With our help, it didn’t take long for Misti to finish her forms and hand them in.
I looked around and realized there still weren’t enough seats for everyone in the room. “My feet are killing me. How much longer do you think we’ll be here?”
“It shouldn’t be too much longer,” Kristi assured me. “They want the groom to chat with everyone to see if they have the right chemistry in front of the camera.”
“It’s so weird calling this guy the groom,” I told her.
“Totally,” she agreed with a laugh.
The same energetic guy who’d brought us our forms went up to the front of the room and clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention. When we all quieted down, he began speaking. “I know you’re all anxious to find out who our celebrity groom is, and the moment has come.”
There were excited murmurs in the crowd.
“Ladies, I would like to introduce you to Stone Morrison!”
“Oh shit,” I said much louder than I’d planned.
“I know,” Kristi whispered from my side. “He’s so hot.”
“Yeah, hot,” I agreed. A tiny voice in the back of my head told me it might not be the same guy. I could have coincidentally met a guy named Ben, who sounded like Stone Morrison. What were the chances of that happening? Not very good, right?
I was too far back to get a good look at him, but with my low vision, I look for different things than those who can see well. Instead of looking at his facial features, I watched the way he moved and carried himself. He had on jeans and a black t-shirt. Today, his long hair fell around his face.
I was sure it was the guy I’d met the night before, and I couldn’t decide if I should be angry. If I was a celebrity trying to keep a low profile, I probably wouldn’t announce my name either. He hadn’t exactly lied since his first name was legally Benjamin, though I’d never heard him referred to as Ben. I only knew his real name because my best friend, Tucker, was a huge fan.
What did it really matter, anyway? We’d both agreed we were in no position to date. Still, I felt somewhat disappointed that the sweet guy I’d met the night before was going to marry one of these women soon.
Kristi tapped my arm and brought my attention back to what was going on. Stone Morrison was at the front of the room, charming the panties off of his potential brides as he told them he’d like to talk to every woman in the room. It might be my imagination, but I could have sworn he looked directly at me when he said that last part. I shook my head to clear it since that wasn’t likely.
Once he finished giving his speech that left several of the girls fanning themselves, they started bringing women into a room near the back to talk to him in a more intimate setting—just the two of them and the camera crew.
Oh. My. God. I had kissed Stone Morrison. I felt like an idiot for not connecting the dots. Maybe I could blame this all on being overtired.
“Are you okay?” Kristi asked about an hour later.
I nodded. “I’m a little overtired today, and I’m getting hangry.”
“You should go eat,” Kristi suggested. “Misti will totally understand.”
“Are you sure?” I asked.
Misti looked at me over her shoulder and replied. “Go ahead. I’m feeling much less nervous now. Thank you so much for all of your encouragement.”
“I had fun hanging out with both of you,” I replied honestly. “Why don’t you text me when you finish up here? We can order room service and hang out.”
“That sounds fun,” Misti agreed.
I didn’t make it far. My hand was on the door when the same energetic man who’d handed me the NDA raced over. “You can’t leave yet.”
“I signed the forms. I’m not going to tell anyone your secrets,” I promised.
“It’s not that,” he stated. “You haven’t had your on-camera interview with Stone yet.”
“I’m not auditioning,” I reminded him, figuring he must have forgotten.
He looked over his shoulder before gesturing to someone and then nodding. When his attention returned to me, he smiled. “Could you come with me for a minute?”
“All right,” I agreed after a long pause.
Chapter 7
Ben
I’d met four women so far. All were attractive, and I respected them for being up front about their desire to make a name for themselves on the show. I’d expected more women to claim they were looking for true love. Some probably were hoping to find Mr. Right, but I think most had more realistic, if not mercenary, expectations.
I had to at least meet the remaining women, but I was impatient to talk to Gemma. I’d seen her reaction when I entered the room, and I wanted to discuss this with her before she came to the wrong conclusion.
Since our kiss, I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her. I’d also regretted my decision to do this stupid show even more because it meant I couldn’t try pursuing her. Wasn’t that just a crazy thought since she’d said she wasn’t in a position to date?
And then she’d shown up at auditions. Gemma hadn’t said anything about not being in a position to get married. I thought that was a dumb argument myself, yet I’d still used it as justification for my plan. It took a little arguing to convince the executives to consider Gemma since she wasn’t auditioning for the show. I had Tamara to thank for talking them into it.
The door opened, and I got to my feet as Gemma walked into the room. I had my first genuine smile of the day on my face when she approached me.
“I was surprised to see you here,” I remarked. “Glad but surprised.”
“I was surprised to see you, too, Ben.”
The extra emphasis she put on my name made me grin. “I should introduce myself properly. I’m Ben Morrison.”
“But everyone calls you Stone, right?”
“Not everyone,” I told her. “I wasn’t trying to trick you last night. It must seem that way, but that’s not why I told you my name is Ben. It is Ben, and I didn’t think we’d see each other again. I’m sorry for not being honest with you before.”
She laughed. “I’m not angry with you. Shocked? Yes, but not mad. You didn’t have to pull me back here to apologize or explain. I feel a little foolish for not putting the pieces together, but I certainly don’t blame you for keeping your identity a secret under the circumstances. I can’t believe I said you sound like Stone Morrison. I know your first name isn’t legally Stone.”
“You told me I don’t look all that much like him,” I reminded her.
“Yeah, well, I don’t see very well. I should let you get back to auditions. I’m starving and tired, so I was about to head back to my room.”
“Can I ask you a serious question first?”
“All right,” she replied.
I moved forward and placed a hand on her cheek, giving her plenty of time to tell me no or push me away as I leaned in until my lips brushed against hers. My tongue darted out to stroke her lower lip, and I practically groaned. “You taste incredible. I dreamt about our kiss. It’s been on my mind since I got up this morning.”
Her voice was slightly strained when she responded. “That’s not a question.”
“Will you be my reality show wife?” I hoped for delight, expected surprise, but got laughter in response. Releasing her, I stepped back and grumbled, “That didn’t go the way I expected.”
“How did you expect it to go?” she asked as she struggled to get her laughter under control.
“I thought you might be surprised or say you’ll think about it.”
“I’m not here to audition for the role of your bride,” she reminded me.
“But you like me,” I pointed out. “I like you.”
“We spent a few hours together, and you didn’t even tell me your real name.” She put a hand up when I started to correct her. “Fine, you told me your real name, but I still thought you were someone else. Just some ordinary guy.”
“I know,” I agreed.
“Besides, what could you
possibly hope to gain from having me sign on for this crazy show?”
I decided to go with total honesty—no holding back. “This show is going to suck. I got talked into it at a low point. I ended things with my fiancée, and then she told the world I’m a chronic cheater. It was total bullshit. She cheated on me. I fucked things up for myself from there by drinking away my sorrows and screwing around more than I should have.”
“Earning you the bad boy rocker reputation,” she stated. “Though, I suppose you had one before.”
“My image had started to improve during my engagement. I can’t claim to have sobered up back then, but I had cut back on my drinking,” I stated. “After the break-up, I fell back into some bad habits for about a month. I’ve cleaned up my act, and now I need to fix my reputation.”
“With this show?” she asked with a bark of laughter. “Have you seen this show?”
“Yeah, but they agreed to make me look good unless I screw up and do something to make myself look bad.”
She appeared doubtful. “Why is it so important to fix your reputation? It seems like it will improve on its own if you give it time.”
“I don’t have time,” I admitted. “There is an opportunity to do the voice-over for an animated film. I can’t say which one, but the producers want someone more wholesome, a hopeless romantic. That’s how I got talked into this.”
“That’s a horrible reason,” she told me. “You never answered my question. Have you seen this show?”
“Unfortunately,” I replied. “Some might think my story about wanting to find the right woman to settle down with is believable.”
“Not when you plan to marry her three days after meeting her,” she argued. “From what I can tell, reality television is not about living happily ever after. It’s about ratings, and ratings come from drama.”
“Happily-ever-after could result in good ratings,” I argued. “Romantic comedies do well.”
“This isn’t a rom-com, Ben. I mean, Stone.”
“I like it when you call me Ben. I want to get to know you better and spend more time with you. I know you think you can’t date because of your plans, but this could help you.”
“How could it help me?” she asked.
“If you do this, I’ll pay for your college tuition.”
She didn’t answer right away, looking shocked by my offer. “Maybe I could get a scholarship.”
“True,” I agreed. “It’s hard to get one to pay for your entire tuition, and college is expensive.”
“It is,” she agreed. “I still don’t know about this. I have a job and a life back in the Bay Area.”
“You only have to be here for a few days,” I assured her. “After that, they’re filming in the Bay Area. You can move to my place there.”
“Move into your place?” I asked. “You have a place in the Bay Area?”
“Yeah, I bought it as an investment a few years back. The tenants have been out of there for a few months since I’ve been considering moving to the Bay Area. I worked out a deal to film there without airing anything that could give away the exact location of my home.”
“This doesn’t just sound crazy,” she told me. “It is crazy. I’m not moving in with a guy I don’t know.”
“It won’t be that awful,” I argued. “Say you’ll think about it.”
“I’m not even auditioning,” she said yet again.
I grinned, gesturing to the camera. “You kind of are right now. One of the big parts of the audition is to see if we have chemistry. That’s not a problem for us. Tell me you’ll think about it.”
She said nothing as she looked down at her shoes. I’d shocked her. Though she was far from convinced, she hadn’t said no. That was a good sign.
“There’s no harm in agreeing to think about it,” I added.
She let out a sigh and nodded. “Right. There’s no harm in thinking about it.”
I took a step toward her, but she stepped back. “If you give me your number, I’ll call you when I decide,” she told me.
I grinned as I did something totally out of character and gave a near stranger my cell number. Considering I’d just proposed to her, I figured it only made sense.
“You won’t regret this, Gemma.”
“I haven’t agreed to do more than consider it,” she reminded me before turning and walking out the door.
As soon as I finished up the rest of the auditions, I’d work on convincing Gemma to marry me.
Chapter 8
Gemma
I was still in a state of shock when Misti and Kristi showed up at my room. Misti was excited about meeting Stone Morrison, and she spent thirty minutes telling us how nice he was.
“Gemma met with him, too,” Kristi announced. I was surprised she hadn’t told Misti that earlier.
“What?” Misti asked. “When? How did I miss that? What did he say?”
I filled them in on my accidental meeting with him the night before and ended with his proposal. I flashed Misti a guilty smile, but she didn’t seem the least bit annoyed.
Misti and Kristi clapped their hands and squealed.
“This is so exciting!” Kristi nearly shouted.
“I was right about you trying out,” Misti added. “You’ll be so adorable with Stone Morrison. I’ll bet he ends up wanting to stay married to you.”
“Whoa!” I put my hands up to stop the crazy train. “I didn’t agree to do the show.”
“But you agreed to think about it,” Misti pointed out. “That means you might do it. You should do it.”
“Aren’t you mad that I might take the spot from you?” I asked Misti. It felt a little like stealing a friend’s boyfriend.
She waved off my concerns. “It would have been exciting, but I’m not going to be angry if you end up on the show.”
“We tried to get you to audition,” Kristi reminded me.
“She did last night,” Misti added with a giggle. “She just didn’t know she was auditioning.”
I covered my face and groaned. “How could I have failed to recognize him? I mean, I thought he sounded like Stone Morrison, but he looked different.”
“He seems much different in person.” Misti may have just been trying to make me feel better.
“You’re gonna do the show, right?” Kristi asked.
Misti didn’t give me a chance to respond. “This is a good idea. Think of it as a scholarship with benefits.”
I laughed at her description. “A scholarship with benefits?”
“You get the money to pay for college, and you also get the benefit of spending time with a hot guy,” Misti explained.
“It’s a win all the way around,” Kristi added. “There are a lot worse fates than spending a little quality time with Stone Morrison.”
“Why do we keep referring to him by his full name?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” Kristi replied thoughtfully. “It could be that calling him Stone feels too familiar.”
I heard my sister’s ringtone coming from the bedroom just as someone knocked on the door of the suite.
“Would you mind seeing who’s at the door while I grab my phone?” I asked.
“Got it,” Kristi chirped.
“Thanks.”
I hurried to grab my phone. Jade was more than my twin; she was my friend. Normally, she would be the first person I asked for advice about my situation, but this wasn’t the time for her to get caught up in my current craziness. I’d fill her in on the madness when she got back from her trip. She and Remi both had businesses to run, so they were only going away for a couple of days. After that, they were going to have more of a staycation so they’d each be close enough to step in at work if a need arose.
“Hey, Jade! Is everything okay?”
“Everything is amazing,” she gushed. “I just wanted to check on you before we board our flight. Sorry about leaving you with Remi’s cousins yesterday.”
“As it turns out, I like them,” I told her. “We’ve be
en hanging out again today.”
“Good,” she replied. “I felt bad about you being alone in Vegas. It sucks that Tucker couldn’t make it.”
“He hated missing your wedding,” I told her.
Someone tapped on the bedroom door.
“Hold on, Jade.” I pulled the phone away from my ear and called out, “I’ll be out in a minute.”
“We decided to call it a night,” Kristi said through the door. “Breakfast tomorrow?”
“Sounds good,” I told her. “Text me when you wake up.”
“I will,” she replied.
“Sorry, Jade. That was Kristi. She and Misti were hanging out in my room.”
“What did the three of you do today?” she asked.
“Not much,” I lied.
“Did you hear they’re filming a TV show in Vegas soon?” she asked. “Married in Three Days.”
“Yeah, Misti and Kristi mentioned it.”
“I’m surprised they didn’t insist on trying to get on the show,” she stated. “Remi said it was something they’d do. That show is so awful!”
“But you’re planning to watch this season, aren’t you?”
“Uh, no,” she replied with a laugh. “You know I hate that show.”
“You’ve seen nearly every episode,” I reminded her.
“You’re right,” she agreed with a groan. “It’s terrible, and yet I still keep watching it, but you can’t judge me since you and Tucker also watch.”
“Yes, it’s our dirty secret,” I agreed. “Listen, Jade, you don’t need to worry about me. Just enjoy your honeymoon. I’ll see you when you get back.”
“All right,” she agreed. “Remi told me it was silly to worry about you.”
“Because he’s a smart man,” I replied. “I love you. Have fun.”
“I love you, too,” she replied. “Have a safe flight home tomorrow.”
I should’ve been exhausted and ready to call it a night, but I had too much nervous energy running through my system. I was also hungry, so I decided to head out to the front of the suite to order room service. I still had a couple of hours before I could check-in for my flight. I could watch a movie after taking a bath in the giant spa tub in my room. Tomorrow, I’d turn down Ben’s proposal and catch my flight home.
Unscripted Desires Page 3