His blood boiled, and he slammed his truck into drive and went to work. Caffeine be damned. He no longer needed it when he could be fueled by anger and pain.
He didn’t turn toward her, he just drove the shovel into the ground again. She walked closer and called his name again. Once again, he ignored her.
“Jackson! Why are you ignoring me?” She approached his side and grabbed his arm.
His jaw clenched, and he brushed her hand off before digging the shovel into the ground. Then he turned toward her, and his eyes narrowed. She stood before him, holding two coffees. One was tucked into the crook of her arm.
“Whoa. All right. I know you had kittens keeping you awake last night, but this is taking ‘waking up on the wrong side of the bed’ to a whole new level.”
She cracked a smile, but he only stared back at her. She furrowed her eyebrows.
“What’s going on? Are you okay?”
“I’m not in the mood for this, Mia.”
“For what? Me, your best friend, bringing you coffee because I know you barely got any sleep?”
Best friend.It was like the knife that was lodged in his heart when he saw her with Jeff was twisted.
Yes, it had only been a night of them kissing for a few minutes, but he thought they were beyond the best friend stage at this point. But clearly, her having coffee with Jeff thismorning meant they hadn’t moved beyond friends. And she just confirmed it.
“You can keep your coffee,” he said.
She raised an eyebrow. “Okay. What’s going on?”
“You should know.” He turned back toward the shovel and used his foot to bury it further and pulled out a chunk of dirt. He then threw into the wheelbarrow.
“I should know? Why? Because you bought four kittens that you had to take care of last night, so you’re crabby you didn’t get any sleep, and now suddenly it’s my fault?”
Jackson drove the shovel into the ground again and spun back to face Mia. “I’m not upset over the kittens!”
“Then what’s your problem?”
“Hey, hey, hey. What’s going on?” Ethan approached from the side with his hands raised like he was approaching a wild animal. “Why the fighting?”
Jackson stood nose-to-nose with Mia. Her eyes were ablaze as she glared at him. She still held the two coffees, with one tucked into the crook of her arm. Her free hand was on her hip.
“Good question,” Mia said. “I came to bring him coffee, and he’s acting like a whiny bitch.”
Ethan barked out a laugh before quickly covering it with a cough. Jackson’s nostrils flared as he glared down at her. Ethan stepped a little closer.
“Okay. Jackson, why are you being a?—”
At Jackson’s sharp glare, Ethan fought a smile. “Why are you being difficult when she’s just bringing you coffee?”
“Because she isn’t being transparent.”
“Transparent about what?” she asked.
“About Jeff.”
Ethan stepped a little closer and put his hands on their shoulders, pushing them each back a few steps. “Why don’t you two take this somewhere else? You’re drawing a crowd.”
Jackson broke his stare from Mia and looked around. Several tourists stood about watching them, and he suddenly felt guilty for being so unprofessional at his family’s resort.
“Mia needs to go to work anyway. She can leave,” Jackson said.
Mia’s nostrils flared, and she moved to step closer, but Ethan held up a hand.
