Know Your Heart: A New Zealand Enemies to Lovers Romance (Far North Series Book 2) by Tracey Alvarez

side of the house. The man laughed, slapping Glen’s shoulder before nodding behind him to the parked tractor.
    Glen gestured her over and introduced her to Robbie, who offered her a toothy smile and a wink.
    “No worries, love. You’ll join us for some kai while you wait for the tide to turn. Got a beauty cray and some tuatuas .” Robbie shook the bucket.
    Claws skittered on the plastic, and Sav jumped, uttering a little squeak.
    Robbie chuckled. “Yeah, he’s a frisky one all right. C’mon in, the missus will put the kettle on.”
    They followed Robbie into the cottage, which was small but surprisingly cozy. Warmth enveloped the combination living and kitchen areas, thanks to an old-fashioned woodstove. The three dogs trotted over to their beds by the fire and slumped down as if they’d been for a hard run. A silvery-haired woman chopped vegetables at a counter beside the woodstove, and she laid down her knife with a welcoming smile.
    “Got stranded, did you?”
    “Yeah,” Glen replied. “And I’ll be hearing about it for the next ten years, at least.”
    The smile he offered the woman caused Sav a little twinge. Charming, guileless, sincere. She hadn’t seen that smile on him before, just a wary or sarcastic shadow of it.
    “Josie, this is Nate’s mate, from the city,” Robbie said. “Nate’s the bloke who’s with the pretty chickie and her little boy up on the hill a ways—”
    Josie cut off her husband with a timeless glance of spousal exasperation. “I know who Nate is. And it’s Lauren , not some pretty chickie . She helped out with the Women’s Refuge fundraiser we organized a few months back.” The older woman’s sharp brown gaze zeroed in on Savannah. “And I’d recognize you anywhere. You’re Savannah Payne.”
    Once, being recognized by a complete stranger would’ve filled her with a delicious thrill of accomplishment. Now, the thrill was often dampened by hollow dread. She could usually count down from recognition to judgment in three, two, one…
    She braced her bare feet on the wooden floor then froze, tingles racing up and down her body. Glen had moved to her side, her peripheral vision revealing a tense, ready-for-anything stance. As if in a small way, he offered support and strength. Crazy thought.
    Savannah arranged her mouth in an easy grin. “Yep, that’s me.”
    Robbie looked from his wife to Savannah and back again, his brow furrowing. Not Josie. She knew all about Savannah—and more than just her acting career. It was written in the small tightening of muscles around the other woman’s mouth.
    Then her lips relaxed, and her brown eyes creased into soft wrinkles. “It’s not every day a movie star turns up on our doorstep.” Josie gestured to the large couch bracketed by two armchairs. “Sit yourselves down, while I put on the kettle. We’ll have a cuppa, and then Robbie will boil up that crayfish for supper.”
    “We wouldn’t want to impose…” Savannah said.
    Both Robbie and Josie laughed.
    “Nah, it’s no bother,” said Robbie. “We usually end up with unexpected guests once or twice a month when someone gets stuck. More in the summer.” He patted the back of the couch. “Take a load off. Gingernut won’t bite.”
    Glen and Savannah sat on the couch, side by side, since the last third of the cushion was monopolized by a large orange tabby cat.
    “So, movie star, eh?” Robbie lowered himself into an armchair, the seat with a man-sized permanent groove in the cushion and a stack of rugby magazines beside it. “Don’t see many of those around here. Or was Josie pulling my leg?”
    Uncomfortably aware of the warmth emanating from the man next to her, Savannah angled her body away from Glen into the couch’s arm. “I don’t think of myself as a movie star.”
    She winced. Just saying the words movie star shouted a gauche look-at-me , when all she really wanted was to hide. To sit in this cozy living room and be plain old Savannah Davis for a