She was Ivy Morgan, after all. She built a reputation on being strong and needing no one. So why did Jack’s abandonment – something she told herself he was going to do from the beginning – hurt so much?
Ivy was so lost in thought she didn’t initially notice the quiet figure sitting on a fallen log next to the lake. When he shifted, the familiar muscular frame tensing at the sight of her, Ivy’s heart fell.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
Jack frowned. “What are you doing here?” He pushed himself to his feet, running a hand through his dark hair as he regarded her with red-rimmed eyes. “You should be in bed.”
Ivy rolled her eyes. “You’re unbelievable.”
Jack’s expression softened, although he was wary. “I’m sorry for leaving the hospital the way I did yesterday. I … .”
“It doesn’t matter.” Ivy cut him off. She didn’t want to hear lame excuses about how he had a job to do and that came first. She didn’t want to hear how he’d changed his mind. “I knew it would happen. It’s … exactly what I expected.”
“Don’t say that,” Jack said, his voice soft. “Please don’t say that.”
“What do you want me to say, Jack?” Ivy rested her hands on her hips and fixed her icy blue eyes on him. Jack already missed the hint of warmth and flirtatious energy he usually found there. “You kissed me on the forehead and said you were going to get some air. That was the last time I saw you. You walked out of the hospital and out of my life. I get it. Just … whatever.”
Ivy’s eyes filled with tears and she hated herself for it. She loathed showing weakness, and that was exactly what she was doing.
“Ivy … .” Jack was miserable.
“What are you even doing out here?” Ivy asked, impatiently brushing away a falling tear. “Why would you come out here?”
“You mentioned there was a lake behind your house,” Jack explained. “I needed a place to think where no one else would be hanging around. I … some stuff has happened … and I like being by water. It helps me clear my mind.”
“There are three other lakes within driving distance,” Ivy snapped. “Pick one of those places to … clear your mind. This is my lake.”
“Why are you out here?” Jack prodded. “You should be resting. I … you shouldn’t be wandering around after you were … hurt.”
“Oh, you mean after I was shot?” Ivy relished the quick flicker of pain on Jack’s face when she said the words. “Well, as you may or may not know – I’m going with the assumption that you don’t know since you walked out of the hospital without even saying goodbye – I’m actually fine,” she said. “I don’t need a babysitter.”
“I didn’t say you needed a babysitter. I … .”
“Aren’t you supposed to be at work? Aren’t you supposed to be keeping the good people of Shadow Lake safe from the bad guys? Aren’t you supposed to be doing the one thing you claimed you came to this town to do?”
Jack exhaled heavily. She was so angry he could practically feel it wafting off of her from ten feet away. He welcomed the anger and he basked in the hatred. He deserved it. What he didn’t want to see was the underlying current of emotional pain that was fueling that anger.
“Honey, I’m so sorry,” Jack said, fighting his own batch of tears.
“Don’t call me that,” Ivy hissed. “Don’t … ever … .”
“I’m sorry,” Jack repeated, holding up his hands. “I didn’t mean to hurt you this way.”
“I’m sure you didn’t,” Ivy said, another tear cascading down her cheek. “I’m sure you had the best of intentions. You didn’t mean to throw me away. I get it. Just … let it go and leave my lake.”
Jack took a step toward her, hating the way she shrank away from him. “I can’t just leave you out here,” he said. “We need to have a talk.”
“I don’t want to talk about it! I don’t want to listen to you rationalize why you had to do this. I get it!”
Jack licked his lips, tugging on his fleeing patience. She was stubborn. It drove him crazy. It made his blood pressure spike and his anger flare. He could not yell at a woman with a gunshot wound, though. Even he drew the line at that. “You don’t get anything,” he said, choosing his words carefully. “You’re just saying what you want to say right now.
“I know I deserve it,” he continued. “I know what I did was … unforgivable. That doesn’t change the fact that we have to talk about a few things.”
“No.”
Jack pursed his lips to keep himself from saying something hateful.
“I don’t want to talk to you,” Ivy said, her eyes completely dry for the first time in a full day. “I don’t want to listen to an apology. I don’t want to hear cop talk about the shooting. I don’t want to … know you.”
“You don’t mean that.”
“Oh, I mean it,” Ivy seethed. “I can’t even stand the sight of you. I wish I’d never met you.”
Jack stalked toward her, ignoring the distressed look on her face as he closed the distance. “I’m not playing this game with you,” he argued. “We’re going to talk and … well … you’re going to shut up and listen to what I have to say.” He reached for her shoulders, realizing at the last second that he couldn’t hold her in place that way because of her wound and shifting his hands so they grabbed onto her hips. “Now … .”
Ivy lashed out, smacking him across the face as hard as she could and taking him by surprise. “Don’t touch me!”
Jack released her hips and rubbed his chin, impressed with the force
