say I discovered you.”
I stare at the beer, then set it down in the cup holder. “I don’t want any of that.”
She takes a sip of her beer. “Are you kidding me, baby? You’ve just been given this amazing opportunity. In the next couple months, the whole country is going to be in love with Luke Cross.”
I look out the window at the line of blue ocean in the distance and think of yesterday, swimming in the waves with her. Maybe two weeks ago stardom would’ve been something I’d be up for. But now? There’s only one person I want to be in love with me.
“Now, don’t worry about the marriage. We’ll be able to get it annulled immediately, as we have a little loophole involving the coercion clause,” she says with a sly smile. “I know it must’ve been hard for all the contestants, having to work through a marriage with someone they have nothing in common with. But we knew it would be good for ratings, and the early buzz is incredible. You going to watch on Sunday night?”
I frown and shake my head.
“Aw, you nervous? Don’t worry—I had the final word in editing down the footage, and I made you look very, very good, if I do say so myself,” she says, leaning over and patting my chest. Her hand is still lingering there, clawlike fingernails trailing down my abdomen, and I can feel her eyes on me, expectant. “You could say thank you, you know.”
“Thank you,” I reply woodenly.
Her hand is still on me, trailing lower.
“Or maybe you can just show me,” she says.
I shift my eyes to her. There’s no mistaking that wolfish look. I grasp her hand in mine and throw it off me. “No. I can’t.”
She sits back, astonished. “You . . . can’t?”
“You heard me,” I grind out. “I’m in love with Penny. I want to stay married to her, and she wants to stay married to me.”
She shakes her head. “That’s not the way this is supposed to work. We paired you—”
“I know. You paired us up so that there was no way we could get along and want to be married. You thought you’d be able to save yourself the money, right? But we don’t want the annulment. That’s what we were going to say at the end of the race, and it’s what we would’ve said if you hadn’t played this fucked-up ratings-grab game. We want to be together. You’re fucking with our lives, making us wait until the finale, you know that?”
“I don’t think so. You’re just not thinking clearly. Of course you’re going to want the annulment.”
“No. We’re not. And we’re not going to change our minds at the finale either.”
I’m aware of her staring at me, her mouth slightly open, as the limo pulls up at the Maui airport. I grab my bag and climb out, and she hands me my ticket and says, “That’s too bad.”
No, it’s not.
I might feel like shit now, but it sure as hell is not because I made the decision to be with Penny. No, that’s the only fucking thing I’ve done right.
I board a flight right away and end up getting into Atlanta at around ten in the evening. I know Gran’s probably sleeping, so I have the cab drop me at Tim’s Bar, where I know I’ll find Jimmy, right where I left him.
The bar’s just getting crowded as I push open the door. They all cheer in surprise, which draws a smile from me, despite being fucking exhausted. Couldn’t sleep on the plane at all. I spot the guy I hired to temporarily replace me behind the bar—some poor slob like me who needed money, at least whatever he could get. And I spot Jimmy at the end of the bar, in the corner booth he uses as his office. He’s with Lizzy now, so I think he comes to this office out of habit more than necessity.
James comes over as Flynn—my mini-me—pours me a shot of tequila and says, “How the fuck are you? We all missed you around here.”
I toss back the drink, trying to keep at bay any memories of Penny in Boston, dancing up close to me, giving me those sweet, innocent looks through her thick lashes as she lapped at my fingers with that magic tongue of hers. I slam the glass down on the bar and motion to Flynn. “Yeah. Another.”
“So, it was that good?” Jimmy grins, pulling out the stool