Lover's Revenge by Lyric James Page A

could belong to only one person. The mistake’s best friend, Jared Stephens.
    What the hel was he doing here?
    As his long length exited the car, she couldn’t help but catch her breath. God, he was gorgeous. Her ex had been fine , but Jared...there was something about him that made her think of Mathew McConaghey, David Beckham and Ryan Reynolds al wrapped up into one delectable package.
    She’d never dated a white guy before, had never even thought about swinging that way, but Jared sure made her wonder what it would be like.
    “Hey, Dayna,” he said with his smooth, cultured voice, a smile on his face as he approached.
    Her heart raced, and she crossed her arms so he wouldn’t see her shaking hands. “Jared. It’s been a long time.” Since the night it happened, actualy. The night she’d caught her two-timing ex with another woman.
    Jared was dressed for a day at the beach in a pair of white linen pants, matching shirt, and brown sandals. He came up the steps and hugged her. When he enveloped her in his arms, she caught a whiff of musk and pine and earth. Damn. He smeled good.
    After he released her, she asked, “What are you doing here?”
    His gaze roamed her face before he said, “I received your invitation.”
    Dayna blinked. The mass email she’d sent out. She thought she’d deselected anyone who had a close connection to her ex. Her mouth opened and closed before she said, “You didn’t email me back to tel me you were coming.”
    The side of his mouth tilted upward in the cutest lopsided smile. “It was a mistake, wasn’t it?”
    She winced and nodded her head. “But you’re welcome to stay. You did drive al the way out here.”
    Jared leaned his hip against the wooden post at the top of the steps. “To tel you the truth, I wasn’t going to come, but the meeting I had scheduled this morning was canceled. And actualy, I wanted to check up on you and see how you were doing. I…I mean, we haven’t seen each other since it happened…since that night.”

    Dayna didn’t want to relive it or see the pity in his eyes. She moved away from him and turned her back, clenching and unclenching her fists. “Don’t worry about me. I’m fine,” she muttered with a little edge in her voice. The last person she wanted to discuss her humiliation with was Jared. He probably knew al along what his friend had been doing behind her back, but because of their secret man code, of course, he wouldn’t, and couldn’t, tel her.
    “If my being here upsets you, I can leave,” he said quietly.
    With a heavy sigh, she twisted around to face him. Her gaze roamed over the angles of his face, and she was surprised she already knew every detail. The light scar in the middle of his left eyebrow happened while hiking with his father when he was eleven.
    He’d gotten his hazel eyes from his mother and the dimple in his right cheek from his father. His ful, kissable lips...every man on his dad’s side of the family had them.
    Kissable lips. Why in the world had that thought crossed her mind?
    He was so different from her previous boyfriend. In the beginning she’d thought the old adage, birds of a feather flocked together . Strong, independent, loyal guys who worked hard, played even harder, but were faithful and considerate to the women they were involved with. She’d begun to think she was on her way to a marriage proposal.
    What a laugh.
    The entire time she’d dated the mistake , she only remembered Jared in a liaison with one woman. At least, she’d met only one. She knew he dated, of course, but he never got serious with anyone. Somehow, his trysts would run their course and end.
    She often wondered why that was. The ex had told her that Jared wasn’t the serious type, so that led her to believe he was a player, but she never saw it for herself. He never paraded women around, talked about them, or degraded them in any way. To her, he’d always been respectful. Every time he’d joined them at the movies or out