Page 65 of Chain Reaction

She stole another glance at him. Was it just her imagination or was he acting funny? He almost seemed wistful.

But why?

As her computer screen lit, all the text messages she’d missed earlier popped up at the top corner of her screen.

She saw one from Kingston.

Her gaze darted across the room to the kitchen counter where she’d left her cell phone.

Had Jake somehow seen that message? Was that why he seemed distant?

No, that thought was ridiculous. Even if Jakehadseen the text, he wasn’t the type to be jealous.

He’d made his feelings toward her very clear ten years ago when he’d ghosted her.

But why did Raven feel as if he had something on his mind he wasn’t telling her?

Jake wanted to get the message he’d seen on Raven’s phone out of his mind. But every method he tried to use to stop thinking about it didn’t work.

He didn’t know why, but he’d had the impression she wasn’t seeing anyone. The fact that she might have a man in her life bothered him entirely more than it should.

Jake had his chance with her, and he’d blown it. He hadn’t expected her to wait around.

He hadn’t waited around, after all. He’d gotten married. He couldn’t have a double standard.

Yet, if he were honest with himself, he’d admit he’d love nothing more than to have a second chance with her.

The events of the past two days had proven that.

But today, when he thought that Raven might die . . . that had cemented his remorse.

That was just another reason why he was glad she’d sat in the chair instead of beside him on the couch. On the couch . . . she would have been too close. It might have been too tempting to reach out to her, to let one of her curls brush his fingertips.

Striking up an old flame in the middle of this situation was a terrible idea.

Plus, Raven was out of reach.

Even if she wasn’t dating someone, would she ever truly understand Jake’s reasons for leaving? For not being in touch? He wasn’t sure.

“You don’t trust everyone at Blackout, do you?”

Raven’s voice pulled him from his thoughts.

Jake blinked, unsure if he’d heard her correctly. “Come again?”

“I noticed some tension between you and your teammates.”

Ofcourse, she did. She’d also probably noticed Jake hadn’t responded to her question earlier. The truth was, he did have a reason to doubt his teammates.

He shrugged. “You know how it is when you have to work closely with people. It’s challenging.”

“In your line of work, you have to trust each other.” She shifted and narrowed her gaze, not backing down. “So what’s going on?”

She’d really cut right to the heart of the matter, hadn’t she?

Jakecouldavoid her question and pretend she was misinterpreting things.

Or he could use her as a sounding board.