Just…great.
Hallie drummedher fingers on the steering wheel, only risking glances in Jacob’s direction when she was sure he wasn’t paying attention to her. It wasn’t hard. He’d been in a sour mood when she’d picked him up from the hospital. It had started with an argument.
He’d attempted to get out of this arrangement first with his doctor then with his manager Kai. Apparently, his sponsor wasn’t thrilled with him being out of commission either and had agreed with Kai that Jacob needed to do everything in his power to heal faster.
Like that was even a thing.
Hallie had rolled her eyes when she’d heard Kai make that comment. Jacob wasn’t going to heal any faster. Bodies didn’t speed up just because someone willed it.
Then again, hadn’t she read an article about how powerful the brain was?
Well, Jacob was a lot of things, and she cared for him deeply, but he wasn’t a genius. He’d heal just as fast as anyone else.
Thankfully the doctor insisted that the x-rays showed minor fractures. They’d said if he followed all the rules, they had highhopes he’d be back on a horse. But if he didn’t take it easy, he could make the fractures worse.
And that was where she came in. She was here to do everything for him that he shouldn’t. Which was pretty much everything.
Jacob hated it.
She let out what felt like her hundredth sigh and reached for the knob to turn up the radio. A Taylor Swift song filled the cabin and Jacob muttered something before turning the music down.
“Hey!” she snapped. “I like that song.”
“Well, I don’t.”
“And I’m the driver, so I get to decide.”
He cut her an irritated look out of the corner of his eye, but he didn’t argue further. She smiled sweetly at him then turned up the music only for him to groan. “Please can we just change the station? Find something that won’t make my brain bleed out of my ears.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake.”
“What?” Jacob demanded, his eyes dark.
She shot him a hard glare. “Nothing.”
The way he had to turn his whole body to actually look at her would have been amusing if she didn’t feel responsible for it. “No. Tell me. What did I do toyou?”
Hallie couldn’t help but flinch. This was not the Jacob she loved spending time with. It wasn’t really his fault, either. He was angry. His life had been put on hold. And she’d volunteered to help him because it was the least she could do. At this point,she needed to be the bigger person—brighter, happier, and all-around fun to be around. If she could get him to forget his troubles for the next several weeks, then that would be a worthy accomplishment.
Gritting her teeth, she focused on the road for a moment then turned down the music.
Jacob scoffed. “Of course.”
She forced a smile and a made sure her voice was sugary sweet. “What now? I turned down the song for you. I thought that was what you wanted?”
“You’re avoiding the question.”
“What question?”
“What did I do to you? What possible reason do you have to be irritated with me?”
Her nostrils flared. This was definitely not the Jacob she liked. This wasn’t the Jacob who could make her laugh. He wasn’t the one who knew how she liked to take her coffee or that she loved her huge and crazy family. This Jacob was a stranger and all because he now had the biggest chip on his shoulder.
The worst part was that she couldn’t even blame him.
“You didn’t do anything to me,” she muttered quietly.
“Then why are you acting like I did?”
