Jax’s hands cupped her jaw, drawing her nearer to him. Her own hands drifted to the sides of his waist, hesitant at first, then relaxing and spreading across the muscles of his back. His thumb grazed her cheek, its warmth followed by an unwelcome coldness.
She jolted when the frenzied wind whipped against the building, knocking a tree branch against the window.
His focus shifted to the window behind her, and he froze.
Seyla blinked several times when his hands dropped away from her, his gaze fixated on the window. She wheeled around to face it, expecting to see something wrong, something dangerous. Instead, she saw the cat colony shelter. Five cats of various colors milled around the food containers, enjoying the fresh kibble.
What was he staring at?
“Jax?” She touched his arm, but he jerked away. Rejection stuck its prongs through her heart, and she retreated, at a loss to understand why his comfort turned cold.
The sound of gravel crunching, followed by truck doors slamming shut, shot panic through her. Matt would be here any second. “What’s wrong?” Seyla glanced at the doorway again.
Jax studied her for a minute, his expression murky and troubled. A muscle twitched in his jaw, his body resembling a huge, cold rock instead of the warm tower of strength from a moment earlier.
What was happening?
“They’re here,” he stated in a flat tone. “Let’s go.” He didn’t wait for her. Instead, he did an about-face and walked out the door.
Seyla followed, her mind and emotions in a daze.
Matt stood outside. He set a crutch aside to hug her when she got close. “Are you okay?”
“Um, yeah,” she choked out, with a brief glance at Jax. “I’m fine.”
“I can’t believe Vanessa did this to you.”
“It wasn't her fault. She had a flat tire.”
“That's even more suspicious!”
“I’m okay. Nothing happened.” Seyla’s eyes flicked to Jax.
He angled away from her.
“Have you been here long? We can help if you have to do anything else before you leave,” Jax’s uncle offered.
Seyla gave a wooden nod. “Yeah, I do have a couple of things to do yet.”
“We’ll help.” Sam rubbed his hands together and clapped. “Let’s get to work.”
Seyla watched Jax grimace, shooting his uncle a withering look. Sam frowned at him, chucked his chin in her direction, and mouthed, “Go.”
Her eyebrows shot up in surprise when Jax shuffled in her direction and mumbled, “What can I do to help?” His tone, however, communicated that he’d rather be thrown in a pit with rattlesnakes.
Even though it hurt to know he wanted nothing to do with her, Seyla admired the respect he had for his uncle. That respect, along with the loyalty he showed to those he cared for, only added to the pain. Because she wasn’t on that list and never would be. Whatever he’d done to help her had been done out of loyalty to Matt, not her. The reminder stabbed through her. Regardless, she offered him a thin smile, along with instructions.
Seyla set Jax to work unloading cat food bags from her SUV to stock the staff building. She, Sam, and Matt replenished the colony shelters after cleaning them. Hurt by Jax’s abrupt dismissal, she stayed as far away from him as possible.
After finishing, she checked her watch. Three minutes to three o’clock. She wouldn’t make it in time. Her shoulders sagged under the weight of her failure. However, she kept her demeanor upbeat when she thanked them for their help, avoiding Jax’s general direction.
Matt pulled her aside. “Are you sure you’re okay?” He glanced at the area where she knew Jax stood and back at her.
“I’m upset about overreacting to a little wind and the woods. On top of that, I’m late for a three o’clock meeting with the director. Considering I accidentally locked myself in the closet this morning and lost my report, I’m feeling like a bit of a failure.” Hopefully, the information she divulged would keep him from asking any more questions because what had upset her most was his best friend.
She sensed suspicion lingering in Matt’s expression. However, he dropped the topic after that.
Seyla hugged him again, helped him into the truck, and thanked them once more for pitching in. Stopping Sam on the way around the truck after he put Matt’s crutches in the bed, she murmured, “Thanks for having the fair on your property. I-I feel terrible about what happened. I want you to know that we’re increasing the monitoring of our fence lines so it doesn’t happen again. I am so, so sorry.”