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.
WHOA!! Time for all this introspection to come to a screeching halt! Wife material? That breakfast bagel must have been bad. He had food poisoning, which was causing him to become delusional.
The answer that he needed was simple. It was time to put an end to this fake dating immediately.
This brought him to Tuesday evening.
“Wow, Derek. It’s incredible.” Jayna twirled, staring up at the vaulted ceiling with the exposed wooden beams.
His eyes were fixated on her. They weren’t narrowed with disdain. Was that longing they were filled with? What the hell happened to the plan? Call her over and end it. It was a simple plan. It was easy to execute. He ended relationships all the time.
But there she stood, twirling in tight blue jeans and a snug t- shirt, bringing back images of her in that sexy black dress. That dress was still haunting his dreams and waking hours.
Why had he invited her to tour his almost-finished house?
Because he wanted her help decorating it. Yeah, that was the reason.
“It is really beautiful, Derek.”
“Thanks,” he answered. Why did her praise fill him with so much pride?
“I love the fireplace.” She brushed a hand over the stonework. “What do you plan to do for a mantle?”
“That’s why you’re here. I liked the live edge mantle on yours. Where did you find it?”
“Jamie’s store. She has some incredible salvaged wood. Let’s get the dimensions and we can check out her storage room.”
He nodded. Yes, that was the only reason she was here. To help. Today would not be the right time to end it. She may not be so interested in helping if he dumped her.
“And the flooring, Derek, it’s so incredible.” She stared down at the wide plank flooring.
“Sedona,” he told her the name. “It’s white oak.”
She flashed him a smile. “Jamie has the perfect area rug. She just got it in. It’s a vintage Persian carpet.”
He frowned back. “I didn’t spend an insane amount of money on this hardwood to cover it up.”
“Oh, Derek,” she laughed and shook her head. “That’s why I am here. It’s not that you’re covering it up, it’s about defining the living spaces.”
Her hand swept the open concept space. The large room flowed into a well-laid-out kitchen. “The area rug will go in front of the fireplace, and the couch will sit on the edge of it. It will bring in warmth.”
“Okay,” he nodded.
“Let’s go shopping at Yesterday and Tomorrow. See what we can score from Jamie and then we can go to Patty’s for dinner and pour over the Wayfair catalog for the rest. You’re buying.”
“Yes, boss,” he saluted her .
“Oh, grab those rubber boots,” she indicated to the pair sitting by the front door.
“Rubber boots? Why?”
“You’ll see,” she winked and stepped out his front door.
Derek followed Jayna to Yesterday and Tomorrow and stepped out of his truck, shutting the door. “Jamie trusts you with a key?”
“I’m a silent partner.” Jayna stood at the door of Jamie’s workshop, which was located behind the store.
“Silent?” His left brow shot up. “Why do I find that hard to believe?”
“Okay, more like an enthusiastic investor.” She pushed open the door and hit the light switch.
He’d heard that she’d put up the money when Jamie had been turned down by the bank. It had been a decent thing to do, and a smart investment. Yesterday and Tomorrow was a flourishing business.
He stepped into the workshop that had once been an auto repair shop. Now it was converted into a woodworking shop and massive storage unit. Old furniture was stacked along the back wall, waiting to make it to one of the work bays to be stripped, refinished, and reimagined. Jamie was truly talented. He brushed a hand across a long harvest table that sat in the center of the first bay, in the process of being stripped of white paint and brought to its original wood finish.
New furniture wasn’t built this solid. The table was beautiful and well made with intricately carved legs. “Has she sold this table yet?”
“No, I don’t think so,” Jayna stopped to look at it. “Are you thinking that it would look great in your dining room?”
“I am,” he nodded. “But what about chairs?”
“Those we can find on Wayfair,” Jayna waved towards the back wall. “Over here are the mantels.”
He followed her to the stacked pile of reclaimed beams and wooden fireplace surrounds.
“This one looks long enough,” she pointed to a large wooden beam. Reaching into a crate, she pulled out two matching wooden corbels. “With these corbels attached underneath, it will look stunning against the stonework of your fireplace.”
He agreed.
“And this,” she moved to a stacked pile of old windows. There was an arched frame missing the glass. “If you had a mirror cut to fit, it would look incredible on the mantel.”
He also agreed.
“Now for the area rug,” Jayna walked to a corner where rolled rugs were piled. “Jamie salvaged this old Persian rug the other day. It’s 9 x 12, and I think it is soft cream with greens and rust tones.”
She pulled out a rug that was covered in cobwebs and about fifty years of embedded dirt. “It will be the perfect finishing touch in your living room and will enhance those gorgeous oak floors.”
“Uh, no. That filthy carpet is not touching my new floors. It belongs in the dump, and it should be put there by someone wearing a hazmat suit.” He frowned. “Seriously, stop touching it. You’re going to pick up a skin infection.”
“Don’t be such a wuss,” she dragged the carpet towards the car wash bay that had been left intact.
Again, there she went, calling him a wuss. What was wrong with this woman? He was not a wuss. He just had common sense. Could she truly believe this rug was salvageable?
She unrolled the carpet, and it was even dirtier than he’d originally thought.
“Patience, young grasshopper. Not everything is as it seems.”
Had she just quoted one of his favorite movies?
She unhooked the hose from the power washer that was mounted to the wall. Hitting the water button, she turned the water spray on the carpet and dark brown water immediately pooled. Now he understood the rubber boots.
“Wax on, wax off,” she swept the pressure washer across the carpet.
She was quoting Karate Kid .
“Here, give it a try.” She released the trigger on the sprayer and handed it over to him. “Jessica and I fight over this job. It’s somehow relaxing and so satisfying.”
He took the nozzle from her and pressed the trigger, blasting the dirty carpet.
Jayna flipped the switch to the shampoo setting and damn if she wasn’t right. The tension started to leave his shoulders as he slowly swept the foamy spray over the now soaked carpet.
“Okay, now for the really fun part,” she brought over a rotary floor buffer, setting it on the carpet. Holding out her hand, she took the hose from him. “Get that shampoo worked in.”
“It’s a floor buffer.”
“Yeah, it works great.”
He switched the machine on, slowly moving it across the carpet. The spinning disk immersed the shampoo deep into the carpet fibers.
Jayna stepped onto the carpet with a squeegee mop, pushing the excess water and shampoo toward the drain on the floor. “Can you grab the power washer again? Use the water setting. Give it another rinse.”
Damn, if the carpet hadn’t become clean after they repeated the steps twice over. The pattern and colors were becoming visible. It was a beautiful rug, although it was now sopping wet.
“Help me roll it,” Jayna leaned down at the far end.
He moved to the other side, rolling the carpet.
Jayna hit the play button on an old-style MP3 player and Van Halen’s “Jump” blasted through the speakers.
“Thought you liked country?”
“I do. But this kind of work calls for head-banging, stomp-your-feet kind of music.” Jayna grinned and jumped up on the rolled carpet. Water squirted out from the edges.
“Come on, Brennan, you might as well jump,” she laughed.
He shook his head and climbed on top of the rolled carpet. Jayna jumped again, and he lost his balance. She reached to steady him but lost her footing as well. They both tumbled off, falling into the soapy carpet water on the floor .
No one besides Jayna could have talked him into this. He stared down at his soaked jeans and then at her soaked t-shirt. Oh, man. He really wished he hadn’t looked. He wished her snort was still annoying. But no, it was adorable as hell. She looked damn good in soapy carpet water.
Why had he agreed to meet back at Patty’s after running home to change? They should have just called it a night. It was a dumb idea. He didn’t need Jayna to help him decorate his home. He could just ask his mom for help. His mom had good taste.
Yet, here he sat, staring at the door, waiting for Jayna. They’d made plans to eat dinner and peruse the Wayfair catalog. But the plan he should be following was to end this charade of a relationship. Mario had backed off now that his daughter was hot and heavy with another co-worker. Derek was off the hook.
Absent-mindedly, he twirled the amber-colored whiskey in the low tumbler, his eyes trained on the door. He didn’t mean to smile when she walked through it and rushed toward him.
The chair across from him scraped along the concrete floor and she sat down. She had taken a quick shower, and he caught a whiff of her freshly shampooed hair. Grapefruit this time. Her shower must be lined with over a dozen bottles of shampoo.
She set a large tablet on the table and hung her purse off the back of her chair.
“I thought you were bringing the catalog?”
“It’s online,” Jayna replied. “Did you order yet?”
“Just drinks.”
Ivy appeared with another whiskey for him and a frosty margarita for her.
“Thanks,” she smiled up at the server. “My favorite.”
“Any news on that missing nurse?” Ivy asked Jayna as she set the glasses on the table.
Jayna’s smile slid. “No, nothing. It is so out of character for Greta. She has simply vanished. No one has heard from her.”
“I don’t have a good feeling about this.” Ivy pursed her lips. “Has anyone asked Jamie to help? ”
Derek scoffed, and both women glanced at him. Psychics, mediums, tarot card readers; it was all a big scam. Not that he disliked Jamie. Admittedly, she did have great intuition. But psychic abilities? Not very likely. Besides, this missing nurse had probably met some guy and took off on an adventure.
No one knew Greta well enough to say this was out of character for her. Nick and Burke had discussed the case the other night while playing poker. Greta had not shown up for work. Her family had not heard from her and filed a missing person report. Her car was gone, and her clothing still hung in her closet. No signs of foul play were found. It was a mystery that he doubted Jamie could solve with a crystal ball.
“I’ll have two pounds of wings, please Ivy,” Derek placed his order, changing the subject.
“Oh, I could do wings,” Jayna said. “We’ll do my special order. Wing roulette.”
“Wing roulette?” he questioned.
Ivy chuckled. “I don’t know if he’s up to the challenge, Jayna, my girl.”
“I’m up for any challenge,” Derek defended. “Just to clarify, what’s the challenge?”
“It’s actually Jayna’s creation,” Ivy stuck her notepad into the pocket of her apron. “I keep telling Patty he needs to add it to the menu. It’s a mixture of mild, medium, hot, and suicide wings, all in the same basket. You never know which wing you’ll get until it’s too late.”
“Give us four pounds, Ivy,” Jayna told the woman. “We’ll see how well Dare Brennan fares.”
He shook his head, and another smile lifted his lips. Jayna was one of a kind. Just when he thought he had her figured out, she went and did something unpredictable. She was unlike any woman he’d ever dated.
Fake dated, he corrected himself. This was not real. But damn, if he ever did decide to date for real, he’d want a woman exactly like her. That thought caused the smile to dissolve. He didn’t want to be in a relationship with any woman .
But wing roulette, now that was cool. Jayna was a cool chick.
So, why did Jayna have to go and turn into every other woman in this town and suddenly want a serious relationship? She was fake dating him to win over the paramedic, he reminded himself. She was manipulative, just like so many women he’s dated. Maybe she wasn’t cool, after all.
And why the paramedic? Why weren’t her sights set on him instead, like the other women in town? He was a good catch. He had a great job that paid well. He had just built a beautiful house. And he was damn good-looking.
“Why do you hate me so much?”
Jayna looked just as surprised by his question as he was. Why had he just blurted that out?
Her face hardened for a moment. “You really don’t remember?” Her voice hardened as well.
He closed his eyes as the memory from long ago took hold. That time in high school when he’d been stupid enough to think that asking out the best friend of his little sister was a good idea. However, Jayna, at fifteen, had turned into a knockout. And he’d been a typical seventeen-year-old, whose hormones had overridden common sense.
“I tell you that I’m a virgin and then you panic. You acted like I just told you that I had a contagious disease.”
He had panicked. He had no intention of being the guy who took her virginity. He never wanted to be that guy. It held too much responsibility. He should never have touched her in the first place.
“Yeah, I wasn’t a nice guy back then.”
“Just back then?” She held his stare for a long moment, which was thankfully broken when Ivy set down the basket of wings.
“Water under the bridge,” she told him and picked up a wing. She shoved it in her mouth and sucked off all the meat, pulling out a clean bone.
Wing lovers everywhere would be impressed. If Connor had been sitting with them, the young man would be a puddle on the floor. It took all of Derek’s willpower not to moan at the sight. Jayna was not playing fair.
“That was a mild one,” Jayna told him. “Your turn.”
This woman was an enigma. She called him out for being a jerk, then just as quickly let him off the hook. She truly was one of a kind. Lance would be one lucky guy. That was once the paramedic finally got his head out of his ass and figured out how great a catch Jayna was.
Then, Derek could go back to life as normal. And he’d have a nicely decorated house. Reaching into the basket, he chose a wing and shoved it into his mouth.