Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 95609 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 478(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95609 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 478(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
So Ivy or Harper had been by, and I wasn’t able to see them again. And I hadn’t noticed anything wrong with my electricity. Of course I’d been way too busy the night before worrying about my chemistry with a certain royal to explore the room.
It is one more reminder that my life is not currently my own. I get privacy when it’s convenient for everyone else.
“Thanks.” I start up the stairs as Lily tries to referee the dinner argument.
We have the night off. At least some of us do until Hannah returns from her date, and then we’re supposed to do some shots of us talking to her about how the date went. She’s specifically asked if Ashley F and I would join her for those scenes. You know the ones where she swoons and we smile like we’re not all trying to marry the same dude.
Pure fantasy.
I trudge up the stairs, hopeful that the construction person will finish the job soon because I could use some alone time. It’s been a long day, and I still have cameras to smile for. I’m starting to think I’m on a wild-goose chase when it comes to Joseph Helms, but I have to find a way to investigate, and that means not fighting this whole process thing.
But I don’t intend to be an entirely good girl since they want us to all hang out together, and I’m going to hide in my room until I have to giggle with Hannah. I hope I have cute PJs. Ivy thinks a lot about comfort. She might only send me the overly large nightgowns that make me look like I’m ready to go to bed in 1897. I stand by them, though. They are warm and comfy.
But I’m all about the camera now.
I walk into my room, and my heart threatens to stop. I didn’t realize until this moment how lonely I’ve been. Oh, I’m surrounded by people. So many people, but not a one of them knows me. The only one who it feels like knows me is Luca, which is probably why I want to be around him so much.
But the woman currently standing on a stepladder working on the chandelier in the center of the ceiling knows me. She’s known me since we were six years old.
“Harper.” I put down the meatballs, and the world gets kind of watery.
“Hey. You’re back.” She sets down the small pliers she’s been using and hops off the ladder. “Ani, we’ve been so worried about you. They wouldn’t let us in to see you when we brought your clothes and makeup. Ivy even pulled out her cast-iron bitch routine and that man was not moving. Sweetie, are you okay?”
I take this moment to burst into tears. It feels good. It feels freeing to be able to cry and not worry that there’s a camera picking up my every emotion and logging it for later drama. Harper’s arms close around me, and I feel like I can breathe for the first time in days.
Half an hour later, we’re sitting on the bed, all of Ashley F’s good work drowned in my crying jag.
“So you went on the group date this morning and now he’s on a date with the other women?” Harper isn’t a big follower of this kind of reality TV. She prefers watching home reno shows where she nitpicks absolutely everything the hosts do. I’ve seen her throw popcorn at the screen because the host used the wrong wrench. In her opinion. I won’t even go into the laughing fits she has when they start talking budgets.
“No. He’s on a one-on-one with Hannah. That means they’re alone. I mean as alone as you can be with five cameras on you,” I explain. “At the end of the night he’s supposed to decide to keep her around or send her packing.”
Harper looks horrified. “So she will have to come back here and tell you the date went so badly she’s getting the boot? That seems harsh.”
It’s kind of worse than that. “Oh, no. If he sends her home, someone will come and pick up her stuff, and that will be how we find out she’s not coming back. No good-byes. Just the long limo ride to the hotel where they’ll sequester her so the press can’t figure out the elimination order. I know it sounds weird, but it’s a big deal. There are whole sites out there dedicated to spoiling every show.”
“So that’s why I had to sign that contract and turn over my cell phone,” Harper muses. “I didn’t read it. I know I should have, but it’s not like I’m trying to get a new job. I had to set eyes on you physically, and Ivy hasn’t managed to hack Pinnacle’s system to give us access to credentials.”