Page 39 of Mr. February

Jenny cackled as Wade led her to the elevator. He held her hand while they rode the elevator and as they walked down the hall to their suite. Part of her began to think this wasn’t just a show anymore.

“Listen—“ he started.

“What are—“ she began to ask.

They both smiled, and she encouraged him to go first. She was both nervous and excited, hoping she interpreted his signals correctly.

He let her over to the couch before he set the plate of snacks on the coffee table. Then he blew out a sigh and ran a hand through his long hair. Oh no, this might not be going in the direction she wanted.

“I understand,” she said, as her heart sank.

“What?” he asked? “What do you think you understand?”

“I understand that all the things we’ve been doing were an act. Sometimes I got a little bit confused, but we’re on the same page now.”

“I don’t think we are,” he said. “Not if you thought that was an act.”

Chapter 13: You Don’t Have to Spell It out for Me

JENNY

Jenny walked away from the sitting area and grabbed a bottle of water from the minifridge. She needed to do something with her hands to keep from wringing them and giving away her discomfort.

What would Gloria do in this situation? She almost snorted to herself.

If Gloria fake dated someone, she’d have them eating out of her hand and swearing their undying devotion in hours. They’d be the ones left despondent when she couldn’t return their interest. Jenny needed to channel that attitude. Maybe then she’d get out of this disaster without Wade knowing how she felt.

“I’m not explaining this right,” he said.

Jenny took a shallow breath, exhaled quietly through her nose, and squared her shoulders. She didn’t expect to have this conversation now, but it was just as well. Better here, whereshe’d have some privacy to collect herself than anywhere else. Her eyes remained on her bottle of water as she spoke.

“No, I get it. You don’t have to spell it out for me,” she said.

“I think I do,” Wade said.

Jenny kept her expression a careful blend of polite and friendly calm as she turned back towards him. Being a woman who was always ‘let down easily,’ she had perfected that expression long ago to help protect herself.

When she was alone back in her apartment in a few days, she could fall apart. For the rest of this trip, she had to keep it together. As long as she didn’t think about how excited she’d been about the possibilities, she’d be fine.

She faked a deep sigh, as if put out by having to explain the obvious.

“What’s there to explain? It’s obvious you were about to caution me not to read more into our public actions than you intended. You don’t have to worry. I’m on the same page. I know it’s all for show.”

Jenny avoided looking at him. She couldn’t deal with the sad puppy dog eyes guys sometimes deployed when they wanted to protect her feelings after telling her they weren’t attracted to her.

“No, youdon’tget it. At all.”

Wade sounded frustrated. When she glanced at him, he ran his fingers through his hair again in a way she recognized as his ‘I don’t know how to resolve this problem’ move.

She wasn’t a problem, and it pissed her off he thought she was.

“I do get it,” she retorted. “I know I’m not beautiful like Suzanne or a coding genius like Gloria, or super confident like either of them, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have feelings.”

“What? That’s not what I said!”

Now Wade looked confused, which annoyed her further. Being annoyed was much better than hurt so she leaned into it.

“Just because I’m not like—“

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