Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 103159 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 516(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103159 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 516(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
I shrugged as the elevator door opened. “All you proved by dressing me up like a doll is that Hunter’s just like any other man. His head turns easily.”
“That’s not true,” Rose argued, anger lacing her voice.
Jack gently took my elbow and brought me to a stop. “Kipton, I don’t care what you and Hunter do after the show. There’s just one thing I need to know before we go on.”
“What’s that?” I asked in a weary voice.
“Are you going to be able to keep watching him go on these dates? Are you going to be able to stay neutral when Hunter has a successful date or kisses another woman?”
I let out a bark of laughter. “Jack, you seem to be forgetting one very important thing.”
He lifted a brow as Rose asked, “What?”
Glancing between the two of them…a horrified feeling swept over me when I suddenly realized I wanted to cry. I held my emotions in check and looked Jack directly in the eyes.
“We’re not together. Hunter has never even hinted at being interested in anything other than friendship, all his supposed stares notwithstanding. Plus, you hired me to do a job, and that’s what I’m going to do. To answer your question—yes, I will be able to stay neutral and do the job I was contracted to do. And when it’s all over, I will go back to my home and forget about this experiment.”
I started to continue down the hall, Jack and Rose following. “It’s the last room on the left,” Rose said.
Jack’s cell phone rang. “It’s Travis,” he told us before answering. “Hello?” He stopped abruptly. “Are you kidding me? She did what? I’ll be right down.”
Hitting End on his phone, he shoved a hand through his hair in frustration and sighed. “There’s a problem down in the lobby. Here’s the key. I’ll meet you both down there. Take your time, Kipton.”
“What happened?” I asked.
Looking even more tired than he was five minutes ago, Jack said, “Two of the girls got into a fist fight.”
Rose gasped and turned to me. “Do you need help changing? I’ve always wanted to see a cat fight in person!”
Jack frowned at Rose like she’d lost her mind, and I laughed. “Go. I am certainly capable of changing myself, thank you. Do I leave the key in the room?”
With a quick nod, Jack said, “Yes,” then pointed at Rose and added, “and you are not coming.”
Heading down the hall back toward the elevator, Rose practically ran to keep up with Jack. “Oh, yes, I am, and there’s nothing you can do about it!”
“Tie you up and leave you somewhere would be one solution.”
Rose laughed. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
The elevator doors opened, and they both entered with Jack saying something to Rose that I couldn’t make out.
With a shake of my head, I turned and headed to the room. If they didn’t end up sleeping together, I would honestly be surprised.
I held the key card up to the black box, and the door unlocked. When I stepped in, the room was pitch black. Travis said Hunter’s recap was short and sweet, but it must’ve been a really fast Truth Booth for the crew to have cleared out already. My eyes were having a hard time adjusting to the dark, so I flipped a light on.
When I turned toward the room, I let out a scream and pressed myself against the door.
“Oh my God!” I cried out, hand to my heart. “Hunter! What in the hell are you doing sitting in the dark?”
He gave me a lazy half smile. The kind that only lifted his lips at one end…and made my lower stomach heat in the most delicious of ways.
“I was waiting for you.”
Chapter Seventeen
HUNTER
What a fucked-up night it had turned out to be. Never mind Travis stuck in my ear nearly the entire night, telling me to enjoy myself, dance more, talk more. I thought these were supposed to be dates on my terms, not the damn producers’. I didn’t want to be in a damn Las Vegas nightclub. I wanted to be in Montana. Alone.
I sighed and pushed a hand through my hair. That was a lie.
I wanted to be with Kipton.
I wanted to watch her smile, hear her laugh, and dance with her again. My feelings for her were growing stronger by the day, and I wasn’t sure how much longer I could do this…pretend my breath didn’t catch every time she walked into a room. Act like my body didn’t come to life when she stood near me or touched me in the slightest way.
“Fuck,” I whispered as I sat down on the end of the bed with Paul sticking a camera in my face.
“You’re on in twenty,” Travis stated.
“Where’s Jack?” I asked.
“He’s taking care of an issue he caused.”