Page 61 of Forever and Other Lies

She stiffened and pushed backward. His eyes narrowed questioningly.

“I need to use the ladies’ room,” she managed to find her voice.

This man was pretending. He was and always would be heartbreak wrapped up in a far too handsome package.

Fool her once, shame on him.

Fool her twice, shame on her.

She was Jayna frigging Sutton. She did not fall for men with agendas. Besides, she had an agenda of her own; win over the very handsome and stable Lance Roman.

Now that man was the real deal. He was the man to settle down with and build a life. It was time.

Lance wasn’t playacting to save his smarmy butt. He wasn’t the kiss-and-bail type or breaker of hearts like the man in front of her. She just needed to recite all the reasons she disliked Derek, and that was one big-ass list. Derek Brennan was not the man of her dreams. He was more like her worst nightmare.

Chapter 30

This was his worst nightmare come true; he was catching feelings. But the more time Derek spent with Jayna, the more he liked her.

He liked her.

The realization hit him like a hard blow to the head.

And he didn’t just like her, he REALLY liked her.

Jayna was beautiful, accomplished, funny, and honest. She was a no-bullshit, call-it-like-it-is woman.

‘I’m falling for her’, he thought as he pored over the blueprints on Monday morning. Those words filled him with terror. Derek Brennan did not fall for women, especially pain-in-the-ass women like Jayna Sutton.

He needed to remember all the reasons he couldn’t stand her. That was one very long list. Yet as he stared down at the blueprints, his mind refused to focus. He was having difficulty making sense of these plans that would turn a farm field into a mini village, and it was impossible to recall the ‘reason Jayna sucks’ list. Somehow, all he could think about was how appealing he found her.

He also couldn’t stop from wondering what she was doing at this very moment.

Was she working? Maybe she’d brought his grandfather and Nick’s grandfather specialty coffee again. That had been so considerate of her. It had made the two old men’s day, if not their entire week.

Whoa. He couldn't care in the least what Jayna was up to.

It was nothing more than this whole fake dating thing that was messing with his head.

He searched his memory for the how and the when. How and when had he stopped loathing her and fallen in love?

Whoa, again. Like a big whoa. Back up. In love?

Derek ‘Dare’ Brennan didn’t do third dates, or dinner with parents and most definitely DID NOT FALL IN LOVE!!

Never.

Not once.

Oh, he may have had a crush on Leighton for almost a decade, but the L-word had never crossed his mind or his lips.

So, when exactly had he crossed the line that he swore he’d never cross? More importantly, how did he cross back over it? He had no intention of staying there.

Or maybe this wasn’t love. It wasn’t like he was experienced. He never stuck around long enough to find out. It was just that her annoying traits had stopped being annoying. It used to bother him that Jayna didn’t care what anyone thought, speaking her mind, popular or not. Now, instead of finding her abrasive, he found her refreshing.

He was the same way.

And there it was, the reason and problem, all in one. She was exactly like him. Jayna was not dating material, definitely not wife material.

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