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Pretend.
I looked away, hoping she wouldn’t see my reaction. Because as it turned out, pretending to like her wasn’t all that hard for me. In fact, I didn’t need to pretend at all.
And wasn’t that a whole fucking problem on its own?
“But asking her over for dinner did come from a genuine desire to get to know people on the island. That was something I never had the chance to do before.”
How long exactly was she planning on staying?
“And Molly seems like a good person.”
“She’s one of the best,” I agreed.
“You just can’t say the same for her husband?” she teased with that same note of humor in her voice.
I let out a long sigh. “He’s a decent human being. I just?—”
“Can’t stand the guy,” she finished. “I got that part.”
I could see how much she wanted this, but I could not be that guy for her. I wanted to; I really did.
And that was exactly why I couldn’t.
“I can put up with him for a night,” I finally answered. “We manage to not kill each other in a professional setting. I guess we can manage this as well.”
“Really?” Her eyes lit up, and I swore my chest tightened at the mere sight.
“The whole town thinks we’re dating,” I quickly added, my words diminishing her excitement almost as quickly as it had come. “Might as well keep up the charade.”
“Right,” she said softly. “Good idea.”
I rose to my feet and went to the door. I needed to get out of here before I said something I regretted.
“I’m gonna head out, but I’ll be back around tomorrow evening to work on a few things.”
“Oh, right. Sure. Thanks.”
I knew my comment had stung, but that had been the intent.
I was not the hero Marin thought I was.
And no one in the room needed that reminder more than me.
* * *
To say work was difficult the next day would be the understatement of the century.
I’d never been more distracted in my life. I hated the way I had left things with Marin.
I shouldn’t be this affected by someone I barely knew.
And out of everyone on the planet, she was the last person I should be thinking about.
“Green, did you hear what I said?” Sheriff Hayes barked at me from across the room.
Why the fuck was he even here? There were no events on the island today. No photo ops or journalists. He’d been texting someone on his phone all damn day.
God, I hoped he wasn’t cheating on Kristy.
