I was sore when I woke up, but it was the best kind of sore. My entire body felt as if I had been rubbed down, and even though Dash and I had spent most of the night tangled up together, I was already ready for another round.

Rolling onto my side, I took the opportunity to stare at him. He was asleep, his face calm and peaceful. The sheets were bunched up low around his hips, giving me a great view of his incredible body. I could have looked at him all day.

But I wanted to do more than just look. Sliding over towards him, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my body against his. Immediately I felt parts of his anatomy stir, his hands coming up to cup my ass.

“Good morning,” he said, his voice husky and unbearably sexy.

“Good morning,” I murmured back, my own hands traveling downward to stroke him underneath the sheet.

“Fuck,” he groaned, his hips moving along with my hand.

I laughed, teasing him. I wanted to stay here forever, wrapped up in our warm cocoon of sex and fun. I even allowed myself a moment to wonder what it would be like if this could be something more than just that, but before I could get too far into that fantasy, the door opened.

Luckily, I had remembered to put the chain on the door last night, keeping Lorna from actually entering the room.

“Shit,” I swore, scrambling out of bed.

“Paige?” Lorna’s voice came from the hallway. “Why is the door locked?”

“Sorry about that!” I called out, gathering Dash’s clothing off the floor and throwing them at him.

He, of course, was taking his sweet time getting out of bed and pulling on his clothes. His hair was deliciously rumpled, and all I wanted was to pull him back under the sheets and spend the day under the covers with him.

But that wasn’t going to happen.

“Paige?” Lorna knocked again. “Can you let me in?”

“Um, yeah, just a moment!” I said, scanning the room, wondering how the hell we were going to get Dash out of here without Lorna seeing him.

Then I spotted the sliding glass door which led out to a small balcony. I ran over, and shoved the door open. We were only on the second floor, and it wasn’t a far jump to get to the ground, especially if you climbed over the railing and shimmied your way down.

“You’ve got to be kidding.” Dash had come up behind me.

He was finishing getting dressed, pulling his shirt over his head.

“Do you have a better idea?” I demanded.

“We could just let your roommate in,” he offered, sliding his arms around my waist.

“Oh, sure.” I gave him a look. “Then I’ll get fired, and you’ll get kicked off the show.”

He frowned, and I knew that he saw that I was right.

“I hate this stupid show,” he muttered, and he began to climb over the railing.

“I know,” I told him, making sure to give him a kiss before he departed.

“Paige!” Lorna was still knocking on the door.

“Coming!” I called out again, glancing back at the door. When I turned to check on Dash, I found that he was gone.

I let out a breath, and ran back into the room.

“Sorry about that,” I told Lorna as I shut and unlatched the door.

“What took you so long?” she demanded, looking very put out, her arms crossed. “And why did you lock the door?”

“I thought I heard something last night,” I lied. “Like there were loud, drunken people in the hallway.”

Lorna gave me a look that indicated that she didn’t fully believe what I was selling, but she didn’t push the point any further.

“How was your night with Justin?” I asked, hoping to change the subject.

Thankfully it worked, and Lorna relaxed immediately, a smile spreading over her face.

“It was really nice,” she told me, flopping down on her bed. “He’s great.” Then she sat up and sniffed.

I froze, wondering if she could smell Dash’s deodorant, or something else.

“I think I need a shower,” she finally said. “I’m pretty sure I reek of sex.”

I bit my lip, knowing that if anyone reeked of sex, it was probably me.

“Sounds good,” I told her. “I’ll take the shower after yours.”

* * *

When we got to set, I found out that Dash wasn’t even going to be around that day. It was mostly one-on-one interviews with the remaining contestants, and some footage of all of them in the mansion together. I didn’t want to be disappointed that I wasn’t going to be seeing Dash, but it was hard not to when all that kept running through my head was the amazing night we had spent together.

I kept replaying each sexy, sensual moment.

“Are you OK?” Andrea asked me, startling me out of reliving my fantasies. “You’re all flushed. Are you getting sick?”

I didn’t have to put my hand to my forehead to know that I was burning up.

“I’m fine,” I told Andrea. “Just a little overheated.”

Understatement of the century.

“I need you to drop something off at Patrick’s office.” Andrea passed me a large notebook. “We need his signatures on these contracts.”

“You got it,” I told her, taking the delivery. “I’ll get this to him right away.”

“Great.” She looked at her watch. “And when you’re done, see if you can find Kimmie. We need to do her hot-seat interview, and no one’s been able to find her all morning.”

“I’m on it,” I said with confidence, pleased that Andrea seemed to be taking a real interest in me as an employee. I was definitely going to have that talk with her about my future in production.

Walking at a fast clip, I headed towards Patrick’s office, scanning all around me for signs of Kimmie. But she was nowhere to be found. Until I walked into Patrick’s office and found her. Naked. On top of the couch, on top of Patrick, riding him like a cowgirl.

Immediately I backed out of the office, hoping that Patrick, who had been grunting and groaning, facing away from the door, hadn’t seen me. The same couldn’t be said for Kimmie, whose expression of shock I had seen as I walked in on the rendezvous.

Shit.

I didn’t know what to do, so I ran away. Did I tell Andrea what I had seen? Did it matter? If anything, it made me feel a little bit better. Because all this really told me was that even the contestants knew the show was fake. They were all putting on a performance for the cameras. None of them thought they were here to fall in love. This whole thing was clearly a game for Kimmie. Or a job. Just like it was for Dash. And I couldn’t really begrudge Kimmie for screwing the producer behind the scenes when I was doing the same with the talent.

Could I?

In the end, I kept my mouth shut. I found Patrick’s assistant and gave the notebook to her, and the look we shared made it pretty clear that we both knew what happened in the producer’s office during down time.

But I couldn’t avoid Kimmie. Not only was she my contestant, but she had definitely seen me see her. And I had seen her see me see her. Still, I didn’t say anything when I finally got her in front of the cameras for her hot-seat interview.

“What are you hoping will happen tomorrow?” I asked, talking about the one-on-one dates that were planned for the next day.

Kimmie gave a soft little sigh, a total contrast from the intense glare she was always wearing when the camera was off.

“I’m just looking forward to spending more time with Dash,” she said, adding a little giggle that made me feel somewhat nauseous. “I really think we have something special.” She leaned forward, giving the impression that she was about to tell a secret. I already knew that Andrea was going to eat this footage up. “Can I be honest?” Kimmie asked, all wide eyes and faux innocence. “Dash might be the One.”

If I could be honest, I was thinking about puking right on her expensive stiletto heels. Considering a few hours ago she had been fucking our producer, I was pretty sure that when she said Dash was “the One,” she meant “the One to get her the fame she was chasing.”

After we finished up the interview—thirty minutes of Kimmie gushing about how wonderful Dash was—I ducked out of the room, ready to go back to the hotel and take a long hot shower, maybe even wash the image of Kimmie and Patrick out of my mind. But before I could, Kimmie was flagging me down.

“Paige, wait!” She linked her arm with mine as we walked down the hallway.

To anyone watching, they might have seen the two of us and thought we were in the midst of some friendly girl-talk. In reality, Kimmie’s nails were digging into my arm and I was grimacing through my smile.

“What do you want, Kimmie?” I asked, trying to keep my voice light.

She narrowed her eyes at me. “I just want to make sure that we have an understanding,” she said. “That if I keep your secret, you’ll keep mine.”

Did she know about Dash and I? I knew that she was suspicious—that had been clear the day before at the track when she accused me of flirting with him. Did she have proof that something had happened between us? Or was she just bluffing?

Either way, I didn’t want to risk it.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, giving her a meaningful look.

We stared at each other for a moment, and I couldn’t tell if she was going to push the topic further, or just let it go.

Luckily, she chose option B. Relaxing her grip on me, Kimmie patted my arm before releasing me and stepping back.

“I’m glad to hear that,” she said. “Because you should know that I’m in this to win.”

“So you’ve said,” I replied dryly.

She narrowed her eyes briefly and then gave me a big, fake smile.

“I’m glad we understand each other, then.”

Before I could respond, she flipped her hair over one shoulder and sauntered away. The whole interaction had made me queasy. I didn’t like the idea of us “understanding each other.” I didn’t want to be in the same situation that Kimmie was in, but I was. We were both hiding things from the show. Hiding things that could get us both in trouble.

With every day, it seemed like the lies I was hiding kept getting bigger and bigger.

Was it worth it?

Just then my phone buzzed.

Thinking of you, Dash had written. In my bed. Beneath me.

Suddenly my body got all hot and tingly, and all I could think about was the night before. And how good it had felt. And how badly I wanted it—wanted him—again.

So, yeah, it was worth it.