Chapter 37
A person of interest? The man Jayna was dating was now a person of interest in a murder investigation.
It wasn’t Derek’s business. Not his concern. She was no longer his ‘fake’ girlfriend, who he needed to pretend to care about.
Pretend?!
He had stopped pretending the minute he first kissed her. Maybe it had started when she dragged him up on stage, picking out that hilarious song for karaoke. Or was it that night he’d picked her up for the gala? That dress! She’d been so beautiful. Or had it been when she toured his house, taking him to Jamie’s storeroom, cleaning the carpet that his feet now rested on? It could have started while playing wing roulette and choosing this very couch he was sitting on.
Derek stared down at the carpet. Jayna had been right. A reproduction carpet could never come close to the aged beauty of the real deal. And the salvaged mantle above his fireplace was also incredible. It highlighted the stone detail of the fireplace. These found pieces, along with the well-chosen furniture, turned the sterile new house into a home.
Blowing out a frustrated breath, he ran his fingers through his hair. He kept going back to the fact that she was dating the paramedic. And that it bothered him! Only because the guy was implicated in a murder! No way was he going to admit that it bothered him for any other reason.
That would be admitting too much.
He preferred to keep all his feelings and emotions buried deep. It had worked well for him so far. At least up until now.
Now he sat on the softer-than-soft couch, staring at the mantle that was missing family photos and other cherished memories. He wished he’d gone for a cold slab of marble instead. And he wished he had never asked Jayna for help because her imprint was all over his home. She was everywhere, in his home and in his thoughts. He was jealous and was that regret he was feeling? Did he miss her?
All of this was only temporary. It would pass. He needed to resume his normal life. Tugging his phone out of his back pocket, he swiped to open the contact list. The redhead from the other night had added her number to it. Nevaeh. Heaven spelled backwards; she’d whispered in his ear.
His finger paused over the text icon and then moved to delete contact instead.
“Knock, knock.”
He turned around. His mother and grandmother, Harry, stood in the foyer.
“We came to check out the new bachelor pad,” Harry stated.
“This does not look like a bachelor pad,” his mother commented.
“Yeah, thanks to Jayna. She helped me decorate it.” The minute the words left his mouth, he wished he could take them back.
“Oh, really?” Harry raised an eyebrow. “Are we talking about the same Jayna who dumped you?”
“I’d hardly say she dumped me.”
“Not what we heard,” Harry persisted. Of course, news of their breakup would have traveled at lightning speed around town.
“It was never real. We were only fake dating.” Again, words he didn’t mean to say aloud were flying out of his mouth.
“What does that mean?” his mother questioned as she sat beside him on the couch.
“Fake dating? Is that some new slang you kids are using for hooking up?” Harry sat on his opposite side.
Hooking up? What did his grandmother know about ‘hooking up’?
“No, Mom, I think what Derek means is that they were never really dating.” His mother turned her attention back to him. “ Why pretend to date?”
“Let’s just say that I dated the wrong girl with a father who wasn’t happy that I didn’t want to keep dating her. This father just happened to be a big investor in the company I work for. He was threatening not only bodily harm, but my job as well. And Jayna posed as my pregnant girlfriend to get me out of hot water.”
“Was the pregnancy fake too?” his mother asked.
“Yeah!”
“A mother could hope,” she shrugged.
“So, you dated a bunny boiler with an overprotective father, and that’s why you were fake dating Jayna?” Harry pointed her finger at him as she spoke.
“A bunny boiler?” His mother leaned across him, staring at her mother.
“Like in Fatal Attraction,” Harry clarified.
“Why did you let Jayna break up with you?” Mom asked.
“Because he’s a dumbass,” Harry offered.
His head snapped back in her direction. These two women were going to give him whiplash.
“Because,” he stretched out the word, “I don’t want a serious relationship.”
“Bullshit.” Harry poked him hard in the arm.
“Mom!” His mother shook her head.
“What? It is total crap. The boy has been his own worst enemy most of his life,” Harry argued.
“Sitting right here. Right beside you,” Derek muttered.
“Harry is right, son. You wouldn’t have built this beautiful house if you had no plans to fill it up with a family.”
He gaped open-mouthed at his mother. “A single man can’t live in a beautiful house?”
“Oh, he can. But that would be a very stupid man,” Harry poked him again. “Don’t be a stupid man.”
He stood, rubbing his arm. “How about I give you both a tour, and then you go harass someone else? Ben is still single. He’s all gaga over Bianca Grotta and she’s not interested. Isn’t she too old for him? Or maybe she isn’t.”
Both women fell for the bait and started discussing the state of his younger brother’s love life as he gave them the grand tour, which ended on the back deck.
“Wow,” both women exclaimed at once, staring at the reclaimed arched door frame that Jamie had salvaged from an old church.
The oversized arch had rustic doors attached on either side and had been secured into the ground. It stood at the edge of the property, highlighting the stunning view of the valley below. It was indeed a jaw-dropping focal point. He didn’t mention that it had been Jayna’s idea.
“That would be a perfect wedding altar,” Harry said, playfully slugging him again. “If you hadn’t let Jayna dump you, you could have stood right under that arch and married that girl.”
“It’s never too late,” his mom winked.
His eyes narrowed. Jayna had said it would be a unique way to draw the eye to the incredible view. Damn that woman. She had tricked him into building a wedding altar on his property. She probably had a good laugh with Jamie over it.
Relief flooded him when his mother and grandmother left, only to turn into a groan as Tommy arrived.
“Wow, this is quite the place,” Tommy whistled as he did a slow turn.
“Thanks. You just missed Mom and Harry.” Derek opened the fridge and pulled out two beers.
“Isn’t it too early to be drinking?” Tommy asked, but still accepted the offered beer.
“Again, Mom and Harry were just here.” Derek twisted off the cap and took a long swallow.
“Ah, that bad?” Tommy pulled out a bar stool at the island and sat.
“Apparently, it’s too nice of a place for a bachelor.”
“Who decorated it?”
“Why does everyone keep asking me that? Is it so far-fetched to believe I did?” Derek pulled out a stool and sat beside his brother. He couldn’t begin to put into words how relieved he was that the relationship with his twin had been restored.
“Yeah! You can’t bullshit your older brother.”
“You are 6 minutes older than I am.”
“Key word being older,” Tommy stated. It was a card he’d been playing their entire life.
“Okay, Jayna may have helped.”
Tommy nodded. “So, what’s up with that? Heard she dumped your sorry ass last weekend.”
He needed to change his front door mat from ‘Welcome’ to ‘Go away.’