Chapter 24
Gemma
Ben was quiet for the trip back to Vegas, not that I minded. I needed time to think about all that had transpired. When Tucker returned from his trip, he was going to be so jealous that I’d met all the members of Pirates of Paradise.
Thoughts of Tucker weren’t occupying my mind most of the trip. I knew Ben had been with a lot of women, and he’d admitted to making more than his share of mistakes in that area. Knowing that couldn’t have prepared me for Emily. Once we made it back to the suite, the cameras were still rolling, wanting to get our reactions before we even had a chance to discuss everything in private.
Seated in my room in the suite, I had a camera pointed at me. I took a deep breath and said the first thing that came to mind. “That was intense.”
James motioned for me to continue when I fell silent.
“It was interesting meeting Ben’s old bandmates and their wives,” I began. “I don’t know how I feel about what happened with Emily. That was bizarre.”
I let out a giggle and covered my mouth as I pictured the scene. “It was kind of funny. She thought I was a dominatrix. I don’t know if she expected me to order her to lick my shoes or if she was trying to make me feel uncomfortable.”
I stood and walked toward the window. “It was funny, and yet it was disturbing. How many unhinged exes does Ben have? I know it’s not fair to blame him for their actions, and I’m trying to avoid doing that. It’s hard when we don’t know each other all that well.”
This next part I was sure would get cut. I turned to glare at the camera. “That was a fucked-up thing to do. I know damn well the show is responsible for those women being at that gathering. It’s the type of turmoil you want to stir up. You must have been disappointed when I didn’t burst into tears or start screaming at Ben.”
“Do you feel any better?” James asked, confirming my suspicions that my rant would be cut from the show.
“No,” I replied. “I’m still angry that my date with Ben was messed up. I was looking forward to spending time with him. Is this what we can expect every time we go out?”
“Not every time,” James replied. “There are going to be obstacles thrown in your path. It’s what the show is about.”
I nodded. “And I knew that when I signed on. Curse Ben for talking me into this.”
“It was either that or watch him marry another woman,” James pointed out. “Which do you think you’d prefer?”
I frowned. “That’s not something I want to discuss with you or the viewers.”
“Fair enough,” James agreed. “Can you tell everyone a little about how you feel about Stone?”
“I like him a lot,” I replied with a smile. “He’s funny and sweet. I also feel like I can be myself around him. I would never have expected to feel this way with Stone Morrison. Of course, when I’m with him, he’s Ben. He’s not the rock star with a bad boy reputation. He’s a sweet guy who gets me. I wish we’d met under other circumstances. It would be a lot more fun getting to know him without the world watching.”
I laughed at my own words. “Who am I kidding? He’s a star. I’d have the world watching even without this show.”
Chapter 25
Ben
Being separated from Gemma so we could each do some stupid narrative about our day pissed me off. When I’d signed on for the show, I hadn’t expected to be quite so anxious to get back to my fiancée after a date.
“How did my date with Gemma go?” I asked with a humorless bark of laughter. “How the hell do you think it went? If the goal was to remind Gemma I used to be an irresponsible man-whore, then it was a huge success. Christ! When things finally started to go well, one of my crazy exes asked to have a threesome with my fiancée and me. It was a messed-up day.”
I ran my fingers through my hair. “Gemma should have made a run for it in LA,” I grumbled. “I’m not a great catch, and she told me she was apprehensive about doing this show. This is the first day, so I can only imagine what’s coming next. Is it too much to ask that I have a nice date with Gemma? All I want is a chance with her.”
James prompted me through a series of other topics before I was finally released for the night. When I went back out into the front of the suite, I expected to find Gemma already in her room. It had been a long day, and she had to be tired. Instead, she was looking at the room service menu.
She smiled at me before waving to James and the crew who were heading out.
“What are you up to?” I asked as I took a seat beside her on the sofa.
“I didn’t eat very much on our date, so I decided to order a snack,” she explained. “Do you want to watch a movie with me?”
I felt some of the tension that had gripped me since LA ease. “That’s the best offer I’ve had all day.”
She handed me the menu. “Pick what you want, and then I’ll order.”
“What are you getting?” I asked.
“Club sandwich and a slice of cheesecake,” she replied. “This way, I’ll have leftovers in the morning, so I can avoid fighting with Rich over food.”
“Good thinking,” I agreed with a nod as I quickly scanned the menu and made my selection.
After Gemma placed the room service order, we started looking for a movie to watch. There weren’t many available that I hadn’t already seen, so we settled on a comedy horror. It didn’t look promising, but it gave me an excuse to stay up longer with Gemma.
“I thought for sure you’d head to bed after your interview,” I remarked as I slipped an arm around her shoulders.
She leaned into me with a sigh. “I am tired, but I want to spend some time with you off-camera. I’m surprised there are no cameras in the room. It always seemed like they had cameras everywhere on the other seasons.”
“They do,” I told her. “They feel like they’ll miss some big moment without cameras on us at all times, but I refused to do the show with twenty-four-hour surveillance. I didn’t think they’d agree to my terms, but they must have really wanted me.”
“I’m glad you pushed for some privacy. Are you okay?”
“Okay?” I asked. “Do I look like something is bothering me?”
She shrugged. “You seemed off the entire trip back here. That was a crazy situation we found ourselves in.”
“Yeah, I didn’t think they’d pull anything quite that bad,” I muttered. “I don’t know if Rafe can forgive me for dating Debbie. It’s surprising they were even able to talk him into hosting that party. I’m a little pissed that my friends didn’t give me some warning, but I suppose they had to sign contracts agreeing to keep it a secret, even from me. I should be asking if you’re okay. You’re the one who had to deal with my mess.”
“I don’t blame you if that’s what you’re worried about,” she replied. “It could have been a lot worse.”
“That worries me a bit,” I admitted. “I’m concerned this is going to be too much for you if they really bring on the drama.”
“Thanks for the faith in me,” was her dry response. “As you may recall, I handled myself fine today. I think I handled myself better than you.”
“I would have handled you better if I hadn’t been interrupted.”
As I’d hoped, she laughed. “That would have been a much better way to spend our afternoon.”
“I did enjoy watching you deal with Emily,” I admitted. “She might still be attached to my back had you not been there to order her off.”
“Please, tell me she’s the craziest ex I’ll have to deal with.”
I hesitated.
“Ben,” she coaxed. “I need to know what they are going to throw at me.”
“Debbie’s crazier,” I admitted. “She may have refused to be on the show.”
“Do you believe that’s possible?” she asked.
“No,” I admitted. “Sorry.”
“Stop apologizing,” she told me. “It’s getting annoying. Let’s enjoy our real date before they try to ruin tomorrow for us.�
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“I could see myself falling for you, Gemma,” I admitted. “I’ve felt that way since the night we met, and I’m glad you’re with me.”
Her smile lit up the room. “I feel the same about you.”
Chapter 26
Gemma
“Please, don’t let this be another horrible date,” I muttered to myself as I looked at the approved outfits Jane, the woman in charge of wardrobe, had given me the night before.
I appreciated the new clothing since I’d only packed my dress for the wedding and three other outfits. It amazed me how quickly they’d put together an impromptu wardrobe. I even had a few more outfits being delivered to the Bay Area after the wedding.
I was ready to face the day in a dark blue tank dress that hit mid-thigh. Despite any dread over what might be thrown at me that day, I was looking forward to seeing Ben.
I smiled when I thought of him. After all the craziness in Los Angeles, we’d enjoyed our short break from the cameras once we’d returned to the hotel room.
When I stepped out of the room, I had a camera pointed at me. I’m certain I had a deer in headlights expression.
“Good morning, beautiful,” Ben greeted me as he approached.
“Good morning,” I replied, recovering some. “What are the plans for today?”
“Not a clue,” he said as he leaned in to brush his lips against mine. “As long as you’re with me, I’m sure everything will be fine.”
“What if they’re taking us skydiving?” I asked. “I remember Tucker saying you’re afraid of heights. Or was that another member of the band?”
“That would be me,” he agreed with a grin before lacing his fingers through mine and leading me toward the breakfast they had laid out for us. “Are you hungry?”
“A little,” I replied, figuring we should eat something since it didn’t look too bad. There was nothing hearty on the table, just some fruit and scones. I was surprised Rich hadn’t lost it over the scones. “This is a really pretty spread.”
Ben held out my seat for me and then sat across from me as he grabbed a scone. “A little light. I normally like a big breakfast.”
“Same here.” I had definitely appreciated my leftover half a club sandwich that morning. “My sister hates it that I don’t put on much weight despite how much I eat.”
“Fast metabolism?” he asked. “Or are you just really active?”
“I’m pretty active,” I replied. “There’s a gym at my condo complex, so I work out there a few times a week, and I do a lot of walking.”
I almost laughed at his expression as he bit into the scone. I’d been considering eating one until I saw Ben’s reaction. He looked like he couldn’t decide if he should swallow or try spitting it out without anyone noticing.
“Yum. Looks good,” I teased.
Ben drank some water to wash down his scone and gave a choked laugh. “You should have one. It’s not just dry; it’s also flavorless.”
“Tempting, but I’ll pass,” I replied as I put some fruit on my plate. “I’m not a big fan of scones.”
“I like scones, but not these,” he explained.
I made a face. “Next thing, you’re going to tell me you like biscotti.”
“What do you have against biscotti?” he asked.
“It’s too dry,” I told him. “If I’m going to have a pastry, it had better be melt-in-my-mouth decadent.”
“I think you’re coming down too hard on biscotti and scones,” he argued. “Not this scone. I need a good pastry to wipe away the memory of this scone. Maybe we’re going to a pastry bar for our date.”
“A pastry bar?” I asked. “Is that even a thing?”
He shrugged. “If not, it should be. I really hope baked goods are involved today.”
“I just hope it’s not skydiving or bungee jumping,” I stated.
“Are you also afraid of heights?” he asked.
I shook my head. “No, but I like you enough that I wouldn’t want to torture you. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that they found a pastry bar.”
“Or a chocolate tasting event,” he added.
“I like the way you think, Ben Morrison.”
Chapter 27
Ben
“This makes no sense,” I stated as we put on our aprons.
Gemma laughed. “I couldn’t agree more. A reality show on a reality show? I can’t believe I had to sign a whole new stack of forms for this date. The network is definitely milking this for all it’s worth.”
“It would seem so,” I agreed as I looked around our studio kitchen. “This could be fun.”
“You’re right,” she agreed. “I like baking. Have you ever seen this show?”
I shook my head. “I don’t watch any cooking shows. How about you?”
“I like baking shows, but I’ve never seen this one,” she replied. “It’s fairly new.”
“I’m not much of a baker,” I admitted.
“I’m pretty good,” she assured me. “Of course, I don’t know if this is one of those shows where they’ll ask us to make something incredibly difficult or with weird ingredients. I guess we’ll know soon enough.”
Two energetic women dressed like lounge singers came out and explained how everything would go. Normally, the show had three couples competing in a baking challenge. This was a special episode that included the two of us and the winners from a couple of past episodes. No one expected us to win, but they were confident the crossover between the two shows would be good for everyone’s ratings.
“Cheesecake,” Gemma said mostly to herself after we’d been given our instructions and told what ingredients were available to us. We got no recipe, though that didn’t seem to be a problem for the other teams who were already rushing to get their cheesecakes together.
“Should we copy our neighbors?” I loudly stage whispered.
Gemma laughed and smacked my chest. “No, we are not going to cheat, tempting though it might be. I’ve made cheesecake before, but I don’t remember the ingredients or the times for everything.”
“We can probably improvise some,” I suggested.
She shook her head. “Not much with cheesecake. I wonder what they’ll have us do while the cheesecake is cooling. There’s a lot of waiting involved.”
“How much waiting?” I asked as Gemma started handing me eggs. “I could really go for a slice of cheesecake.”
“At least six hours,” she replied. “I prefer to let it set overnight, but I doubt they’ll have us come back tomorrow.”
“Six hours?” I asked as my stomach growled. “This is torture. Pure torture.”
“Poor baby.” Gemma’s smile was so sweet; I couldn’t resist leaning in to kiss her. “None of that,” she said with a teasing grin. “We have a cake to bake.”
“Sorry, but I have to satisfy my craving for something sweet,” I replied.
“That is a terrible line.”
“It’s one of my best,” I argued.
“Then you have no game,” she said as she started putting the ingredients on the counter in a specific order.
“I have game,” I insisted. “That was a great line.”
“It wasn’t, but you are really cute, so I suppose I’ll forgive you,” she mused. “Now, let’s make this cake. I know we can’t beat those other couples, but I want to at least get ours in the oven in the allotted time.”
“All right,” I agreed. “Just tell me what you need me to do.”
She gave me orders, and I tried to avoid distracting her. It wasn’t easy when her dress rode up the back of her thighs every time she bent over. I also wanted to kiss her soundly each time she smiled at me. Her hair had been put up in a ponytail, leaving the expanse of her neck visible. That was a very tempting section of her skin.
Despite being a little turned on and frustrated that I couldn’t touch my fiancée, I enjoyed making cheesecake.
After Gemma put the cake in the oven, I came up behind her and placed my hands on her hips. Leaning
down, I kissed the side of her neck and then brought my lips to her ear. “This has been a lot more fun than I expected.”
“It has,” she agreed with a smile as she turned to face me. “Though I’m not sure how this cake will turn out.”
“We’re disqualified anyway,” I reminded her.
“True,” she agreed. “I’m glad they let us continue even after we didn’t get our cake in the oven on time.”
“Me too. I wonder if we can get something to eat while our cheesecake cooks,” I mused. “I’m starving.”
“Same here. We can always eat the leftover cheesecake toppings while we wait. There’s still fruit and chocolate.”
“We can offer you something more substantial,” Ellen, one of the hosts, said as she approached us.
“Like a slice of that cheesecake you made?” I asked.
“Not that,” she replied with an apologetic smile. “They still have more photos to take before we can cut into it again.”
“That’s too bad,” Gemma replied.
“We have sandwiches, and there are still about three dozen cupcakes from the show we filmed yesterday,” she offered.
“Lead the way,” I said as I caught Gemma’s hand in mine.
Chapter 28
Gemma
It was nearly nine when we were finally released from filming until eight the next morning.
“We’re getting married the day after tomorrow,” I said quietly as I sat on the sofa in the front room of the suite. I’d changed into leggings and the oversized t-shirt I’d planned to wear home.
“Why do you sound so surprised?” Ben asked as he joined me, having just changed into a pair of jeans and a gray t-shirt.
“Not surprised,” I replied. “It’s just that I’m still having trouble wrapping my mind around the fact that I’m marrying you. This has all been so sudden. You know, I always figured they picked the couple for the show at least a month in advance.”
“From what I was told, they normally do,” he stated. “They were worried someone would let my identity slip if they held auditions too far in advance.”
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