Once. Twice. Three times.
The friggin’ truth. Her judgment ran amuck when it came to men. They’d been fighting.Fighting. And she had no idea why. The pair had spoken in code, no decipherable meaning to their cryptic man-speak. Oh, she’d understood some, but the context. The context escaped her translation.
A tap on her door had her swinging around. She stomped over and flung it open wide.
“You.” She glowered at Hone. His right cheekbone bore a cut. A red splotch discolored his jaw. “What do you want?”
Hone swallowed, his usual lightheartedness absent. His hands fisted at his sides, and the sleeve of his black T-shirt gaped open to display his biceps. A faint growl came from him, and he gritted his teeth, sucked in a breath. “I’ve come to apologize.”
“I’m on holiday. I don’t have to put up with stupid cavemen males.” Normally, Cassie tiptoed around confrontation, preferring a head-in-the-sand approach rather than a skirmish. The dinner-tipping moment with Kevin had been her turning point.
“You’re right. I don’t normally behave like that. Manu was being a smart-arse.”
Her brows lifted.
“And I wasn’t far behind,” he mumbled, clearly uncomfortable with the confession. “Can I come in?”
Cassie noticed June Taniwha standing outside the motel office, regarding them with hands on her hips. She gestured Hone inside and glimpsed June’s fierce frown. “Your auntie is scowling at us.”
“What? Manu said she was at home. Crap, she’s convinced I’m moving in on her son’s girl. Quick, shut the door.”
She complied and moved past the kitchenette to stand by the brown couch. “Manu and I are friends.”
“I know. He told me. Twice.”
“Did it take that long to get through your thick head?” The snide question hovered between them, and Cassie’s face heated. “Sorry. That was mean.”
“No more than I deserve. Look, I came to apologize. I saw you and Manu, cozy and happy. Jealousy got me. I reacted before my brain kicked into gear.”
“Manu and I are friends. How many times do I have to tell you?”
“Obviously a few more.” Hone grimaced, his wry smile brittle at the edges. Tentative, as if he feared this conversational outcome. “Would you have dinner with me? Tomorrow night?”
“A date?”
“Yeah.” He watched her with laser-intense regard, waiting for her decision.
