Page 86 of Courting Trouble

All of it misread. All of it a mistake.

And still, she wished she hadn’t left without watching Delilah play. Cassie felt pretty sure Delilah would have acquitted herself in her match with that other actress. Cassie simply should have been there to see it.

A sound made her glance up.

Delilah.

She was standing at the far end of the court, out of breath, hair damp, cheeks flushed from running. Eyes wild and stormy, fixed on her.

Cassie’s hands stilled on the ball.

‘Cassie,’ Delilah said. ‘Can we talk?’

Eighty-Three

‘How the hell did you find me?’ Cassie asked, voice sharp, eyes wide.

Delilah could have explained that she’d tried every place she could think of, including Cassie’s flat, but that felt irrelevant. ‘Look, I know you blocked me. But I couldn’t leave it like this,’ she said, stepping closer, keeping her gaze fixed on Cassie.

‘I didn’t block you,’ Cassie said, frowning, getting to her feet. The ball in her hand rolled away, across the court.

‘I kept getting sent to voicemail,’ Delilah said awkwardly.

‘Battery died,’ Cassie admitted, shrugging.

Delilah felt a flush of embarrassment. ‘Oh.’

A silence fell between them. The night air seemed impossibly heavy.

‘How did the match go?’ Cassie asked begrudgingly, as though she didn’t care.

Jesus, Delilah had almost forgotten she’d even played in the hours since. ‘Oh. Trounced her.’

Cassie’s mouth twitched, the corners lifting slightly before she shoved it back down. ‘Cool.’

Delilah swallowed, panicked now that Cassie was in front of her. What words could fix what she’d done?

‘I want you to know that IknowI’ve been selfish. I’ve been so wrapped up in this bloody role that I didn’t think about how you’d feel today. Being around all those tennis pros, watching that match. It must’ve… I’m so sorry. I was so selfish, I thought today would actually be good for you.’

Cassie shook her head. ‘What are you talking about?’

‘You’re… traumatised. I’ve traumatised you.Retraumatised you. That’s a thing, isn’t it?’

Cassie let out a surprised laugh. ‘I’m not retraumatised.’

OK, now Delilah didn’t know what the hell was going on. ‘Then why did you leave?’

Cassie looked at her, those blue eyes hard in a way Delilah hadn’t seen since they first met. ‘I left because it was over.’

‘Yeah, yousaidthat, but I don’t…’

Cassie groaned. ‘I heard you. Talking to your agent. You said you didn’t have time for this.’

Delilah was mystified. ‘This?’

‘You and me.This.’

Delilah couldn’t unravel this. What was Cassie talking about? Delilah blinked, heart hammering. ‘You mean… you think I don’t care about… about us?’ she asked tentatively.