Roarke hated seeing the day come to a close, but they had to return to the house. Silence pervaded the car on the ride back. He wondered if the same gloominess filled her the way it did him.
“Thank you for taking the time to show me around today.”
“No problem.” He used the clipped tones as a defense mechanism. If he didn’t shield himself now, the pain would be much worse when she walked away from him at the house, and tenfold worse when he saw her with Derrick later.
Derrick. He hadn’t given his brother a thought the entire time he was with Celeste. Had she thought about him?
When they pulled up, he saw lots of cars, which meant the house would be full of guests.
They exited the vehicle in silence, and at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the porch, Derrick made an appearance from inside. He was frowning, and his lips were thinned in a line of anger.
“Well, well,” he said. “Why am I not surprised?”
Roarke ignored the dripping sarcasm. “You finally decided to show up?” he asked.
Celeste walked slowly up the steps ahead of him. When the three of them stood on the porch, Derrick put his arm around Celeste’s shoulders and drew her close. “You never quit, do you? Did you decide to come to the wedding without a date so you could take what’s mine?”
“Derrick!” Celeste said in a stricken voice.
Roarke eyed his brother’s hand on Celeste’s shoulder and clenched his fists to resist the urge to knock it off. “I won’t even dignify that with an answer.”
“Stay away from her.” Derrick’s voice practically seethed venom.
“Maybe if you were a little more attentive, didn’t leave her alone for long periods while you disappear for hours on end, you wouldn’t be so worried.”
“Are you threatening me?” Derrick stepped toward Roarke.
“Derrick, stop it!” Celeste grabbed his arm. She stared at him in disbelief. “Let’s go.”
“You can’t have everything you want. Get your own woman, Roarke,” Derrick said with a point of his finger. “Stay away from mine. I’m not telling you again.”
Celeste tugged on Derrick’s arm and dragged him inside.
Roarke didn’t have any right to be jealous. The unfounded sentiment traveled through him, conjoined with anger, as he watched them walk away. He wanted to snarl, to roar, to claim her as his own, but that was the problem. She wasn’t.
Somehow, because they’d spent the day together, his brain had been tricked into thinking she was.
Celeste turned on Derrick with an angry whisper. “I’m your pretend girlfriend, remember? What is wrong with you?” she demanded. They stood facing each other in his room.
“Me? What about you? What was that about?” Derrick gestured violently. “I told you to stay away from him, and you run off alone for hours?”
“I couldn’t find you. I called your phone, and you didn’t answer.”
“I was busy.” His gaze narrowed. “What were you two doing?”
“Nothing!” Celeste’s cheeks flooded with guilty heat. She’d spent a lovely day with Roarke, but now it had been spoiled because of the deception she’d agreed to. Realizing her answer wouldn’t satisfy him, she added, “All Roarke did was take me on a tour of the island.”
“I could have taken you on a tour of the island.”
“When, Derrick? I couldn’t find you, remember?”
“You could’ve waited.”
“For how long?” Celeste swallowed to calm down. “You told me you didn’t want me to embarrass you, but I don’t want to be embarrassed, either. I’m supposed to be your girlfriend, but I couldn’t find you anywhere. The minute we got here yesterday, you disappeared to go into the village. Then you left again first thing this morning. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you have a woman here.”
Derrick’s body tensed before he averted his eyes.
“Do you?”
“That’s none of your business!”
“It is my business. If you have a girlfriend, why didn’t you invite her to the wedding instead of me?”