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Maebh walked out of the bedroom, and I sighed.
Fuck. Why did I answer the phone?
“You’re sure?”
“What? Why are you questioning me? Yes, I’m fucking sure.”
I instantly felt terrible for lashing out at her.
“Shit, I’m sorry, Tammy. I didn’t mean to jump all over you. It’s just, I took this weekend off to get away from the bar, and I haven’t even been gone a full day. Trevor’s staying upstairs at my place, I thought I told you that. If you need something, give him a call.”
“You did tell me,” she stated.
Anger raced through my veins. If she fucking knew, why the hell did she call me? “Just call him and he’ll take care of it, not me.”
“Fine, I won’t bother you again.” Her voice was short and filled with hurt.
“Wait, Tammy.”
She sighed. “What, Cord?”
“I’m sorry. You just caught me at, um, a bad time.”
Her silence nearly killed me. The last thing I wanted was to lose Tammy. She was the best manager I’d had since I’d opened the bar and she was damn good at her job.
“It’s okay. I’m not really much of a manager if I can’t handle these kinds of things while you’re gone, and like you said, it hasn’t even been a day. I’ll call Trevor and get him to pay them ASAP.”
“Thanks, Tammy. Everything else okay?”
“Yeah, it’s picked up some for a Thursday night, but nothing too bad.”
Nodding, I grabbed a shirt. “Good. Listen, I’m going out with Maebh for the evening. If you need anything, get Trevor to handle it.”
“Maebh?” I could hear the shock in her voice. “She’s with you? At the lake house?”
“Yeah, it’s a long story, but we’re fixin’ to head out for the evening to catch a live band so I doubt I’ll be able to hear my phone anyway.”
“Well. Well. Well. When did you get with her? I thought you didn’t like her.”
“What?” I choked out. “I never said that.”
“Are you…together?” Tammy asked, a hint of something I didn’t recognize in her voice. The last thing I was going to do was talk to her about my personal life.
“Listen, I need to go. Only call if it’s an emergency. Okay?”
“Of course, boss.”
I hit End without saying goodbye. I had no idea why I was trying to get off the phone with Tammy so fast. Maybe it was because of what Maebh had overheard, that Tammy was after me. Shaking my head, I brushed the thought away. Slipping on my boots, I grabbed my wallet and headed downstairs.
“Maebh?” I called out. “Maebh?”
Shit, where in the hell did she run off to?
Walking into the kitchen, I looked out the back window. She was down at the dock, laughing at a guy who had pulled up next to my father’s boat in similar boat to ours.
It didn’t take me long to head down the trail made of crushed granite and wood.
“If you’re interested, I can show you around the lake,” he said.
My mouth dropped. What in the hell?
“She has me to show her, but thanks for the offer,” I said loudly.
Maebh turned to look at me, and so did the guy. He held up his hands as if saying, Sorry, dude, I didn’t know she was yours.
“You finished with your call?”
My eyes bounced to Maebh. She was smiling, but it didn’t reach her eyes. I wanted to take her in my arms and tell her how sorry I was that I answered the damn thing, but I couldn’t worry about that right now. What I had to worry about was some fucker moving in on my girl and me trying not to beat his ass.
I stopped walking. It hit me so fucking hard, I stumbled a few steps, nearly falling on my ass.
Am I…jealous?
I was fucking jealous that this asshole was talking to Maebh. Making her laugh and offering to show her around. I’d never been jealous of another man in my entire life.
“Cord?” Maebh asked, rushing over to me. “Are you okay?”
Dragging in a deep breath, I fought to find air for my burning lungs.
“Is he okay?” I heard the bastard say, snapping me out of my moment of insanity.
“I’m fine. Sorry about that. I guess I moved too fast and got a little dizzy.”
Maebh looked at me with concern in her eyes. “What are you doing out here?” I asked, looking at her and then directly at the dick in the boat.
“I wasn’t sure how long you would be on your call. It’s a beautiful evening, so I came outside.”
“I’m going to go ahead and dock the boat. If y’all would like to come over later, we’re having a small party.”
Staring at the guy, I asked, “You live next door?”
He grinned. “My grandparents own the property.” His smiled dropped some, and he looked at me hard. “Holy shit, Cord Parker, is that you?”
