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Bailey flexed the fingers still tucked in her pockets. “Then why say it?”
“She’s my best friend, just like Havana and Aspen are yours. You love them. It would hurt you to see them hurt, right? Dayna … she hardly ever cries, but she was sobbing her heart out and it killed me. I got pissed, and I handled it wrong.” Therese sighed, distress lined into her oval face. “I’m sorry. Really.”
Maybe, but Bailey couldn’t say she was moved by the apology. Someone else might have nonetheless stiffly accepted it and got along with their day. She’d never pretended to be a forgiving creature, though. She wasn’t going to start now.
And yes, part of the reason she wasn’t feeling inclined to let Therese’s behavior go was that Bailey wasn’t the only person she’d talked crap about. “You need to throw a few sorries Deke’s way. You made out like he cheated on her.”
Therese raised a gloved finger. “I never said cheated, I said betrayed. He did betray her to an extent, Bailey. Wouldn’t you have felt that way in her shoes if he marked another female?”
“In her shoes, I either wouldn’t have been in Australia, or I wouldn’t have been holding him to a vow I’d stopped sticking to by failing to come home when I said I would.”
Therese grimaced. “I know her staying away makes it seem like she doesn’t truly care about him. But she does, Bailey. He means so much to her. He really does.” The blonde gave Bailey a serious look. “And she means a lot to him.”
“As a friend, maybe.” Though Bailey hadn’t really gotten that impression from him, or from others in the pride. The case seemed to be that Dayna had been a lifelong friend of his, but not what you would call a treasured one.
“Friend?” Therese echoed, a pinch of astonishment in her tone. “Come on, you have to see that the reason he marked you was to get her attention and jumpstart her into coming back here.”
Bailey blinked, mentally rocking back on her heels. What the fuck? “Nope, that’s not how I see it.” No one who truly knew him would. “Deke doesn’t operate that way. He’s—”
“A guy who does what it takes to get a job done,” Therese finished, firm. Her eyes narrowed. “What I’m wondering is if you’re in on it; if you agreed to him marking you so he could get a reaction from Dayna that would spur her into leaving Australia.”
“His marking me had nothing to do with her,” Bailey maintained, sure. Her snake was in full agreement—the mamba found the other female’s claim ludicrous.
“I’m not buying that.”
“I don’t care if you do or you don’t.” It was no skin off her nose.
“I see that.” Therese chewed on the inside of her cheek. “Let’s say I believe that you played no part in his plan to make Dayna come home. I’d have to ask you why you’d share the bed of a guy who’ll toss you aside if she ever shows.”
Once more taken aback, Bailey rapidly blinked. Therese had to be joking. It wasn’t like he hadn’t been clear to one and all that he wasn’t holding a candle for Dayna. “You can’t honestly believe he’d do that.”
“I’m shocked that you don’t,” Therese retorted. “He stuck to his vow for over two and a half years. You don’t do that for someone unless you love them.”
“He stuck to it for a long time, yes. But then he pulled away. You don’t do that if you do love someone.”
The blonde gave her head a small shake. “He wouldn’t choose you over her.”
“No?” Bailey took a step toward her, giving an aloof shrug. “Seems to me like he already has.”
The corners of Therese’s mouth tightened. “All I can say is … brace yourself, Bailey. I like you. I’ll get no pleasure out of seeing you hurt. And by staying with him, you’ll be taking a risk that won’t pay off if she returns.”
“I guess we’ll see, won’t we?” Bailey skirted around her and continued on to the deli, wondering if maybe the blonde’s motive had been to make Bailey doubt Deke—perhaps at Dayna’s prompting, or perhaps to strike out at Bailey to avenge an oblivious Dayna. Why else say positively idiotic stuff?
Over two and a half years was a long time to hold yourself to a promise, granted. And Bailey did believe that he cared for Dayna, just as Therese claimed. But love Dayna? Be open to taking the woman back? No, that didn’t ring true.
He’d spoken of her many times to Bailey. There’d never been a sense of longing in his voice. His eyes had never dulled with the sadness of a lost opportunity or any such crap. On the contrary, he seemed at peace with the situation.
Maybe Bailey was only seeing what she wanted to see, only believing what she wanted to believe, but she didn’t think so. Particularly since her serpent was of the same opinion as her.
