Page 54 of My Twin Sister's Extremely Famous and Incredibly Hot Neighbor

I realize I’m not just crying because he gave into Jera’s demands. I’m also crying because it means I have to break things off without the excuse that he’s been playing me to get what he wants with the fence. I’ll destroy everything we have, and I’ll be a rotten, horrible person.

“I’m so sorry, Dustin,” I say when I can get my voice under control. “I’m sorry for the lawsuit, and for everything.” And I’m sorry for so much more that I can’t say right now. I’m sorry for the future we won’t have.

“It’s all over now. Let’s put it all behind us.”

I nod, pulling back from him. I’m sure I look terrible, but he lifts my chin and smiles at me anyway. “Are you okay?”

“Yes.” It’s a lie. I’m not okay. I’m about to totally destroy him, and shatter my own heart.

“Good.” He kisses the tip of my nose. “I have one more surprise to give you.”

Great. He’s got more for me. As if I don’t feel bad enough. I try to give him a smile. “What’s that?”

“My new fence will have a gate. It will be able to lock on both sides, so if you ever don’t want me using the gate, just put a lock on it.” He brushes a strand of my hair back. “But I hope you won’t need to lock it.”

I stare up at him, my heart swelling. I don’t know how it happened, but somewhere in all this pretending, I’ve fallen in love with him. The realization startles me and takes me aback, but I can’t deny it. I love Dustin, and he’s the most amazing human I’ve met.

He’s staring at me, waiting for me to respond. I gather up my emotions so I don’t start crying again. “That will make it easier for me to come eat your food.”

He chuckles. “I’ll make you food whenever you want.”

He leans down and gently presses his lips to mine. I wrap my arms around his neck and give him a proper kiss. After a few minutes he smiles and pulls back. “I’m glad you like your present.”

“I do.” I can’t hold back a smile. He’s shown me the truth. His true and honest feelings toward me. He doesn’t know why the fence was such a big deal, but he’s moving the entire thing anyway. The whole project had to cost him several thousand dollars.

“Jera, I’m glad you’re happy. I want you to be. I just hope someday you’ll be able to open up to me.”

Guilt rises in my throat. He’s right. I haven’t opened up to him. I’ve told him some things, actually more than I’ve shared with most people. But I haven’t told him the most important thing. That I’m not Jera.

He pulls me to him, and I lay my head against his chest. “I know you were hurt by Luke. It kills me to think about what he might have done to you. It takes time to start to heal from that.”

My palms grow sweaty, and I feel even worse. I’m such a scumbag. How could I have let things go this far with Dustin without telling him who I really am? I’ve told him so many lies…led him to believe so many things that were wrong. Even Luke is a lie.

“I want you to know I’ll wait for you. What we have—it’s something special. It’s worth waiting for.” He kisses the top of my head.

I close my eyes, regret filling my soul. I should tell him. Right now. I should explain everything and then at least he’ll know why I lied. But if I do, he will get very upset with me. It will end things between us, I just know it will. What I’ve done can’t be smoothed over by mere apologies.

Jera wants me to stay until I get the photoshoot done. I need to tell him, but if I wait, I can hold on to this dream for just a little while longer. I can pretend this love is real for a few more hours. This is what I need. I need Dustin to hold onto me like he is right now. I need the warmth he gives me.

I’ll tell him the truth tomorrow night.

CHAPTER29

Dustin pulls back from me. “It’s early still. Do you want to do something?”

“Sure. What do you want to do?”

“I’d love to watch you paint. You could show me some tips.”

Excitement thrums through me. I’m dying to get back to my paints and start working on some of the full paintings I sketched this afternoon. “I’d love to teach you.”

Dustin and I get Squint, and we cross through the back yard to Jera’s house. “Do you mind feeding Squint while I get my paints ready?”

“Sure.”

“Everything is in the kitchen. He gets one scoop.”

Dustin goes to feed my dog, and I pull out my supplies in Jera’s library. There’s only one chair at the desk, so I drag in another chair from the living room. I set it next to the desk where Dustin can see everything I’m doing.

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