Page 26 of Always Been You

Patrick Swayze said his famous line and took Jennifer Grey onto the stage to do their final dance.

Ethan tilted his head. "This is your favorite part?"

He didn't sound judgmental or condescending, but it was Ethan so, of course, Jess got defensive. "Yes. It is."

As they sat on the couch and watched the dance, a brilliant idea struck her, but being the shrewd negotiator that she was, she kept it to herself until she got more information.

"So let's say I agree to this, what happens when we break up?"

He looked over at her, and the light of the television danced off his golden gaze. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, how are we going to do it? You know that everyone and their brother are going to want the details. How do we break up? Who is the breaker and who is the breakee?"

Ethan's stare was blank as he shook his head. "I haven't thought about it. I guess you can break up with me."

"No way. I'm not going to be the bitch that broke up with Whisper Lake's golden boy."

"Fine. I'll break up with you."

"Right? Like anyone is going to believe that."

"Why not?" He chuckled. "You have such a winning personality."

"My personality is not what I was commenting on." Her bravado was false, but she held onto it for dear life. It was all she had.

"Fine. It can be mutual.”

“Okay, why?”

“Because of my job. My schedule."

"No. I'm not that needy."

"Okay, then because it's dangerous."

Forget his job, the real danger was being Ethan's girlfriend, even if it was fake and temporary. Just the thought had her heart pounding so fast that she wasn't sure if her new ticker could take it. But, she did want to live life to the fullest.

"That might work."

"So, do we have a deal?" He held out his hand.

"Don't you want to know what my terms are?" she hesitated.

"I'll give you anything you want."

The words he spoke hit Jess like an arrow shot directly from Cupid himself straight through her heart. The one that wasn't hers. And it wasn't just her heart that was affected. Her entire body swelled with pent-up arousal. She knew if she didn't get him out of here, she'd throw herself at him and start this fake relationship off on a very real one-night stand.

Jess stood, trying her best to regain some control. He looked up at her, his hand still outstretched. She placed her hand in his and tugged him, trying not to think about how good it felt for his large fingers and warm palm to be wrapped around her hand.

"Deal. We can talk about specifics later. I want to watch my movie and go to bed."

The corner of his lip twitched. "You're already kicking me out?"

"Get used to it."

He lifted her hand and kissed her knuckles, his eyes locked with hers. “I look forward to it."

She watched as he retreated out of the room and tried to catch her breath as he paused at the door. "Lock this behind me."

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