Jake grew serious. The cloud hanging over Alex looked thunderous and heavy, not what should be there on what was going to be a gorgeous summer’s day. “Do you need me to do anything? Joking aside, I can tell something shitty is going on.”
Alex folded his arms. “Want a coffee in the garden?”
“Always. But please would you put some clothes on? You’re giving me nightmares.”
Jake hurdledthrough two of the cottage gardens to get round the back of Alex’s. He had, he was slightly ashamed to admit it, slept with a girlfriend in the cottage next to Alex’s and as she’d been living at home with her parents, he’d had to use her window as an exit point. Climbing had come in useful.
Alex had clearly taken the hint and was getting changed, hiding what was in his sweats from Abby at least, so Jake made himself busy attacking an overgrowth of bindweed and nettles that Alex hadn’t gotten round to doing yet. Eventually, Alex found his way outside, loaded with coffee and conversation about Abby, and by conversation, Jake meant the bare minimum.
He watched Alex’s expression as he tried to explain as little as he could, gleaning a lot more from that than anything his cousin actually said. Alex was worried. Possibly afraid. And there was a shit ton more to what was going on than what Alex was saying, that was obvious.
Abby arrived wearing shorts and a tight vest that Jake should’ve been more interested in, had he not left Lainey in her bed at home. Plus, Alex’s expression when he saw Abby meant that Jake would never look at her in that way again.
He snorted, gave Alex a brief shake of the head that made it clear he wasn’t being fooled.
“Morning, Abs.”
Jake just about managed to stop himself from laughing out loud at how obvious Alex was trying not to be.
Abby smiled, pulling her hair out of her face. “Do either of you want breakfast?”
Jake gave her a grin that he knew would piss off Alex. “You know, I have a really big farmhouse in the middle of nowhere. How about you ditch my cousin and come and cook me breakfast?”
“He gets up at four in the morning and has questionable hygiene. I recommend a hard pass.” There was a growl in Alex’s voice that underlined and confirmed everything Jake had surmised so far that morning.
He laughed as if it was the best joke ever told. “I’d love breakfast, Abby, but…” He thought quickly. Him refusing food was generally unheard of, but in another hour and twenty, he’d be cooking for Lainey.
Fuck it, he’d be cooking for her even if he ate breakfast here anyway, and he’d yet to wake up on a day when he couldn’t eat breakfast twice.
For once,Jake’s mood didn’t match the weather. His mother used to brag that he only had one way of being, and that was happy, unless, and it was a big unless, he couldn’t go outside because of the weather. The cold had never bothered him, he’d just wear more layers and move around more. Snow, gales, a blazing heatwave – he could manage all that. Anything from drizzle to a storm he could deal with. The only weather that altered his mood was continual driving rain which didn’t show any sign of stopping and damage was inevitable. The rain that soaked you to the bone and made you unworkable.
The day was a beautiful one, crisp dry heat with a sky completely blue. The sort of weather that had the pathways of the easy peaks packed with tourists, and the pubs and bars of Severton overspilling with people cooling off with a beer and enjoying the sunshine.
But right now, the weather, if it was to match Jake’s mood, shouldn’t be sunny, it should be pouring down. He sat at a table in the direct sunlight, the mood of the afternoon soured by an undercurrent of tension after Abby being followed home from work the night before.
That wasn’t the major thing that was rankling him right now. He could live with a bit of tension from his cousins and Rayah, just as he’d been doing for most of his life. What he was finding difficult was watching Lainey laughing around with Olly and Will, and another couple of guys from the Rescue team, and having her completely blank him.
Almost completely.
She’d been…friendly. He’d bought her a drink; she’d bought him one back. They’d discussed the festival that was happening in another couple of weeks, and then there was a bit of banter about land wars before one of the rescue guys who lived in one of the other nearby towns started up a conversation with Lainey about her.
Finding out about her. Her favourite food; where she’d lived; her life in Ireland with her grandparents – all the things Jake hadn’t asked about because they’d either been bickering or fucking.
He knew he was staring. There was definitely one stalker in town today and it wasn’t necessarily the one who’d followed Abby home last night.
His sister and sister-in-law had decided to ignore him in favour of talking about some scandal that had occurred in the distillery where someone had mixed up the ingredients and it looked to have been done on purpose; Zack had gone home in a sulk and his other cousins were just making themselves busy.
All Jake could focus on was Lainey. He’d been home in time to make her breakfast, a full English because the pancakes Abby had served hadn’t touched the sides. But that wasn’t what he’d been hungry for.
She’d turned up wearing denim cut offs and a shirt that didn’t properly button up. Demanding that she loaded the dishwasher hadn’t been the smartest move because as soon as she’d bent over, he’d been harder than steel.
It was the first time he’d christened his kitchen worktops, and it did nothing to curb his appetite – for food or her.
And now, because she didn’t want to become the source of town gossip, she was pretending he hadn’t been inside her four times in the last twelve hours.
Jake didn’t like that. He didn’t like the way he was feeling either. Not that he thought for a moment she was intending to do anything other than talk to the guys. Now that Marley had appeared, she was more engaged in chatting to her than anyone else, but he wanted to be next to her.
Jake Maynard didn’t like being jealous. It wasn’t him.
