Page 55 of Sweet Like Whiskey

“All right?” Jackson asks, voice low and rumbly in the confines of the cab.

I nod. “Think so. Maybe? No.” I let go of the handle and turn to face him. “Do you know what he said to me when I told him I thought we should split? He said, ‘okay.’ Justokay, as if I’d told him I was running to the store for milk. He didn’t care, so why is he here? What did he come for?”

Jackson’s brows draw in, but his face remains otherwise impassive. “He wants you back.”

I huff. “How do you figure?”

“Why wouldn’t he?” he shoots back, the words nearly punching the breath from my lungs. “He made a mistake. So he’s here to fix it.”

“If that’s the case, I don’t want to fix it. I know I made it sound like our break was sudden, but we’d been drifting apart for well over a year before we separated. There’s nothing left to fix.”

Jackson nods slowly, seemingly lost in thought. “And you’re sure?”

“Positive,” I tell him.

His eyes meet mine again, searching. And then he swiftly exits the truck.

I stare after him for a beat before jumping into action. “Jackson,” I hiss, shutting my door and rounding the vehicle.

He tugs the front door of the bar open, disappearing between the giant barrel planters. I jog to catch up.

When I get inside The Barrel, I spot Virginia first. She’s sitting at a table in the center of the room, posture stiff and one leg crossed over the other. Her eyes soften when they reach me, but it’s clear she’s not happy. My gaze shifts to Nicholas next. He stands quickly as Jackson and I approach, his eyes sweeping past Jackson and landing on me. He looks happy to see me, and, honestly, it catches me off guard.

Jackson reaches the table first, coming to a stop a couple feet away from my ex. I catch up a second later, huffing a breath.

“Ashley,” Nicholas says, giving me an almost apologetic smile. “Sorry for turning up like this, but I need to talk to you.”

Jackson shifts a little, drawing Nicholas’s gaze.

“Uh,” my ex says, clearly thrown by the extra company. Even so, he holds out his hand politely. “Nicholas Murphy. Sorry, but who are you?”

Jackson wraps his arm around me, ignoring Nicholas’s outstretched hand. With his fingers curled against my hip in a possessive hold, he declares, easy as can be, “I’m Ash’s partner.”

Nicholas’s eyes widen.Virginia’seyes widen. In fact, the only one of us who doesn’t look gobsmacked is Jackson himself. He’s staring my ex down evenly, as if he didn’t just drop a bomb inside the room.

Holy freaking shit.

My grin is slow but steady as I turn to face my ex. “Yeah. What he said.”

Chapter 14

Jackson

The tension inside the bar is rife, the silence heavy before Nicholas utters, “Partner?”

“What are you doing here, Nicholas?” Ash asks, ignoring his ex’s question and curling his hand over the top of my own.

My heart is pounding so heavily I can hear it in my ears.

Nicholas’s arm falls back to his side, his eyes swinging between me and Ash. Finally, he focuses his attention Ash’s way. “Like I said, I need to talk to you.”

“Okay,” Ash says slowly. “So talk.”

The guy looks Virginia’s way, like maybe she might rescue him. But she doesn’t move a muscle, her face a blank mask. Looking back at Ash, he says, “Could we go somewhere private?”

“We can talk here,” Ash says, giving my fingers a quick squeeze before he heads toward the table.

I quickly follow, grabbing the seat next to him as Virginia stands. “I’ll grab drinks,” she says, walking off.

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