Amy turned to the camera. “It looks like our bride-to-be needs some help with her theme and decorations. Shall I dare her to change up everything with a mere three weeks before the big day?”
Obviously, there was no live “studio” audience, and the yays and nays would be dubbed in.
After pretending to take into consideration whatever canned dubbing the studio had already prepared, Amy shot Jenna a you-are-so-screwed look of triumph and said, “Jenna Hart and Larry Davison, for an all expense paid honeymoon trip to your choice of Hawaii, Paris, or Bangkok, I dare you to hand over your reception decorations to Mrs. Cora Thomason. Cora, please step forward to meet the wedding party.”
“No, no,” Larry wheezed. He wiped his forehead and swayed on his feet from side to side as if he wanted to escape.
“What’s wrong?” Jenna asked. “Don’t we want to hear what she proposes first before turning it down?”
“You have no idea who Cora Thomason is?” Larry huffed and puffed, looking increasingly agitated.
“No!” Jenna covered her mouth. “They didn’t.”
“Yes, we did,” Amy chirped as a tall woman with brown bobbed hair walked into the room.
“Larry, my son, how wonderful of you not to invite me to your wedding.” Cora opened her arms for a hug.
“You’re not my mother,” Larry said. “Why are you here?”
“To help you with your wedding,” Cora said. “Aren’t you going to introduce me to your bride and her entourage?”
“I hate to be rude,” Jenna said. “But we need to leave. You can’t pull a fast one like this and expect Larry to be okay with it.”
“I’m fine, Jenna.” Larry’s face was pale. “I don’t want to ruin your chances with the wedding finale, so I accept the dare.”
“Wise choice,” Amy said. “Since I heard from a little bird that you two were planning a stay at a local bed and breakfast for your honeymoon. Sort of on a budget, aren’t you?”
“Are you sure?” Jenna pulled Larry aside, but the camera followed suit and the sound man dangled the mic above them. “I don’t mind staying in bed and eating breakfast our entire honeymoon.”
“She can help us decorate, but it doesn’t mean I have to talk to her or establish a relationship with her.” Larry avoided looking at his mother. “If the show wants her to decorate in exchange for a honeymoon package, I’m not too proud that I have to turn it down.”
“Rest assured I will spare no expense at decorating this ballroom for a wedding befitting royalty,” Cora said.
“Unfortunately, neither of us are royalty,” Jenna said.
“Oh, but in my heart, my only son is always the prince, and that must make you, Jenna Hart, a worthwhile princess.”
“Well said,” Amy encouraged the middle-aged maven. “So, Jenna Hart, your fiancé has already accepted his part of the dare. Now it’s your turn. Do you, or do you not accept Cora Thomason to order, specify, and supervise the decoration of this grand and gilded ballroom?”
Jenna glanced at Larry who gave her a slight nod, then she said, “Yes, of course. Cora, welcome to the team.”
“Thank you.” Cora rounded Jenna up for a hug. “I can’t wait to get to know both of you. You seem to be wonderful young people.”
“No thanks to you.” Larry looked past his mother and stared at Jenna. “Was this why you were twenty questions about my mother the other night?”
“What do you mean? I had no idea.” Jenna’s mouth dropped wide open.
“It’s a dirty trick, no matter whether you knew about it or not.” Larry walked by the camera crew, shoving them out of his way.
“Uh oh,” Amy said to the audience. “Larry and Jenna accepted the dare to have his estranged mother be in charge of the decorations, so they’re technically still in the running for the season finale. However, if there’s not going to be a wedding, one of the other teams will be given a lifeline to go in Jenna and Larry’s place.
“Will Larry and Jenna hold it together to go another round in She Wouldn’t Dare: Wedding Edition? Tune in next week as more nasty surprises are in store for all our contestants. How far would they go for the wedding of their dreams—or nightmares?”
Chapter Eleven
Larry lay on his weight bench inside his apartment and pumped iron. Five, six, seven, eight.
He was well aware of the pounding on the door, but he needed to be alone. Jenna, who had a complete family, with a mom and a dad and plenty of brothers and sisters, would never understand why he could not stomach dealing with a woman who’d turned her back on him while he was a vulnerable little baby.
Harley lay in the doorway of the bedroom and whined lazily as he put his saggy jowls on his front paws and stared dolefully at Larry.
“I know you think I should let Jenna in,” Larry said. “But I’m not ready to apologize to her. I shouldn’t have pointed a finger at her.”
“Aaaroohh.” Harley moaned, barely lifting his head. It was the basset hound equivalent of making a violin playing movement.
“Fine, I’m whining.” Larry increased the plates on his barbell and went for a set of five reps.
His muscles strained and the scars over one of his arms stretched as he hefted the final rep in place. His entire body was hot and furious at the trick the producers pulled on him, but even he had to admit it was good for ratings, especially his reaction to Jenna, which was loaded with drama.
After he’d turned Jenna down on the striptease in last week’s episode, the reality show had started a hashtag #WWLD for “What Will Larry Do?” which was trending all over social media.
Pundits wondered why Larry’s mother had refused to acknowledge him growing up, and whether she would finally fess up the real reason.
Larry would have liked to know, but he would never admit it.
Bang. Bang. Bang
Jenna was one persistent filly.
“Larry, I need to know if you’re okay. If you don’t open the door, I’m going to call the supervisor.” Jenna’s voice sailed loud and clear through the drafty doorway.
Slowly, Harley got up from his warm spot and padded to the door, letting out a long moaning howl.
Larry grabbed a towel and wiped his face. He was being a big baby. Sulking and taking it out on the one person who truly cared about him.
It was wrong, but he couldn’t help the perverse pleasure of knowing that she was trying like mad to get into his life.
It was a feeling he’d never really known. As kind and concerned as his foster mother was, she’d always kept her emotions at arm’s lengths, afraid his birth mother could swoop in at any moment and take him back.
Larry slung the towel over his bare shoulders and walked to the door. With a loud sigh, he opened it and Jenna flew into his arms, cuddling her face on his sweaty chest.
“We can still quit the show,” she said. “The honeymoon isn’t worth the aggravation.”
“You know I can’t provide you with a trip to Hawaii, Bangkok or Paris, not on my fireman’s salary.” Larry kissed the top of her head and shut the apartment door. “I’m sorry about suspecting you on the show. It was out of line.”
“Amy did ask me about your mother, but I told her I didn’t have a clue who she was. She then suggested that it might be better for me to know my future mother-in-law. I never suspected she would—”
“Of course she would. She’s looking for things that would make us the most uncomfortable.” Larry let Jenna go so he could grab a shirt. “Instead of looking back on Cora and what she’s going to do with the reception, we should be thinking of worse tricks they could play on us next week.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Jenna said. “We can quit the show and be happy with what I won already.”
Larry studied his fiancée, wondering if she really meant what she said. “Would you seriously give up the chance to air a Valentine’s Day fashion show on national TV because the woman who gave me up is on the same show?”
“Is that a trick question?”
Jenna opened her eyes wide and flipped her hands over, palms up. “I’ll always put you in front of my own ambition.”
He rubbed the back of his neck, which always itched because of the skin grafts, and shrugged to hide the warm fuzzy feeling of being first in her life. “You don’t have to go that far.”
“You sure?” She rubbed his large hand. “After last week’s fiasco, I realized there’s nothing more important than our future happiness.”
“Yes, but will you be happy to throw away a fashion show that could propel you to the top echelon of designers?” Larry laid it on thick to test her resolve.
Would she really put her future under his thumb and be satisfied to be a mere firefighter’s wife? Or did she aspire to the same kind of stardom those in Hollywood, New York, and Paris succumbed to?
“Well, the season finale is worth it’s weight in free advertising, and Ronaldo Silver, the host for the runaway hit show The Reluctant Bachelor will be working tag team with Amy on the finale when it’s down to the last two contestants.”
He should have known. She was making excuses already. She hadn’t truly wanted to give up her slot in the show, and if he were honest with himself, he wasn’t able to provide her with a better honeymoon either.
“No worries, then.” Larry put on a wide grin. “We’ll stay on the show, and you can think of this week’s winnings as mine. The groom is supposed to pay for the honeymoon, right? So I had a bad surprise. I’m over it. She can do her thing, get paid off by the show, and I’m not going to have a relationship with her, ever.”
“Maybe she’s not that bad,” Jenna said, her expression visibly relieved now that he was going to claim the honeymoon package. “Maybe her family forced her to give you up. Didn’t you say she was very young when she had you?”
“She was fourteen,” Larry admitted. “That’s all I know.”
“You don’t know who the dad was?”
“Nope, and I don’t want to.” Larry wandered into the bathroom and turned on the water to heat it for a quick shower. He’d grown up without any father figure, and he wasn’t about to pine away for the missed father and son camping trips and playing catch other little boys enjoyed.
“If he was older than eighteen he could be charged with statutory rape. I wonder if he was influential in the community and your mother was forced by her parents to cover up for him.”
“It’s possible. But let’s not talk about her. She looks pretty well off by now, so she doesn’t need our help.”
“It might not be your help she wants.” Jenna was one persistent female. “Maybe she wants to make up for lost time.”
“She wants the money for doing the show and to be on TV. I wouldn’t be surprised if she contacted the show and made a proposal.” Larry swung open the shower door where the water was already steamy. “Did you want to watch me shower and inspect me before getting married?”
“Uh, no. Not unless you want to return the favor.” Jenna tugged at her blouse as her eyes twinkled with mischief.
Larry leaned over and kissed her on the mouth. “I’ll inspect the goods in three weeks.”
“Then I don’t need to see yours either. I’m sure I’ll love the complete package.” She gave him a pat on the cheek and exited from the bathroom.
Larry showered quickly. When he emerged from the shower, Jenna was browsing the internet, obviously looking up the vacation spots.
A dull feeling burned in his belly, and he clenched his jaw. She couldn’t even wait until she got home to browse the prize package. Secretly, she coveted the prizes the show bestowed on them, despite it wreaking havoc over their personal lives.
Could they survive until the “I do” with all the extra drama and problems heaped on them?
“Oh, you scared me.” Jenna quickly clicked to exit the browser window. “I didn’t hear the shower shut off.”
“I’m good at sneaking up on you, aren’t I?” He gave her shoulder a squeeze. “So, what did you decide? Hawaii, Paris, or Bangkok?”
“Paris is a little cold in February,” Jenna said. “What do you think?”
“I’m thinking we shouldn’t count the honeymoon until it hatches.”
Her beautiful green eyes widened. “What’s that supposed to mean? If you’re upset about your mother, then say the word and I’ll call Amy and quit.”
Sure she would.
“Don’t bother,” Larry said. His crest was fallen down to the bottoms of his soles. “If the show wants drama, I say we give it to them in spades. This could only propel your career, and anything that furthers your design firm is good, right?”
“Yep. It could put Hart of San Francisco Design Studio right on the fashion map.” She tipped up on her toes and kissed him. “Now, let’s go out to dinner and celebrate. I’m feeling like Thai tonight.”
“I see, so it’s Bang Cock for you, huh? I should have known.”
“You’re silly, Larry.” She tweaked his nose and laughed as if she hadn’t a care in the world.
Chapter Twelve
“How are things going between you and Larry?” Jenna’s elder sister, Cait, hooked her by the arm as they made their way through a fabric store in the San Francisco garment district.
Jenna had to find the perfect piece of material to put the finishing touches on her bridesmaid collection, and the TV studio had agreed to do a photoshoot of the clothes being worn by mannequins before the next episode.
“Larry’s got such a big heart.” Jenna picked up a piece of silk charmeuse and ran her fingers over the lustrous finish. “I think he’ll eventually come around and forgive his mother. She was only fourteen when she gave birth.”
“True, but she’s way older than fourteen now,” Cait observed. “Oh, look at this illusion panel. I think you shouldn’t show as much skin at your wedding as you’re planning to.”
“In a way, my dress isn’t for me,” Jenna said, dismissing the bolt she was looking at and grabbing another one. “It’s for my collection and it’s got to be edgy enough to create a buzz.”
Cait’s lips pressed together as she fingered the bolts of material. “At the end, after the cameras are gone and the prizes have been handed out, it’s still your wedding. Judging by Larry’s reaction to the strip show, I’ve a feeling he wouldn’t want you to look too sexy, especially at church.”
“Father Gonzales was okay with it,” Jenna retorted. “I ran it by him and he says the Church is surprisingly more open-minded than people think. He’s happy with the large donation the studio is giving, and that money would help the homeless.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Cait waved her hand in a circle. “Helping charities is the best way of talking yourself into a bad decision.”
“Since when have you gone all puritanical?” Jenna turned the tables on her elder sister. Cait typically took their parents’ side in every issue, and she was married right out of high school, thus spared the modern dating and hookup scene. But Jenna seemed to remember Cait sneaking out back when she was in the drama club, and while nothing came of it, other than a failed relationship with a guy who turned out to be drug addict, Cait hadn’t always been so conservative.
“I just have a strange feeling about Larry jumping into the reality show with both feet. You, too. Remember you were against it at first?” Cait held up an intricately beaded ivory-colored panel.
“You were upset, too, when I was forced to cut up that first dress.” Jenna inspected the beadwork and put it back on the rack. “But wouldn’t you say you like your new dress better? And Mom and Dad are over the moon with the kitchen and bathroom plans.”
“The paycheck I got for my two minutes on the show wasn’t bad either,” Cait chuckled. “Put this panel over your belly area. I think leaving it bare would be too much.”
“Actually, I disagree. The bare belly with a jewel in my belly button is the cornerstone of the piece.” Jenna put the material back.
“Then you’d better not get pregnant between now and then,” Cait huffed. “I’m sure all att
ention will be centered on your belly. You know how people are at weddings anyway, always speculating on whether the bride is bringing an uninvited guest.”
“Really? Since when?” Jenna was not one to gossip. “It’s the twenty-first century. You’d think everyone would be happy that people are still getting married. By the way, is Melisa still upset at you for outing her?”
“Very.” Cait giggled. “She’s built her entire life around her goody-two-shoe image, but she’s barely pregnant.”
“Barely is still pregnant.” Jenna chuckled. “I’m glad for her and Rob. They deserve a little something extra.”
“So do you and Larry.” Cait patted her abdomen where she, too, was barely pregnant. “Any plans on getting knocked up and joining the rest of us on the baby brigade?”
“Uh, no.” Jenna picked up a feathered boa. “I didn’t lose ten pounds from last year to gain it all back growing a baby. Besides, now that all of you are having grandchildren for Mom and Dad, the pressure’s off of me. Larry and I plan on traveling the world, starting with Bangkok.”
“Good, so you’re definitely going forward with the show.” Cait gave her a high-five. “You finally admit it was a good idea? When you’re rich and famous, don’t forget who put you up to it.”
“I won’t.” Jenna slapped her sister’s hand with a low-five. “Put it this way, with all of the prize winnings, I’m going to have a huge income tax bill, and I’ll need money to pay for it.”
“You’ll get spades of clients and top billing at the fashion shows this spring.” Cait lifted the beaded panel from the rack. “How about you show the dress with the keyhole cutout, and then add the panel for the wedding?”
“Hey, that’s a great idea,” Jenna had to agree. “Then I just attach a belly button jewel to the mannequin and save myself the pain of getting an actual piercing.”
“And save Larry the pain of having all his buddies gawk at his future wife’s sexiness.” Cait chuckled. “You know what? I’ve a good feeling about this marriage. You two were complete opposites, but you’re both compromising and at the same time, stretching each other to experience new things.”
Valentine Wedding Hound: The Hart Family (Have A Hart Book 5) Page 7
