* * *
Her heart stuttered in her chest. She had no idea what was going on. Carrick knew Jardin? And seemingly had some unpleasant past with him? And he seemed to be mad at her. She got that part. She’d totally reneged on her promise to help him. She’d been ignoring him.
If only she could tell him she wished she didn’t have to. That she was doing it for his protection. But there was more to Carrick’s anger than that.
Thea didn’t think she could take the pure anger in his eyes for much longer. She needed to get out of here. It was becoming hard to breathe, to think with the two of them so close.
She’d never been as interested in another man as she was in the both of them. Jardin, stern, imposing, and demanding. Carrick, kind, caring and protective.
They both stirred her.
“Ruined your life?” Jardin stated.
“You blamed me. You told me to get out. That you couldn’t look at me.”
Jardin looked pained. “Carrick, I’m sorry for that. And I didn’t mean forever. You know how my temper can be. I tried to call you, but you wouldn’t listen—”
“And I still don’t want to listen. Because it seemed you weren’t done fucking with my life, huh? What happened? You found out I was back in your precious city and decided to punish me some more by sending her?”
The way he said that her made her wince. Like she was shit on his shoe. The lowest of the low. She couldn’t take any more. Her wrist was throbbing. Even though Carrick hadn’t touched her harshly, it had still hurt like hell. She needed out of there. She didn’t know why Carrick thought Jardin had anything to do with them meeting and she didn’t care. She just needed to leave.
“Get out of my way, Carrick. Now.”
“No.”
“Please.”
Both men stared down at her.
“Thea,” Carrick said, looking conflicted.
“Mr. Malone? Is there a problem here?” A man in a suit approached. He looked like the manager or owner.
Jardin gave him a charming smile. “Sorry, Emmanuel, we’ll take our conversation somewhere else.”
Carrick turned his body and she took the opportunity to ease past.
“Thea!” Jardin called out.
She knew she should stop. But if she stuck around any longer, she was going to cave. She was going to give in to the emotions riding her and she couldn’t do that. Because if that happened, she might just let go completely. And she wasn’t certain she’d be able to put all the pieces back together.
“Rocket!” Carrick yelled.
Nope. Not happening. She didn’t know what was going on between the two of them, but they weren’t using her as a pawn in their feud. Her life was enough of a mess.
As she reached the door, a hand slipped gently around her upper arm, turning her. She looked up into Jardin’s face. Carrick stood over by the table, watching them. There was such pain on his face it made her heart ache.
“I need to get back to work.”
“You can’t leave when you’re upset,” Jardin said gruffly.
“I’m fine. Really. I just . . . I need a minute alone. And the two of you clearly need to talk. Please, just give me that time.”
Jardin scowled but then looked back to Carrick then to her. He nodded. “Fine. But I’ll have someone check in on you to make sure you made it safely back to the office. No arguments.”
He drew out his phone and tapped out a message to someone. She knew it was pointless to argue. Jardin was going to do whatever he thought best. And she just wanted out of here.
Without looking at Carrick again, she slipped from the restaurant.