So then. She shook the water from her hood and let it fall. A shaft of sunlight bullied its way through a crack in the clouds, and even that little bit of it was enough to make the day remember it was nearly summer.

As she retraced her steps, she debated her next move. She wanted to go back to the cottage and see what was in that envelope. But she owed it to Ollie to let him know another something had been left for Beth. And if anyone from Tresco was on St. Mary’s, they’d be making for their boats now so they could get home before dusk.

To the quay, then. She shrugged out of her jacket as she went, preferring the few stray drops to the heat of the mackintosh.

Of the boats bobbing in the tide, however, she spotted only one other than her own that belonged on Tresco. Of all the rotten luck.

“Looking for me?”

Why did it always have to be Casek Wearne? She turned slowly, fixing a scowl just so on her face. “Anyone but, actually. Is no one else from Tresco here?”

“Only you, my ’ansum.” He wiggled his brows at her.

She rolled her eyes. “When are you going to stop this ridiculous act of yours?”

“When you admit you chose the wrong brother five years ago.” He sounded . . . serious. And his gaze had lost the gleam of a jest. Now it just seared her, reminding her too much of the past.

She half-turned away. Better to look at his boat than him. “There was no choosing.”

“Right.” And there, the hard edge she was more used to hearing from him. “Because it was always Cador—had always been Cador.”

“Or maybe it was because you only wanted to poke at Oliver. That’s all it ever was with you. Your stupid rivalry, your need to prove you were better than him.”

“Let’s get one thing straight.” His hand was on her elbow, turning her, anchoring her. No magic in it like Ollie’s elbow touching, but the very fact that he didn’t let go started a tingling there. Of irritation, that was all.

Maybe.

He leaned down, putting their faces a mere six inches apart. “There are many reasons I kissed you that night and tried to convince you to go with me to that dance instead of Cad. But Oliver Tremayne had nothing to do with any of them.”

She hadn’t thought of that kiss in years—her first, though she’d never admitted to anyone in the world that it had happened—and she didn’t intend to start now. “And you expect me to believe that? That if it had been you I’d gone with, you’d not have just embarrassed me? Made a mockery of me?” She scoffed a laugh and averted her face. “That’s not what Beth heard.”