Page 20 of Beacon

“I’m Anna,” I tell her, amazed I actually still have a voice. I feel like I might be sick, and I can’t even explain why. “Good luck to you.”

“Thanks.” She smiles again and walks away, her eyes fixed on Mack, who has been talking to the woman behind the table and is now packing things into his bag.

He finishes up in a couple more minutes and comes striding over. He gives me a few close looks before he leans over to stow the full bag in the cargo compartment. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing.”

“Something wrong with you?”

“No, of course not.” I force a smile.

His frown deepens, but he doesn’t question me further. He swings his leg over the seat and then waits until I’ve climbed on behind him.

I wrap my arms around him, but I don’t lean forward or hold him as tightly as I did on the way here. I keep my back straight.

It shouldn’t upset me. When I let Mack go two years ago, I knew he’d see other women. That was the point. He needed to find someone who could give him what he wanted, what he deserved, and that could never be me.

But I thought he’d been retreating from the world for the past six months. I thought he’d been holed up on hisown, licking his wounds. I’ve been so worried about him because it’s not like him at all.

Yet evidently he’s had the time and interest for screwing around with Lily.

Mack is silent for most of the drive, breaking the quiet only to tell me to duck my head when we pass by that building with the guys out front.

He’s so uncommunicative that I actually jerk in surprise when he suddenly barks out, “Tell me what the hell happened!”

“Nothing happened. I told you.” When he makes a guttural sound I can hear over the buzz of the engine, I add, “That one guy came over and asked if I wanted to be his woman.”

“Yeah, I figured. That shouldn’t have upset you.”

“It didn’t upset me.”

“Did Lily say something to upset you?”

I don’t like the way he says her name. Like he knows her. It’s such a silly and irrational feeling that I want to tamp it down, but I can’t. “No, of course not. She was friendly. She was very relieved to hear we aren’t together.”

There’s no way I can see Mack’s expression in this position, but I swear I can sense his frown. He’s thinking. Trying to figure out my mood.

I tell myself to shut up. Anything else I say is going to give him further clues, and it will be mortifying if he realizes how I’m feeling.

For some reason, I fail to listen to my good advice andramble on instead. “She’s got a lot of hopes for you. Went on and on about how great a guy you are. And how hot. I guess the two of you have had some good times together, and she’s hoping it will turn into something serious.”

He’s breathing faster and louder. After a minute, he asks gruffly, “You jealous?”

“No! Of course I’m not jealous. I’m reporting on the conversation since you asked.”

“Sounds like you’re jealous.”

“I’m not!” My voice wobbles slightly on the last word, and my cheeks are blazing red. I make myself stop talking after that since I clearly can’t control my tone or words.

To my relief, he doesn’t say anything else, and a few minutes later we’re finally pulling back up the driveway to the cabin.

I stand next to the quad bike after I dismount, rubbing my face and composing myself. The breeze from the drive pulled half my hair out of my braid since I didn’t get it very tight this morning. With a sigh, I slip off the tie and undo the braid.

Mack straightens up after grabbing the bag of provisions from the cargo compartment. He stares at me. Then bites out, “You dumpedme.”

It takes only a few seconds to catch up to what he’s saying. He’s back to my being jealous and making it clear I have no right to be.

My shoulders stiffen. “What does that have to do with anything?”

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