“I am.” Charles sat down in his chair. “I know you’re probably questioning if this is just a stunt for Seven Roses and I assure you that it isn’t. I’m done hosting the show and I’m putting everything into making this arrangement work.”
“Why?” Adrian leaned forward. “What is the point of this?”
“What do you guys know about me?” Charles looked around the room.
“You host the show—or you did.” Brando chuckled and shrugged.
“So it might surprise you to hear that I’ve been married three times?” Charles sipped his Scotch and continued looking around the room.
“And? You’re a shitty husband—what does that have to do with any of us?” Brando grunted and shook his head.
“All of you are like me.” Charles looked directly at me. “You know it.” He looked to Brando. “You know it too.”
“We’re all shitty?” Brando raised an eyebrow.
“We’re all damaged.” Charles sighed and sipped his drink. “We’re the very definition of good in small doses. Outside of Anders here, all of us have failed relationships and they have to do with the life we lead.”
“So what?” John tilted his head as if he was pondering what Charles said. “We’re so screwed up that we can’t find love?”
“No.” Charles shook his head. “We’re the pieces of a puzzle. I chose each of you for that very purpose. Together we can make Lyn the happiest woman on the planet and we can have the companionship we’ve always wanted.”
“Except this guy.” I pointed to Anders. “This guy got a perfect match. Why not just set him up with Lyn?”
“What?” Anders looked up from his phone. “I’m just here for the game.”
“You’re a bit of an anomaly, Anders.” Charles looked towards Anders. “I’m not sure how you fit into this puzzle quite yet, but you are a perfect match, so I couldn’t just leave you out.”
Our attention was drawn back to the television screen as Lyn and Markus arrived at one of the historic Chicago theaters. I was never a fan of theater, but Lyn definitely seemed to like it.
What Charles said about the arrangement did make sense. Everyone he had chosen was kind of a fuck up when it came to having the capacity for a normal relationship. I chased that dream a few times, but I never found a way to make it work. Having someone to come home to—someone to love—would be nice. I was so tired of random groupies living out fantasies and soccer moms reliving their youth. I did feel like I deserved happiness, and if I couldn’t handle that on my own, then maybe the group Charles assembled could find a way to turn it into something feasible. I couldn’t believe I was actually trying to wrap my head around the arrangement and consider it.
The musical Lyn and Markus were watching took a break for intermission and I grabbed another beer. I returned in time to see them disappear from the camera until it caught up with them in the hallway where they were sharing a kiss.
“I told you.” I pointed at the screen. “She’s going to fuck him.”
“Will that change how you approach your date with her tomorrow at all?” Charles looked at me.
“Nah...” I admitted with a shrug of my shoulders.
“Then don’t obsess over it. If we want Lyn to consider this arrangement, we have to make it as comfortable for her as possible. We can’t judge her or question her motives. We each go out with her and show her a wonderful time. If something happens, it happens.” He put his glass on the table beside him. “It doesn’t change things for the rest of us if we ultimately end up becoming a family devoted to loving and taking care of her.”
We watched the television screen as the date concluded and they crawled back into the car. They were on top of each other in an instant. I had no doubt that it was going to happen. Markus was going to take Lyn’s virginity. I tried to process what Charles said. Was it possible for things to work out the way he suggested? My agent would probably tell me it was a bad idea, but it would create a ton of publicity when the show aired. If we all did agree to the arrangement, then it would define who we were. The jerk in me wanted to bust out of the room and say something stupid when they came in the front door, but I let my ego rest. Markus might have her virginity, but I still had my date with her. One night in the sack wasn’t going to make her fall in love with him. We all watched the monitors until they went upstairs and when her door closed, we were all quiet.
“I guess we should head to bed.” Charles broke the silence and stood.
“Yeah...” I nodded. “That sounds like a good idea.”
I could tell that everyone seemed to be locked in the same contemplation I was in. Adrian and Brando were definitely tossing the idea in their head, just from the way they responded. Charles was clearly on board since it was his idea to begin with. The two that I wasn’t sure about was John and Anders. John was quiet, but he paid attention. Anders didn’t seem to give a shit about anything that was going on. There was something about him that gave me a strange vibe and I wasn’t sure I trusted him. He didn’t seem like the kind of guy that could be a perfect match with anyone, must less a beautiful girl like Lyn.
We headed to bed and I let my eyes rest. I had spent part of the day planning my date with Lyn and I did want it to be perfect. It wasn’t going to be the same kind of date she had with Markus for sure, but I hoped it would be fun. Plus, I had a surprise for our date that nobody knew about—even the Seven Roses producers.
Chapter 9: Lyn
Markus was still in bed with me when I woke up. I was happy to find him there with his arms wrapped around me. I let the moment linger for a few minutes and enjoyed the warmth of his embrace. I finally rolled to the side of the bed and tried to stand without waking him. I saw my daily itinerary pushed under the door and when I picked it up, I realized I needed to get a move on. If I didn’t shower immediately, I was going to be late for my one-on-one time with the camera.
It also seemed that my date with Dawson wasn’t going to be at night like it was Markus—he wanted to take me out for a lunch date. It seemed like an odd choice for a date, but it was his decision, so I ran to the shower and started the water. I showered as fast as I could and when I stepped out into the steam filled bathroom, I noticed that my bed was empty. I didn’t know why Markus had decided to spend the night and not even say good morning, but I couldn’t focus on that. I needed to get dressed and get downstairs for the camera. I chose a dress that was warm but appropriate for a lunch date. It definitely wasn’t as elegant as the one I wore when I went out with Markus, but a lunch date seemed to be a lot less formal. I ran downstairs to find Henry Bennett staring at his watch and looking towards the door.
“You’re late!” He motioned for me to follow him.
“Sorry, I slept longer than I thought I would.” I followed behind him, trying to keep pace with his rapid steps.
“I wonder why that is?” He looked over his shoulder and winked.
“How does this work? I just go into the room and spill my guts in front of the camera?” I had a basic idea since I had watched Seven Roses before, but I wanted to make sure I was doing it right.
“You need to address the arrangement, the date with Markus, and the fact you had sex with him. Just try to focus your discussion around those topics and we’ll edit it to fit the narrative.” We got the room where the camera was set up and he motioned me inside.
I stepped into the room and heard the door close behind me. It was set up like a studio with cameras, microphones and lights surrounding a couch. There was nobody in the room but me. I knew it was important for me to choose my words carefully. Based on what I had seen, the time in front of the camera usually became self-interrogation and if I had to address each of the topics, I needed to be convincing with what I said.
Even if I told the truth, if it didn’t sound convincing, people would question it. They wanted emotion and authenticity. That was what turned the contestants into household names. Everyone remembered the girl that had sex on her first date a few seasons prior an
d cried about it. I didn’t want to be that person, but I did want to create an emotional bond with the audience. I stepped in front of the camera and sat down, staring at the blinking light. I felt like I was on trial and that was a good reflection of the situation in general. The viewers would be my jury, whether I liked it or not.
“I was fairly shocked when Charles Montgomery announced he was stepping down as the host of Seven Roses and joining us as the seventh contestant—of course I was more surprised by what I found out after that.” I paused and let out a sigh. “A game where the only way to win is if we all win—and by winning, we have to agree to an arrangement unlike anything I ever considered before I walked into the Seven Roses mansion.”
That part is true, but it’s time to put my acting skills to use.
“At this point, I’m not sure which direction I will take. I’m not completely put off by the idea. It could be interesting.” I paused again, to give them time to edit around it if they wanted. “All seven of the guys I am here with are incredible. They’re intriguing and interesting—I honestly can’t wait to spend time with all of them and see if this arrangement can work.”
Hopefully they buy that and don’t see right through me. I don’t see any way I could say yes to this agreement, but suspense is everything.
“I had my first date last night with Markus and I guess you could say it went very well.” My lips turned to a grin as I paused. “Markus took my virginity. I didn’t plan on it happening when the date began, but I can’t deny that I’ve been attracted to Markus since I first saw on him Seven Roses. After spending time with him, that attraction grew into something more. Where will it go? I’m not sure. There is no relationship waiting for me when Seven Roses ends. Either I end up with all seven of the guys or I go home alone.”
I hoped my narrative would give the producers enough material to splice into something that would work as my backstage interview. I was used to seeing the scenes strung together to create dramatic effect when I watched the show, so I knew they would do the same with what I said. When I stood up and left the camera room, Henry Bennett was nowhere to be seen. I went to the kitchen and found breakfast prepared, so I grabbed a plate and scarfed down some food before heading back to my room.
I didn’t see any of the guys anywhere, so I decided to relax for a little bit before my afternoon date with Dawson. I was interested in seeing where he would take me. My thoughts were on Markus, but I realized I had to let that go and give Dawson a fair chance. Some of the songs his band sang defined my youth. It was strange to think that there really wasn’t that much of an age difference between us. I just always saw him as older because he was successful, but he was doing things at sixteen I never dreamed of—touring the world, selling out arenas—and likely bedding more women than he had ever been able to count.
Okay, it looks like it’s time.
I grabbed my jacket and headed downstairs. I wasn’t sure if it would be warm where we were going, or cold. We were hitting the point where it was cold in Chicago, but warm when the sun was actually peeking through the clouds. I walked down the stairs and found Dawson waiting for me in the lobby. He wasn’t dressed up in anything fancy. His jeans weren’t torn, which was a pretty big upgrade for him, and he had a collared shirt on instead of a t-shirt with something related to his band.
He smiled when I approached and hugged me before helping me into my jacket and grabbing his from the hook behind the door. He held open the front door and we started walking towards the waiting car. It wasn’t as cold as I expected and the sun was out, so I peeled off my jacket when I got to the car. The driver held open the door and I climbed inside, followed by Dawson. Instead of champagne, I found a few bottles of water, some beer, and a picnic basket. I looked over at Dawson and then back to the picnic basket.
“Yep.” He nodded. “I’m taking you on a picnic.”
“That is definitely not what I expected.” I smiled and tilted my head. “It’s kind of sweet.”
“I’ll admit that romance isn’t really my thing. I normally just start singing and panties start flying.” He chuckled and looked at me with a grin. “Want a beer?”
“It isn’t even noon...” I watched as he twisted the top off of one and took a quick drink.
“Who cares.” He shrugged. “I’m not offering you liquor.”
“I’ll stick with water.” I reached for a bottle, but he beat me to it. He removed the cap and handed it to me. “Thank you.”
The date with Dawson was definitely starting off differently than I imagined. In my head, he was just going to grab his guitar and try to charm me out of my panties with one of his songs. The fact he was making an effort to do something different was a little more romantic than I expected.
The driver drove us past the skyscrapers until we were at one of the parks near Lake Michigan. When the doors opened, I felt a bit more of a chill. The wind coming off the lake definitely wasn’t warm, but it wasn’t bad once I got used to it. Growing up in Chicago had made me fairly resilient to anything above freezing.
Dawson carried the picnic basket, along with a blanket, and we walked to a quiet part of the park where he spread the blanket out and took a seat. I sat down with my legs crossed and pulled my dress past my knees. The picnic basket had sandwiches, wine, beer, and a bag of chips. He served me my food on a paper plate and then we started eating. I had resisted drinking in the car, but the moment felt right, so I let him pour me a glass of wine before he started on another beer.
“So, I’m sure you heard all about my life when you watched my date with Markus last night, so tell me about yourself. Who is the man behind Mars Landing?” I bit into my sandwich and looked at him.
“The man behind Mars Landing is pretty much the guy you see in front of you. I didn’t have a traditional childhood, I’ll admit. I grew up in North Carolina. My father was a guitarist and my mother was a singer—they were both in a bluegrass band.” He smiled and shrugged. “I was on stage when I was five, belting out the lyrics to Johnny Cash songs.”
“Wait a minute.” I held my hand up in surprise. “Country music? Bluegrass?”
“Yeah.” He chuckled and nodded. “My agent probably won’t like it when I admit this on national television, but that’s all I really listen to personally. When I was fourteen, I hit a bit of a rebellious streak and started performing with some of my friends, mostly covering eighties hair bands. It wasn’t my passion, but when the guy from the record company said he liked our style, I kind of got pulled into what became Mars Landing.”
“You have creative freedom now, though. You’re successful. Why don’t you just do what you love?” I picked up my glass of wine and sipped it.
“One day I will.” He nodded and took a drink of his beer. “I just don’t want to lose the momentum I’ve got going. Every time I make an album, I say it’s going to be the last one, but when the tours sell out—it’s hard to just give that up.”
“Interesting...” I bit into my sandwich again.
There were more layers to Dawson Mars than I realized. I was happy to see that he felt comfortable enough with me to open up, even if we were on our first date. I knew a lot about Markus, but Dawson was a bit of a mystery.
It was easy for my date with Markus to fade into the back of my mind when I was with Dawson. He was very charming and his voice was so smooth. I started to question my decision to sleep with Markus without even considering the other guys. I knew what I wanted in that moment, but once I was with Dawson, my thoughts were starting to clash. I was attracted to Dawson for sure and it was almost like another fantasy coming to life. Dating a famous rock star was certainly intriguing, but I also knew his history with women. Even he admitted he wasn’t that good of a boyfriend when he was on the road. Trust would be difficult. There were always going to be women throwing themselves at him, regardless of where he went, and that meant I would have to worry about him being true to me.
We finally finished our food and he started packing things back into
the picnic basket.
“So, how would you like to lose these cameras for a little bit?” He looked at me with the picnic basket in his hand.
“What do you mean?” I looked over at the crew.
“Follow me.” Dawson took me by the hand and helped me up.
“Where are we going?” We started walking rather fast and the crew struggled to get all of their equipment together to follow us.
“Up...” He turned to me and smiled.
I had no idea what he meant by that at first. Up? How the heck were we going up? When we got to the edge of the park, I saw a hot air balloon that I hadn’t really noticed before. It was nothing but scenery when I arrived. Dawson ran over to it and handed some money to the man standing next to it. He motioned for me to follow and I looked back at the crew. They were gaining on us and my heart was pounding in my chest from the excitement of the chase. Dawson climbed into the hot air balloon and extended his hand. I had never been in one before and I always wondered what it would be like. It was Dawson’s date and if he wanted to take me up into the clouds, then I was willing to go.
I reached out for his hand and let him help me into the large basket. He started firing it up and the man on the ground quickly began removing the weights. The crew got to us, but they had no way to follow us into the hot air balloon. They waved and shrugged before pointing the camera at us to catch the launch. When the weights were moved, the balloon started to ascend slowly up towards the sky.
“You planned this?” I looked at Dawson in surprise.
“This is one of my hobbies.” He grinned. “I was planning to work it into a show one day, but I never found the right venue.”
“Mars Landing? Literally landing?” I chuckled. “Cute.”
“See, you get it.” He smiled and moved closer to me once the hot air balloon was sailing over Lake Michigan. “Now that we are alone and the cameras are not following us, tell me what you really think about Charles Montgomery’s crazy idea.”
Seven Roses: Reverse Harem Romance Page 6