But the show didn't seem to be running at the moment, though it would usually start soon. Had the show been cancelled? Or was Paige doing something else now?
Penny feverishly searched for the show's host. Strange. For someone so famous, the woman didn't have much of a social media presence. The most recent reference to her that Penny could find was in relation to a TV dating show.
Penny burst out laughing. Only desperate people went on dating shows. She bet Paige got paid a lot of money to do one of those. She clicked the link to check out the show and a radio announcer's voice boomed out of her speakers: "Could you be the One?"
A muffled voice, slightly distorted, began to describe the qualities of his perfect woman. Not a smoker, of course, making Penny ineligible, but it didn't matter. He wanted a woman who didn't exist and would be way out of his league, even if she did, Penny thought, peering at the video to see what sort of loser they'd duped into being one of the show's bachelors.
Instead of the usual talking head, the video behind the voiceover was dark. Well, not completely dark. There was just enough light to see the bloke's torso, wearing an open, unbuttoned shirt. He was sculpted like a Greek god's statue, too. Now she wondered why a man this hot couldn't get a date.
She watched the video a second time, decided that he probably had a hideously disfigured face, and moved to close the browser entirely.
Then she changed her mind. What if he was some kind of military hero, who'd been injured in action while saving someone else's life? Everyone would be watching the show. If a girl could get on that and show off her cooking skills to both Paige and the world, she'd be a shoe-in for one of the restaurants next time Paige hosted Reign.
Penny scanned the page, looking for details on who the man was. Huh. Nothing. The only clue was that he was some sort of celebrity, so the show would be filming at a luxury hotel instead of the usual farms and vineyard.
She'd have to buy nicotine patches and hide them well, if she wanted to make him believe she didn't smoke. Was quitting for a month worth it?
It's not like it'd be the first time. She'd had to quit when she worked at the resort, though she'd started up again since. If it was only for four weeks...
Anything to get her reputation back.
Penny started drafting a letter, telling the studio why she wanted to meet and marry their mystery man.
TWELVE
Paige looked more stressed than she had with the farmers, Jason thought, as he helped her out of the helicopter. What a difference a few weeks made. He wondered how much trouble the network bosses had given her over her proposed changes to the format of the show because of him.
"Are you ready to interview the girls?" she asked. Behind her, the camera crew climbed onto the helipad.
Jason stepped forward to offer his hand, but Paige stopped him.
"As far as you're concerned, they don't exist. They're invisible," she snapped. "I want you to act as natural as possible while we're filming. It's just you and the girls. Ignore my staff."
Reluctantly, Jason lowered his arm and nodded to the crew instead. It wasn't his style to ignore any of his staff at a concert – he knew all the roadies by name when they went on tour. It just didn't feel right. Then again, he'd never done any reality TV before, though he'd had plenty of live interviews. He hoped Paige knew what she was doing.
"Right. Let's go find you a bride," Paige said.
Jason's stomach churned. He hoped she could.
THIRTEEN
They flew in at night, but Penny would have recognised Romance Island Resort anyway. She'd worked there for a season, after all. Even after working on a cruise ship, the resort was still what she thought of when someone talked about luxury accommodation. Even the biggest suites on the ship couldn't compare to the Pearl Villas at Romance Island Resort.
Not that she got to stay in a villa. Penny and the other girls were shepherded into the hotel proper, and given standard rooms. They were told to get a good night's sleep and make themselves look good for a meet and greet first thing in the morning, where they'd be interviewed about their hopes for the show.
Penny had watched a few reality shows in her time, so she knew the film crew took soundbites from the interviews to use later on in the season, usually completely out of context. So if you mentioned something you hated or said something controversial, you could expect it to come up on the show at some point. The trick was to say something the viewers liked and remembered, like Mystery Man with his talk about the One. She'd heard the girls at the Roey repeating the video verbatim, wishing they were brave enough or single enough to enter the race for him. She hadn't been game to tell them that she had – or that she'd been one of the lucky few to receive an invitation to actually meet him. Broome being the small town it was, rumours were flying about which hotel he was staying at, seeing as most of the places in town had been asked to sponsor a date with him, so they knew he was here. Hell, they could be serving him lunch right now, and they'd never even know it was him!
But it all felt much more real when she woke up in the cushy hotel room. She had to dress up and do her makeup for the first day of filming. Funny, she'd expected the show to at least have a makeup artist, but maybe there were too many of them to deal with on the same day.
Knowing the Broome weather better than most, she chose light cotton pants and a nice shirt. The resort had beautiful beaches and anything more formal would look ridiculous among the palm trees and white sand. She stuck her cleanest pair of thongs on her feet and made her way to the Jungle, the resort's pub.
This early in the day, it wasn't open yet, but that hadn't stopped Paige. She bustled around, telling the camera crew and resort staff how to set things up exactly like she wanted them.
A bunch of other girls clustered around a coffee pot and a platter of pastries. Penny's growling stomach insisted she go join them, and she didn't argue. The coffee was too hot to taste and the pastries were sweet enough to spike her blood sugar, she soon found, breathing an inward sigh of relief.
As she sipped her coffee, she took stock of the competition. She hadn't expected so many. She counted ten, besides herself, when one more girl walked into the room.
"Oh, this will be a piece of cake," the blonde newcomer said, curling her painted lip. She'd been shoehorned into a short dress that wouldn't have been out of place in a strip club, except for the overabundance of ruffles that helped it cross the borderline into decency. She must have used a whole roll of that Hollywood tape to stop her boobs from falling out, too. Penny hoped it hurt when she had to take it all off.
She wasn't the only blonde, or the only one dressed slutty. But the blondes were outnumbered by the brunettes, and there was even a redhead. There were short girls and average height girls like herself, ranging right up to the statuesque, sneering blonde, though her heels definitely gave her height a boost. No, Mystery Man hadn't chosen the girls based on physical preferences, unless there was something Penny had missed.
Paige clapped her hands for their attention. "Right, girls! Everyone had their coffee? Good, because we have a long day of filming ahead! First, we're going to do your entry sequence."
That meant filming them while they walked up the path to the pub, shaking Paige's hand and exchanging air kisses, before taking their place in a circle of bar stools. She made them do it three times, despite the whining from girls with heels that hurt to walk in. Next, she had her assistant take them in groups down to the beach, where she had them filmed walking along the sand. The groups who remained were taken one by one to what Penny liked to think of as interrogation booths.
She had to sit on a stool under a bright spotlight and answer question after question, sometimes more than once, and she swore the interviewer lost her place and repeated herself. Penny tried to keep her patience, though, and hoped she gave the same response each time. It was hard to keep track, especially with the rapid fire questions. Her hopes for the show. How she'd feel if she won Mystery Man's heart. What she liked most
about him so far. What chance she thought she had now she'd seen the other girls. Which girl she thought would win. Her top guesses for Mystery Man's identity. Her idea of the perfect man. Whether she thought Mystery Man would measure up.
She answered as best she could, especially when the questions were downright stupid. Of course she didn't know who he was, or much about him at all, so she made stuff up, hoping it sounded good. The third time she was asked about his identity, she listed a bunch of superheroes, hoping it would be the last time she heard that question. The interviewer's poker face gave away nothing, though.
By the time filming was finished, the bar was open, and Penny was deeply in need of a drink. And a smoke, of course, but she wasn't allowed that, so alcohol would have to do.
"How much is your cheapest pint?" Penny asked the barman, hoping she had enough.
"For you, free. She's paying." The barman pointed at Paige.
Penny sighed and pulled her wallet off the counter.
"Oh, while you have that out, you may as well show me your ID. Just to prove you're old enough for beer," the barman said. "If you look under 25 and all..."
Penny nodded wearily and slid her driver's licence across the counter.
"Get me a glass of champagne," an imperious voice ordered.
Penny didn't need to look. It was the blonde bitch from this morning.
"Show me your ID, then," the barman said, handing back Penny's. He then completely ignored the card the bitch thrust at him to ask Penny, "So which beer did you say you wanted again?"
Penny pointed at the tap marked with one of the boutique beers from the local brewery, one she'd never been able to afford. If she didn't like it, it wouldn't matter, seeing as she wasn't paying for it.
As she took her beer, she glanced at the other girl's ID, trying to read the name so she wouldn't have to ask. The girl's perfectly painted claws covered half of it, though, so Penny gave up and sipped her beer. Oh, it was good. She hoped she'd have time for another one before Paige sent them all back to their rooms for the night.
The shortest brunette walked up to the bar. While the barman brought her soft drink, she stuck out a hand to Penny. "I'm Calais," she said.
"Penelope," Penny said, shaking the girl's hand.
Calais turned to the blonde bitch, who eyed her coldly like something that had stuck to her stiletto.
"I'm Lorelei, and I'm going to win this. You two don't have a chance of making it through the first round of interviews, dressed like that, so excuse me if I don't bother remembering your names." She swept away with her drink.
Penny frowned. That hadn't been the name on the girl's licence. She hadn't read it that clearly, but there'd been no Ls. Maybe the bitch was some sort of minor celebrity herself, and Lorelei was her stage name.
Calais sucked on the straw of her soda. "So, do you think she's a stripper, a hooker or a model?"
Penny laughed. "With that dress, she could be all three."
FOURTEEN
Penny thought she was prepared for the speed-dating interview with Mystery Man, but when she found herself pushed into a dark room, she panicked. A spotlight clicked on, blinding her.
"Sit down, please, Penelope."
Penny thought his voice sounded familiar. One of the cameramen from yesterday? Maybe. She couldn't be sure which one, as Paige had instructed them to relax and ignore the camera crew as much as possible. Easy for her to say, Penny thought. Paige wasn't sitting on a stool under a spotlight, expecting to be interrogated by some military type who lurked in the shadows, unseen.
His questions weren't barked the way the other interviewers had done. No, he drawled them slowly, his sexy voice lulling her to relax. God, that voice...where had she heard it before?
"So what would you say is your best feature, Penelope?" he purred.
She took a moment to remind herself that she was here to cook, not let the man melt her insides like chocolate fondue. "I'm a genius in the kitchen," she said, then decided to add, "And not just with food, either. You know how they say if you can't stand the heat, you should get out of the kitchen? Well, I love the heat. And if you come into my kitchen, I'll take your tastebuds on a tour more tantalising than anything you've ever imagined."
He chuckled. "That sounds awesome. I might have to take you up on that."
It clicked. She did know him! That voice, she'd heard it murmur in her ear when she'd given in to that rock star. Oh, what was his name? She'd forgotten. Not the sex, though. She remembered that. No one forgot that mindblowing, melt-your-undies sort of sex. The sort you wanted so much more of, but never got, because men like him didn't choose girls like her. They ended up with models like Lorelei, who didn't deserve any of what the universe handed to them on a platter.
She was so busy daydreaming, she missed his next question. Mortified, she asked him to repeat it.
"What's your idea of the perfect date, Penelope?"
Her mind went blank. "I...I don't know," she stammered. "I think I'd like to leave that up to the guy who asked me out. And if he made sure I had a really good time, the morning after, I'd cook him a breakfast fit for a rock star." Oh, fuck! She held her breath, hoping he hadn't realised she knew who he was. Well, sort of. She still couldn't remember his name.
She breathed a sigh of relief as he launched into the next question, hoping the interrogation would end soon.
FIFTEEN
Penny escaped to the bar as soon as Mystery Man was done with her. It wasn't that she wanted to get away from him as much as...the mortification of some of the stupid things she'd said. She'd tried to be funny, replying with a Simpsons joke, and while she thought he'd understood the reference at the time, now she worried that it made her look childish for referring to a kids' cartoon. Rock stars didn't watch cartoons.
In the Jungle, she could hear loud, female voices bragging about all the celebrities they'd met and shagged. Loudest of all was a girl who claimed that she'd even slept with billionaire Gaia Vasse, and how she'd be willing to do a threesome with Mystery Man and anyone he wanted. Smugly, she added, "I told him so, too. He sounded impressed."
"I told him I give the best blowjobs this side of the equator, and I offered to show him right there in the interview. I think if the cameras hadn't been on, he'd have done it, too," another voice piped up.
"I said I'd be a perfectly obedient wife, fulfilling his every wish, and if I didn't, he could tie me up and spank me," a third proclaimed proudly.
Penny peeped around the palm trees and caught sight of the little group. Perfectly made-up model types, the lot of them. Like Lorelei. Nothing like herself. Penny was as common as they came, talking about cooking and cartoons, when she should have been offering him wild, gourmet sex instead. She was so stupid. She'd never make it past the first round. Cooking for him on TV? Dream on, girl, she told herself. She'd be back waitressing at the Roey before she could blink, while these girls serviced him every moment the cameras weren't watching. What hope did she have against women like that?
SIXTEEN
Jason tried not to yawn as the fifth girl described whatever she'd seen on the porn channel last night in excruciating detail. Where had they gotten the idea he wanted them to talk about sex? Talk was boring. He was more a man of action, himself.
"How many more have I got left to go?" he asked the cameraman when Porn Fan Number Five had left.
"Just one. Callie, I think her name is."
A moment later, the shortest girl of the lot crept into the room and climbed onto the spotlit stool. Between her slumped shoulders and downcast eyes, Jason wondered why the girl was so miserable.
"Welcome, Callie, to your CIA-sponsored speed date," he quipped. "I'm just going to ask you a few questions and – "
She raised her head. "It's Calais, actually." Her voice was surprisingly firm.
"Like the city?" he asked.
It was her turn to look surprised. "Most Aussie blokes think I was named after the Holden car. Neither, actually. My family's Greek and Mum want
ed her kids to have names that were a bit different. So she picked names she liked from some of the ancient stories."
Xan and her talk of quests. Now he couldn't stop thinking about it and this girl's name was too much of a coincidence for him to ignore.
"So this Calais character you're named after. Was she some virginal maiden who became some hero's incredibly faithful and obedient wife? Or did she just get seduced by some god or other?" Jason would put his money on the second one, but she'd surprised him once. It could be the first one.
Calais laughed. "Neither, actually. Calais was a man. A hero who went off questing with Hercules and his mates, but Hercules killed him because Hercules' lover didn't survive a battle while Calais did. You're thinking of Penelope, Odysseus' faithful wife, who didn't remarry while he was away at the siege of Troy and taking the long way home afterwards. You've got one of those here, too."
"A faithful wife?"
"No, a Penelope. I met her on the first night. She's nice. Funny, too."
Jason glanced down at his list of questions, moving on to the first one. He'd had enough of sitting in this stuffy, dark room. He wanted to make his choice and get on with the show.
SEVENTEEN
"They're ready for you, Mr Felix," Allie, Paige's assistant said.
Why did he suddenly feel so nervous? It wasn't like he was proposing already. Jason had watched everyone's interview videos again today, to ensure sure he was making the right decision. The porn girls he dismissed immediately, which left seven. He was only supposed to choose six, though, which meant one had to go. Four of them he'd genuinely liked. They'd been easy choices.
The other three, though...model material, all with an eye for the camera. The sort of girl a rock star was expected to have on his arm at events, though he never had before. Any of these three would warrant a media splash that would put Gaia's fake engagement into the box of lies where it belonged.
The Rock Star Wants a Wife Page 4