by C. J. Anaya
“I want to kiss you, Madelyn.”
She balked and took a step back, her peaceful calm dashed to pieces.
“You made it very clear that you would only do that if you were serious about the girl in question.”
“I am.”
Okay, she understood that the American viewers were interested in their supposed love story, but she had no intention of pursuing a fake engagement with Brody. It would emotionally destroy her. She’d already formulated other ways of getting herself kicked off the show, and being publicly kissed by Brody would shoot those plans to hell.
After declaring that he would only do such a thing if he were completely serious about a contestant on the show, eliminating her would seem callous and further his image as an incorrigible playboy. He wouldn’t be able to let her go…and he had to let her go. She had no intention of seeing this series through to the end, not when her heart was so thoroughly invested in the billionaire standing before her.
“You’ve just begun to get to know everyone. There are still fourteen girls here that you haven’t gone on single dates with. Perhaps you should…give yourself some time to process…everything.”
He reached for her hips and pulled her to him.
“I don’t need to process anything. I know how I feel.”
“You have a date with Cambria tomorrow. You may feel differently after spending time with her.”
“ I think Cambria is very kind, but I don’t feel quite so strongly about her as I do about you. Tell me to cancel the date, and I will.”
“You can’t cancel it. That’s why you’re here. To get to know these other women.”
“I’m here to find my wife.”
“I know that, but—”
“Why should it take an entire season to determine which woman is the best fit for me?”
“Don’t let the producers hear you say that,” she hissed.
“What are you afraid of, Madelyn?”
Rejection. Humiliation. Being used as a pawn in this game you and my father are playing. Getting my heart broken.
She stood stock still, incapable of voicing her thoughts on camera. Refusing to allow herself that much vulnerability when Brody was using her to repair his image and help shield him from Felicia’s spiteful publicity.
“If you can tell me you don’t have serious feelings for me yet, I will refrain from kissing you…for now.”
Midge hesitated, aware of her father and the crew hovering around them, holding their breaths, waiting for her to give Brody that perfect answer.
Under normal circumstances she was strong enough to fight against handsome men who were interested in her for all of the wrong reasons. She didn’t allow anyone to take advantage of her, and never revealed her true feelings for any man, especially someone like Brody Prescott, but then she had never had feelings like these before, and she had never been in a situation where she could act on those impulses under the guise of pretense.
It wasn’t as if Brody would think she was sincere, and why not enjoy the feel of his arms around her and the affection he willingly demonstrated? Why not allow herself to give into her desires, feeling loved and adored even if it wasn’t sincere on Brody’s part. She could pretend that it was real for now, and when the dust settled and the cameras were off she could go back to being aloof and standoffish as if she’d never meant any of it…as if his affections hadn’t mattered to her in the slightest. If he was going to use her, she would give as good as she got.
But at what cost to her heart? Could she recover from losing him after allowing him deeper access to her feelings?
“Can you tell me you don’t feel this like I do?” he pressed.
Midge allowed all of her defenses to crumble and let go of her guarded expression. It was terrifying.
Closing her eyes for a moment, she took a deep breath, and then opened them, allowing her true desires to shine through, allowing herself some vulnerability.
“I can’t tell you that. I don’t want to tell you that, but I’m not so sure it’s a good idea.”
“Why?” His hands slowly slid to the small of her back and pulled her forward, pressing her against his chest. She tilted her head back to maintain eye contact with him.
Tell him, she admonished herself. He’ll never suspect it’s the truth.
“Because I’m…I…” she faltered. Because I care too much for you, and you’re gonna break my heart. “I just think it would be best if you kept your options open for now.”
“Cuuut!” her father yelled.
Midge took a step back from Brody and his smoldering gaze, waiting for her irate father to approach. It obviously wasn’t the way he’d wanted that scene to play out.
“Kept your options open? These are not the words of a woman who came here to find true love. Midge, there was so much build-up right there. How could you let the tension between you and Brody dissipate like that when Brody did all the work to bring you guys to that perfect moment?”
Midge shook her shoulders out to relieve the ache and fortified herself for combat.
“If Brody kisses me now, he makes a very clear statement to the audience that he is going to keep me around for awhile, and that isn’t what we agreed to. It was one thing for him to adhere to Claire’s wishes and kiss me at the hospital. No one will fault him for that. But if he kisses me right here, right now, then he’s making a very pointed statement, a declaration that no one will be able to ignore. I kiss my chances of being eliminated for the rest of the season. He can’t just kiss contestants left and right and then eliminate them. We’re trying to get away from the playboy angle, am I right?”
Brody took her shoulders and forced her to face him.
“Madelyn, is that what you really think this is all about? I’m not interested in angles or public perception.”
“I heard you,” she shrugged in an attempt to mask the acute stab of pain near her chest.
“What are you talking about?”
“Midge, we don’t have time for this. We’re on a tight schedule here, and I’m pretty sure I made it clear that you’re here for the long haul. You are Brody’s future. Your established connection before the show and the viewers’ approval of that connection has sealed the deal here. You’ll be the last woman standing no matter what So kiss this guy already and make your viewers happy.”
“Knightly, you’re giving your daughter the wrong impression.” Brody turned to Midge. “This isn’t a fake romance.”
“Of course it is,” Midge said. “Don’t you remember the job offer you gave me at the café? I refused it then, and I’m refusing it now. If you need three girls to eventually narrow it down to, fine, but I don’t need to be one of them.” She turned to her father. “I have fulfilled more than my share of the contract, and I am willing to stick around long enough for Brody to develop stronger feelings for three other girls, but that can’t happen if he kisses me.”
“Madelyn, you have completely misunderstood my intentions here, and that job offer was my lame and rather crass way of hitting on you. I thought I had to present it as employment rather than an extended invitation to dinner considering how unimpressed you were with me.”
“Stop lying to me,” she shouted. “I know exactly why you need me here, but I have no intention of getting engaged to you to further your image or to field off Felicia’s advances.”
She watched Brody’s face blanch in understanding. Now he knew that she’d heard everything. How would he deny his motives now?
“You took that out of context, Madelyn.”
“Save it. I’m here because I need to graduate from college, and my father is holding my trust fund hostage. Now that everyone’s true motives are on the table, we can stop with this game and be honest for a change.”
“Here’s some honesty, Midge. If you don’t see this thing through with Brody to the very end of the show, you can kiss your tuition money good-bye.” Knightly waved away one particular cameraman who had inched his way closer to the argument. �
�Stop filming this, people. We can’t use any of it for the show. We need them to be falling in love, not discussing their relationship like it’s a business transaction.”
Midge tried another tactic. “My contract states—”
“That you don’t leave until you’re eliminated. Brody, do you plan on eliminating my daughter any time soon?”
“Absolutely not, but Madelyn you need to understand why I—”
She shot her hand up to stop whatever manipulative, cajoling argument he intended to use to sway her into believing he saw her as anything other than an opportunity.
“Don’t.” She drew in the pain she felt at her father’s callous behavior and Brody’s ulterior motives. Neither one of them would see how badly this affected her. Ever. “I’m here to get my trust fund back, and you’re here to save your company.” She drew in a deep breath and lifted her eyes to his. The concern written on his face sliced at her frail emotions. This on-screen kiss could not happen. Not when she still planned on getting eliminated. “If you want me to be the girl that sees this thing through with you to the end of the series then you’re going to have do things my way, and kissing me on this first one-on-one date is not a good idea. Not when you still have so many girls to eliminate.”
“Midge, it’s what the viewers want,” her father said.
“And they’ll get it, but not right away. You want more viewers, and Brody needs to restore his credibility. If I have no option to leave the show then you’re going to do things my way in order to facilitate both of those goals; otherwise, I’ll be so uncooperative you’ll be forced to send me home.”
“I’m listening.”
Midge took note of Brody’s glower, but she ignored it and turned her attention back to her father. If anyone had the right to glower it was her. Brody was getting everything he wanted.
“You know better than anyone how to keep people coming back to watch one more episode. You’ve got to create suspended tension with no resolution. Make them come back each episode, anticipating that next kiss between me and Brody, but never delivering it until there are only a few contestants left. That same tactic should apply to any other women you want him developing a relationship with. Wait until there are only a few weeks left, and then he can kiss whoever the hell he wants.”
Hopefully by then, she’d have found a way off the show.
“The build up of sexual tension,” he said. “Sounds like a fabulous idea to me. And what’s your angle for Brody?”
Midge glanced at the handsome billionaire, surprised to see him barely concealing his anger, at what, she couldn’t fathom.
“He can continue to get to know the other women, but in his personal interviews he will make note that he’s taken a special interest in me and a few other girls. When each girl fails to catch his attention he will kindly eliminate them. That way he appears to be taking this seriously and he is given more time on camera to allow his personality, character, and convictions to shine through. He also appears kind and honest in his dealings with women by cutting them off when he realizes he doesn’t feel as strongly for them as he does for the last three girls standing.”
“Brilliant, Midge. This is why you should have come to work for me. Your talents are wasted behind that laptop of yours.”
Her father turned away before she got the chance to deliver a scathing remark. He always got the last word in, damn him.
“Let’s take it back right before Brody brings up the kiss. We’ll shoot that part later.” Her father commenced shouting out orders and camera jargon while the crew regrouped and moved into their previous positions. She felt someone clamp a hand on her arm and pivoted to face Brody’s enraged glare.
“What is your problem, Prescott?” She ripped her arm out of his grasp and took a step away from his tempting physique.
“You haven’t given me a chance to explain myself or my intentions where you’re concerned. You insist on believing that I have absolutely no feelings for you.”
She sighed heavily, lifting a hand to rub the tension from the back of her neck.
“Brody, you can stop this now. The cameras aren’t rolling yet. There’s no reason to play to my ego now that I’ve agreed to stay.”
He surprised her by grabbing her shoulders and roughly pulling her against his chest.
“I don’t know what I’m going to have to do to get you to believe that I’m here for you and no one else, but I’ll say it over and over again until it sinks in.”
His hands slid down her arms and then moved to the small of her back, holding her to him with no room for escape, and escape is most definitely what she wanted and needed.
His hungry gaze held hers as he continued. “I am here for you, Madelyn. I don’t want anyone but you, and I may not be allowed to kiss you on camera just yet, but I’ll be damned if you’re going to prevent me from kissing you when those stupid things aren’t rolling.”
His arms tightened more firmly about her waist and his mouth descended to meet hers in a fervent collision of lips, warm and soft while one of his hands came up to hold the nape of her neck when she attempted to pull back. She let out a breathy moan which he took advantage of by deepening their kiss and exploring her tongue with his.
Completely lost in his kiss, Midge explored the clean feel of his shaved jawline as she used her other hand to rake her fingers through his silky hair, fully participating in yet another stolen kiss from Brody Prescott.
What was she doing? Opening this door again was tantamount to emotional suicide, and yet she couldn’t pull away, and not just because of the way Brody held her captive against his massive frame. She had lost any ground recently gained against her certain cliff dive into heartbreak.
She fought him at first, but though she was a strong-willed, feisty individual, she was physically no match for someone like him. He wanted Madelyn, and he would get her in the end. Whatever goal he set out to achieve he eventually realized, and making Madelyn a permanent fixture in his life would be no exception. She was his. She just had to believe in that and believe in what he offered her.
She felt so good in his arms, especially when she relaxed against him and stopped putting up such a useless fight. Her lips were soft and warm against his, and the warmth of her touch sent his mind reeling with thoughts better left unexplored for now. He didn’t truly feel exultant in this latest battle of wills until Madelyn’s hands began exploring his hair, her soft fingers flitting lightly against his chin. When she parted her lips even further and allowed him to delve deep into her mouth, he knew she was his. She couldn’t possibly ignore what was happening between them now.
He slowly tapered off the intensity of their exchange by softening his kisses and then taking his lips and lightly sucking and then kissing the corner of her top lip as he took his fingers and traced soft circular patterns on her lower back.
He pulled back just enough to look Madelyn in the eye, feeling satisfied to see them slightly glazed. Her lips were delightfully red and swollen. Her eyes focused a bit as she let out a shaky breath and bit her bottom lip, a nervous gesture on her part that he found to be utterly irresistible. He couldn’t stop himself from leaning forward and placing a soft kiss on her lower lip and then softly tugging on it with his teeth for good measure, eliciting a satisfying gasp from the gorgeous creature in his arms.
He pulled back again and watched her as she tried to pull her emotions together. Her defenses were down, and he wanted to keep them that way.
“From now on, Madelyn, no one bites that bottom lip but me.”
Her eyes widened in surprise, but she didn’t attempt to move from his grasp or slap him this time. An encouraging bit of progress.
“Please tell me someone captured that on film,” Knightly shouted, breaking the spell of his shared kiss with Madelyn. “No? You’re all fired,” he continued, though the comment held little sting to it.
Madelyn’s eyes came into sharp focus at the sound of her father’s voice. The hardening of her features clued him in t
o her fortifying resolve to shut him out. Before she was able to mentally and emotionally talk herself out of what he knew she felt for him, he tilted her chin and brushed a light kiss on her lips, capturing her attention long enough for her to look at him openly without any walls blocking out the sincerity of his next sentence.
“I’m here for you, Madelyn. Whether you’re willing to believe me or not, I want you now, and I’ll want you after all of this is over.”
“Why are you doing this to me? You don’t have to convince me of anything. My performance will be just as believable without your false attempts at winning me over.”
He sighed heavily at her stubborn refusal to believe him. Then he brushed his thumb against the high ridge of her cheekbone and placed a soft kiss against her forehead, moving to rest his own forehead against hers and drawing her in closer, he whispered, “I won’t give up, Madelyn. I know you don’t trust me, but I won’t stop showing you or telling you how much I care for you. Eventually, you’re going to believe me. I can promise you that.”
Her back went rigid and she stepped away from him. He was shocked to see a tear slide down her cheek.
“And just how fast will you walk away from me once this is all over? One thing you can believe, Mr. Prescott, I won’t be holding my breath.”
Brody ground his teeth in frustration. Did he need to grab her and shower her with his affections again to get his point across? He would gladly do it, but she didn’t seem to place much trust in these public displays of affection. Private ones with absolutely no cameras around would be a better strategy. He was hardly against that tempting idea and planned to put it into play every chance he got.
