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)
That is none of her business. At least not here. When we have our after-show sleepover debrief complete with wine and cheesecake, I’ll tell Ivy and Harper everything in way too much detail. “In an ‘I want to see where this thing goes’ way. I’m honestly okay. How did you manage this? I didn’t know it was on the schedule.”
“CeCe strong-armed your big boss into it,” Ivy explains. “She’s known Jessica for years. I’m not sure if she convinced her it was an excellent idea or if she has some dirt on her. I wouldn’t put it past CeCe to blackmail someone. Anyway, I got what I wanted which is to see you, so that’s all I care about.”
“And you get to show off Emma,” I point out.
Ivy’s eyes light up. “I do. She’s performing exactly how she should, by the way. I’ve been working on her language skills. She’s got a great personality, if I do say so myself.”
“You call that a great personality?” Joe walks up to us, a look of concern on his face. “Couldn’t you tweak her so she’s nicer about her matches? She hasn’t said a single one of the contestants would be a great match for the king. I need something to work with. The only one she’s been positive about is Ashley F, and I’m almost certain she’s leaving soon.”
Does he know something I don’t? Maybe Luca’s right and he understands the inner workings of this process better than I do. I know how things work from a production standpoint, but not how they’re orchestrating things from the inside.
“Emma tells it like it is.” Ivy gives him a shrug, and we start walking toward the office set where Heath seems to be showing Luca how Emma works.
“Did she have to point out that she wouldn’t pair Shelby with Satan because no one deserves that kind of drama in his life?” Joe asks.
I bite back a laugh because no wonder Shelby was pissed.
“Hey, she’s the one who filled out the forms,” Ivy replies.
“That didn’t come from forms.” Heath’s head comes up, and he waves my way. “Hey, Ani.”
Luca is looking my way, too, a sexy smile on his face. Even though there’s distance between us, I can practically feel his hands on me.
“What do you mean?” Luca asks, though his eyes remain on me. There’s a small couch in front of the laptop that represents Emma. On screen it will look like we’re in a cozy office, not on a large set with a team of fifteen people working around us. Sometimes when I’m with Luca, I forget, too.
“Part of Emma’s process is to scour the Internet for a client’s social media and anything else she can find.” Ivy moves in around the desk, joining Heath. “Which is how she found out Shelby has asked for a lot of managers in her time.”
“There’s a whole TikTok profile set up exclusively for her,” Heath agrees. “She’s been screaming at retail workers for years. And did you know she’s banned from four different Starbucks?”
“Shelby is here for very specific reasons,” Joe allows.
“You needed a cast-iron bitch,” Ivy replies. “Hey, no offense. I’ve totally been the cast-iron bitch in the reality show of my life. The point is that Emma looks at any number of factors to make her determinations. Shelby’s Internet footprint was a big one. I thought the Satan thing was clever of her.”
I happen to know that Emma is listening at all times. I often worry that at some point Emma will become self-aware and decide to take over the world, so I’m polite to her. “Emma, could you maybe use softer words during this assignment?”
The screen lights up, and a voice that sounds oddly like Heath’s grandma comes out from the speakers. “Mom taught me that I need to speak my truth. Unvarnished and unapologetically. The advice I give is scientific and based on logic and reason.”
That’s a new feature. “Mom?”
Ivy’s eyes roll.
Heath’s whole face lights up. “It’s because she’s our baby.”
“She’s the only baby you’re ever having if you don’t get her to stop calling me Mom,” Ivy says between clenched teeth.
Heath is unmoved by that threat. “Nah. I’ll convince her we need a dog soon.”
Joe sighs. “Well, I’ll have to edit this so it looks like we’ve got some good candidates. What does she have to say about Anika? I’d like to know beforehand if I’m going to deal with another contestant walking out in the middle of the scene.”
Luca moves to the couch and holds his hand out for me to join him.
I sit beside him, and he leans in.
“Hello, Schatz. You look gorgeous today,” he whispers. “I don’t care what the computer says. Remember that. She can be quite mean. And I think she thinks Riley isn’t into men.”
My anxiety notches up. What if Emma decides my perfectly normal obsession with Blake Lively means I’m into girls with ridiculously beautiful hair? I mean I wouldn’t say no, but that only means I have eyes and am not a zero on the Kinsey scale. “What has she said about you? Or is she only tearing us apart?”