Incredible writing. Inspired.
“Let me see,” Marigold said, taking the slip of paper from her. “Is this invitation real? It feels expensive.”
I couldn’t stop my laugh. This was a total fiction. We hadn’t sent out invitations. We hadn’t had time. Marigold and her daughters received their ‘invitation’ when we called Meg Butler and told them we wanted to make a deal.
“They’re getting married in Las Vegas,” Marigold said, pretending to read. “We have to go.”
Quincy, who’d been standing in the corner of the room silently, stepped forward. “I have done something bad,” she announced. “I shouldn’t go.”
Meg Butler’s crappy writing coupled with Quincy’s godawful acting was borderline unwatchable. And yet… it had a certain, stilted charm. I could almost see why people liked watching this drivel. Almost.
“What did you do, Quincy?” Greenlee asked. “Are you afraid to see Tommy again because he left you for Cindy?”
Dramatic music played.
Quincy hung her head. “No. I made it all up.”
The camera jumped to a close-up of Marigold’s shocked face. “Even the baby?”
Quincy nodded. “Yes. Even that.”
“Then you can apologize to Cindy at the wedding,” Greenlee said. She was grinning, and it didn’t really make sense with the scene. Poor Meg must have really struggled to cobble together something halfway coherent. “We should go get packed.”
The show didn’t even try to resolve the plot line that had been set up in the previous episode of Cindy being unrepentantly evil and mean to her family. The next few scenes focused on showing the road trip to Vegas, checking into their hotel, and then Greenlee and Quincy going out clubbing for “Cindy’s Bachelorette Party.” The fact that Cindy wasn’t there at all was blithely glossed over.
At the club, Greenlee asked Quincy about Ashton.
“Where is he?” Greenlee questioned. “Didn’t he want to come to the wedding?”
“We broke up,” Quincy said. She looked entirely neutral about it. The subject of Ashton Radley was not addressed again.
“This is a train wreck,” Cindy said, laughing.
I nodded. “I can’t believe we haven’t even made an appearance yet,” I said, looking at my watch. “They’ve already used ten minutes.”
I spoke too soon, however, because the very next scene was our wedding ceremony.
Interestingly, probably because Meg knew people would want to see it, the entire exchanging of vows was shown in full. It wasn’t even cut much. I held Cindy to me as we watched it. I hadn’t been expecting a tender moment in this stupid show, but when Cindy and I kissed to seal our vows, I couldn’t deny a little tingle of feeling. Or maybe it was because she was sitting on my lap in her skimpy bikini bottoms. But I definitely felt a tingle.
Then the scene jumped, and we were watching our wedding reception. Soon enough, Quincy was approaching our table.
“Cindy, Tommy,” Quincy said, “Can I talk to you?” Meg cut Cindy’s robotic dialogue, jumping to Quincy’s next statement. “I owe you both an apology. I’m sorry…” She delivered the apology all at once, accompanied by a dramatic swell of the music. All of Cindy’s dialogue during the apology was cut, which I’m sure made her happy. Mine was left in, of course, complete with a close-up of my unhappy face as Quincy explained that the baby was fake all along.
I felt vindicated as I watched, but also a strange sense of pity. Quincy was a sad creature. I’d hated her for a while, but that had worn off. Now I just wanted her to stay as far away from me as possible. We were currently on opposite sides of the planet and it still somehow felt too close.
“I’m glad you came to talk to me,” Cindy said eventually. “I accept your apology. I hope you have fun at the party.”
The scene cut to the two women hugging. Then the rest of the party was shown in earnest, including various franken-cuts that made it look like we were all one big, happy family. Roll credits.
“Wow,” Cindy said, turning the lid of the laptop down and looking at me. “Meg kept her word.”
I grinned. “I think Elaine put the fear of God in her.”
“More like the fear of Elaine.”
“That’s worse.”
Cindy shook her head. “I almost feel bad for them now,” she admitted. “All three of them care about this show so much. It’s everything to them.”
I sighed. “Elaine told me about the contract. She emailed yesterday.”
Cindy’s big hazel eyes shone in the low light and her voice was guileless. “What contract?”
“The one Marigold sent over. I thought you knew?”
She shook her head, and it was obvious that she didn’t. “What are you talking about?”
“Marigold sent a contract to Elaine. Apparently, the show will only get renewed if you agree to two guest spots next season.”
Cindy laughed. “Marigold asked me to help her at the wedding. I told her to put it in writing. I guess she did.”
“Do you really want to help them?” I asked. “After everything they’ve done?”
Cindy shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. Kind of. Is that crazy?”
I nodded. “A little bit, yeah. But I like that you’re so kindhearted, even to people who don’t deserve it.”
“I’m mostly doing it because it gives me power over them.”
I laughed. “Okay, tell yourself that if it makes you feel better. But I know you aren’t that cutthroat.” Then I paused. “So, you are going to do it?”
She looked at me for a long moment. “What do you think I should do?”
I scooped her up and put her back in my lap. She was going European style tonight, wearing just the bikini bottoms. No top. It was very distracting. “I think you should do whatever you want to do. If you want to help them, help them. If you want to write them off, write them off. I don’t care which you choose, I’ll love you either way. Just please don’t make me hang out with them on holidays.”
She shook her head at me. “I would never.” She smirked. “Besides, you think Greenlee’s acting is bad? You should try eating her cooking.”
I shuddered. The idea of spending Thanksgiving with Cindy’s stepfamily would probably give me PTSD. Although, it’s not like my family was easy street. “My family might be a handful too, but at least we know our limits. We cater the holidays. We drink to make it bearable. And nobody is allowed to bring reality TV crews.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
* * *
If you enjoyed ‘Auctioned to the A-Lister’, you’re going to love the next book in the Princes of Hollywood series ‘The Little Barmaid’. Fall in love with sweet and sassy Ariel who and finds romance with alpha movie star Derek in this modern, sexy riff on the classic Little Mermaid story. Look out for the preorder coming soon!
‘The Little Barmaid’ will be available February 27th.
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Taylor
Also by Taylor Holloway
Princes of Hollywood
Baby And The Beast - Connor
Auctioned To The A-Lister - Tommy (Coming February 13th)
The Little Barmaid - Derek (Coming February 27th)
Let Down Your Hair - Holden (Coming March 12th)
Saved By The Enemy - Jacob (Coming March 26th)
For fans of sweet and sexy romance, check out my Lone Star Lovers series!
Lone Star Lovers
Admit You Want Me - Ward
Kiss Me Like You Missed Me - Cole
Lie with Me - Lucas
Run Away with Me - Jason
Ho
ld On To Me - Ryan
A Bad Case of You - Eric
Touching Me, Touching You - Christopher
This one’s For You - Ian
Bad For You - Brandon
Pretending To Be Us - Peter
For fans of exciting, romantic mysteries full of twists and turns, check out my Scions of Sin series!
Prequel: Never Say Never - Charlie
Bleeding Heart - Alexander
Kiss and Tell - Nathan
Down and Dirty - Nicholas
Lost and Found - David
Auctioned to the A-Lister Page 24