by C. J. Anaya
As Les Lassiter and her father entered the room, the tittering and obnoxious laughter came to a screeching halt.
“Ladies, you all look lovely this morning. I am sorry about the shooting delays from yesterday. We ran into a few technical issues we were forced to deal with,” Les said.
Her father gave her a meaningful look. She returned it with a sickly sweet smile.
Seriously? What was he gonna do? Kick her off the show?
Doubtful.
He couldn’t even take away her trust fund at this point now that he was contractually obligated to hand it over so long as she abided by the terms and conditions set forth in her contract. And isn’t that exactly what she was doing?
“I want to congratulate you on making it through the first round,” Les said as her father moved to the side of the room and gave a few instructions to one of his crew. “We’re going to continue on with the schedule and introduce our first group date.”
Midge schooled her features into feigned interest as she noted the cameras zooming in on the tittering ladies.
“Oh, I hope I’m included in this first date,” Charlene said, squeezing Midge’s arm and bouncing in excitement.
She was so excited, in fact, Midge could have sworn the beautiful brunette caught some serious air in between each bounce. She oozed peppy cheerfulness. After the last two days Midge had suffered through, she was hardly in the mood to sit by someone so utterly enamored with her nemesis.
Annoying.
She turned her attention to Les as he whipped out a white envelope and paused to allow the cameras to catch the bubbling laughter and excitement every female in the room exuded. She figured the collective anticipation of the group allowed for her to shrink back and present her normal show of disinterest for a few precious moments.
As soon as the contestants were announced and left for their date, she would go upstairs and wait for her father to inform her that Brody had decided to cut her loose. She smirked—nearly allowed herself a wicked chuckle—as she remembered her creative genius where Brody’s food coloring debacle was concerned.
Ha!
I am so going home to day. I can already taste Giacomo’s overpriced chocolate croissants.
Midge was so focused on replaying the image of Brody barreling out of his room awash in green, blue, and purple food dye, she failed to grasp what was happening around her until her name was suddenly called.
“Congratulations,” Charlene said, squeezing Midge’s arm again—the girl had one monstrous grip on her—and bouncing high in her seat for good measure. “I can’t believe we’re both going on this group date with Brody. Only eight other girls were called. I think those odds are much better than dealing with nineteen other women, don’t you?”
Midge stared at Charlene, completely aghast, and then looked up to see other girls with expressions ranging from congratulatory to outright vengeful.
Felicia Davenport’s looks being on the vengeful side.
“I guess it’s no surprise you were called, though,” Charlene whispered as Les continued on with his instructions.
“Why would you say that?” Her question came out sharper than she intended, but Charlene didn’t seem to notice. Her obvious excitement between bounces kept her a bit preoccupied.
“Because,” bounce, “he’s already made a huge show of chasing you, what with that kiss on YouTube and all.” Bounce. “Most of us girls got wind of it and watched it in Cambria’s room.” Bounce. “We had no idea you two dated before the show.”
She couldn’t believe this. How could she still be in the running after the stunt she’d pulled?
Midge let out a low moan and slumped back in her chair. “We didn’t date before the show. That incident was…well…it was a one-time deal.”
“Didn’t look like that to me, but I think you’re sweet so I’ll try not to hate you for kissing my future hubby.” Bounce. She gave Midge a friendly smile, and Midge couldn’t help but smile back, deciding that being in Charlene’s presence might not be such a trial after all.
The room became too quiet around her, the atmosphere filling with anticipation, and Midge turned her attention to the front of the room where Brody walked in, standing before them all in dark jeans and a simple navy blue tee. He looked absolutely amazing, seemingly unaffected by all of the drooling females zeroing in on him, present company included.
His piercing blue eyes shot directly to hers and held her gaze. Her breath caught in her throat and a slow blush bloomed in her cheeks, causing Brody’s eyes to darken with desire. A small hint of a smile graced his full lips.
His gaze moved to assess the rest of those assembled and with its release she finally found the presence of mind to take in some much needed oxygen.
Bad. Her super charged reaction to this billionaire was very bad. So round one hadn’t been as effective as she’d hoped. Fine. Round two was sure to do some damage, or at least annoy the heck out of her father. Either way, someone had to pay for her continued presence here, and why not the two men who had manipulated her into staying?
Brody still wanted her there? So be it. Things were about to get nasty.
“As you all know, I enjoy hosting charity events in support of great causes such as Smile Train, Children International, and funding for cancer research. I’ve worked very hard to arrive at where I am today, but I never forget my roots or the struggles my mother and I went through when we lost my father to cancer. I now have the means to help others in similar situations, and it is something I love to do. I hope my future wife has similar interests in her community and in bettering the lives of others. So this group date is going to involved a trip to the Hawaii Children’s Cancer Foundation in Honolulu where we will be visiting children suffering from various forms of cancer in the hope that we can brighten their day and lift their spirits.”
From a PR standpoint, this date was pure magic in demonstrating the kind of man Brody Prescott wished to portray himself as. From a personal standpoint, it made it that much harder for Midge to emotionally cut herself off from admiring this frustrating bachelor any more than she already did. The quickest way to Midge’s heart was selfless caring for the needs of others.
Oh, Brody Prescott had his faults, but did he have to have so many admirable qualities that tended to override anything objectionable about him or his personality?
Brody caught her staring at him, and she averted her eyes, horrified that her soft doe-eyed expression had probably been observed. He’d completely undone her cool aloofness with a simple suggestion of good-will.
“We’ll be leaving in twenty minutes so I suggest you ladies grab whatever it is you think you’ll need for the day, and meet me on the yacht scheduled to take us to the mainland.”
Excited voices rose in volume as Brody left the women to collect themselves for the group date.
She noted that Felicia followed Brody’s retreating form with a gaze that suggested she wanted nothing more than to spear him against the wall and demand she be brought along for the ride. She turned around and caught Midge’s eye before Midge could look away.
“I suppose you think you hold some kind of allure for someone as mature and worldly as Brody Prescott, but if I were you, I’d consider backing down. I’d just hate to see you set yourself up for failure once he directs all of his attention on me.”
She folded her arms across her chest, allowing her blood red nails to tap lightly on her forearm.
Midge noticed a camera to her left moving toward them and let out an internal sigh of frustration. Just as her father had hoped, Felicia was ready to start the first round of meltdowns and drama, and Midge just had to be right in the middle of it. She didn’t feel like rising to the bait, but she knew her father would expect it, and any fans from the YouTube video would be eagerly waiting for her to defend her budding relationship between Brody and herself. Clamping down on her natural instinct to simply walk away from the conflict she ponied up and prepared herself to play the part.
“
Right, because he looked so eager to include you on this group date. Oh, that’s right. You didn’t receive an invitation. Must have something to do with those slanderous accusations concerning his company’s privacy policies.”
Felicia’s eyebrow twitched and then settled, letting Midge know her verbal jab had hit its mark. Felicia studied her fingernails, behaving as if Midge’s comment didn’t concern her.
“Water under the bridge, my dear. He knows it was a complete misunderstanding and since then we’ve kissed and made up.”
“I highly doubt that. The only person in this room who’s had the undeniable pleasure of kissing Brody is me.” Midge leaned forward as if ready to impart some monumental secret. “You can YouTube the kiss for confirmation, and I’d just love it if you would subscribe to our channel.”
Felicia’s eyebrows narrowed while her nails dug into her forearm.
She shoots, she scores.
“This isn’t over, you little impostor.”
Felicia turned on her heel and exited through a side door, her hair barely clearing the door frame as she passed. Midge absentmindedly wondered what would happen if her hair ever managed to collide with the frame. The detailed carvings at the top would probably end up with one mighty indentation.
Midge’s father mimed his applause from the corner of the room.
“Perfect,” he mouthed, sending her a proud papa bear smile.
She shook her head in disgust and then reluctantly willed herself to move one dragging foot in front of the other toward the main hall. She fought for a possible out to this group date, not because she was opposed to visiting sick children in a hospital. On the contrary, she loved volunteering for activities like that, but she knew watching Brody in that kind of environment would completely undermine all of her attempts at detachment. She did not want to spend any extra time with him and risk more opportunities for bonding with the insufferable man.
No surprise she was the last person standing in the hallway. The crew and contestants had already flown out the front door. She felt a hand latch onto her arm and quickly spin her around.
Brody stood before her with a cheeky smile on his face. He appeared annoyingly well rested. Not a hint of anger graced his perfectly chiseled face.
Damn the man!
Her heart caught in her throat as she took in his freshly washed hair—no longer blue. A dark lock curled just above his forehead. The navy blue of his casual shirt brought out flecks of gray in his cobalt eyes.
Sweet maple syrup!
Would she ever get used to her initial reaction to him?
“Unhand me, Judas.” Her delivery was more forceful due to how shaken she was to see him sans righteous outrage. She checked the area for cameras and then leveled him with a glare once she was certain they were alone.
His smile deepened, which made her narrow her eyes and wrench her arm from his grasp.
“Still angry that I kept you on the show, I see.”
“How observant of you. I suppose the food dye probably clued you in.”
“Look, Madelyn, I know you’re upset with me—”
“Upset? I get upset when my computer crashes and I haven’t saved my latest additions to my manuscript. I get upset when I’m drinking hot cocoa and I realize that Giacomo accidentally added skim milk to it instead of cream—although I’m nearly positive he does this on purpose. I get upset when I’m in the middle of my manuscript and find that I’ve written my protagonist into a corner. Those are legitimate reasons for getting upset. When someone—I’ll refrain from dropping names here—refuses to disqualify a contestant due to selfish, egocentric desires, I am beyond upset. I’m…I’m…absolutely…”
“Still upset then.”
Brody inched closer and placed both hands on her shoulders. The movement stopped her embarrassing stutters, but the tingling sensation shooting through her arms was an unwelcome reminder of the feelings she had allowed herself to develop for him. After the stunt she’d pulled, she was supposed to feel like the victor. Cool. Calm. Collected. Yet Brody was the one behaving as if he were the real victor here. He should have been angry. Why wasn’t the gorgeous bachelor seething with fury?
“Midge, I couldn’t let you go. Don’t you understand my reasons for keeping you here? Don’t you see how much I need you?” He gave her a soul searching look which only succeeded in upping her level of anger.
“Oh, yes. I’m indispensable when it comes to advising you on how best to survive this rat race you’ve landed yourself in.”
Confusion wiped the smoldering look from his gaze.
“Midge, that’s not at all—”
“Save it.” She shrugged him off and took a step back. “I dislike this game you’ve been playing. Don’t pretend you want me here for more personal reasons. It’s plain mean, and I really thought you were better than that.”
She turned sharply and rushed up the massive staircase, heading for her room in order to collect her purse for the activities ahead.
Brody’s thoughts whirled in confusion. How had she misconstrued his feelings for her into something completely different? It definitely explained the dye in his toiletries. He thought back to Knightly’s clear warning about Midge’s inability to trust easily. This was obviously a manifestation of that particular insecurity. He had to push through it and convince her of his genuine interest and affection.
He enjoyed a challenge, though the challenge Midge presented wasn’t the reason for his interest in her. No. He wanted her for other reasons, and he wouldn’t give up until he succeeded. That was how he had approached everything in life, and that was exactly how he would approach this.
Pulling himself together, he walked out the front door and headed toward the docking area for the yacht. He intended this group date to present an opportunity to spend more time with Madelyn, and he had made certain that a particular young patient at the hospital would help to make that happen.
The yacht was enormous. Brody hardly understood how this great monstrosity he was seated on could be called a yacht when clearly it nearly passed for a small cruise liner. He had been instructed to wait in the dining area of the ship so the cameras could roll as the girls walked in and noticed the elaborate luncheon prepared for them.
He found the thought of food unappealing, considering the turbulent flutterings in his stomach as he waited for Madelyn to walk through the door. He could have done without the group date and all of the extra people attending what would have otherwise been a fairly romantic luncheon with the only girl he cared about.
Glancing around the room, he took in the windows on either side, opening up the vast expanse of the ocean for anyone interested in taking in the magnificent swells and shifts of its frothy blue water where ocean met skyline. It seemed the waves were doing their best to reach the sky and offer it a few loving caresses, intent on joining its endless expanse. Or maybe it was coaxing the sky to join its watery depths below.
He felt very much like those waves, reaching for something as glorious, pristine, and inaccessible as Madelyn Knightly. He doubted he deserved her, and quite frankly he didn’t care. He needed her, he wanted her, and he wasn’t above admitting that he was selfish enough to pursue her regardless of how undeserving he might be.
Les Lassiter and Corbin Knightly entered the room with two cameramen behind them. Brody suspected those two were thick as thieves, plotting the best way to drum up a little drama on the show.
“Okay, so remember what we discussed yesterday,” Corbin said, rubbing his hands together in what looked like anxious anticipation. “One of the angle’s of this show is going to be about this developing relationship between you and Midge. It may be a group date, but I want her with you for most of the time on this one. Do your best to give attention to the other women, but we need to see this obvious connection between you and my daughter.”
“I haven’t got a single problem with that idea. You talked to Madelyn about this, didn’t you?”
Knightly glanced down at his non-
existant wristwatch. “They’ll be here any second people. Roll `em.”
“Knightly?” Brody took a step toward the director’s retreating figure, apprehension clawing at his stomach as he realized that none of it had been discussed with Madelyn. He did not look forward to the inevitable fury this would cause her.
He stopped as the first sounds of life came from the hallway, and then Charlene stepped through full of smiles and air kisses. He did his best to hide his disappointed grimace as he turned on his killer smile and held out his arms to greet her.
“This is amazing,” Charlene said as she gave him a rather enthusiastic hug.
“I wish I could take credit for the ship, but I’m merely a passenger,” Brody said.
He continued to greet his “dates” with their exuberant hugs, wishing for all he was worth that Madelyn would arrive so he could enfold her in an embrace that actually meant something to him. He was in the middle of another long, enthusiastic hug from a young, petite thing by the name of Cambria when Madelyn stepped in appearing a bit too resigned to her fate. He noted heat creep up her cheeks and her eyes narrow as she took in the last second of his embrace with Cambria. It occurred to Brody in that moment that Madelyn Knightly might be jealous.
As he stepped toward her, he took note of her stilted smile which failed to reach her eyes. Without giving her a chance to find a way out of it, he scooped her in his arms, reveling in her acceptance of his attentions even though he recognized that the cameras were rolling and she didn’t have much choice.
“It feels so good to hold you,” he whispered next to her ear. He thought her body shivered slightly at his proximity, and his grin widened. She placed her hands against his chest and applied some pressure, but he only allowed her to remover herself an inch or so, just enough to look up at his face.
“I would think you’d had your fill of holding women this afternoon, and with so many willing partners.” Her tone was light and airy, but he noted the bitter edge to it.