Leaving Dash alone on a beach with a handful of popped balloons should have made me feel a little better, but I was just exhausted. Thankfully, Lorna had ordered a pizza and a bunch of spicy chicken wings and had it delivered to our room. It arrived minutes after I did.

“This is exactly what I needed,” I told her, pulling a cheesy, everything-but-pineapple slice of pizza out of the box.

“Yeah, I heard that Andrea pulled you aside,” she told me.

The pizza burned the top of my mouth.

“Really?” I asked, fanning my mouth. “Who told you that?”

“Oh.” Lorna waved a hand. “Everyone knows. Everyone knows everything.”

That did not make me feel very good at all. It must have shown on my face because Lorna reached over and patted me on the knee.

“Don’t worry about it, honey. Everyone gets pulled aside by Andrea at least once during a season. Especially if you’re new. What was it about?”

“Nothing much. Just, you know, work hard, do a good job. The usual pep talk,” I lied. The last thing I needed was the entire crew watching me and how I interacted with Dash. Not that I planned on interacting with him anymore. He just needed to stop following me around.

There was a knock at the door.

“Justin!” Lorna said with obvious excitement, leaping up and opening the door.

Great. Of course tonight would be the night that they finally hooked up, and I would be sentenced to the hallway during their booty call. But before I could gather up the pizza and make a gracious exit, Justin beckoned us both with a wide smile.

“Come on,” he said, clearly excited. “There’s drama going down at the mansion. It’s all hands on deck.”

* * *

We rushed over, while Justin filled us in on all the gory details. Apparently the party hadn’t ended after the eliminated contestants had been sent home, their tears still drying on their cheeks. The girls who had been chosen to stay had returned to the mansion and were now celebrating, drinking, and dancing. “It’s the perfect opportunity to get some really dramatic footage,” Justin said with relish. “This is when the claws come out.”

The party was in full swing when we arrived. The bikinis were back on, and everyone was hanging around the pool, drinking and laughing. At first glance, it seemed that all the girls were having a good time, but upon closer examination, it was pretty clear that there was some tension, and that they were all starting to seriously size each other up.

Jasmine was the first of my girls that I spotted. She looked fantastic—as always—in a gorgeous beachy wrap dress that was sheer enough to get a hint of her incredible body and the bikini she was wearing, but also made her stand out a little from all the other girls who were prancing around half-naked.

And even though she had a glass of wine, I could tell that she wasn’t nearly as inebriated as some of the others—especially the ones who were trying to reenact the hot tub scene from Showgirls—and spraying water all over the place in the process.

“Hey.” I pulled her aside. “Got a moment for some interviews?”

“Sure.” Jasmine beamed. I brought her to the confessional gazebo, where the camera crew had already set up.

“So, how does it feel to be one of the ten girls chosen?” I asked her.

“I’m just really grateful for a chance to get to know Dash better,” Jasmine said diplomatically. “And to spend more time with the girls. I feel like I’ve become pretty good friends with some of them.”

“Isn’t it hard, then, knowing that you’re competing for the same guy?” I wanted to know.

Jasmine laughed. “It should be, right?” She took a sip of wine. “I don’t know, I’m just having such a good time, I haven’t even thought of it as a competition. Maybe it’s because I’m so used to competing with other women for one thing.”

“Because you’ve been in pageants,” I prompted, knowing that we should work the pageant girl angle.

“Because I’ve been in pageants,” Jasmine added gamely. “And I’ve always had so much fun doing them—I try not to let the competition aspect keep me from making friends and having a good time.” Then she leaned forward and gave the camera a conspiratorial smile. “But maybe it’s easy for me, because I always win.”

Bingo. It was the perfect sound bite. I made a note of it, and we talked for a little bit longer, getting some more great quotes. As I walked her back to the pool, I stopped her briefly.

“Can I just ask—off the record—why you signed up to do this?” I wanted to know.

“For love, of course,” Jasmine said with a clever smile.

“Of course.” I smiled back. “And maybe something else?”

She gave me a casual shrug. “Well, I suppose I have thought about what I might do with the attention the show offers. And how I’d distract myself if my heart got broken.”

Jasmine was savvy, I would give her that.

“I bet someone like you has a list of ways they’d distract themselves,” I suggested. “Hosting work, modeling . . .”

“I do love TV,” Jasmine offered. “And I think Cal does an amazing job.”

“You’d be great doing what he does,” I told her.

She gave me a dazzling smile. “Only one way to find out,” she said, and sauntered off to mingle with the rest of the girls.

I went searching for my other girls, but ran into Andrea instead. She waved me over, and as I approached, I caught the tail end of her conversation with one of the girls. The contestant was in a tiny bikini—like the others—only she looked a little uncomfortable in hers, tugging at the top that was barely containing her ample bust. She was blonde and usually had a very happy smile on her face. If I remembered correctly, her name was Noelle and she was a dental hygienist. There always had to be one in each group.

“I heard that she’s going to try to sneak into Dash’s room tonight,” Andrea was telling her. “Said she didn’t get enough one-on-one time with him.”

“That’s not fair!” Penny said with a pout that made her look even younger. “I barely spoke to him today. If anyone should be going back to his room, it should be me.”

“You’re right,” Andrea said meaningfully. “It should be.”

She saw me arrive. “Have you been getting any good sound bites?” she asked.

“Yup, some good stuff, I think.” I paused, looking in the direction of the contestant, who was now sitting at the edge of the pool, downing a glass of wine.

“Is she going to sneak into Dash’s room tonight?”

“She’s going to try,” Andrea said with a smile. “At least, I hope she does. Not that she’ll get very far, but it will make for good TV.”

“Was that true?” I wanted to know. “About the other contestant trying to sneak out?”

Andrea looked at me like I was crazy. “No,” she told me. “But does that matter?”

I wanted to say it did, but the look in Andrea’s eyes told me that it would be the wrong answer.

“You do whatever you need to do to get good sound bites and good moments. We need the ratings.” She sounded a little like Patrick in that moment. “The girls know the score. They know the way this works.”

I wanted to believe her, but clearly, my hesitance showed.

Andrea gave me a sympathetic look.

“These girls aren’t here for love,” she told me. “They’re here for fame. Everyone is here for fame.” She glanced past me and smiled. “Speaking of . . .”

I spun around and saw Dash and Jean-Luc arrive dressed in shirts and swim trunks. The girls went wild. Everyone swarmed them, and Andrea hurried away. This was a prime opportunity for some juicy, exciting footage.

Across the yard, Dash caught my eye and winked. I rolled my eyes, but before I could turn away, he was stripping off his shirt and heading straight for the hot tub.

Hello . . .

I hated how my body reacted, getting all hot and bothered over a couple of muscular arms. And a flat stomach. And some broad shoulders.

Down, girl! It wasn’t as if I hadn’t seen a good-looking guy without his shirt before.

For example, Jean-Luc had stripped off his shirt as well. He wasn’t as tall as Dash, but he was just as well built. But for whatever reason, I didn’t get the same hot flash when I looked at him. Nope, I only seemed interested in Dash’s body.

His hot, hard, sexy body . . .

And the girls seemed to agree.

“Oh my god, Dash!”

“Hey, Dash.”

“Come join the fun.” They followed him like a swarm of bees, all of them crowded into the hot tub. Jean-Luc joined the group, and soon the jets were going and the bottles of wine were flowing.

Andrea and the camera crew looked ecstatic.

I watched as Kimmie maneuvered her way between Dash and Jean-Luc, looking incredible in her tiny black bikini. She was a real pro, flirting and tossing her hair, making sure to always have a hand on Dash’s arm or his shoulder. I felt a little nauseous.

At the edge of the hot tub was the contestant that Andrea had been talking to, Penny. Her eyes were narrowed and she was shooting daggers at another one of the girls—the one that Andrea had claimed was going to be sneaking into Dash’s room. I thought her name was Brittany. Since there were two contestants named Brittany, it was as good a guess as any.

Brittany seemed totally oblivious to Penny’s staring, her focus on Dash. Kimmie was giving her pretty good competition in the battle for Dash’s attention, but Brittany was showing herself to be a worthy opponent. She was giggling and doing a lot of leaning forward to show off her boobs.

They weren’t as boobtastic as Penny’s were, but she was doing a damn good job putting them on display. Then, in a move that should have been in a playbook, Brittany stood, water dripping off of her every curve, and turned to grab a bottle of wine that had been placed just out of reach. Doing so, of course, required her to bend over. Which she did. Practically in slow motion, her shapely rear right in Dash’s face.

A hush seemed to come over the hot tub as both Dash and Jean-Luc’s attention were riveted on Brittany’s ass, showed off to perfection in her tiny, wet bikini. Then, to top the whole thing off, Brittany tossed her strawberry blonde hair over her shoulder and looked back at Dash. And winked.

“Sorry, babe. Am I in your way?”

I heard Andrea let out a quiet, appreciative whistle in my earpiece. Even Kimmie could tell she had been bested, her beautiful face scrunching into a scowl.

“More wine?” Brittany asked, sliding back into the water, all attention focused on her.

“If you don’t mind,” Dash responded, looking a little bit stunned. I would have felt bad for him if I wasn’t so annoyed.

He held out his glass, but before Brittany could pour, there was a shriek from the other end of the hot tub as Penny leapt at Brittany. Dash had just enough time to get the glass and the wine bottle out of the way before Penny was on Brittany.

It was immediate chaos.

Penny had her hands in Brittany’s beautiful hair, tugging at it like she meant business. Brittany let out a shriek as she tried to get Penny off of her.

“You slut!” Penny was screaming. “Why. Do. You. Have. To. Be. So. Obvious.”

Each word she punctuated by dunking Brittany’s head under water, while Brittany’s arms flailed, her long nails scratching Penny’s arms. But still, Penny didn’t let go.

Everyone in the hot tub looked on with shock. Even Dash seemed frozen. I glanced around at the crew, wondering when someone was going to step in, but instead of seeing the same horrified expression that the contestants were wearing, the entire crew had a look of pure excitement. Because this was amazing TV. This was ratings gold.

I looked over at Andrea, who had a big smile on her face. I felt sick.

Penny was still dunking Brittany, but now Brittany had grabbed hold of Penny’s hair and gave it a yank. It came off. At least, a big chunk of it did.

With a scream, Penny released Brittany, her hands going to her head.

“You bitch!” she cried. “Those extensions cost me a fortune.”

“You’re the bitch!” Brittany shouted at her, giving her a shove.

Water sloshed out of the hot tub as Penny hit the wall, and finally, the crew jumped to intervene.

“Separate them!” a camera guy called.

“Someone’s going to get hurt!”

Blinking away their shock, Dash grabbed Penny before she could launch herself at Brittany again, while Jean-Luc held Brittany back. The two girls were still shouting at each other as they were pulled out of the water.

“My daddy’s going to sue you for this!”

“That wasn’t even real hair!”

I ran over to help, but as I tried to reach Brittany, her arm flew out and caught me in the stomach. Before I knew what was happening, I was pinwheeling at the edge of the pool before falling right in.

SPLASH.

The water closed over me, ice-cold, and I spluttered for air. My clothes immediately dragged me down, and I kicked to get my balance back again.

Suddenly, there was another splash. Strong arms closed around me, and I was pulled to the surface. I gasped for breath, spluttering.

It was Dash.

“Are you OK?” he asked, treading water—still holding me tight.

“I think so,” I said, recovering.

I grabbed the ladder and hauled myself out, drenched from head to toe. I could only imagine what I looked like: a drowned rat, but things weren’t much better on dry land. The girls were still spitting fire at each other, each surrounded by members of the crew. Penny was taken off to the infirmary, while Brittany was wrapped in a blanket and given a glass of wine.

A glass of wine seemed to be the opposite of what she needed at that moment, but then I saw that Andrea was hustling her into the hot-seat tent and I realized: they were hoping to get some juicy sound bites to help promote the episode.

That sickness in my stomach only grew.

Dash was treading water in the pool—like he was trying to stay out of the fray. He caught my eye and smiled, but I looked away.

I didn’t understand why he was here. Suddenly, the fun excitement of being behind the scenes felt cold and empty, and I wondered what I had gotten myself into.

Just how far would these people go to get their drama?