Page 119 of Falling for the Enemy

Her gaze jumped a few paragraphs down.

Not all enemies fight to the bitter end. Others are lucky enough to fight their way into happiness just before the final round. Now is the time to pay attention, as this long overdue love story may be Hideaway Bay’s best fairytale yet.

Despite the winds shifting and cold fronts coming in, Lady Lovewatch predicts things to smolder this October as Hideaway’s strongest enemies, like the brightest leaves, finally fall.

What. The. Fuck.

Jocelyn’s gaze scanned Main Street, as if the whole town was hiding behind lampposts and curtains spying on her. No one knew who Lady Lovewatch was, and until now, Jocelyn always found her columns harmless, but she’d never been the topic of her articles either.

She grabbed the stack of papers from the metal rack and shoved them under her arm. The Beacon was a thin town rag that came out every Friday. The residents devotedly looked forward to Lady Lovewatch’s column every week, and would realize it was missing right away.

But she could not let this gossip about her and Soren stand.

“Come on, Deelie.” She collected her box of donuts and gathered up as many papers as she could on the way home.

Unfortunately, someone kept replenishing the racks.

By the end of the week, she’d worked herself into a paranoid tizzy, stealing every copy of The Beacon in existence, which only convinced the townspeople something extra juicy was printed inside.

Stacks of newspaper piled up beside her fireplace—too many to burn through in a day—and still, more kept showing up at the newsstand in town.

When she told Soren, he only laughed.

Wren, who had also been a topic of gossip when she and Grey finally got together, thought it was great.

But to Jocelyn, it only felt like pressure. Pressure to deliver. Pressure to meet expectations. Pressure not to fail publicly.

Her mind hadn’t stopped, and by Friday, she was wound up tighter than a top on a string.

Soren knew the article hit a nerve, but to him it was just harmless gossip. “You’re Jocelyn Collins. Of course people are going to talk about you. You’re a celebrity.”

“I’m not a celebrity.”

“Joce, you have an international following. You’ve been in the New York Times. To locals, that’s a big deal.”

“Almost as big as owning a billion-dollar global company.”

“Exactly. You don’t see me sweating this.”

She wished she could look at it with the same indifference, but now that they were under the town’s microscope, she feared being judged more than ever. “I like to maintain a more elusive status. Too much exposure kills the allure.”

“Is that what this is about?” He laughed. “You’re worried about your allure?” Pulling her close, he entwined his fingers behind her back, trapping her against him. “You’re worried you’ll lose your mystique?”

She knew he was teasing her, but he didn’t realize she was also dealing with a storm of emotions inside since admitting to herself that she was actually in love. This had become the most casual-un-casual relationship of her life, and while he seemed to be handling it just fine, she was starting to freak out. And, if she freaked out, the whole town would be watching.

She awkwardly disentangled herself from his grip, her stomach too upset to joke at the moment. “I’m not in the mood.”

He frowned when he realized she was actually upset. “Joce, it’s just a stupid opinion column. Let them have their fun. It’ll all blow over in a few days. Next week, Lady Lovewatch will find a new victim to obsess over, and people will completely forget about us.”

He might be right, but that wouldn’t dismiss the real issue.

Now, whenever they were in public together, people would be watching. They would be waiting to see what happened. It was hard enough trying to navigate this herself. If she messed up, she wanted to lick her wounds in private. But now they had an audience.

“Why don’t we go out? We can get pizza or⁠—”

“I don’t want to go out,” she snapped. “I don’t want to be around people right now.”

“Including me?”