We sat in a circle.
“You guys start humming or throwing pieces of her clothing in the fire and chanting, I’m going to set Hades on you,” Max pouted.
“Fine.” Reid shrugged. “I’ll just eat him.”
“Good one.” Max rolled his eyes. “You gonna eat my gecko too?”
“Dude, did you buy a farm?” Jason asked, looking confused.
“Yes, Jason.” Max’s eyes narrowed. “I came to a dating show in order to obtain a farm. It seems to win the fair lady’s hand I need to produce enough livestock in order to appease her family.”
“One goat and a gecko.” Milo whistled. “Wayta aim high, Max.”
“You should buy a cow.” This from Jason.
“At least a golden retriever or something . . .” Colt added helpfully.
Max opened his mouth, his jaw clenching in irritation, but I interrupted instead. “Actually, I’d really like a cat.”
Max paled.
Milo covered her mouth with her hand while Colt, Jason, and Reid started snickering.
“What?” I shrugged. “Max, you don’t like cats?”
Was the guy sweating? He shifted next to me, scratching the back of his neck before clearing his throat. “I uh, I love cats, had one when I was little . . .”
“Really?” Reid asked smoothly. “What was this cat’s name?”
“Er, Cat.” Max gave me an apologetic glance. “I didn’t have a very active imagination when I was young on account of Reid dropping me on my head.”
“Imagine how much smarter he would be had I not purposefully dropped him off that balcony.” Reid nodded seriously. “So Cat . . . what color was it?”
“He”—Max licked his lips—“was brown.”
“A brown cat?” Milo piped up. “A boy cat or girl cat?”
“Boy.” Max shifted again, pulling his legs out from underneath him and staring at the sand.
“Ah, and this boy cat—” Jason nodded. “He really furry? Lots and lots of . . . hair?”
“Yes.” Max kept scratching.
Jason kept talking. “Did that hair get on you? Make you uncomfortable?”
Max didn’t say anything, just kept staring at the sand.
“Did the cat rub itself all over you? Meow in front of your face? It’s so cute how you walk around the corner and boom!” Jason clapped his hands. “There’s the cat! Or how about when you’re taking a shower and you yell, Cat, Cat, where are you, Cat? Only to find out he’s been standing there. The. Whole. Time.”
“Achoo!” Reid sneezed.
“HOLY SHIT!” Max jumped to his feet and started running toward the ocean.
“Um, what’s he doing?”
“Ailurophobia,” Reid whispered. “Fear of cats.”
“Do something!” I rose to my feet, getting ready to take off after him, but Milo pulled me back down onto the ground.
“He’s fine,” she whispered. “Just let him deal with it the way he knows how.”
“By drowning himself?” I pointed to the shore as Max disappeared under the water.
“Any minute now,” Reid said in a confident tone, checking his watch.
A minute passed.
“Any minute.” Reid laughed and looked at his watch again. “Any . . . minute.”
“Guys!” I yelled. We all rose to our feet and started running toward the shore.
The minute my toes touched the water Max burst out and pointed. “You lose, bitches!”
“Max!” I yelled. “You scared me to death!”
“You should know,” Max heaved, inhaling and exhaling with force, “that nobody brings Max down.”
“Bastard,” Reid muttered. “I was getting ready to go all CPR on your ass.”
“Really?” Max nodded. “On my ass? I think you’re getting CPR confused with kissing my ass, both are, however, accepted.”
“Fear of cats?” I crossed my arms.
“So we’ll get another dog.” Max nodded. “Besides, we already have a goat. I’m sorry, you’re really cool and all, Becca. I love that sexy little mouth of yours and everything it makes me feel, but I have to draw the line somewhere. If you want a cat, you’ll have to get your own twin bed at my house. We’ll be like couples from the fifties where we each read at night, have our lampstand, and discuss politics. The cat will come between us, but if that’s what you want . . . then I’ll sacrifice, feel me?”
“How did we go from him having a fear of cats to them being married with a cat?” Jason asked, scratching his head.
“Oh!” Reid nodded and snapped his fingers. “She owns a cowboy hat and boots.”
“So?” Colt snorted.
“And a rope,” Reid added. “An actual rope.”
“Ohhhh.” The other two guys nodded at me in appreciation.
“Men,” Milo grumbled. “Max, are you going to be okay?”
“Of course! I’m half fish!” Max stumbled toward us, then face-planted into the sand.
“Careful, merman, you tripped over your tail.” I offered him my hand and helped him walk out of the water.
“Ha, she called me merman.” Max’s chest puffed out. “The last time Jason was called a name by a woman was when he was arrested for stalking. I believe she called him asshole. Was that it?”
“Clearing the air.” Jason held up his hands. “Not arrested for stalking. I was arrested for looking like the dude that had been stalking her. She apologized.”
“Still arrested.” Colt coughed.
“So.” Reid rubbed his hands together. “It’s the last night. Therefore we’re drinking wine, having marshmallows, and learning all about our new group member. That is—”
All eyes turned to me.
“If you want to be part of the group,” he finished.
Throat suddenly dry, I nodded and then squawked out, “Sure, crazy likes crazy, right?”
“Right.” Max kissed my temple. “Don’t worry, they can’t handle their liquor, once they’re out we’ll lock the hut.”
“And let them get eaten by mosquitoes?”
“Fine, we’ll let Milo and Colt in.”
“Max—”
“And Jason! But I draw the line after Jason. Then again, if Hades shows up he can, like, stand in the corner or something, bless his goat heart, he probably wonders where his daddy is.”
“And Reid?” I asked, stumbling next to Max as I tried to keep up with his pace.
“What about him?”
“He’s blood.”
Max grinned. “Right, but you also like his hair and he does the sex smile way too much around you. Reid stays outside. With the predators. Don’t worry, though, I’ll leave him a knife and enough water to last him twelve hours.”
“How kind of you?”
“I have a huge heart,” Max boasted, grabbing me by the hips and twirling me out in front of him. “Wanna touch it?”
“Your heart?”
“Or anything.” Max bit down on his lower lip. “In fact, if you want to touch any part of me, don’t even ask, just do what feels right. What feels good.”
“There’s something wrong with you.”
“Probably because you aren’t touching me, I get weird when I’m without you.”
“Compliment or scary future reality?” I asked.
“Compliment,” Max whispered against my mouth. “Touch me.”
“No.”
“Just my face.”
“No.”
“Just my hand.”
“No.” I was seriously fighting a smile; the man was ridiculous!
“Fine.” Max tucked my hair behind my ears and whispered across my mouth, “Then just look at me every once in a while.” He pulled back. “Yeah, just like that. That look right there would last me an eternity.”
Okay, it was happening. I more than liked him. I leaned into his warm body and let out a happy sigh as we made our way back to the fire. He was dripping wet, but I didn’t care.
He was also slightly crazy.
Again, d
idn’t care.
I just wanted him—in any capacity he was willing to give me.
The night progressed, we laughed and teased one another, and I tried desperately to keep my eyes open, but I was exhausted. The last thing I remember is falling asleep in Max’s arms, and for the first time in a long time, being excited about seeing a guy’s handsome face in the morning.
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
MAX
I’ll deny it to my dying day . . . hell, I may even deny it now, but it needs to be said. The girl had the most beautiful nail beds I’d ever seen.
There. I said it.
Judge me all you want.
They were petite, white, clean . . . oh, hell, I was in deep. I was in so deep I didn’t even want out. I watched her sleep, I watched her breathe, I watched her do everything while I continued running my hands up and down her arms.
I hated that our moment would soon be interrupted by cameras, almost as much as I hated that when we went back to the real world, I wouldn’t be able to skinny-dip with her in the ocean, or feed goats.
Then again, I was rich enough to make both a reality, right?
But I wanted her to be proud of me.
Damn it! This is what women do to men! They give us sex and then there’s this huge expectation to be awesome in every other area of our lives. And I really needed to be awesome in every area. Which was why, when I got home, I would call my dad. I would finally put on the big-boy pants I’d been hiding in the corner. Funny, how sometimes it takes someone else to make us realize that life’s been passing us by.
I would have missed her.
And that thought terrified me. Had I not gone on the show, I would have missed the girl. I would have missed a future with those damn nail beds. I gripped her petite hands, and softly kissed each fingertip.
Missing those fingertips would have been such a crime.
Missing those lips? I shuddered at the thought.
I would never. Ever. Miss her, because she was going to be by my side forever.
“Rise and shine!” Reid pounded on the door. “Time to get ready for the ceremony!”
Becca stirred in her sleep. I got up and opened the door, contemplating punching my brother in the face. He sidestepped me, clearly knowing my reaction to his constant interruptions, and whistled low in his throat. “You ready for this?”
“Of course.” I stretched my arms high above my head. “I’ve been ready for days. I just want it to be over with. Then I can take Becca on my white horse and ride off into the sunset.”
“You don’t own a white horse.”
“We’ll ride Hades.”
“Hades isn’t white.”
“But he has white spots,” I pointed out. “So it’s . . . similar.”
“Tell that to the damsel.” Reid snickered and then his expression sobered. “Max, if this ends . . . I don’t know . . . if it ends differently than you think? Don’t freak out.”
“The only way it could end differently is if Becca was a dude, and believe me, I know for a fact she’s all woman.”
“Right.” Reid licked his lips nervously. “But what I’m trying to say is hypothetically . . . if the game were different and she chose the money and you and not just you. Would you be upset?”
I thought about it for a minute. “Not really. I mean, she was here for the money first, me second. It would make sense. Besides, she needs it for school, and even if I offered to pay for it, she wouldn’t let me.”
“Okay.” Reid still looked nervous. He kept licking his lips and rocking back and forth on his heels, but I didn’t have time to worry about it. The rest of the camera crew swept in. Soon Becca was gone and I was getting ready to reject a few women and accept the one I wanted.
Life couldn’t be better. What could possibly go wrong?
Hours went by and finally it was time. The mood was set. Torches lit the walkway to the small hut where I was waiting. Each girl would walk down the aisle, wedding style, and offer me a bouquet. If I took the bouquet that meant she was the one. If I rejected the bouquet she was escorted off.
Each girl had left me a video to watch in which she pleaded her case to me.
And each video left me bored.
Until I reached Becca.
And saw a tear slide down her cheek as she said these past few weeks had been the best weeks of her life.
I couldn’t wait to get off the damn island and spend more time with her.
One by one, the girls walked down the aisle.
Cat and Sammy came first; both of them looked beautiful. I had a brief moment where I was thankful I’d met them—but it was brief, short-lived.
As promised, I rejected each one. Sam laughed while Cat cried, and I was half-tempted to purr in her direction and see if she hissed back. I restrained myself, just barely.
The other two cursed me out.
The fourth one looked up at me with hate-filled eyes, then made a cutting motion across her throat and whispered the word machete. Pretty sure that was a death threat.
“Let’s go.” One of the producers pulled her aside. The girl wasn’t willing to go without a fight. She kicked him in the shin, then lunged for me.
Reid went to help and got punched in the eye, but eventually, the last crazy was escorted away, leaving me with the one I really wanted.
Becca.
She slowly walked up the aisle. Her floor-length white dress shimmered in the moonlight, looking like a second skin. It draped across her body like the softest of silk, leaving a small train in the back. When she reached me, I placed my hand on the small of her back and felt nothing but skin. Backless. Thank God, I was going to make her twirl for hours in that damn thing.
“Max”—Becca grinned—“will you accept my bouquet?”
“You make it yourself?” I teased as cameras leaned in from all angles.
“Of course, I even put in a few weeds—I know how you love those.”
“As long as you didn’t hide Hades or a few cats in there I think we’ll be good.” I winked and kissed her softly on the mouth. “And yes, I’ll accept the bouquet.”
I expected music. I expected Rex to start clapping and say something like “That’s a wrap.” Instead nothing.
I looked up as Rex made his way toward us, dressed in a tux. Once he reached the front of the aisle he clasped his hands together. “Now that Becca is officially the last one standing, we’ll take a brief moment to show the viewers the votes.”
“Votes?” My eyes narrowed.
“Of course!” Rex laughed heartily. “Voting starts once we air the first episode, tonight. Viewers vote on who they think you’ll end up with. It doesn’t decide the show but it’s a way to get our viewers involved. By the time this airs, we’ll have live votes to report.” He checked his watch as if to confirm the time and then looked back at the cameras.
“But how would they even know? Based off a few dates?” I scratched my head.
“That”—Rex nodded—“and the hidden cameras.”
“Hidden . . .” I swallowed. “Cameras?”
Rex shrugged innocently. “It specifically says in both of your contracts that you refuse the right of privacy unless you’re using the toilet. We had cameras in every hut, every post, every square inch of the property.”
Becca paled and gripped my hand.
Rex kept talking. “Really, Max, you should have known, you initialed that part of the contract. Didn’t you read it?”
My teeth ground together. “Clearly not well enough.”
Becca’s eyes welled with tears. Shit.
“So, most likely they’ll vote for Becca. I mean, you were alone in that hut how many times? Don’t worry, we censored most of it. This is a family show, after all.”
I was going to kill Rex. I was going to wrap my hands around his neck and squeeze.
“Now”—Rex motioned to the cameras as one of the men started the countdown and called for action—“this season we’re offering a different type of prize. The contestant
s have been told they can choose the money, the man, or both. But what they don’t know is, there’s a twist.”
“Lovely,” I whispered under my breath.
“After all”—Rex looked directly into the camera to my left—“how do we know the love is real? Is it love? Or is it lust mixed with greed? Becca—” Rex held out his hand. “Come here, my dear.”
Becca released my hand and stepped in front of Rex. Her entire body was trembling.
“Your choice . . .” Rex pointed to me just as Reid came out from the hut with a giant check in Becca’s name. “Do you choose Max? Or the money?”
A quarter of a million dollars or me? What sane person would choose me? Regardless of my money? Had I given her enough reasons to trust me? To trust me to take care of her?
“I—” Becca looked back and forth between me and the money. The more she hesitated the more my heart shattered. I tried to look at it in a logical way. I had money; I never had to worry about paying bills. Becca didn’t, but she should trust me, right? I could take care of her, I wanted to.
“We need your answer, Becca.” Rex held out his hands. “Will you choose love or money?”
Becca’s eyes filled with tears as she looked my way. My gut twisted, and I reached for her, one final pitiful plea for her to choose me. It was getting hard to breathe. Becca looked at my hand and then into my eyes.
That look would haunt me for an eternity.
Rather than keep them trained on me, she closed the windows to her soul, and sold it all with one word. “Money,” she whispered. “I choose the money.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
MAX
A week later . . .
“Don’t do it!” I wailed, throwing popcorn at the TV. “Don’t trust her! She’s a monster!” I couldn’t look away. I mean, I wanted to, but that’s the thing about cartoons, the colors damn near suck you in because they’re so pretty. “Stop! He’s using you!”
“We’re getting married!” the voice said on the screen.
“Stupid bitch.” I threw another popcorn kernel. “Stupid Disney princess. Damn you, Walt!” The two main characters started singing. My eyes welled with tears. She really thought they were in love.
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