“What exactly are you denying, Reid? That you think I’m difficult? Or that I’m a pathetic, dejected discard? Or that you and Jack get a kick out of recalling my humiliation?”
He couldn’t seem to find the words to respond. The things she was saying were downright preposterous. Little did she know, he thought Jack’s behavior was inexcusable that day. Friend or not, it had been a cowardly and treacherous way to treat a woman. Let alone someone like Celeste.
She pulled her arm free from his grasp. “Never mind. I’m going to ask for a towel.”
With that she trudged away toward the house. He caught up to her in mere strides, though he didn’t dare reach for her again. For he was far too tempted to shake some sense into her. Then he would tell her how ridiculous a notion it was to hint that she’d been at all responsible for the way Jack had treated her. That she was far too good for him and always had been. And then he would quiet any further protest by crushing his lips to hers and tasting her again the way he wanted to so badly.
“For the record,” he bit out. “Jack and I never discussed you after that day. Not once. Even when the subject of his averted wedding came up. The conversation never turned to talk about you specifically.” Mainly because Reid wouldn’t allow it, he added silently. “And we certainly don’t laugh at you over beers at the local pub!”
“Yeah, right,” she answered, not breaking her stride. He had several inches on her and much longer legs, but somehow it was an effort to keep pace with her. Her anger seemed to be propelling her forward. Or her desire to get away from him.
“What reason would I have to lie about that?”
She shrugged, still moving ahead. “I don’t know. Some misplaced sense of loyalty your friend perhaps? I know how charming and convincing Jack can be.”
Reid rubbed a frustrated hand down his face. “Why are we arguing about this? Now of all times?” But the answer occurred to him before he got the last word out.
She was thinking of Jack. She wanted to know if he asked about her, talked about her. And apparently, the answer mattered to her. Why else would she be so upset?
One thing was certain. The reverse was absolutely true. Even if Jack didn’t think of her, Celeste still thought about her former fiancé. Jack was on her mind even at this very moment. Even after she’d spent the morning with Reid. After he’d kissed her under the native tree, held her hand and smiled with her at Theo and his camera.
A fireball of anger seemed to ignite in his gut. His vision turned gray and he had to bite back a curse. He stopped in his tracks and let her continue forward. He would have to meet her at the house later. Right now he needed to be alone. He needed to try to think straight.
A task he couldn’t seem to do well whenever Celeste was near.
* * *
“Oh, my!” Rinna cried out when she saw the state Celeste was in. “I see you fell into the water.”
“We both did,” Celeste announced and climbed up the porch steps. “Well, to be more accurate, I fell in. Then Reid jumped in after me. For some inexplicable reason.”
“I see,” Rinna said simply. She glanced in the distance behind where Celeste stood. “Where is Reid?”
Celeste was vaguely aware that he’d stopped following her at some point. Thank heavens he had. Or she might have turned to him then and there and asked him exactly what he thought of her. How he felt about her. She might have run the risk of having him come and say straight out what she suspected—that he liked her enough as a person. But that there could never be anything between them. Hence, she’d be making a fool of herself over a man yet again.
“Um...could I borrow a towel?” Celeste asked just Uma stepped out onto the porch from behind the screen door.
The older woman clapped a hand to her face. “Of course, dear. Come in and let’s get you dry.”
Celeste went up the stairs gratefully and went to step inside, only to have her ankle give out.
Uma and Rinna both jointly caught her just before she could hit the ground. “Are you all right, dear? Did you hurt yourself in the river?”
Celeste gave her head a shake. “I didn’t think so. But I must have sprained it somehow during the fall. And then the walk to the house must have aggravated it.” She rubbed a hand down her foot, which was starting to swell and bruise right before her eyes.