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“Ladies,” Jefferson greets with a big smile. “Have you heard the news? Harlow and I are madly in love.” I growl softly and start across the square. I hear Margot laugh. “Yeah, good luck with that.” He catches up with me after only about three steps, of course. “What the hell is going on?” I whirl around and ask, “Why can’t you just leave the people in my life alone? I know you like to mess with me but it’s getting old.” His brows rise. “What are we talking about?” “You’re just not going to be happy until you drive away everyone I care about, right?” His eyes go from me to Margot to Mia and back to me. He shakes his head. “We’re not doing this here.” He grabs my hand and starts walking, tugging me along. I dig in my heels. “You’re not just going to drag me around.” He turns back. “Fine.” Then he bends over and sweeps me up into his arms, bridal carrying me. “Jefferson!” He’s heading for his truck, parked along the curb of the square. He grins down at me, but says tightly, “We’re in love, remember?” He leans in and kisses my cheek. I hate him so much. I want to fight with him. I am mad at him. But, he’s right. This is day one—actually we’re only a few hours in on our plan—and I can’t ruin it all by throwing a fit in the middle of town. I stop squirming and take a deep breath. “Good girl,” he murmurs. I growl. He chuckles. At his truck, he walks around to the passenger side, somehow pulls the door open, even with me in his arms, and deposits me on the seat. “You’re kidnapping me now?” “Duct tape over your mouth sounds very appealing,” he comments before he slams the door. I sit on the seat, arms crossed. I don’t know where he thinks he’s taking me, but I do want to have this conversation, and bursting out of his truck and stomping up Main Street is also not the way to convince anyone that we are in a serious romantic relationship. “Everyone in this town, for some reason, has a hard time saying no to you,” I say as he slides in behind the steering wheel. “Present company excluded.” I shift on the seat to face him. “Damn right. At least someone around here realizes that you don’t actually have the ability to turn water into wine.” “You’re so dramatic.” “And you’re such a meddler!” “Hi, pot, I’m kettle. “ “I don’t meddle! I support people. I help them. I comfort them. You’re the one who’s always trying to push people away.” He pulls into a driveway and I realize we’re at his house. He slams the truck into park, then turns to me. “Get in the house.” I glare at him. “No way. “ “It is beyond time for us to have this out. But we’re not doing it in my driveway, where anyone could drive or walk by or look out their front window and see and hear the whole damned thing. Let’s go inside and fight.” Dammit. I have been pretending to date this man for about two hours and already it’s a pain in my ass. 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥'𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘧𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘤𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐞, by Erin Nicholas! 💫FREE in KU!💫