The room was spinning and my legs seemed to have stopped working, but I managed to shuffle toward him. He turned the phone around. Through the gritty and dark haze of the video, I could see two figures . . . in a pool . . . having sex.”
I swayed on my feet and tried to take a deep breath to steady myself, but it only made me dizzier.
Doug stopped the video. I nearly stumbled forward in relief not to have to see any more of it.
“This is Peyton’s phone. She and a member of the security team were in the Eastern Estate last night. I’m sure you can figure that out what they were doing there. But Peyton is only a temporary member of the staff. She’ll be leaving us this week at the invitation party. But thanks to this tape, I had to pay her ten times the amount. I had to pay expensive lawyers to come up with a nondisclosure contract just for this special circumstance.” He dropped the phone on the desk and stepped closer.
I moved discretely back a step.
“I don’t have the fucking time right now to bring the union in on an employee termination—”
Nausea went through me as he spit out the word termination. But I had no response, no argument and nothing to say in my defense. The words wouldn’t have left my parched throat even if I’d found them.
“You’ll take Walt’s position as studio runner until the season is over. And you will stay clear of Rafe for good. If you can keep your fucking panties on for the rest of the season, I will see about finding you a position in the corporate office mailroom, a demotion but a well-deserved one. Am I fucking clear?”
Tears flowed down my face as I nodded. I had to work hard to keep from crumbling into a million pieces on the floor. I turned around and tried to move my feet. The door swung open. Rafe’s face was tight with worry. His gaze landed on me. He smacked the door open wider and stepped into the office.
Doug quickly walked around to his desk as if he desperately wanted to put a barrier between himself and the raging giant who’d just stormed into the office. Then he pulled out his arsenal of legal weapons. “It’s all on video, Rockclyffe, but I’ve taken care of it. I’m not letting this season end up in disaster. That would be the end of the show.”
“It’s all my fault. Don’t take this out on Eliot. I was bored. I needed some entertainment, and Eliot was there.”
“Let me deal with my employees. You figure out how you’re going to keep yourself from a big fucking lawsuit at the end of this show. Actually, I will tell you how. You will pick a wife from the house on that hill, and you will make it look legitimate for six months. Then you and I never have to see each other again. And if you don’t make it all look romantic and real, this little mouse will be out of a job.”
Rafe stomped toward him with clenched fists. Doug picked up his phone. “If I call security, things are going to take a very ugly turn.” A laugh shot from his mouth. “Can’t believe you’d be this angry over someone like her,” he said the last words with such an ugly sneer I couldn’t take any more. I ran past Rafe and headed straight to my car.
Chapter 31
Rafe
Janelle stretched her legs out across the picnic blanket and lifted her face to the sun. “It’s such a beautiful day. I’m going to miss California weather.” She sat forward with a smile. “By the way, my parents thought you were wonderful. A real Prince Charming, were the words my mom used.”
“They were really great. I felt completely welcome in their house.” I’d gotten through the family visits, and I was heading toward the homestretch. And a stretch it was. Even the camera crew looked bored with it all. I couldn’t fucking wait for it all to be over. Tonight I’d be handing invitations to Janelle and Nina. Lilly and Roxanne would be heading home. Meeting parents and siblings and family pets would make tonight extra hard. There was something so formal and official about meeting parents, which I supposed was the whole point of flying me around the country. It would make it that much more dramatic when I sent two women home.
Janelle hopped up on her knees with a shriek. “Ooh a spider!” She pointed to the creature as it made its way across the fuzzy blanket.
As I leaned forward to brush it onto the grass, Janelle squashed it with her sandal. She sat back with a triumphant smile.
I stared down at the flattened spider. “Why’d you kill it?”
She laughed. “Because it was on our blanket.”
I waved my hand around at the grassy hillside. “Yes, because we are in its garden.”
Janelle shrugged. “It’s a spider.”
For the millionth time in the last few weeks, I glanced around at the crew hoping just to get a glimpse of the one face I needed to see. She was rarely near the cameras anymore. It was probably for the best that I didn’t see her. It hurt like hell, especially knowing that my stupidity and selfishness had made her hard life even harder. Still, there wasn’t a moment in the day when I wasn’t thinking about her.
Cue cards were letting us know we needed to end the scene with a kiss. I stood and gave Janelle a hand up. She immediately threw her arms around my neck for the kiss.
“That’s a wrap,” Doug called.
Janelle stayed wrapped around me.
“I need a drink of water,” I told her.
“Great. Me too.” She followed along next to me as we headed to the food tent.
Janelle grabbed my arm. “I’ll be right back. I need to go to the ladies’ room.”
“No problem. I’m going to look for Walt. He was picking me up a burger.” I was relieved to be done with filming for the day. I would head back to the house, drown myself in beer and wait for the next day. With each passing day, I was one step closer to freedom. I had two women waiting for one proposal, and I still had no fucking clue which one I’d pick. I didn’t want to hurt either one, but it seemed, eventually, I’d be hurting them both.
I headed in the direction of the equipment trucks to look for Walt.
I rounded the corner of the food tent. We nearly smacked directly into each other. Eliot’s fingers trembled as she reached up and brushed aside the curl.
It took me a second to speak. “El, how are you?”
She looked around briefly to make sure no one saw us talking. “Good. I’m good. I—I should go. Good luck with the finale.”
She sidled past me. I had no fucking right at all to touch her, but I couldn’t stop myself. I took hold of her hand. She stared at the ground, refusing to look at me.
“Please, Rafe,” she whispered.
I released her hand, and she hurried away.
Chapter 32
Eliot
I was a terrible friend, but I couldn’t work up enthusiasm for the amazing fairy tale set Jackson had helped create for the finale. It was just too hard. I felt as if a cold, dreary cloud was following me wherever I went.
Waiting for the season to wrap up had been the longest five weeks of my life. In the past, I’d rarely given any thought to the finale. This year it was like the final chop from a slow-motion guillotine, but instead of my head on the block, it was my heart. After that nightmarish moment in Doug’s office, when my world came crashing down, an event that was second only to the accident, I’d kept my head low and my heart sealed in metal armor. When I wasn’t running around doing inane errands like picking up Doug’s dry cleaning and Kiley’s coffee order, I was working hard to stay invisible, not just from Rafe but from my coworkers. Fortunately, I had a lot of practice at staying invisible.
It was nearly impossible to keep rumors from making the rounds in a television studio. Even though Doug took extra measures to make sure no one found out about the sex scene in the pool, a crew shake up mid season was unusual. My sudden demotion to runner had fired up plenty of juicy stories. Only Jackson knew a very abbreviated version of the fiasco.
Jackson found me sitting in the locker room, trying to focus on my textbook. He was carrying a
glass of champagne. He placed it down on the table next to my book. “There was extra, and I thought you could use a little buzz.”
I stared at the fizzy amber liquid. “To be honest, Jackson, I don’t think I can keep anything down today.”
He yanked out a chair and sat. “One more show and this long, ugly season will be over.” He drank the champagne. “Have you heard anything on the job front?”
Tears burned my eyes the second he asked the question. “I’m moving to the corporate office mailroom. I suppose I should be grateful I didn’t get fired, but I’ll have to look for a third job or move back in with my mom. I should just pat myself on the back for making sure my life goes perfectly awry at every turn. That’s about the only success I’ve had. Instead of making gold from straw, I make straw from gold.”
Jackson leaned over with a hug. “O.K. Rumplestiltskin, we need to yank you from this pity party.” He sat back and brushed the curl from my forehead. “Now, whether or not you want my advice, I’m going to give it. And hear me out before you shut me down. I think you should come out to the set and watch the finale.”
I opened my mouth, but he raised an admonishing brow to stop me.
“It’ll be closure for you, Eliot. Rafe will pick his bride to be, and it will be the last chapter of this sad story. Then you can move on.”
I took a deep breath, but it did nothing to relieve the ache in my chest. “I don’t think I can watch. Guess the odds are still on Janelle?” I asked, not truly wanting to know.
Jackson’s mouth formed an O. “That’s right. You didn’t see any of the last reel.”
“What happened?”
“It was all kind of strange. Rafe and Janelle were having a nice, intimate lunch on the lawn when something crawled across the picnic blanket.” He put up his hands. “Not part of the set, I promise.” He lowered them. “I’ve heard it was a spider. Of course with the way rumors grow around here, by the end of the day it wasn’t just a spider but a tarantula. Anyhow, Janelle smashed the thing with her sandal.” Jackson clapped his hands together to reenact the drama in case the words weren’t enough.
“That was the big event? A spider execution?”
“That’s the whole thing. It was just a spider, but Rafe’s entire demeanor changed after she killed it. He seemed kind of pissed at her and mentioned that they were sitting in the spider’s garden. Anyhow, some of us were thinking that might have been all that was needed for Rafe to uncheck the Janelle box. Guess we’ll find out—” He lifted his wrist to glance at his watch. “In five minutes. The proposal is starting and I want to get a good viewing spot.” He stood up and stared down at me. “Eliot, come with me. I wouldn’t tell you to come if I didn’t think it would be good for you. Closure. Otherwise, this might eat you up for a long time, and frankly, I’m not loving the morose, droopy faced Eliot all that much.”
“I’m sorry, Jackson. I’ll try to be less droopy soon. But for now, you’re on your own out there.”
He walked out reluctantly, and I was left to wallow in my quiet solitude. After reading the same sentence of my textbook three times, I slammed it shut and rested back against the chair. The door to the locker room opened.
Leo popped his head inside. “Thought I heard someone in here. Doug wants everyone out of the buildings while the live show is filming.”
“What? Why?”
“Some new security rule.” He held the door open. “So out.”
I got up from the chair and trudged out of the locker room, down the hall and outside into the warm evening air. I could see the blinking lights that let everyone on set know the live cameras were rolling. From my vantage point, I could see the long strands of crystals and rose vines that had been hung in the trees to create the perfect fairy tale ambiance for the finale. As my eyes coasted over the heads of the onlookers, I caught sight of the tall, dark head, the focal point of the proposal. My knees turned to jelly at the sight of him. He was wearing a suit, and he looked nothing short of heartbreaking.
I took a deep breath and ordered myself to not cry. Then I willed my feet forward, deciding there was some truth to Jackson’s theory about closure. Maybe if I saw the actual proposal and kiss, I’d be able to put this all behind me.
It was only a fifty yard walk, but it seemed to take me hours to get to the place along the sidelines where Jackson was standing. He reached around my shoulder and gave me a silent hug. It was quiet enough on set that the only sounds were the high heels of the two women as they walked over the silver and pink bridge. They both looked stunning and nervous.
I finally found the courage to look at Rafe. For the briefest second, it seemed his eyes were on me, but I brushed away the notion. I was just one of the faces in the crowd today. I had no doubt he was thrilled to have gotten to the end of this. And he had two amazing women waiting for him to propose.
He looked a little less composed as he stood in front of the two finalists. They both stared up at him with starry gazes. I was sure there were millions of fans sitting at their viewing parties with the same starry gazes.
“Janelle, Nina.” Hearing his smooth, deep voice sent a wave of pain through me.
“Let me start by saying that you are both beautiful and fascinating women. Truly incredible. It’s been a fun, interesting journey, and one that I’ll never forget.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the black velvet box. The silence around the set was deafening as he opened it. The ring sparkled in the candlelight.
I could see Rafe’s broad shoulders lift and fall with a deep breath. “I confess I came here on a bet, a dare from a friend.”
Some of the onlookers cast questioning looks at each other. I was surprised by his admission too.
His deep voice floated through the night again. “But the last thing I expected when I started this journey . . . was to fall in love.”
His words sent a vibration of excitement around the set. But for me, the words felt like heavy stones dropped from the sky.
“But I did fall in love, head over heels in love.”
Suddenly, the closure theory was starting to look like a bad idea. I blotted out the rest of Rafe’s words, no longer wanting to hear about his choice. “I’m leaving,” I whispered to Jackson and turned to leave.
Jackson grabbed roughly hold of my hand before I could walk away. His eyes were nearly popping from his face. I followed his line of vision and the ground trembled beneath my feet. Rafe was walking toward us. The cameras were still rolling and the shocked gasps of the onlookers nearly created a vacuum of sound.
I held tightly to Jackson. “Don’t leave me,” I whispered from the side of my mouth. I released him. “Yes, leave.” I grabbed him again. “Wait, don’t leave. Holy shit, pinch me.”
Jackson gave me a light pinch and stepped out of the way just as Rafe reached me.
My heart melted as I peered up at him. “I’m so gonna lose my job this time.”
Rafe smiled. “I hope so. It’s a really long commute from Frisco.”
“So I guess Leo made up the new security rule.”
“I promised him a hundred bucks if he could come up with a way to get you outside.”
The cameras were glued to us. Shocked rumblings made their way around the set. Then everything after that blurred. The only thing I could see and hear clearly was the man in front of me.
“Eliot, I want you to be my chum, my best friend, my lover and my soul mate.” He dropped onto one knee. Then he slipped the velvet box into his coat and pulled out a wooden box. He opened it. The stunning ring had aqua blue sapphires circled around a diamond.
“I had it made to match your eyes.”
My shoulders shook. I had no idea how I managed to stay standing upright.
Rafe took the ring from the box and reached for my hand. “Eliot Hamptom, I love you and I want to spend the rest of m
y life with you. Will you marry me?”
“Yes,” I sobbed. “I will.”
He slid the ring onto my finger. I lifted it to get a closer look. “But how did you manage this?”
That cocky smile that I’d grown to adore appeared. “Army ranger, remember?”
He got to his feet and I threw my arms around him. As we kissed, I was only vaguely aware of the chaos swirling around us.
I peered up at Rafe and still needed a good pinch just to make sure it was all real. “Are you sure about this?”
“Never been more sure about anything.”
I pressed myself tighter in his arms. “I guess you really are my bachelor.”
Jackson raced over with his phone in the air and looking as if he might just faint. “They’re filling in some air time with highlights while Doug finishes having his stroke.”
“I’ll bet he’s got that lawyer on speed dial,” Rafe added.
Jackson could barely catch his breath as he grabbed me and gave me a hug that nearly knocked me over. “Tricia texted me from the media office. At first the fans were a little put off and a lot of WTF tweets followed, but when Tricia posted information about Eliot, mentioning that she was just a crew member—Boom. The online tone changed. Suddenly there was a true Cinderella story unfolding right on live television. The fans are losing their shit.”
“So I’m the new Cinder wench?” I smiled up at my prince. “Yep, I’m good with that.” I turned back to his arms, and he kissed me again.
Chapter 33
Eliot
6 months later
It was a picture perfect day. The towering pines lent both their shade and incredible scent to the crisp mountain air as Rafe and I climbed out of the car. Two chipmunks played a game of tag as they raced past me toward the nearest tree.
“Looks like our wedding guests just took off up the side of a pine tree.”