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Ian frowned. “No one said she needed a babysitter. I’ll come along, too.”
Jessica placed her hand on Ian’s knee. “It’s okay. Really. I thought it might be nice to help, but—”
“Don’t worry about Brock. He’s just mad Madison left. Maybe she wouldn’t have if he’d had a better attitude.”
Fury flashed behind Brock’s eyes. Everyone at the table glanced between him and Ian.
“Ian. Be respectful of your brother,” his mother warned.
“It’s fine, Mom. Eventually Ian will have his heart broken too.” His focus ticked to Jessica. “Maybe sooner rather than later.” He pushed out from the table and strode from the room.
Liz glared at Ian. “That wound is still open and bleeding, Ian. You know better than to bringherup.”
His defenses went up faster than the flames of a forest fire in a drought. “There comes a point when he needs to accept it and move on. She’s not coming back. He’s wasting time pining for her when he should be getting back in the saddle.” Ian gulped down his orange juice. “I’m ready to go, Cal. Be ready in five minutes.” Jessica’s eyes were on him, studying him, seeing through him. Why did Brock have to go and bring her into this?
Cal gestured to his plate where he’d just served himself a second helping and huffed. “I can’t eat this in five minutes.”
Ian shrugged and stalked from the room. He needed some fresh air. What Brock had said hit too close to home. Ian had been interested in Jessica from the moment he saw her. That was months of coming into the diner only to watch her be pushed around by Tucker. Now he had his chance to show her he was worthy of her attention, and Brock was basically dooming their relationship.
They didn’t even have one yet, and Brock had successfully planted a seed of doubt. To be honest, he didn’t understand why Madison left Brock. Her leaving had come out of nowhere. If she was capable of that, then who was to say Jessica wasn’t capable of exactly the same? All women were.
If he’d pined for Jessica this long and she hadn’t noticed him yet, what were his chances this would end happily? Maybe Brock had a point. He shouldn’t set his hopes too high. Jessica was here because she needed somewhere safe to stay. Nothing more.
