“No problem,” he said nicely enough, then speed walked away from her like rabid raccoons were on his ass, glancing over his shoulder once.

“What did you do to him?” Jack asked, watching the customer retreat.

“Nothing…” she hedged. “I just slammed down his glass on the counter like a bartender does to strangers in spaghetti westerns.”

“Right.” Her brother studied her face, and said blandly, “Should I avoid you tonight? I don’t want you jumping down my throat.”

“So you’re just going to avoid me? Don’t you even care why I’m feeling down?” Righteous indignation burned in her voice.

“You’re not feeling down. You are mightily pissed off about something, which means you can’t be reasoned with tonight,” he said matter-of-factly. “I’ll give you a big hug and pat your back when you’re a little less scary.”

“I am not scary,” she growled. She might have shown some teeth.

“Of course, you’re not.” Jack backed away from her step by step. “I’ll go take some orders now.”

Traitor. And he was the nice one. If Alex were out front, he’d be pressing every button to raise her blood pressure even higher. He thought she was hilarious when she was cranky. She did come up with some creative curse words when pushed just right, and those could be pretty entertaining.

Jack took off in a jog once he was out of arm’s reach. Tara muttered unkind things about her brothers under her breath. Not really deserved, but she was in a black mood. And the fact that she was in a black mood put her in a worse mood. What is wrong with you?

Tara gasped. What was wrong with her was that she wanted to fix him. She wanted to mend Seth’s heart, so he could start his art again. She was going out of her fucking mind. Who was she to fix anyone? She had enough baggage to last her a lifetime without adding someone else’s to the load. All she would probably do was break him even more.

She was getting in too deep. It was time she admitted that Seth was different from her other flings. There was a connection between them that couldn’t be ignored, and being in his arms felt so right. She already missed him, even though she saw him earlier that day. What had she gotten herself into? How had she allowed him to get so close? Tara knew what would happen if she opened her heart to someone again. She couldn’t. Never again.

He’s leaving. She wanted to sob out loud. The mantra that had kept her feeling safe all this time now felt like a thousand needles in her heart. When he left, she would be safe again, but did she want to be safe if it meant Seth would be out of her life? She put down the glass she’d been drying after nearly dropping it. Do not answer that question.

“What’s wrong, baby?” Her mom came out from the kitchen wiping her hands on her apron. “Jack said that you were being scary.”