Dating Mr. Darcy - Kate O'Keeffe Page 0,27

neck, and plants a kiss on his lips.

I’m not going to deny it, seeing her kiss him makes me feel ... weird. I can’t explain it. All I know is, I don’t think I like it all that much.

Which is insane, I know. This is a dating show, and he’s the only guy in a sea of women. We’re all meant to be vying for his love, and so far, Shelby’s the only one to take a bold step.

Why should I care when all I want to do is get the heck out of this place?

“Would you look at that,” Kennedy says as we continue to watch. “The first to kiss Mr. Darcy, and it’s the girl who thinks she’s destined to be with him.”

“I guess there’s a certain poetry in that.” I reply.

“She is an inspiration to us all,” Reggie says. “Watch and learn, girls.”

“She isn’t an inspiration,” Hayley spits. “She’s manipulating him with science.”

I press my lips together to stop from laughing as I tilt my head to look at her. “With science?” I ask.

“You know, the thing that happens when someone cares for someone else and they fall in love? The nurse and soldier thing.”

“The Florence Nightingale Effect,” Kennedy says.

I shoot her a questioning look, and she adds, “Psych major.”

Hayley is clearly enraged. “That’s it. That’s what she’s doing. She’s Florence Nightingale-ing him. It’s unbelievable.”

“And so degrading,” Camille adds, and for once, I’ve got to agree with her.

I give a shrug. “I’m just glad she didn’t crack her head open on the coffee table.”

Hayley looks at me as though I’m speaking a foreign language.

“She could have really hurt herself pulling that stunt.”

The look on her face tells me she still needs an interpreter.

I try a different approach. “Oozing blood from your head isn’t very romantic, Hayley.”

“Oh.” She taps the side of her nose. “Got it.”

Where did they find these people?

Shelby is now propped up on some pillows, surrounded by a gaggle of contestants, with Sebastian sitting right next to her as a crew member checks her over. Sebastian is cradling her hand in his, looking genuinely concerned for her.

Huh. If he’s dumb enough to fall for that kind of nonsense, I know beyond a whisper of a doubt I will not miss a single thing about him when I’m gone.

Chapter 10

An hour later and Shelby has miraculously “recovered” and has either been clinging to Sebastian’s arm and gazing up at him as though he were her knight in shining armor, or whispering in corners with the other contestants.

I, on the other hand, have decided that escape can take but one form: alcohol. Good thing it’s on tap. With my fourth glass of wine—or quite possibly my fifth, but who’s counting?—I find myself propped up against some cushions, chatting with a group of women I’ve not talked to much before, discussing the ins and the outs of our new costumes.

“It’s the bloomers that get me,” I say as I take another sip of my wine.

“Oh, me too,” agrees Lisa, a tall, slim girl from Southern California who doesn’t appear to be one of the crazies. “They’re so long and roomy!”

“I miss my Spanx,” says Marni, a shorter, more voluptuous girl. “These things give no control to anything whatsoever. I’ve got lumps where I don’t need lumps.”

“Oh, I hear you, babe,” Lisa replies, and I shoot her a look. There’s not an extra dash of fat on her frame, other than her lifted cleavage that sits perfectly rounded above her top.

“You know, we could cheat and wear our regular underwear under these petticoats. No one would know,” I say.

Spanx-loving Marni screws up her face. “I guess.”

“It’s not like they’re checking or anything, because that would be a total invasion of our privacy,” I say. When the girls don’t reply, I get concerned. “They’re not checking, are they?”

“How could they?” Marni asks. “It’s not like there are cameras in our rooms.”

I cock an eyebrow. “You sure?”

They wouldn’t do that, would they?

Her response is reassuringly decisive. “I’m sure. I checked. Not my first rodeo, ladies.”

“It’s not?”

She shakes her head. “This is my third dating show, but I’ve acted on Vets in the Wild, too,” she replies, naming a TV show I’ve heard of but never seen. “Only a walk-on part, but it’s TV, you know? It all helps to keep my profile up.”

Well, Marni’s clearly “here for the right reasons.”

“You’re an actor?” I ask.

“Actor, model, social media influencer. All of the above.”

Lisa scoots her butt off the seat and pulls a