by Janice Lynn
Just like Dan had been right about their being meant to just be friends, Rob was right to remind her they were from different worlds. Her body tingled under his gaze and her heart galloped all the same.
Unable to take more of her escalating desire, she took a deep breath and stepped around him.
“See you later, Rob,” she whispered on her way out of the studio.
# # #
Rob watched as Jane closed the studio door. He sank into his comfy, worn leather chair that followed him from one production to the next.
Had she really called her sister? From his eavesdropping, he guessed she had, but couldn’t be sure she hadn’t snuck in a call to her old boyfriend.
He reached for the file drawer and tugged. Locked. Just as he’d thought. She’d picked his lock, borrowed his cell phone, made a call, and attempted to cover it up.
Damn. Had she leaked information about the show to the press? Any news rag would pay top dollar to find out which bachelor she planned to choose.
He dug his keys out of his pocket and unlocked the drawer, the proper way, picked up the phone and pressed the button to pull up recent calls. He stared at the number. Her sister’s?
Only one way to find out. He punched send.
“Jilly? I wasn’t expecting you to call back this quick,” a female voice gushed over the line.
“I must have the wrong number.” Jilly? Oh, he remembered reading in her bio information that her friends and family called her Jill. She’d been telling the truth about who she’d called. Why did that make him feel better?
“Wait. My caller ID shows this as the number from where my sister just called me. Who is this?”
“Just a wrong number.”
“Is my sister okay?” She sounded a bit panicked at his response. “She hung up a bit abruptly, but I thought that was only because I was…” Her voice trailed off. “Who is this?”
Why lie? “Rob Lancaster.”
“The host with the most? Oh my gosh. You are such a total babe. Jilly is so lucky. If only I’d…” she stopped and Rob wondered what she’d been going to say.
“She’s okay?” the woman asked, sounding more subdued.
“She’s fine. I must have hit the redial button by mistake after she borrowed my phone and called you. Sorry to bother you.” What was her name? He couldn’t remember Jane having ever said although he got the impression Jane’s world evolved around taking care of the woman on the phone.
“No bother. Call anytime.” Sexual interest was blatant in her voice until he heard a man speak in the background. “Uh, sorry, I’ve got to go. Tell Jilly I love her and I’m fine. No worries.”
Rob stared at the disconnected phone in his hand. He’d swear he heard the man call Jane’s sister Jessie. Must have heard wrong and the guy had been asking about her, to make sure she was okay.
Or was he Jane’s ex-boyfriend? More likely, the guy was her sister’s fiancé Jane had mentioned when he’d asked her why she was here.
Rob rocked his chair back and wondered what he should do about catching her breaking into his drawer, placing an unofficial, prohibited phone call, and for making him jealous as hell when he’d stepped into the studio and heard her on the phone.
At least the call hadn’t been to the press.
His first thought after the media had been that she’d called her ex. His second had been an urge to strangle her for putting him in the position of covering for her or revealing what she’d done to JP.
He couldn’t see deceiving his friend.
Surprisingly, he found the idea of ratting on Jane as distasteful as the rest of this sordid reality show.
# # #
“The results are in.” JP burst into the studio where Rob watched live feed of Jill and the bachelors duking it out in a paintball fight.
“And?”
JP wiggled his brows. “I’m going to make you wait until the show along with Jill, the bachelors, and the rest of the world.”
Rob nodded, his attention more on Jill falling to the ground in laughter as the bachelors pummeled her with paint pellets. Her team had won--of course. Did the woman excel at everything physical? His gut clenched, and he reminded himself he’d never know the answer to that question except in his fantasies. All the bachelors, including her teammates, had ganged up and bombarded her, covering her in splatters of multi-colored paint.
“Yoohoo, anybody home?” JP waved his hand in front of the monitor.
Rob frowned at his friend and clicked to turn down his headset’s volume. “What?”
JP rolled his eyes to the ceiling. “I just told you I’m not telling you which bachelors were eliminated and you agreed.”
“Not hardly.” But even as he said it, his gaze went back to the screen. Two bachelors, he couldn’t tell which ones in their paintball paraphernalia--but he could guess--had picked her up and were carrying her as she kicked and fought to free herself. The cameramen followed closely recording the action. One so much so, paint splattered onto his lens. Where were they taking her?
When they entered the back patio area, he knew. The pool. He grinned as he watched them toss a squirming, shrieking, and trying to free herself Jane into the water, gear and all. She sank to the bottom.
He held his breath and waited for her to surface, which she almost immediately did. He clicked the mouse to up the volume again so he and JP could hear the feed from the taped-on microphone she wore, as did each of the bachelors.
Bobbing in the bright blue water, she whipped off her helmet and tossed it onto the concrete at the waiting men’s feet. She shook her hair out, long wet strands slapping against her beautiful face, and then she grinned a heart-stopping smile at her assailants. “Aren’t you boys coming in? The water’s perfect.”
And just like that she was no longer alone in the pool.
“Damn, she’s good,” JP said from beside him, reminding Rob he wasn’t alone. They watched as the paintball fight turned into an all out water splashing event.
Yeah, Rob believed she was, but he’d never know for sure. Damn it.
“What were you saying about the results being in?” he asked, dragging his envious of the bachelors gaze from the monitor.
“I’ve gotten the official report from the accounting firm handling the viewer voting. We have the names of our three bachelor bootees.” JP passed Rob the hand-delivered message.
Rob scanned the names of the bachelors and their individual scores.
“As you can see, Jeff Kensington ranked as America’s number one choice. Steve Jernigan came in second.”
“Great,” Rob muttered. They’d run the new footage, boot the bottom three, #3, #7, and #9, and open the polls for next week’s show.
“Kensington also won the letter poll and will be awarded an evening alone with Jane in the setting of his choice before the next show airs.”
Damn. She’d already been gravitating toward Dr. Doolittle Kensington and GI Joe Jernigan. He didn’t like it. Hold up. Yes, he did like it. It was what she was supposed to do.
Only Rob hated watching her relationship with the bachelors unfold. He knew she was doing exactly what he needed her to do, what she needed to do, but he didn’t have to like it.
Aw hell, he wasn’t making sense to himself anymore.
Something was going to have to give. And soon.
Maybe he really should go into the city and pick up a hot babe.
If only the thought held any appeal.
# # #
“I want Jeff Kensington removed from the show.”
“Why?” JP asked as he lounged in the princess’s setting area. “You’re the one who forced the network to include him as a bachelor or else you wouldn’t sign the contract.”
“It was a foolish thing to do. Have him eliminated during the next show.” Isabella practically shook as she waited for JP’s answer.
“No.”
Perhaps he had not understood.
“He must be one of the bootees.” She could not bear watc
hing any more footage of him and the lovely imposter. Why had she not thought this through to its natural conclusion? Of course, the woman would fall in love with Jeff. How could she not?
“I can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“He topped the polls and won the date with Jane. Tonight’s the big night.”
“No.” Isabella’s heart wrenched at the thought of what the night might bring. Could she bear another kiss between Jeff and the other woman? “You must stop this at once.”
“Why?”
“I do not wish for him to remain in my home.” More truthfully, she did not wish for him to have a private date with the other woman. Knowing she would watch the film of the date only made the tightening in her chest more painful. “Please see to it that he leaves the castle tonight.”
“This is outta my hands, Princess. I can’t tamper with the numbers. Unless Kensington is legitimately booted, he stays.”
All she had wanted was the opportunity to see Jeff one last time. She should have flown to Central America and volunteered once again as Izzy Strover.
But she had been greedy and had wanted Jeff to visit her country in hopes of…what exactly? Jeff falling in love with the land she loved? Perhaps it was only appropriate since she had manipulated his journey that instead of soil, he was falling for a savvy American woman.
A woman who was free to chose Jeff.
“Then, there is nothing that can be done?”
“The ball’s already rolling. Now we just have to watch it play out.” JP crooked his head at her. “Do you want live feed of tonight’s date?”
Did the man intend to torment her?
“Yes,” she breathed, knowing she would not rest until she had watched Jeff and “Jane’s” date. “I would appreciate that very much.”
# # #
“I can’t believe my letter got the most votes.” Jeff spread out a blanket, then took the large white oak picnic basket Jill held. They’d gone out near a small, private lake on the estate. The moon shined big and round in the star-studded sky.
“I can. It was very sweet.” Almost as if he wrote it to a woman he’d waited a long time to meet, a woman he’d thought about a great deal and longed to spend time with.
“Sweet?” He laughed. “That’s not exactly what I was going for when I wrote it.”
“What were you going for? I almost felt as if I were reading a letter from a long lost lover. One the fate’s had torn me apart from, but had seen fit to allow our paths to cross once again.”
“Whoa.” He held his hand up, but she noticed a slight tremble in his voice. “That’s a bit deep for me.”
“Me, too,” a deep baritone interrupted.
Jill’s head shot around at Rob’s words. She glared at him in the soft light created by the equipment the crew had set up.
Why had he insisted upon tagging along on her date with Jeff? Most of the time he stayed hidden in the studio. Which eased her mind tremendously in regards to fear of being found out. Too bad her heart was breaking in the process.
Sending him a quick frown, she turned her attention back to Jeff. “Well, I thought your letter was endearing and apparently a lot of other women did, too.”
Jeff cast a confused look toward Rob, then offered his hand to her. “Let me help you sit down.”
Jill took his hand and lowered onto the rough, thick blanket. You’d think the crew could have found a more comfortable blanket. The material almost felt like wool beneath her palm. Thank goodness she’d worn slacks rather than a skirt like Gregory had tried to talk her into. Otherwise she’d have had to cut the picnic short from itching to death.
“I hope you like the meal I requested be prepared for us. I wasn’t sure what you’d prefer.”
“I’m sure it’ll be great and I’m starved.”
A snort sounded from Rob’s direction. Jill hid her scowl. Was he going to keep interrupting her date all night?
“What can I do to help?” she asked, resisting a peek in Rob’s direction. She refused to acknowledge his presence again even if her body seemed unable to focus on anything but his near proximity.
“Nothing. Just sit there and look beautiful.”
Jill felt like an even bigger fraud at his words. Look beautiful. Funny how she’d never felt that way until she’d crossed an ocean and had men compete for her affections.
Jeff pulled out containers of assorted cheeses, a bottle of wine, and two goblets. Delicious aromas filtered from the basket. “May I?” he asked after uncorking the bottle.
“Please.” She lifted one of the goblets and allowed him to pour her glass three-fourths full of the sparkly red liquid, then waited as he filled his own. “Allow me to make a toast?”
“To new friendships that last a lifetime.”
Jeff raised his glass.
“And to ratings that soar.” Oops. Why had she added that out loud? Grimacing, she met Jeff’s blue gaze and was relieved when he merely shrugged and clinked his glass to hers.
“To friendships.” The corners of his mouth curved upward as he winked. “And to soaring ratings.”
Jill took a slow sip of her wine, enjoying the woodsy flavor that remained on her palate. “This is good.”
Jeff grinned. “Wish I could take credit, but I’m told it comes from one of the many vineyards in this beautiful country. Seems this place has all kinds of hidden treasures.”
“Really? It’s delicious.” And it was, although she admittedly wasn’t an expert of any kind. “So, tell me, Jeff. Why did you decide to come on a reality television show and let the world in on your every move?”
Jeff passed her the container of cheese. “A lot of different reasons.”
“Like?”
“The conventional ways a man meets a woman weren’t working for me.” He shrugged. “Why not a reality show?”
“You tell me.” She popped the lid off the cheese and eyed its contents, hoping the microphone wouldn’t pick up the rumble of her stomach.
“I’ve devoted most of my adult life to mission work and there isn’t an over abundance of eligible women around. I came here hoping to fall in love with a woman who could share my dream.”
Jill almost dropped the container, which would have been a shame. Food should never go to waste. But Jeff’s admission had startled her. He’d come on this show hoping to meet the woman of his dreams. He’d probably been sorely disappointed in the show’s choice of her. Well, of Jessie. Damn, she’d have loved for her sister to meet and fall in love with a man like Jeff. For that matter, falling for him herself wouldn’t have been a bad thing.
“You know, when I agreed to come on this show, I really wasn’t expecting to meet someone like you.”
Yeah, she’d just figured that out on her own.
“Oh?” She asked, once again eyeing the cheese and wondering how many chunks of cheese she could take out without looking like a pig. Three? Four? Should she push it and take five? She took five. They were only small wedges, after all. And who knew what all else he had stuffed in that basket?
She mentally scolded herself for obsessing over cheese when Jeff was having a serious conversation with her. If only she could have fallen for him.
Jeff laughed, a soft self-deprecating sound. “You’ll think me a tad foolish, but I actually thought I’d met you before.”
“Really?” Jill’s eyes widened as she stuffed a piece of the cheese in her mouth. Yum, this was the same smoky flavored cheese she’d made her sandwich with. “We’ve never met that I recall. Until this trip I’d never traveled outside of California.”
“As I said, it was foolish to even think I’d ever met a real princess, much less,” he stopped, shrugged, and grinned. “Well, I’d met a woman a year ago from this country and her name was similar. My imagination played tricks on me.”
“I hope you weren’t too disappointed when you saw me.”
He took her hand in his and squeezed it reassuringly. “Jane, a man really would be foolish if he were disa
ppointed with meeting you.”
With wonder, Jill stared into Jeff’s intent blue eyes. Maybe she’d only imagined that his kiss had been brotherly? Maybe she should—
Rob coughed. Loud. As if he had something hung in his throat.
Jill turned to look at him, along with Jeff and the three cameramen.
“Sorry about that,” Rob apologized, waving his hand at them dismissively. “Ignore me and continue filming this scene.”
“Date, not scene,” Jill corrected.
“Hard to do when you keep interrupting,” one of the cameramen mumbled under his breath, but Jill heard and had to stifle a smile. Had Rob heard him as well?
She met his eyes and heat scoured her insides.
No need to keep wondering. Jeff’s kiss had been brotherly, would remain brotherly, and she had the feeling only one man’s kiss would ever fill her with passion.
And he’d ordered her to kiss another man.
She turned back to Jeff and changed the subject from their previous conversation. “JP told me you went to the daycare today. How did it go?”
Jeff glanced back and forth between her and Rob, but didn’t comment or ask the questions she saw in his gaze. “It was a riot. Those little scrappers practically had Bachelor #11 tied up before I could rescue him.”
“Tell me more. The idea of all you hunky guys teaching a day of preschool fascinates me.” Why couldn’t she forget that Rob’s gaze bore into her? Why didn’t he go do something else? This was difficult enough without him scrutinizing her every move.
“Well, I think we probably gave a good imitation of comic relief today.” Jeff pulled their food out and mouthwatering spicy aromas filled the air. Man, she was hungry. How long had it been since lunch? If you could call that measly meal Bachelor #2 had served her lunch.
“JP says you stayed calm and collected. You more so than any of the other bachelors.”
“It wasn’t my hair that had glue squeezed into it.”
Jill covered her mouth with her hand, smothering her shocked laughter. “They didn’t?”