Page 88 of Mountain Grump

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I press my lips together.

I was hired.

I want to pull my hand free from Ethan’s.

I want to stop touching him. Stop absorbing his comfort.

But I can’t do that without calling attention to my hurt feelings.

And they shouldn’t be hurt.

It’s stupid for me to feel hurt.

Ethan is the pilot.

He’s flying me right now because he was hired by Uncle Jack.

I know that.

I knew that.

But I forgot.

I got caught up, and I forgot.

Ethan isn’t here forme.

He’s here for a job.

A paycheck.

Grateful for my dark sunglasses, I turn my head and look out the window.

Chapter 57

Ethan

Silence stretches between us.

Too late, I realize that my words came out wrong.

But I can’t backtrack and pretend I wasn’t hired for this job.

I was. She has to know I was.

If she’d been the one to ask me, I could’ve turned the payment down and done it for free.

But she didn’t. And the money was already deposited into my account through the booking system before I even agreed to it.

“Could I have a water, please?” Tilda’s question is quiet. Timid.

“Yeah.” My reply comes out scratchy, and I decide we’ll share the water.

I loosen my hold on Tilda’s hand and reach into the back seat for a water bottle.

She doesn’t do it the second I let go.

She waits until my arm is stretched back.

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