Page 13 of How Jenna Became My Dilemma

“As do you.” My words come out curt, which is weird, considering they’re a compliment. But I’ve learned with him you have to be on your guard at all times. If you let your walls down, he’ll have you in love with him two seconds later and in his rearview mirror two seconds after that. A place I do not want to be. Because men like Cody never love you back. It’s all just a game to them. They’ll drop you as soon as they’ve won you.

The width of his smile increases. “I wore this color just for you.”

“That’s too bad since it clashes with my red dress.” I keep my calm expression intact for the cameras even though my mind is wondering who his source is. Usually, my stylist team is pretty tight-lipped regarding my red-carpet apparel. But clearly, he knew and chose to wear something that didn’t match. “But you probably did it to annoy me.”

“Why would you think that?” He momentarily breaks eye contact with the cameras for a quick glance at me.

“Because you love to irritate me.”

“No, men in pink don’t try to irritate people.” His head dips close, sending shivers down the length of my spine with his whispers. “We’re lovers, not fighters.” He winks once before facing the crowd again.

It takes me one second to recover, but even in that short period of time, I’m worried someone caught my falter on camera.

“Cody! Jenna! Give us one together!”

Most people lean in, maybe tilt their heads when they’re getting their picture taken with someone. Not us. Not me. We stand like two individual statues whose flesh will melt off our bodies if it touches the other person’s. At least, that’s how I stand. I do my best to relax my smile even though I feel the tenseness between us all the way down to my glittered shoes.

“Interesting idea to wear pink and red,” a photographer shouts.

Great! Everyone else notices our lack of outfit coordination.

“They’re the colors of love.” Cody slips his hand behind my back. It’s a light touch—like he’s testing the waters—but it’s there, causing my body to stiffen even more. “This is a romance series, isn’t it?”

More smiles from the crowd. For a man they love to hate, they sure love him.

“Let’s get the rest of the cast and crew in there.” The clipboard woman waves over Quinton, Teague, and some of the side characters.

Cody and I split apart, making room for everyone else. We end up on opposite ends of the photos, like the bread on a sandwich.

And I finally feel like I can relax again and enjoy the moment.

CHAPTER THREE

JENNA

I’m more nervous today than when I did an all-day photo shoot in the ocean with nurse sharks swimming around me.

Sharks.

Swimming around me.

While I was menstruating.

I was convinced the whole time that they would smell the blood and come take a bite out of my leg—or worse, my crotch. (Gross, I know. A mind just goes where it wants to go. I blame it on the nerves.)

Nurse-shark level of anxiety doesn’t even come close to what I feel right now as I wait for my publicity manager to show up with the early reviews from last night’s premiere.

I can usually scrape together some confidence. You have to if you want to make it as a model. People constantly judge your figure and how you look—while wearing practically nothing—so you learn to develop somewhat of a thick skin.

But no one’s critiquing how I look.

It’s all about how talented I am.

That feels a lot more personal.

And suddenly, my thick skin is gone. It’s more like a sheer covering that will split open with any amount of pressure or criticism. So that’s great.

Tawny knocks twice, and I rush to the door. Since she buzzed the gate at the end of my drive, I’ve been doing everything I can not to run outside and tackle her for the information. I fling open the door. My green eyes probably look crazed with a mixture of fear and cautious excitement.

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