Page 67 of The Beachside Rental

Ding.

Frustration and worry churned in the pit of his stomach.He picked up his phone.There was a text message from Gwen.

He thought of just ignoring it, but maybe she wanted to smooth things over.They did work well together.But he wasn’t sure if they could go back to the way things had been.

He opened his messages.To his surprise, there wasn’t a message, just a link.He clicked on it.The Gossiperopened up on the screen.

The headline read:Thomas Sinclair’s new series.

His gaze moved to the article:Author of runaway series, Time of Reckoning, is coming back with a new series that is out of this world!

As Simon kept reading, he felt as though he’d been sucker-punched.This tabloid had the gist of his upcoming series.And there were only two other people who had that information.

He typed a message to Gwen:Did you leak the info about the new series?

Immediately, a response came back to him.Of course not.You should look at those close to you.

Simon knew she meant Jenna.He just didn’t want to believe it.But he clearly recalled how he’d told her about his new concept for the book when he’d been tired of sitting around the hospital and anxious about getting stitches not only in his arm but also his nose.

Still, he couldn’t believe Jenna was the leak.He had an easier time seeing Gwen as the culprit, especially after the way she came onto him.Maybe she thought he would lean on her and something would happen between them.But even that was a stretch.

The truth was that he didn’t know who had leaked the information.That acknowledgment had his guard going up.The only one he could trust was himself.It was a lonely but necessary position.

Chapter Twenty

She’dbeensuchafool.

The next day, Jenna had the day off.She blamed herself for trusting Simon—for letting herself fall for his good looks and charm.She couldn’t stop thinking about him with that woman—the woman who had been kissing him.

The nauseating image kept her up most of the night.When she’d finally fallen asleep, she’d had nightmares about Simon telling her that he had a secret family.

When she’d finally awakened, her sheet was twisted around her legs, and her blanket was on the floor.The sun had barely been above the horizon when she got out of bed.

After a shower, she’d set to work doing her weekly chores, which included a couple loads of laundry and cleaning out the fridge.By eleven o’clock, her chores were complete.With nothing to do, she was climbing the walls.For once, she wished she had to go into work.

Needing something to distract herself, she reached for her phone.She was going to call Myra, but then she realized her sister was already at work.Instead, she called her older sister—who’d just gotten back from her trip.

Lily picked up on the first ring.“Hey, Jenna, what do you need?”

“What are you doing?”

“Why?”There was a note of surprise in Lily’s voice.“What do you need me to do?”

“Just tell me what you’re doing?”

“Inventorying the whole shop.”

It wasn’t what Jenna had in mind, but it was so much better than wandering aimlessly around her place and wondering what Simon was doing with his beautiful girlfriend.

“Want some help?”Jenna was already turning off the kitchen lights.

“Uh, sure.”Lily’s confusion came across loud and clear.“Just let me get this clear.You are offering to do inventory?”

“Sure.Why not?”Jenna grabbed her purse and keys.“I’ll be right there.And you can tell me how your trip went.”

“Oh.Okay.And then you can explain what’s going on with you.”

That was the one thing she hadn’t considered when creating her escape plan.But it was better than sitting around and berating herself for trusting Simon.