Page 126 of Falling for the Grumpiest Protector

He keeps working. "Who's who?"

"The woman talking to Javier."

The wrench beneath the hood stops. Jack straightens slowly and looks across the yard. His expression changes. Not much. Enough.

"Oh."

I look at him. "Oh what?"

He wipes his hands on a rag. "What is she doing here?"

Something cold slips beneath my ribs. "Who is she?"

Jack doesn't answer immediately. Which is an answer all by itself.

"Jack."

He exhales. "That's Diana."

The name means nothing to me. But the way he says it does. "Who's Diana?"

His eyes move to mine. "Javier's ex-wife."

For a second, I'm certain I've heard him wrong. "His what?"

"Maddy."

"He was married?"

"Yeah." Jack studies my face. "He didn't tell you?"

There it is. A small sentence. An innocent question. And somehow it finds the exact place to hurt.

"No."

Jack's expression changes immediately. "Maddy, I didn't mean..."

"It's okay."

But I look back toward the parking lot. Javier and Diana are still talking.

His ex-wife. Javier was married. The man who sat across from me last night and told me about Véronique. René. Culinary school. The service. Jack. The farm. The man who took my hand and let me into pieces of himself I knew weren't easy to give. He had a wife. And I didn't know.

Something inside me sinks. Not anger. That would almost be easier. It's the realization that I thought last night meant I'd been allowed closer. Maybe I had. Just not as close as I thought.

I set the bracket down on the edge of the truck. "Does Emma know?"

Jack hesitates. That's enough. Of course she does. They've known Javier for years. I'm the one who doesn't.

I glance toward the parking lot again. Diana says something. Javier looks away. Whatever this conversation is, it isn't casual. And suddenly I feel like I'm standing somewhere I don't belong.

"Are you okay here?"

Jack frowns. "What?"

"With the truck. Can you finish without me?"

"Maddy."