by Lizzie Shane
Caitlyn played, and smiled.
Will tipped his face up, listening to the flurry of notes dancing through the ceiling, and he couldn’t help but grin.
He remembered the first song he’d ever heard her play, that first night when he’d moved in. He’d been broken, newly jilted, forced out of the home he’d thought he would raise his children in. He’d wanted to block the rest of the world out. And then he’d heard it. A slow, aching ballad reaching through the ceiling and wrapping around his heart. He’d sat in the dark and listened to the music for hours. Sad and sweet, poignant and piercing in its loneliness.
He’d heard her play hundreds of times, always seeming to resonate so perfectly with his emotions, but now it wasn’t his own emotion he heard in the music. It was Caitlyn. Everything she held inside pouring out. And tonight that was happiness. And hope.
She could say it wasn’t a date all she wanted. He could hear the difference.
Will sat in the dark, listened, and smiled.
Chapter Fifteen
“Would you care to tell me why I had to hear you’re dating someone from Julia? You know I hate it when she gets the good gossip before I do.”
Will leaned against the ski patrol shack at the top of the chairlift, cell phone pressed to his ear as he scanned the mountain for problems and listened to his oldest sister air her grievances. “I’m not dating anyone,” he told Claire.
“Julia said Dale said the pheromones were stifling.”
Dale needs to keep his mouth shut. Though he had a feeling Dale had said nothing of the sort. “Julia needs to stop reading so many romance novels.”
“Bite your tongue. You never would have gotten laid in high school if we hadn’t forced you to read romance novels to understand the female psyche.”
“And I’m forever grateful.” He even had a few choice romances on his bookshelf now. “I only meant Julia was getting carried away with accusations of pheromone saturation.”
“She does buy into the sappy, angsty stuff a little too much,” Claire admitted. “I pretty much only read them for the sex.”
“Another sentence I could have lived my entire life without my sister saying to me.”
“I’ll stop telling you about my sex life if you tell me about the girl.”
“The family that blackmails one another…”
“If you need tips on cunnilingus, Don can—”
Will choked. “Jesus, Claire, stop, for the love of God. I’ll tell you whatever you want. Just stop.”
He could practically hear his sister bouncing with glee. “Is she pretty?”
“She’s gorgeous, but we’re not dating.”
“You can’t say gorgeous and not dating in the same sentence. It doesn’t work that way.”
“There are lots of gorgeous women I’m not dating. Scarlett Johansson. Emma Stone.”
“Oh my God! Does she look like Scarlett Johansson?”
Will rolled his eyes, safe in the knowledge that Claire couldn’t see him and smack him upside the head for it. “More like Emma Stone actually, but more, I don’t know, delicate.”
“Dale said she was a redhead.”
“She is.”
“And a piano teacher.”
“Do you really need me to tell you about her? Or did you get all you needed from Dale already?”
“You’re sure you’re not dating?”
“We’re not dating. But we are having dinner next week.”
Claire squealed at an ear-splitting decibel. “Will! Oh my God! I’m so proud of you!”
“It isn’t a date, Claire. I like her, but neither of us is in a place right now to want that.”
“That’s what people say right before Cupid cold-cocks them!”
“Cupid isn’t going to—” About fifty yards down the hill, a snowboarder took a facer that looked like it rattled his bones and didn’t immediately pop up. “Shit. Claire, I’ve gotta go. It’s not a date.” He folded the phone and clicked into his skis, grabbing the back-board just in case and skiing down to where the boarder still lay motionless. His friends had stopped below him and were making slow, hopping progress back up the hill to the crash site.
Will had work to do. Arguing about his love life would have to wait until Tuesday when all his sisters could gang up on him.
“This is so cool! I’m watching Marrying Mister Perfect with an actual Suitorette! Do you have any idea how exciting this is for me?”
Caitlyn grinned at Mimi’s enthusiasm. “Believe it or not, it isn’t half bad for me either.”
She hadn’t been sick with nerves at all in the last few days—which may have been a function of the fact that she was getting used to the show, or relaxing knowing she would have Mimi’s support when she watched it… or it could have been because she was more nervous about her secret not-date on Wednesday than her very public one on Tuesday. She was almost glad Will had his own plans for tonight and she hadn’t been able to use him as Marrying Mister Perfect avoidance. For the first time she felt brave and strong sitting down to watch.
Which lasted until the end of the opening credits. Then her stomach began to roil and she started regretting the Chinese take-out feast she and Mimi had ordered in.
They huddled around her tiny television, Caitlyn on the couch and Mimi curled in the matching chair, eating chow mein directly out of the carton and punctuating her comments with her chopsticks. Ty had been told to call if one of the children needed to be rushed to the ER, but barring that Mimi was taking a Girls’ Night In and he was on his own.
Caitlyn’s nerves came back the second Elena was selected for the first date. She was about to watch her fiancé romance the woman he’d almost asked to marry him.
Mimi snorted. “Of course he picks Boobs McHottiepants as the first individual date. Tell me the truth, is she a total bitch?”
Thank God for friends and distractions. Caitlyn let the images on the screen wash over her, not really penetrating. “Actually, she isn’t that bad. Most people forget it when they look at her, but she’s hella smart. She wants to be an actress or a dancer or something and I’m pretty sure she came on the show for the exposure—”
“Like Craig from last season.”
“Yeah, but she was more subtle about it. When she realized she was going to be portrayed as the show’s villainess, I think she started playing it up more, but she was never actually mean to anyone. Just sort of snarky and smug—like she knew she was the hottest piece of ass in the house. Which she totally was, so what are you gonna do? And she could be really nice. I’m sure they won’t show those parts. But she could.”
“So you guys are friends?”
“I wouldn’t say that. It’s more like we’re both survivors of the same natural disaster.”
Mimi blinked. “Ouch.”
“No. I didn’t mean it like that. Daniel wasn’t a natural disaster. It’s the show. It’s this insane experience that distorts your reality for months and it feels like only the people inside that echo chamber with you really understand what you went through, so there’s this bond. Does that make sense? There’s no television, no books, no cell phones, no computers—you’re completely cut off from the world. If war broke out while we were in there, we would have had to wait until the producers decided it was the right time to tell us so they could film the moment.”
“Jesus.” Mimi looked back to the television with a dubious expression.
“Yeah. The women with children got to call home, but only on designated phones at designated times when they could be recorded telling their babies how much they missed them and how hard it was to be apart.”
“That’s messed up.”
“Yes it is.”
Mimi eyed the women on the screen. The current scene involved all the Suitorettes sitting around the pool at their mansion, talking about how great Daniel was. “Did you make any friends? Samantha seems pretty great.”
“She is. And intimidatingly together. She’s so… perfect. I was so certain she was going
to go all the way—”
Caitlyn swallowed the words, her face turning red as she realized what she’d almost revealed. Stupid nondisclosure. Luckily Mimi was only giving her half her attention, the other half on the screen and didn’t seem to have noticed the slip.
Mimi frowned. “Where are you? Did you forget to pack your bathing suit or something?”
Caitlyn turned her attention to the screen. The time at the mansion was a bit of a blur—not helped by the alcohol that had always been on hand—but she hadn’t spent much time by the pool so it wasn’t surprising she wasn’t in the shot. “I was probably hiding in the music room. They had a piano and I spent most of my time there. You know how shy I can be and it was such a strange situation. Like living in a sorority house where everyone is chasing the same guy—they sabotage one another and gang up on one another, but then air kiss and gossip and everything is forgiven. Some of the girls do seem to really form friendships—I think mostly because you have nothing to do but talk and work out and lay by the pool and write in your journal. I think I would have lost my mind if I hadn’t been able to sneak off and play. I would close the doors to the music room and stay in there for hours. They probably won’t show that on the show.”
The scene changed and abruptly, Daniel and Elena were being strapped together, chest to chest, for the show’s inevitable bungee jump-into-love segment. Daniel was flushed, Elena was practically purring.
She did not want to watch this.
Caitlyn looked anywhere but at the screen, searching for anything else to talk about. “I got along really well with Sidney.”
“The hot blonde wedding planner? Oh my gosh, I love her.”
“Yeah, she’s fantastic. And she wasn’t into the competition aspect of the show as much as some of the other girls. Sidney was the one I could relax with, you know? The only one who made me feel like I wasn’t alone. I just wish she’d stayed longer.”
“Oh, no! Sidney goes home soon? She was one of my first night favorites.”
Caitlyn winced. “You can’t tell anyone I told you that. I could get sued for like a bazillion dollars for leaking results.”
“Lips sealed. Scouts honor.”
Caitlyn was going to have to watch what she said more carefully. When she’d signed the nondisclosure agreements, she’d thought it would be easy—just avoid talking about sensitive details. Easy. But now, after filming the show and living through it, it felt like there was a giant gaping hole in her life that she couldn’t talk to anyone about. Even calling Sidney was against the rules because she wasn’t allowed to know any of the results beyond her own departure.
What would Mimi think when she found out that Sidney went home of her own volition, taking herself out of the competition? She’d said she just wasn’t feeling it with Daniel and wasn’t going to stay any longer for a guy who wasn’t her prince charming.
Caitlyn had respected the choice, especially when Sidney explained that she and Daniel never laughed together. That there was never any fun with the two of them.
On screen, Daniel and Elena laughed into the cameras, breathless and bright eyed after their screaming plunge and dangling upside down first kiss—a Marrying Mister Perfect tradition.
Had Caitlyn laughed with Daniel? She couldn’t remember a single time. Things between them were romantic to the extreme, but always intense, never light. Always soulful gazes, never winks and grins.
Will’s grinning face flashed in her thoughts.
“You know.” Mimi waved a chopstick at the screen. “I really wanted Daniel to be chosen as the next Mister Perfect when I saw Marcy’s season, but now I’m afraid he’s going to be one of those guys who seems totally nice the first time around, but by the second season has turned into a total douche.”
Caitlyn winced. Mimi had no idea she was calling Caitlyn’s fiancé a douche. She thought she was comforting Caitlyn after a bad break up by ragging on the guy who had broken her heart. Offering you’re-better-off-without-him support.
Caitlyn didn’t know if that made it better or worse. The road to hell was paved with good intentions.
“We should start a drinking game. With soda,” Mimi amended quickly when Caitlyn shot her a look. “Take a sip every time he gets that smug, douche-bag, I-deserve-gorgeous-women-fighting-over-me-because-I-am-the-catch-of-the-universe smile on his face.”
Caitlyn sank deeper into the couch. If she defended Daniel, would she give away the secret? “Great idea.”
What would Mimi think of Daniel the first time they met? Would it be all forgive and forget or would she still think he was a reality TV douche-bag?
“The wall looks good.”
Caitlyn looked up. Mimi was twisted around with her back to the television, taking advantage of the commercial break to inspect the good-as-new wall that had been a gaping charred hole less than a week ago.
“Yeah, Will and his brother-in-law did an amazing job. I can’t believe how quickly they put my life back together again.” Now if only there was such an easy patch for her love life.
“Will?” Mimi turned slowly back to face Caitlyn, eyes wide, brows arched speculatively.
“My downstairs neighbor. The one who pulled me out of the fire. His brother-in-law is a contractor and they took care of everything.”
“Wait, Will Hamilton?”
Had he told her his last name? She couldn’t remember. Had she really walked past his mailbox for however many months without registering the name? “Maybe?”
“Tall, darkish hair, built, freakishly sexy eyes?”
“That sounds like him.”
“Oh my God!” Mimi squealed, nearly upending the carton of chow mein she’d propped against her hip. “This is totally fate.”
“Fate?” Caitlyn echoed skeptically.
“Will Hamilton is Ty’s friend Don’s wife’s brother!” At her blank look, Mimi flapped a chopstick at her. “The one I wanted to set you up with! With the bitch ex-fiancé!”
He’s single. “Oh.”
“Yeah, oh. God, Cait, you have to jump on that man like he’s a landmine who might explode at any moment. You’ve seen him. You know that kind of hotness isn’t going to be on the market for long.”
But I’m not on the market.
She’d already found her happily ever after. Was she betraying Daniel by even entertaining fantasies about another man? Because she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Will and what might happen on their date-that-was-definitely-not-a-date if things had been different and they’d both been free. But it turned out Will was free. Did he think the date really was a date? Did he want it to be?
Did she?
“I can’t date while the show is airing,” Caitlyn murmured when Mimi gazed at her expectantly. “It’s in the contract.”
“Well then at least lick him to claim him for later.”
She blinked, jolted out of her musings by the words. “Excuse me?”
Mimi waved a chopstick. “It’s something the kids do so no one else will eat their treats when they’re trying to save them. Like the last piece of pizza in the fridge. One kid licks it in front of the other and then the other kid is so scared of the cooties that they stay away from the treat. You just need to lick Will for later.”
“Because that doesn’t sound creepy at all.”
“Hey, all’s fair in love and war.”
“I’m not sure the cooties principle translates.”
“Shush, it’s back.” Mimi flapped at her to be silent, glued to the screen.
Caitlyn turned back to watch her personal natural disaster.
Chapter Sixteen
“Will! Get in here. You have to see this!”
Claire’s shout echoed through the house from the media room, reaching him all the way in the kitchen where he was hiding with his brothers-in-law. After dinner, his parents had taken their grandchildren to the basement with plans to build a Guinness World Record worthy fort, his sisters had retreated to the media room to watch some reality show Laney was addict
ed to, and the men of the middle generation had claimed dishes duty so they could stealthily raid the beer fridge as they cleaned.
The cleaning was all done, but there were still beers to be had and football to be discussed and Will had no intention of throwing himself into the estrogen pit of the media room if he could avoid it. Especially since he had miraculously evaded being grilled about his love life during dinner and he wanted to continue his streak.
“No, thanks, Claire,” he shouted back. “I’m good.”
Second later she appeared in the doorway. “Seriously, you have to see this. It’s the girl! Don’s friend Ty’s wife’s friend. She’s on Marrying Mister Perfect!”
“There’s a show called Marrying Mister Perfect?” He didn’t bother to hide his horror.
“It’s premium grade reality schlock. But you have to see her! She’s adorable.”
“I somehow doubt anyone who would voluntarily go on a reality television show can be described as human, let alone adorable.”
Claire pivoted, glowering at her husband for reinforcements. “Don.”
Claire was five-six in three-inch heels, with a round sweet face that didn’t look like it disguised a brain to rival Mussolini’s. Her husband was a towering bear of a man who could have been a celebrity impersonator for Vin Diesel without much effort. And he still held up his hands in defeat the second she looked at him. “The girl’s cute,” he offered.
As if that settled it, Claire latched onto Will’s arm and began dragging him toward the media room. He was twice her size, but she had a grip like a wolverine.
“What made you think I would want to date some reality TV starlet?”
Claire rolled her eyes and kept dragging. “I didn’t know she was on the show. No one did. It was this giant secret.”
“But you still want to set me up with her. Even though she’s probably a soulless fame whore.”
“Wow, way to be judgmental, champ. And no, I don’t want to set you up now, not when you have your fire girl. But she might be a good fall back plan, for later.”
His fire girl. He liked the sound of that. There was certainly a fire inside Caitlyn, embers burning low, and he was looking forward to fanning those flames.
