"Come on, sugar," Brandy said as her hand slid down my groin. I actually closed my eyes in the hopes that my dick would respond to the contact but when there was nothing, I actually cursed out loud and grabbed her hand. It was a repeat of the humiliating show in the bathroom. My sure thing with Brandy had turned into a full-on disaster and I just wanted to get the hell out of there.
And find Jackson..
"I have to go," I ground out to Brandy.
I knew it was a foolish move considering what kind of damage she could do to my reputation if she decided to tell everyone what a complete failure I'd turned out to be in the bathroom, but at the moment I just didn't give a shit. I heard her calling for me as I walked away, but I ignored her and then found myself randomly asking people if they'd seen Jackson. Everybody said no and a couple of people asked if he'd even been there because they hadn't noticed him.
I wanted to punch those people in particular. How could they have not noticed him? Jackson was one of the kindest, sweetest men out there. And maybe he didn't have traditional good looks, but he had the most beautiful eyes I'd ever seen. They spoke volumes when his mouth wasn't able to. The man would give the shirt off his back to anyone who asked for it and he treated everyone like they were someone.
Even me.
I spent ten minutes searching the bar and parking lot for Jackson, but there was no sign of him. Bull's words came back to haunt me.
What had he meant by Jackson finding what he was looking for? Had Jackson hooked up with someone? Was he even at this very moment with some guy? The thought had me seeing red and before I realized what I was doing, I began checking all of the cars in the parking lot. I came across many couples taking advantage of the dark lot and privacy of their vehicles, but none were Jackson.
My mind raced with possibilities. There were a few motels in Eden where Jackson would've been able to find a measure of privacy with whatever piece of shit he was with. I told myself to leave it alone and go home, but as soon as I got back to my truck, all I could think about was some guy touching Jackson, leaning over him, putting his mouth on him…
I ended up slamming my closed fist on the hood of the vehicle and heard several people around me making comments as they walked past. Part of me kind of wished one of the men would take issue with me so I’d finally have someone to take my frustrations out on.
"Hey!" I heard someone call from behind me.
Finally, I thought to myself as I curled my fingers into my fist. It was the one Jackson had wrapped up for me and it was throbbing since I'd used it to hit my truck.
I turned to face whatever asshole had decided to confront me, but all the fight left my body when I saw who it was.
Mac, my boss at the ranch, was standing by his pickup truck a few spots over. His girlfriend was next to him. They both had disapproving looks on their faces and I felt like a little kid who’d gotten caught misbehaving.
Mac strode up to me, his sharp eyes scanning my hand and the small dent I'd managed to put into my truck.
"Problem here?" Mac asked. He was a big guy who commanded respect. Even if he hadn't been my boss, I would've felt the need to cower in front of him. He was more heavily built than me and had to be twenty years my senior. Despite being the owner of Broken Tree, he was always out in the thick of it working by our sides, no matter how dirty or backbreaking the work was. I respected the hell out of the man.
I shook my head and murmured, "No problem. I was just looking for Jackson before heading back to the ranch."
Mac looked around us and that was when I realized that several people were milling about. My eyes connected with Brandy who was standing by the entrance to the bar, her arms crossed and her glossy red lips pulled tight. She was definitely pissed.
"He left," Mac said. I felt like a bug on a slide as he studied me. My best bet was to thank him, get in my truck and go.
Of course, that wasn't what I did.
"Do you… do you know where he went?" I asked.
My boss eyed me for a long time before finally saying, "He was pretty drunk so Susan and I gave him a ride. To Jolene's house. For some reason, he didn't want to go back to the ranch."