Raffe pushed the button on the coffee maker. He needed caffeine. Even though he had slept through the night, he was still a bit tired. He wasn’t used to wearing pajamas and got all twisted up in them in the middle of the night. That didn’t make for the most restful sleep. This whole sleeping on the sofa thing was annoying. He wished they could just ask for a two-bedroom bungalow, but that would be a dead giveaway that they weren’t a couple.

Just as the coffee was ready Sarah came out of the bedroom. The morning light highlighted her flawless skin and golden hair, illuminating the subtle white-blond streaks that framed her face. Her amber eyes took on a golden hue in the morning light.

Maybe Raffe had never looked at her this closely, or maybe they’d been brought out by the hot tropical sun, but he noticed that she had a light sprinkling of freckles across the bridge of her nose and her cheeks, making her appear younger than her twenty-nine years.

The girls he dated always wore so much makeup he never even saw their actual skin. Lauren had even worn makeup to bed. Talk about wearing a mask. Sarah was always bare faced and so low maintenance.

“Coffee?” he asked her, reaching for the mugs.

“Sure. Thanks. What a beautiful day.” She took the hot mug from him and walked toward the sliding glass door, looking out at the calm sea.

Raffe liked that she was always so positive and happy. Definitely qualities he wanted in a woman. Not that he was looking.

“So, did you have a good time with Dave and Kim last night? Did you do anything else? I fell asleep about an hour after you left.” He sat down on the sofa bed, taking a long sip of coffee.

“Oh, no. I just stayed out on the beach and talked to them for a while and came back. I’m glad I didn’t wake you when I came in.”

Raffe wondered why she’d lie. He knew she’d gone somewhere else, because he’d watched her walk down the beach away from Kim and Dave. She’d also done a good job of lying to her parents. Maybe Sarah wasn’t as sweet and innocent as she looked. But before he could ask where she’d been, a knock sounded on the door.

Sarah glanced at Raffe. He shrugged, and Sarah opened the front door. Jim, an assistant from the show, stood on the deck with his clipboard and headset on. He looked anxious and embarrassed. “Hi, guys. Sorry to bother you both so early, but there’s an issue.”

Raffe glanced at Sarah. The worry on her face was evident. What now?

“Issue? What kind of issue?” Had they figured out that he and Sarah weren’t really engaged?

“You see, well, there’s been a complaint about you. Someone claims they saw a person go into your side of the walk-in cooler during the last contest, and that is why you did so well. That you somehow got a look at the cards to tell you what to cook for each other.”

“What?” Raffe and Sarah both shouted simultaneously.

“We didn’t even win!” Sarah cried out.

“I know. But you did come in second. And Brenda—I mean, this person—well, it’s just easier if you come with me.”

Raffe and Sarah exchanged glances. So, Brenda had been the one who had complained. Raffe could tell by Sarah’s eyes what she thought, which was most likely something like “I told you so!”

They dressed in lightning speed and followed Jim to Scott at the producer’s office to defend themselves. Was Brenda behind the sabotage too? No, that didn’t make sense. If Brenda had sabotaged them, she wouldn’t want to call attention to herself like this. So had someone else conducted the sabotage? Maybe more than one couple was trying to rig the contest.

“What’s this all about?” Raffe demanded as soon as they entered the room. “We absolutely have not cheated.” Other than faking our engagement.

“I saw someone go into that cooler! You are cheating!” Brenda yelled, pointing a red fingernail at Raffe and Sarah.

“Calm down, calm down. I’m sorry that this has happened. I don’t want to accuse anyone, but of course I do need to ensure that this is investigated,” Scott explained as he motioned for Brenda to take a seat.

“You believe her?” Sarah asked, her face red with frustration. “How are you going to investigate? Aside from our word, what can you use for evidence to prove that we aren’t lying?”

“Did anyone look at the security tapes?” Jim asked, pointing to the corner of the room where there was a large monitor. The screen displayed the kitchen stadium, now empty except for a few staff members checking that the kitchens were properly stocked.

“Excellent idea. Let’s take a look,” Scott said, sitting down at the monitor and typing something on the keyboard.

They all gathered around the monitor to watch, Brenda pushing her way in so she stood next to Scott and directly in front of the monitor.

“Try camera six. That’s the one in the back hall. We installed it last minute; not even all the crew is aware of it,” Jim suggested to Scott.

They watched in silence. The tape showed several people come and go, but they all went down the hallway. No one entered the cooler. Then an overweight woman with platinum blond hair entered the frame. She pressed a large notebook to her breast and looked to be in a rush, darting into the walk-in cooler and coming back out shortly after, the notebook still clutched to her chest. Scott stopped the video and zoomed in on her face.

Raffe squinted as the face came into focus. The woman looked vaguely familiar. Beside him Sarah gasped. Then he realized who it was.

“Veronica?” he asked incredulously at the same time as Sarah.

What in the hell would Veronica St. James be doing there? And what in the world had happened to her? She had been Jasper’s assistant up until several months ago, but back then she’d been much thinner. Raffe had never liked her. He’d been glad when Jasper fired her. But what was she doing here?

“Veronica, come to my office immediately,” Scott barked into a two-way radio, a scowl on his face.

“She works here?” Sarah asked, her gaze darting from Scott to Raffe.

Scott nodded, and two seconds later Veronica entered the room, wearing the same sour look that she always had. The extra weight did not make it any more appealing.

“Were you in the walk-in area during yesterday’s competition?” Scott asked her as she sat down.

“Yes, of course I was. You want me to do my job, right? I was in there to ensure that the domed items were lined up correctly so that no time was lost when the reveal came. Is something wrong?”

Just as she finished speaking, a loud squeaking mechanical sound echoed in the room, and an older woman in a wheelchair appeared in the doorway.

“What’s this all about? We have a show to run!” she said in an irritated tone, glaring at Scott.

“Gertie,” Scott’s eyes were wide, as if he were terrified of the old woman. Was she someone important? Raffe had no idea but couldn’t help but feel amused at Scott’s reaction. Brenda, on the other hand, was not afraid.

“Look, lady, these two”—she stabbed her finger at Sarah and Raffe—“cheated with this Veronica person, and this tape proves it.”

Gertie squinted at the tape. “I don’t have time for this nonsense. Weren’t these the two who had the foolish Peeps dessert? What do you think Veronica did, sneak in there and make that beautiful dessert display for them? Ha! Veronica was sent in there on my orders. She is to keep things moving along and make sure things are where they are supposed to be. She doesn’t have time to make desserts or switch cards or whatever it is you think she did to help them cheat.”

“But they all know each other!” Brenda screeched, causing Gertie to give her a sneer. “These two know Veronica!”

“They do all seem to know one another. I need to ensure for legal reasons everything is above board, right?” Scott asked Gertie, sounding unsure of himself and almost childlike.

“We know each other only from a previous work situation,” Raffe said, giving Veronica a look of disdain.

“We are not friends with her,” Sarah added. “Quite the opposite. We haven’t seen or spoken to her in months.”

“Scott, this nonsense has gone on long enough. So they all worked together before. Who cares? Let them have a reunion later on. Get the show started for today. I don’t like my time being wasted, and I don’t like Veronica being accused of trying to help these people cheat.” With that, Gertie wheeled herself out of the room, leaving everyone else standing speechless.

They could all hear her say, “Peeps!” loudly, followed by a laugh, as she wheeled down the hall.

“Well, I guess that’s that. Gertie makes the rules. However, Raffe and Sarah, I do not want to see you fraternizing with Veronica. If I do, you’re off the show. And, Veronica, same goes for you. Everyone understand?” Scott gave them a hard look.

“But… but…” Brenda sputtered.

“And you,” he glared at Brenda, “don’t make accusations that you can’t substantiate.”

Raffe grabbed Sarah’s hand and hustled her from the room, feeling the weight of Brenda’s glare as they hurried down the hall.

* * *

Veronica hustled to catch up to Gertie as she wheeled herself into her office. For an older woman she sure was fast in that thing!

“Thanks for sticking up for me back there. Usually I’m on my own,” she said as she watched Gertie maneuver herself behind her desk.

“I’m not sure why I stuck up for you. I know how you feel. You wouldn’t behave this way if things had been different for you as a child. Remember, I had a rough childhood too. And I did some pretty crappy things to people on my way up. So, I don’t know, I’m old and I guess maybe I feel like I need to atone for my sins now by trying to save you from continuing down the wrong path. Sort of a reverse karma kind of thing.” She shivered and pulled her shawl closer around her shoulders, scowling up at the air conditioning vent.

“Well, I appreciate—”

Gertie’s hand shot up, cutting her off. “You have a lot of potential. If you used your anger in a positive way, I’m sure your life would improve and become what you’ve always dreamed it would be. You had dreams when you were younger, right? Just like I did. And our parents, teachers, friends… they all crapped all over our dreams. No one helped us. So do what I did.” Gertie leaned forward. “Help yourself. I believe in you.”

Veronica mumbled, “Thank you,” under her breath and backed out of the room. How did this old bat know she’d had dreams when she was younger? In fact, that was all she had had—just dreams. And stupid ones at that, at least according to anyone she told. After a while she’d stopped dreaming all together. But what if…?

Nah, it was stupid. Things wouldn’t improve for her. Gertie was crazy.

And she knew better than to listen to anyone. She’d always had only herself to depend on. Like when she’d left home as soon as she had turned eighteen. It was one of the best moves she’d ever made, even if she had been totally unprepared to support herself.

The weight had come flying off between all the walking she did around the city and her lack of eating three meals a day. She had been lucky if she could afford one meal a day. She’d picked up a waitressing job, gone to night school. In no time at all she’d transformed herself into a skinny size two and landed a job as assistant to the chief executive officer of Draconia Fashions. Of course, then she’d been fired, but that hadn’t been her fault.

The fact that she had gained almost all of her weight back after being fired should have humbled her, but instead it had made her even more bitter than ever.

Hmmm… come to think of it, her problems had begun when she’d started trying to make Jasper see how wrong Marly was for him. Okay, she had played some underhanded tricks back then, but she was trying to save Jasper. Except Jasper and Marly seemed really happy now. And her life had grown steadily more miserable.

Maybe Gertie was right. Maybe she should stop putting all her energy into trying to ruin people’s lives and focus on improving her own.

Pffft. Veronica laughed. What fun would she have if she were nice? Besides, no one was ever nice to her. She was fine being all alone. Just like always.