For good, this time. No pining. No wishing for one more try at making her happy.
He’d start by getting blackout drunk. When he finally got to call Chelsea, she’d enjoy the irony of his joke.
It’d probably be the only thing to make him laugh for a very long time…
***
When Anda flew back from Denver to L.A., the plane had hit bad turbulence. The kind of bad where it dropped what felt like hundreds of feet (although the pilot swore it was only fifty). During it, her stomach had relocated to practically under her chin. It’d been nearly impossible to breathe.
She felt the same sensation right now. Everything had been perfect with Chance a mere ten minutes ago. Now it was over? How could that be? How had everything spun out of control so quickly?
“Anda, how do you feel about this?” Jenny tugged at her wrist to pull her back down to the sofa. Then she backed away a few steps…getting out of the camera frame.
“How do I feel? Like the bottom just dropped out of my world.”
From Jenny’s frown, that was not the answer she’d anticipated. “Chance is clearly upset. Are you logging that as a win? Pure payback? The vindication you planned for all along?”
“Not at all. He’s miserable, and it’s my fault. I feel horrible.” So many questions were swirling in her brain. Anda dragged in a breath and hooked her hair behind her ears. One thing at a time. “Why are you taping? I never agreed to this. When did Jeremy and Don even get here?”
“Hang on. Neither of them knew they’d be on camera? That’s not what you told us.” The older, bearded man shook his head and lowered the boom. “This isn’t right.”
“It’s what you’re getting paid for,” Jenny snapped.
The red light disappeared on the camera. Jeremy lowered it from his shoulder and pointed it at the ground. “It isn’t the setup we agreed to, and you know it. Bad enough we’re stuck here in this weird-ass blackout. Until we can call and check with Legal, we’re not filming anymore.”
“We’ll miss the raw footage. Keep filming, and we can discuss it all with Legal later. We can’t use what we don’t have.”
“Exactly our point.” Throwing Anda a look of apology—maybe sympathy—they both walked away.
“I can’t believe they’re going back on their word.” Jenny shook her clenched fist in the air. “I’ll remember this when I get my promotion. We’ll have to stage this all again later. What a pain in the neck.”
Anda latched onto the one word that made sense, in a horrible way. “Promotion? You set all of this up for a promotion?”
“The whole gift certificate thing was my idea. Except that almost none of the women used them. We made a deal with the hotel to be notified whenever somebody that was on Man of Her Dreams checked in, and then we’d film. Figured it’d be some B roll at worst. At best? We’d catch a hot hookup and maybe come up with enough footage for a spin-off show. How to Get Over A Hunk.”
“But none of us were told about this.”
“Like I said to Chance, you signed off on Man of Her Dreams, as well as all future related programs. We’re in the clear. So bringing you here for a recovery fling was a no-brainer.”
Anda thought back to their conversation at the restaurant a few weeks ago. The fling had been Jenny’s idea. Using the gift certificate had been Jenny’s idea. “You were always planning to film me.”
“Uh, yeah. We’ve been filming since you checked in. Why do you think I wouldn’t go to dinner with you that first night? I can’t be in any of the footage.”
“Did you know Chance was here?”
“No. That was one heck of a surprise. Couldn’t have worked out better if I had planned it, though. Netted me a hefty bonus, getting your reunion on camera. Don’t worry, you’ll get paid the same rate as last time. As long as you agree to interviews.”
“I don’t want to be on television again. I don’t want to be filmed without my knowledge.” Anda’s stomach rolled again. Their interlude in the lake, beneath the bridge—had that been captured?
“Don’t ruin this for me. You’re getting a nice chunk of cash and your revenge.”
“But I don’t want revenge. Chance didn’t dump me. He promised he had nothing to do with—” Anda broke off as a realization hit her. Looked like she’d lost a friend today as well as a boyfriend.
If Jenny had ever been a real friend at all. Which was sounding not to be the case. More like she’d kept Anda on the string, waiting to use her for her hop up the career ladder. She stood to confront the woman she’d thought actually cared about her happiness.
“You knew, didn’t you? You knew that Chance wasn’t the one to make me leave the show.”
With a casual shrug, Jenny said, “Of course I knew. I’m the one who suggested it to the host. We were supposed to have three episodes left, but Chance was so gaga over you that he wouldn’t do anything with the other women. We had to take drastic measures. So we split you up.”
“You heartless bitch.” Anda lashed out and slapped Jenny right across the face.
It was a cheesy, made-for-TV thing to do…and it felt sooo good.
Hand flying to her red cheek, Jenny snarled, “Oh, now you want to go for the name-calling and hair-pulling? Even though you were too stuck-up to do it on the show? That’s just great.”
“This isn’t about the show, Jenny. This is my life you’re toying with. You saw how miserable I was, how miserable Chance was, once we broke up. When the show ended, couldn’t you have told us the truth? Kept your high ratings, but given us a chance?”
“What was the point?”
Wow. How could anyone be so unfeeling? So selfish?
And how on earth could she fix things with Chance? He knew just enough of the truth to be rightfully furious at her. Obviously, he wouldn’t listen to anything else Anda had to say, or believe it, for that matter.
Most of the time in life, when something went horribly wrong, you didn’t get a do-over. You certainly never got two of them. She’d been lucky to have these few days with him.
Should she accept the inevitable and bury herself in her career? Take the corporate job so she wouldn’t be only a few miles away from Chance every night? That’d drive her crazy.
Anda wasn’t sure what was worse—knowing how much he’d cared for her, or knowing how much she’d hurt him. Blinking back tears, she said, “You’ve ruined the lives of two people. Is it worth it for a few extra thousand dollars?”
“That’s show business. I have to scrape and beg and bend over backwards for every opportunity. I have to look out for myself, Anda. That’s a full-time job. No one else will do it.”
Chance would’ve done it. Chance would’ve looked after her. That was the whole point of a relationship—the sharing of two lives to make one, joint, far better one. Jenny was doomed to a sad, lonely life if she couldn’t see that.
Unfortunately, losing the man of her dreams meant that Anda might also be doomed to a lonely life…
CHAPTER 12
The breakfast buffet didn’t have the usual eggs benedict or carved ham. The staff were clearly emptying out whatever would spoil first without power, offering bowls of melting ice cream topped with fresh berries. Lots of milk and cereal. Cheeses, hard-boiled eggs and cured meats, like he’d had for breakfast when in Poland shooting a WWII/vampire epic.
So just like every sobbing girl in a rom-com, Chance was nursing his broken heart over a bowl full of double chocolate fudge brownie and cherry vanilla.
Pathetic.
But honestly, it went down easier at seven in the morning than a shot of Jameson’s on the rocks. Who knew how long today would be, waiting for the power to come back on? Waiting to find out what had happened?
He hoped Chelsea and Brielle were okay. Chance got why the resort didn’t want any of them to leave with this mystery blackout. But he wasn’t sure how long he’d last here, worrying about his family and doing everything possible to stay the fuck away from the people who’d almost broken him.
<
br /> Funny, he’d been on dozens of films, been dropped off of buildings, out of planes, and into fires.
Nothing had ever hurt him as bad as this morning.
“Hey, man.” Don slid onto the bar stool next to him. “Look, I’m sorry about how this all went down.”
Great. Now he’d have to have a conversation consisting of something more than swear words. Which was not on his agenda for the day.
But Don had always been decent to him. No reason to snarl at a guy offering an apology. No, Chance knew exactly where to aim his snarls.
At a beautiful, lying brunette who’d managed to both steal and stomp on his heart.
Twice.
With a shrug, Chance said, “Not your fault. I know exactly where to shovel the blame, and it’s not on you two. I get that you have to earn a living, same as me.”
“Still. It felt shitty from the start creeping around to film you two without you knowing. We told ourselves it was okay because Anda knew. But since it turns out that she didn’t, we walked.” Don scrubbed a hand over his salt-and-pepper goatee. “As soon as the blackout’s over, we’re heading back to L.A. Gonna raise some hell about the way Jenny handled things. She doesn’t deserve to be in charge.”
Chance pressed the back of the icy spoon against his lips. It didn’t…what did… “Anda didn’t know?”
“Nah. She wouldn’t do that to you. Just got in a rip-roaring fight with Jenny about it.” Don leaned over to bump Chance’s shoulder. “Between you and me, that one had it coming.”
For a second, pride ballooned that his gentle—gently fierce, evidently—Anda had stood up for herself. For them. Then he remembered that there was more to the story. “But she knew something. The way she said she specifically didn’t know about the cameras... And she didn’t deny sleeping with me to get revenge.”
The older man tilted his head to the side. Gave him the look of disappointment that Chelsea gave him when he snuck Brille a handful of mini Snickers. “You didn’t let her explain, did you?”
“Explaining, in these situations, usually turns out to be buying time to concoct a better lie.”
That pulled a dry chuckle out of him. Don poured a pitcher of milk over his cereal. “Yeah, we’ve seen the worst that Hollywood can bring out in a person, haven’t we?”
“You only have to survive one pilot season to pick up on that.” Chance hadn’t cared. His work had been enough. He hadn’t been looking for love, like Anda, and he really hadn’t wanted it.
But that was because he hadn’t seen the other side.
Because he hadn’t known how fucking awesome it was to deeply connect with the right person.
Don crunched through a mouthful of granola before continuing. “You know how many reality shows I’ve put in the can? Twenty-seven. It’s a good gig. I get to fly all over the world. There’s entertainment in watching people make fools of themselves, too. I see a lot of people play at love for the camera, for the cash. That’s not what I saw with you and Anda. What you two had was real.”
“That’s what I thought, too.” The guy probably thought he was helping. But to Chance, it felt like Don was pouring salt into the gaping puncture wound in his heart.
“She was real broken up when she thought you kicked her off the show. We only film the first few minutes of the limo ride to the airport. Most people’s tears dry up the moment Jeremy turns off the camera. Anda, though, she cried the whole way there.”
Huh. Chance straightened, looking out the bar’s windows toward the skyscrapers of the Strip. All he saw was Anda’s face, in the Dream Suite, when she’d thanked him for sweeping the room for recording devices. That had been honest gratitude in her smile. He was sure of it. She’d been so relieved it was just the two of them.
Had that changed? Or had he been wrong? Even if she was honest with him in Colorado, that didn’t mean that she hadn’t been gunning for him here.
How had she known he’d be in Vegas this week? If it was truly all a coincidence, where did Jenny and her evil plan fit in?
If Anda had decided to get revenge on him, at what point had she changed her mind?
If she played nice with him to get revenge, but then did a U-turn once she knew the truth about him not cutting her, how would he know? How could he believe her?
“She told me…a bunch of stuff.” Don was a good guy, but Chance still didn’t want to risk mentioning the specifics of Anda’s job search. Not until he found out exactly what and how much they’d captured on video. “Personal stuff. Now I don’t know if any of it was real.”
“Seems like a long way to go for a lie.”
“Yeah.” And she’d only opened up after they’d spent more time together. After Chance had shared his own secrets.
Don waved his spoon side to side above his bowl. “I have no skin in this game. Believe what you want. I just think it’s a shame when two nice, hardworking people get jerked around for ratings.”
“Ha. Me too.”
“Bottom line? There’s a reason you fell for Anda the first time around. There’s a reason that neither of you moved on for more than half a year.”
“I wasn’t looking to get serious again. Not after losing her.”
“Christ, man, you’ve got a reputation longer than Pacino’s credits on IMDB. How many women did you sleep with in the six months before Anda?”
Chance held up both hands, wiggled his fingers, and grinned. “Let’s say I stop counting when I run out of fingers.”
“You dog. So how many times did you have totally casual sex in the seven months after Anda?”
None. Zero. He didn’t want other women. He didn’t want casual. He wanted Anda. “Fine. So, I took a pause. The point isn’t how much I like her, how much I missed her. Its whether or not I can trust her.”
“Jenny said she didn’t date anyone either, after the show. Once you two saw each other here, you both lit up again, like damned fireflies.”
It was downright weird, listening to Don describe them. Knowing that he’d watched their interactions. Sort of like having a session with a shrink who’d followed him around with a Go-Pro strapped to their head.
Chance shoved away his bowl. Turned out that ice cream wasn’t a magic cure for a broken heart. He’d have to lay that bombshell on Chelsea once the phones were working. “Like I said, my feelings aren’t under discussion. Her motives are the problem.”
“Say that Anda started with bad motives. Because she was hurting so bad, and thought it was your fault. The more time you spent together, the more it didn’t matter. The more you both remembered how great you were together. Everybody makes mistakes, Chance. Did you ever make a mistake on a stunt?”
He rolled his eyes. “Yeah.”
“Did you give up? Or did you figure out where you went wrong and do it again?”
Fuuuck.
Chance fisted his hands on the edge of the bar. He had let his temper get the best of him. What had killed him the most after the show was not knowing why she’d left. How much of an idiot would he be not to find out the why of it this time?
He motioned for the bartender. Pointed at Don. “Get this man anything he wants for the rest of the day. Put it on my tab.” Then he extended his hand to shake Don’s. “How’d you get so smart?”
“My job is to keep my mouth shut and listen to people all day, every day. You pick some things up.”
“Thanks for the talk. I think I need to go have one of my own with a certain lady.”
“Give her a chance. Hell, give yourself a chance.”
It wasn’t quite the same as a head-clearing talk with his sister. On the other hand, it came without the teasing and insults. So, he’d take it.
Now if only Chance could find Anda before the lights came back on and she could leave…
***
Anda sat curled up in a corner of the sofa, the blanket clutched to her chest. It didn’t matter that the sun was now beating down on the cabana. The blanket smelled like Chance. She doubted the hotel would let her
take it home—plus, that verged on creepy—so she was soaking in a few last moments of reliving what it’d been like when they were together.
It would never happen again.
Sure, she’d been trying to come around to accepting that for the last seven months, but this time, she knew it in her gut.
Jenny had stormed out, pissed about losing footage. Apparently not so bothered about losing Anda’s friendship and trust. She’d made vague threats about siccing the network legal team on Anda for not cooperating.
Yeah. Like getting sued was worse than losing a shot at true love. The woman knew nothing about priorities.
Oh. It hit her that now she’d have to find another ride back home. Or maybe Uber to the airport and catch a flight. Getting home as fast as possible, getting on with her life as soon as possible, that was the plan.
No more sadness—after today, anyway. She’d mourned the loss of Chance for too long.
This time, Anda planned to lock down her heart. It’d worked before when she threw herself into her work at the boutique for so many years. She’d take on more dog walking clients until one of those two interviews came through with a job offer. It’d be all work, all the time, until she had to fall into bed and pass out from exhaustion.
Because passing out meant no long nights spent staring at the ceiling wondering where it all went wrong. Wondering what Chance was doing, if he’d started that new self-defense school.
Wondering how long it’d take him to rebound from how much she’d hurt him…
Anda sniffled. She hadn’t cried since Chance had stormed out. She was too gutted to cry. Too…empty without him. She couldn’t even muster up a good panic about the blackout not ending yet.
The curtains parted with a swish. Anda didn’t bother to look up. If Jenny came back to harangue her some more, well, she’d ignore her. She’d follow what was laid out in her contract. But that did not include listening to an ex-friend bitch about how Anda supposedly sabotaged her bonus and her promotion.
“Any chance you’d be willing to talk?”
The familiar, deep rumble of Chance’s voice shot her head up. “Omigosh, yes.”
Blackout: A Romance Anthology Page 23