But now?Yeah, I was mostly amused.
And why?
Because I knew exactly where Griff had been –andwhat he'd been doing.
At my mention of me stopping by, Griff gave me a funny look. "In the storm?"
The first time had been during the worst of it. The second time had been after, when it was all over but the rain. To keep it simple, I focused on the second. "Eh, it was after the storm. Maybe around eleven."
And of course, he changed the subject back to me. "So you were what? Flying here during the storm?"
Griff didn't know about the suite.He didn't know that I'd been staying on the island mostly from the start. And he sure as hell didn't know that I'd been sticking around for a reason – one that had nothing to do with Griff or the property where he was squatting.
I was sticking forher.Tessa.
But this was my issue, not Griff's.
Whether he realized it or not, he needed this getaway. And the last thing Iwanted was to muddy the waters by saddling him with a problem that wasn't his own.
But I wasn't above needling him. "Forgetme," I said. "I wanna know whatyou'reup to." I lowered my voice. "You wanna talk about it?"
"Nope."
On impulse, I tossed him a bone. "Not even over steak?"
"Sorry, I've got plans."
I made a show of looking at his basket, noticing out loud when I'd already seen in silence. "Wait a minute. You've gottwosodas."
"Yeah, so?"
"So for you and who else?"As if I didn't know.
"Maybe I want two."
Nice try. "Bull. If they were both for you, they'd be beer."
He said nothing.
Like Sherlock himself, I announced, "You're planning a picnic." When he still said nothing, I teased, "Don't tell me you've gone native?"
He blinked. "What?"
"Look at you. You're totally blending." I dropped my voice again. "Should I stage an intervention? What's next? Flannel and a tandem?"
He frowned. "Hey, I've seenyouin flannel."
"Not on a tandem, you haven't."
Right on cue, a couple rode past the front window on a bicycle built for two, smiling like they didn't know the meaning of regret.
They were barely out of sight when Griff shocked the hell out of me by saying, "Don't knock it 'til you've tried it."
No fucking way."Oh, my God. Youhavegone native." If so, that wasn't abadthing. Truth be told, I was glad to see it. But Griff didn't need to know that.
Abruptly, he asked, "Don't you have a lunch to get to?"
"I can't. My lunch partner just bailed."No lie.On the phone last night, Tessa and I had made plans to meet for lunch during her break – plans she had broken maybe an hour ago, thanks to some emergency at the coffee shop, something about her boss spraining his finger.
