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)
He isn’t some nice guy. He’s a guy like all the rest. He is cynical and wouldn’t believe a word I said, and that was that.
No. It’s better this way. It’s better that I see who he truly is. I won’t be mooning over the man anymore. I’ll throw the condoms at his face when he asks for them, and I’ll buy the cheapest ones and the smallest size. Nothing will be lubed for her pleasure. Nothing.
“Wait. So you’re going to have to go back to work?” Hannah asks. “I thought we went to a hotel until after the shooting’s over.”
“They usually let the ones who are eliminated very early go home,” I say as we approach the right doors. I know they’re right because there’s a whole army of entertainment professionals hanging around this particular hallway. Also, I see Luca disappear behind the ornate doors. “They’re not allowed to talk about what happened, but the first few aren’t sequestered like the later contestants will be. In my case, I’ll rejoin the production crew.”
“That’s going to be weird.” Hannah stops in the middle of the hall. “I don’t think I like that. You haven’t really had a chance with him.”
I can’t tell her how much of a chance I’ve had with the man and how completely screwed up it had been.
It hadn’t seemed screwed up at the time. It had seemed magical.
“Yeah, I don’t think you got time with him all night,” Ashley is saying as we approach the table where craft services is set up. “Everyone has pulled him aside at least once. Of course then Janice comes and steals him away. She did it three times tonight. It was rude. Not even Shelby did that, though I’m pretty sure she already kissed him.”
That’s a kick to the gut. I don’t want to think about the fact that he’d declined to kiss me but he’s been all over Shelby.
I focus on the table in front of me so I won’t show anyone that I have stupid tears in my eyes.
It is mean that they set up all the real food away from where the contestants could sneak a chicken tender or shove some fries down their throats. No. We’re supposed to have canapés and carrot sticks because we have to fit into dresses like the one I’m wearing.
I’m seriously considering slipping a couple of sandwiches down my golden tube dress because I know how long this is going to take and I need some fuel. I’m about to snatch one when a familiar face appears.
“Hey, baby. You look real good. I think it was stupid smart of you to fall like that. You want a cookie?”
My mom. My mother is standing at the craft services table, and my day is complete.
“What are you doing here?” I stand there, sure my jaw is hanging open.
“I could use a cookie,” Hannah says. “I’m not all that into vegetables. I was hoping for mini burgers.”
Ashley F snorts. “Girl, you are going to have a rough couple of weeks.”
“I’m working, baby,” my mom says, offering Hannah a chocolate chip cookie. “And you, young lady, are welcome to come to my table and grab some real food. I’m afraid if you’re in that mansion you have to cook for yourself, and I caught sight of the way they stocked the refrigerator. It’s very healthy, if you know what I mean. Why are so many of you vegan?”
I do not have time for my mom’s antics. “You didn’t mention you got the contract for this production.”
She shrugs. “You didn’t mention you were going on a reality show so you could marry a king. He’s hot.”
“He’s too pretty.” My mother’s best friend and longtime business partner, Tonya, walks up with a big batch of what I suspect is her pasta salad. It’s a recipe she’s perfected over the many long years she and my mom have been in the business. “Ani, I thought you were dating that lawyer.”
“That was last year,” my mom says. “I thought she was giving matchmaking a try. You know she recently became a client of Lydia Marino’s. I know. I was shocked, too. I thought she only took Italian Catholics. Maybe if I’d known she would match up Swedish Lutherans, I wouldn’t have wasted all that time with Bill.”
My dad. Sure. That’s great to hear. That divorce is the gift that keeps on giving.
This is a problem I will have to deal with later. But I will take a cookie. It’s better than nothing. “We have to be on set. If we’re not, Patrick might kill me. Mom, I will talk to you tomorrow when I’m back to my real job.”
“What does that mean?” Mom asks with a frown.
My mother being here is a wrinkle I certainly haven’t counted on, but it’s meaningless in the grand scheme of things. I love my mom. She’s wonderful, but she can be a lot. However, she also feeds the crew, and she’s done it well for years. Everyone loves my mom and Tonya.