The rest of the afternoon passed quickly for Aria. She hammered out her stories and submitted them. Then she looked over property records for the Lakeview subdivision site and made a call to Hemi Densom. She needed to know exactly what this Lockwood Holdings company was proposing.

Hemi was a town planner. They’d been on a date once, but they were better friends than lovers. He was perfectly nice: funny, smart, and charming, and at six feet tall with broad shoulders, a swarthy complexion and dark hair, also pretty damn hot. But he didn’t make her pulse quicken, give her butterflies or make her tongue trip over itself.

The call connected. “Hemi Densom speaking.”

“Hi, Hemi,” she said. “It’s Aria here.”

“Aria! Kei te pehea koe? How are you?”

“Kei te pai au,” she replied. “Better now that I’m talking to you.”

“You smooth talker.” He chuckled. “Did you ask someone for my number? Because I don’t remember giving it to you.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “Are you stalking me, Ri?”

“Nothing that exciting.” Aria’s tone was wry, her fingers crossed. “I’m hoping you might do me a favor.”

“What kind of favor?” Hemi sounded wary. “You know that most of my work is confidential.”

“I only want some public information,” she assured him.

“You’ll have to be more specific.” His guard was up.

“Did you receive an application for a mall development in Itirangi?”

“Word spreads fast.” Obviously, he’d discounted the town’s penchant for gossip.

“Sure does. I’ll take that as a yes. Can I get a copy of it?”

“You could have come to the council and asked at the front desk. Why call me?” Hemi’s frustration was clear, even if she didn’t know the reason for it.

“Then I wouldn’t have had the pleasure of talking to you.” She was laying it on a bit thick but couldn’t help it. Hemi had a sarcastic sense of humor, as well as a natural irreverence, and he brought out the same in her.

“Not funny, Ri.”

Sighing, she admitted the truth. “I was hoping to hear your opinion. You know, how it looks, whether it’s likely to be approved. I’ve heard that the councilors support it.”

“You know I can’t tell you my opinion,” he chastised her. “And who told you that the councilors support it?”

“Emily Parker.”

“Councilor Parker talks too much,” Hemi grumbled. “Emily isn’t much better.”

“Hemi!” Aria was shocked. Rude comments were a world away from what she’d come to expect from him. “Emily is lovely.”

“Yeah, she is.” He sighed. “Aroha mai. Sorry, it’s been a rough day. Do you know how many people have knocked on my door today, wanting to know about this development?”

“A few,” she guessed. No wonder he didn’t want to talk about it.