Cassie let out aneepand twisted too fast. Her feet tangled, and she landed hard on her butt. “Ouch.” She flicked down the skirts of her dress and surreptitiously rubbed her abused behind. “I thought padding was meant to help cushion clumsiness.”
“Sorry.” Hone’s amusement flooded his face—lips, wrinkled nose, and ended in his magnetic chocolate-brown eyes. He shot a quick, searching glance at Emma before crouching beside her.
Yep, sex-on-a-stick, and she badly wanted to lick every inch of bared skin. When Cassie realized her mouth gaped, she clamped her jaw shut. She’d been right about the eye color. However, his charisma and sex appeal, the lustful jolt to her nerve-endings when she stared at him… Nothing could prepare a woman for that sizzle.
“Not a thing wrong with your padding.” Hone winked and stroked his finger over her cheek. “Cobweb. You don’t want to walk around with spider silk on your pretty face.”
“Stop flirting with her.” Emma’s expression held disapproval. “Have you finished the lawn?”
“Ran out of petrol.”
He stood and prowled—there was no other word for it—across the room to squat at the far edge of the big piece of worn blue carpet. “Ready?”
Cassie blinked from her reverie and readied herself to roll her end. With Hone’s help, the process ran smoothly. They stacked the last piece with the others against the wall and moved into the next room where Emma was already busy lifting tacks.
“Why is there sheep shit everywhere?” Hone eyed the graffiti on the wall. “The tags are recent.”
Cassie scowled at the slogans. Red in this room. “There were sheep here when we came inside. The vandals left the back door open, or at least that’s my assumption.”
“How did they get in?”
“The front door wasn’t locked.”
“You’re not staying here tonight,” Hone said.
Not a question. A statement.
Cassie lifted her chin to give him attitude. Her scowl bounced right off his flirtatious grin.
“I have no idea what they did with the furniture,” she said. “I had intended to stay, but the house has been stripped. The lawyer organized someone to clean the house. At least that was my assumption. I’ll have to ask him about Grandad’s private stuff.”
“He didn’t tell you?” Hone asked.
Cassie exchanged an I-bet-I-know-what-happened glance with Emma. “My parents probably had a hand in the house clearing. They assumed my father would inherit but Grandad left the property to me.”
Hone’s gaze skimmed her, their surroundings. “You said the front door was unlocked?”
“The lawyer made a point of giving me the keys so it should’ve been locked.”
“I’ll see if I can find where they broke inside.” Hone stalked from the room, his exit as quiet as his entrance.
“That man needs bells,” she said to Emma, surreptitiously rubbing her butt again.
“Where will you stay?”
“I’ll book a motel room in Papakura until I can replace furniture and have new locks fitted.”
“I can sort out the locks for you,” Hone said.
Cassie started and clapped her hand to her racing heart. “Will you stop creeping around?”
“I’ll wear my bells tomorrow,” Hone deadpanned.
“You heard that?”
“He has the hearing of a bat,” Emma said. “So does Jack. It’s a PI thing.”
“My Auntie June runs a motel in Papakura. I’ll give her a call if you want a room,” Hone offered.
