Page 65 of The Beachside Rental

She blinked, but the horrible sight was still there.The woman was kissing Simon.The breath hitched in the back of Jenna’s throat, holding in a horrified scream.

In that moment, Jenna felt her heart shatter.She’d known better than to trust another man, but she’d done it.And now she had no one to blame but herself for getting her heart broken.

Chapter Nineteen

Somethingwasdefinitelyup.

Simon had sensed there was something going on with Gwen since she’d arrived.And what was she doing on the island?It’s not like she held her authors hands through the publishing process—at least not to his knowledge.

She was acting differently.He struggled to put it into words, but her smile was extra bright, and though he was used to her touching him with a pat here and an air kiss there, she’d never tucked her hand into the crook of his arm.

He was glad that Jenna was at work.He didn’t think she’d be too happy with his agent’s touchy-feely gestures.He wasn’t too comfortable with it either.

When he stopped at the end of the walkway to mention it to Gwen, he turned to her.The next thing he knew, she was pressing her lips to his.He was stunned—absolutely floored.It took him a moment to make sense of what was happening.

And then he gripped her shoulders and gently pushed her away.“Gwen, what are you doing?”

She sent him a coy smile.“I think you know exactly what I’m doing.”

He lowered his arms.“What I mean is why are you doing it?”

She sighed.“Don’t tell me you didn’t like it.”

His mother taught him that if he didn’t have anything nice to say, not to say anything at all.He remained quiet.

“Oh, come on,” Gwen said.“This is our chance.”

“Chance for what?”

“To be together.We’ve always had the worst timing.Either you were in a relationship when I was single, or I was in a relationship when you were available.And then there was that time when we were both free, but your ex decided to destroy your life by selling you out to the tabloids.I tried to be there for you as much as you would let me, but you swore off relationships.That leaves us with now.It’s our time.

He shook his head as he walked to the cart.Lunch was the last thing on his mind, so he would take her to the ferry because whatever she’d dreamed up wasn’t going to happen.

She followed him and sat down.“I didn’t think you’d be so surprised.It’s not like you haven’t felt what’s going on between us.It’s been building for years.”

With his hands on the steering wheel, he looked at her.“I don’t feel that way about you.I never did.”He could see the surprise closely followed by disappointment in her eyes.“I’m sorry.”

“What is it?Did you meet someone else?”

There was no point in hiding the truth.“Even if I hadn’t, things were never going to be any more than friendly between us.”

Anger sparked in her eyes.“You mean I flew here for nothing?”

He nodded.“Yes.”

Her glossy red lips pursed together as though she were holding back a litany of grievances.After a strained moment, she said, “Take me to the ferry.Now.”

As he drove, he couldn’t help but wonder how he’d missed the signs of her liking him.Maybe it was the fact that he never saw her as anything more than his editor.

The only reason she was involved in his stalking episode was because it was related to his books, and there was a lot of press coverage at the time.But he’d otherwise never drawn her into his private life.He had no idea how he’d given her the wrong idea.

But he knew after this incident, it would be impossible for them to work together again.He hated the thought of losing her as an agent because she was very good at what she did.But if this had to happen, at least it was at the beginning of a new series.The readers wouldn’t notice the shift from one agent to the next.

When he pulled up at Starfish Harbor, he looked over at her.She was now wearing big dark sunglasses that hid her eyes.“Are you going to give me a hard time about ending our contract?”

She frowned at him.There was a tense pause.“I suppose I have no one else to blame but myself.We’ll negotiate terminating the contract.”

She got out and walked toward the ferry.He was left to wonder what exactly negotiating would entail.He didn’t think it’d be cheap, but he had an attorney to help with that.