A night full of steamy dreams interspersed with memories of my fingers wound in Jake’s hair ended when somebody slammed the door to my room. I woke up the next morning with my hair glued to my face, my thighs aching pleasantly, with a desperate need for a shower, but I was still smiling. I smiled through the long wait for a bathroom to be empty so I could have that much-needed shower. I smiled as I soaped up my body, loving the slickness as I scrubbed with my washcloth. I could remember exactly every move Jake had made.

I sighed deeply as I leaned back in the stall, remembering how his strong hands had held me to his face. I sighed loudly when I remembered the way his tongue ran up my folds and shivered against the wall. I closed my eyes, letting the memories take me away. That is until somebody walked in and interrupted me by dropping something loudly.

Even then I smiled, because I could remember the way Jake’s lips had brushed against my hairline just in front of my ear as he’d whispered good night to me. The way his voice rumbled in my ear and his hair stroked against my cheek sent a shiver down my spine even then.

I smiled through Carol’s glares and suspicious glances during breakfast. The door had been locked so she hadn’t been able to confront us. She’d knocked for several minutes before she’d growled and stomped off. Jake and I had both dressed quickly when we realized the door was locked, but I suspected she was waiting for us just outside and stopped him from leaving straight away.

He’d pulled me to the door, his lips finding mine in the darkness. I’d inhaled his scent, a masculine cologne that left traces on my skin. I ran my fingers along his jaw as he kissed me, wanting to gather his scent so I could smell him later. Our breathing was ragged again by the time he pulled away.

“I feel like I’m killing myself by doing this, Laney, but we have to go to our rooms. We’ll be in for a shitload of whining if Carol catches us. I don’t really care what she has to say to me, but I know she gives you a hard time. I would drag you to my bed, strip you down, and fuck you until the sheets were soaked with your wetness. But I’d rather not do it here anyway. There are probably cameras.” He’d kissed me once more. His body was pressed against mine, his hardness against my softness a draw I couldn’t resist.

My hands went to his tight, round ass so I could pull him tighter against me. I squeezed it and he groaned into the top of my head.

“We have to stop, Laney. Come on, please. I don’t want my first time with you to be a quick fuck against the door. I want a bed and hours to hear you purr.”

I sighed with contentment and let him pull away. Who could turn that down?

We’d gone back to our rooms separately and, even though I’d thought I wouldn’t be able to sleep for hours, I’d dropped off right away. Now, showered, dressed, and fed, I was ready to see what the day brought.

My smile didn’t waver as the day’s agenda was passed out. I even smiled when I read that I was expected to go on “dates” with Trent and David.

Nothing could take that smile away, not after what had happened with Jake. The man had made my toes literally curl against the floor. His words after, the way he sighed with deep longing as we finally parted, still made something tight take over my torso until I wanted to hug it away. I’d never felt like this, not even when I was a teenager and I’d had a crush on the lead male for the senior play my freshman year. The blond teenage god had all but made me screech with joy when he’d chosen me to play the lead female role.

Dark clouds and wet grass hadn’t dimmed my smile, nor had Arabella’s snide glances. In fact, my smile broadened when she slipped on a pile of wet leaves as she went to a car for her “date” and ended up soaking wet. The chill in the air would make her day even more miserable I knew.

I stopped smiling when I realized why I was being sent to the other side of the island for these dates when not a single other woman had come along. It started when Carol cornered me at the cozy little cabin that had been set up for a lunch date with Trent.

I didn’t really like the man. He was overbearing, rude, and was always making me cringe with tales of exploits I didn’t think were worth bragging about. He never seemed to notice, and he’d just plow right on with his tale. I’d stood up and walked away quite a few times but he still hadn’t quite caught on.

Now, Carol stood at the cabin door, her face grim. She held the door open for me and I walked in. I heard the lock click and turned to look at her confused. The room was empty. Where was Trent? I was about to ask when she held up a hand.

“Did you forget we have cameras all over the house? We might not have been able to see what you and Jake were doing last night in the ballroom, Laney, but we know you were in there. You have to stop this nonsense, you’re going to ruin the show!” She looked at me with anger burning in her eyes.

“I can’t help how I feel...” I started but she interrupted me with a sour look on her face.

“Feelings? Feelings? Is that all you can think about? Are you really that stupid, girl? This show isn’t about virginal feelings and swooning over a gallant prince, it’s about photo opportunities, it’s about publicity for the producers and the channel. It’s about money, and you are about to ruin it for us all with your schoolgirl feelings! I mean, you’re not even that photogenic!”

I wasn’t a virgin, and far from a schoolgirl, so I took her words as an insult, as I’m certain they were meant to be. And what was that part about not being photogenic? I might not be Miss America, but I certainly wasn’t ugly.

“Now look, Carol—”

“No, you listen to me, missy.” She huffed a bit and blew her long bangs out of her eyes. “I have a lot of shit to get done today. I don’t have time to go chasing after two idiots who think they’re in love. You will leave Jake alone, you’ll have your date with Trent and David, and that’s that. Understood?”

I didn’t really give a toss what she thought, but at that point, I knew the game was almost over. I could wait a few more days. Carol might be a pain in my butt, but it was almost done and I felt like I owed it to Kelly not to ruin the rest of the show. Besides, the world would see Arabella as the winner if I left now, wouldn’t they? I thought all of this as Carol pushed past me on her way to the door.

“Just keep your legs closed, and do as you’re told. Arabella is going to end up with Jake, and there isn’t a thing you can do about it.” She left then, slamming the door behind her. The draft of air from her slamming the door picked up a piece of paper on the floor and I bent to pick it up.

It was the schedule for the day. I looked at Jake’s slot and saw that he was being sent to the bathhouse, the area set up with hot tubs and steam rooms. Beside his name in bold red letters was Arabella’s name. I wanted to scream. How cheap could these people get? They’d have her prancing around in a tiny bikini, her boobs and ass on display for the viewers, and Jake would be sitting there, helpless to look away.

I took a deep breath and reminded myself of the hunger in his eyes the night before. That wasn’t the gaze of a man willing to throw it all away for someone he didn’t care about. I knew he cared about me. Why else would he be so determined to see me after the show ended? But what if she was just too tempting? She was a beautiful woman, after all.

I could feel my toes scrunching in my shoes with anxiety as the urge to break a glass vase over Carol’s head swept over me. This was all her doing and I knew it.

Was it all just a game to Jake, though? Was that part of her little speech true? Maybe he was playing up our attraction for the television.

No, I knew better. Alright, I didn’t really know Jake that well, not his birthday, or his job, or what he thought about the state of plastics forming islands in the world’s oceans, but I knew he was kind. I knew his eyes lit up in a special way when he saw me and how they didn’t when they saw other people. I knew how intimate his touch could be. I also knew he was just as frustrated with this show as I was and ready to go home.

The way Carol and the other producers made his shoulders tense and his jaw turn into a brick when they came near him told me that. The way he sighed unhappily when he was with the other women and always looked for me told me I was special. No, I thought as I settled at the table set for two, Jake wouldn’t let a woman like Arabella turn his head. He wasn’t like that.

I hoped.

My toes scrunched in my shoes again, but I breathed out deeply. No, we could do this.

I managed to get through the date with Trent, one where he ate noisily, and with some odd chewing technique that reminded me of a squirrel. I fended off his rather timid amorous advances with the feeling he was only doing it for the cameras making me cringe. I also managed to get through the scheduled date with David, mainly because, unlike Trent the octopus, David kept his hands to himself.

David was a true gentleman and he treated me with respect. We both knew he really wanted to be with Kelly, but we gave the producers what they wanted, even if there was zero chemistry between us. We strolled along the edge of the trees, letting them get beautiful shots of a cold but sunny day as we talked about how wonderful Kelly was.

We were wearing portable microphones so we knew they could hear us, but we also knew that none of the audio would be used. The spark just wasn’t there for us.

“You know, I’ve never met anyone that actually made my heart race, Laney. Not like Kelly does anyway. I lose all thought, all of my words, my ability to write beautiful phrases just disappears when she’s near. All I can think is, she’s so beautiful.” He sighed unhappily as we discussed how he could get his knack back.

“Have you tried writing down your thoughts when she isn’t around?” I offered, my own woes at the back of my mind for the moment.

“I’ve tried that, I really have. I just…” He broke off with a sigh. “I want to write her mountains of poetry, but even when I’m not near her all I can think about is her. Obviously, I’ve monopolized our whole date talking about her. My apologies, Laney.” He’d stopped walking and took my hand in his. “I am sorry, you know? You’re actually a lovely woman, and you’re quite attractive.”

He gave me a wink as I felt my cheeks go warm.

“Thanks, David. Kelly is a lucky girl.” He was a handsome young man, and I suspected he was also the rich one.

He seemed too shy and introverted to be a teacher, and he seemed to be well educated, so I knew he wasn’t a plumber. I couldn’t see him knowing the difference between a pipe wrench and a screwdriver.

It was his turn to blush after my compliment, and I knew that gentle, sweet David really was the perfect choice for Kelly. He would be her gentle hero for the rest of her life.

If only I knew my own chance at forever was as real as theirs.

It was ridiculous, being so hopeful after only a couple of weeks, but this place did that to you. Secreted away from everyone you knew, without your normal support systems, and all but cloistered together, bonds were forming that would be hard to break, even after the show ended. I knew Kelly would be a major fixture in the rest of my life, for example, and we’d already exchanged contact information just in case one of us got booted unexpectedly.

David and I started to walk back to the cabin together, both lost in our own thoughts. My gaze kept going to the area where I knew the bathhouse was, though I couldn’t really see it, and I wondered what my own future held. Would this all end in heartbreak and humiliation or would it end with happiness and love?

I glanced over at David and smiled. I didn’t necessarily want his kind of happiness and love. I liked it a little rough around the edges. A little dirty talk would suit me nicely. I was far from a wilting violet, after all. For a little while, I realized, the romance and the pageantry had turned me into some soppy Jane Austen heroine, but now that was over with. As I walked along the beach, I knew I’d played the game as demanded, but when this was all over, I was totally going to take Jake for my own.

Carol and Arabella could do whatever they liked, they could show the world whatever they wanted to, the winner would be the one that was still standing at the end of it all. I’d come into this with the thought it might be a laugh and it would keep Tony off my back about dating; not anymore. I wanted to understand who Jake was as a man. I’d played life safe for far too long. It was time to take a chance on madness.