The One
Page 10
“Julian, you ready?” DJ Saul called out, snapping us both out of it.
Julian blinked rapidly as if he was clearing his head and smiled at the man. “Yes. If everyone is good on the rules, let’s go!”
We headed back to our tables and were given paper and pencils. For an hour, DJ Saul asked us questions ranging from pop culture to politics. It was a good thing that Bailey and I were partnered together because where she excelled at pop culture and movies, I excelled at current events and music. Unfortunately, neither of us knew much about sports. But what I did notice was that Bailey was a lot smarter than she let on. Between rounds music was played and drinks were served. At the end of three rounds, we turned our papers in and waited for the points to be tallied.
“Okay, the winners of the duo-date…” DJ Saul said with the same conviction as Bryce Wilson. “Zoe and Bailey!”
Bailey clapped happily bouncing in her chair. Even I glanced down, distracted by her breasts’ near escape from the low cut dress. I felt my eyebrows come together and I shook my head.
If Koko was here, she’d understand the humor in this. Did no one else even see that?
Shifting my gaze to Julian, I saw him give me an amused grin with his eyebrows almost to the middle of his forehead. With that look, I knew he had seen it too and that he also thought it was funny. Just when I thought I was alone, he found a way to make me feel like he got me. I couldn’t help but beam with exhilaration.
Bryce appeared from seemingly nowhere and opened his arms wide. “Congratulations Zoe and Bailey! Julian will take it from here.” He turned his attention to the other women. “Better luck next time ladies. Follow me. We are headed back to the house.”
The sound of wooden chairs angrily scraping against the floor seemed to echo since DJ Saul stopped playing music.
Julian walked the other women to the door, hugging each of them before they left. Once the door closed behind Tori who made sure to give us a death glare as she hugged him, Julian flashed us a smile.
“Follow me please,” he said as he held out his arms for us to take. With us attached to each arm, he led us to a back door I hadn’t seen before. “After you.”
I walked through the door first, followed by Bailey, followed by Julian, followed by the camera crew.
I gasped. Two seconds later, Bailey gasped.
Red rose petals littered the floor of the banquet room. White tablecloth covered tables lined the room against the wall and were covered in candles. One black tablecloth covered table was situated in the middle of the room with white candles and red roses gathered on the far side. The three chairs at the table were a reminder that this was not a solo date.
“This is beautiful,” I gushed.
Julian put his hand on the small of my back and led me to the table. It wasn’t until that moment that I realized that I was addicted to his touch. I looked over at him and noticed he had his hand on the small of Bailey’s back too.
I sighed and kept my thoughts to myself.
Once we were seated, DJ Saul, who insisted we call him Saul, brought out an appetizer sampler for us to share.
“This smells amazing,” Bailey remarked, reaching for the mozzarella sticks.
“Wait,” Julian and I insisted at the same time.
The moment the word was out of our mouths, our head whipped toward one another.
I narrowed my eyes at him and pulled out my hand sanitizer. He laughed, leaning forward and grabbing the bottle that was strategically placed and hidden within the floral candle arrangement.
We burst out laughing again and the sense of ease and calm came over me immediately. It was something about Julian that I couldn’t put my finger on, but he had a way about him that just made me feel comfortable.
As the laughter died down, I glanced over at Bailey whose face was red.
Crap, I hope she doesn’t think we’re laughing at her.
After squirting hand sanitizer into our hands and then his own, Julian smiled. “Okay, now let’s dig in.”
The cameraman circled around us and then situated himself right above the side of the table where the forth chair would’ve been. Eating on camera wasn’t something I was looking forward to doing so I picked up my glass and sipped my water.
Julian looked at me and winked before turning his head in the other direction. “So, Bailey, where are you from?”
“I’m from Wisconsin,” she answered awkwardly. “Where are you from? Oh, I mean, I know California, but I mean…where?”
I tuned them out while he spent time getting to know her. It was awkward feeling like the third wheel on someone else’s date.
On second thought, I will have a mozzarella stick.
I didn’t know if I was bored because their conversation was boring or if I was feeling a little left out, but I had resorted to reading and re-reading the menu until I knew for a fact that I was ordering the Cobb salad and that the secret ingredient in the marinara sauce was crushed red pepper flakes.
“So Zoe, what do you think of this bar?” Julian had turned his attention to me.
Putting the menu down in front of me, I clasped my hands on top of it. “This place is exactly the kind of place I would expect you to hang out. It’s attractive and deceptively cool. It has more depth than anyone realizes. And it’s comfortable.”
Light flickered in his eyes as his smile grew with each of my descriptions. He nodded before he asked, “What do you mean comfortable? That could be a good thing or a bad thing.”
“It’s a good thing.” I smiled back at him, leaning slightly in his direction. “You know those places you go where you can be yourself completely. Those are comfortable places. I feel like this is your comfortable place.”
He licked his lips before bringing the glass of water to them. “What’s your comfortable place?” His eyes added more weight behind the question than I think was intended.
With you, I replied in my head as a knee-jerk reaction to the hypnotic way he was looking at me.
He smirked as if he knew what I was thinking. His eyes were begging me to say it aloud, but I stuffed that thought into the deepest part of my psyche.
I broke our gaze which brought me back down to reality long enough for me to coach myself.
Okay Zoe, reel that shit in. This is the third time, THIRD, you’re having a conversation with this man. He is not your comfortable place. He is the place you return to because you had a good time before. This isn’t your Café Nervosa, your Central Perk, your Cheers. This is the popular hangout that everyone wants to get into and you are just one of the many who are on a wait list.
I blinked several times to break the spell before making eye contact again. “Home. My comfortable place is home.”
“They say, ‘home is where the heart is.’”
I shook my head in disbelief that he said that. My face grew hot. I didn’t know how to respond so I just laughed. “Um, thank you for that,” I replied, cocking my head to the side. “You are ridiculous.”
The goofy smile on his face made me certain that I had the same goofy smile on mine. Seconds passed and we were just smiling at each other and it wasn’t until Bailey cleared her throat that I realized how in our own world we were.
“Are you two sure you haven’t met before the show?” Bailey asked with a laugh. Although her voice was playful, her upturned lips didn’t reach her narrowed eyes.
I shook my head. “No, I’ve never met anyone like Julian Winters.”
As soon as the words came out of my mouth, I realized what it sounded like. I opened my mouth to backtrack, but Julian’s hand found my knee under the table. I sucked in a sharp breath in surprise.
Julian looked at me. “And I’ve never met anyone like Zoe Jordan.”
Feeling a blush coming over my skin, I became acutely aware of how the exchange looked outside of our bubble. I widened my eyes indiscriminately and tilted my head fractionally.
Quickly, he turned away from me and smiled at Bailey. “And I’ve never met any
one like you, Bailey.”
She grinned and then looked down. “I’m glad to be here. With everyone being so pretty and smart, it is hard feeling like I’m not standing out in the group, you know?”
“Hey, look at me,” Julian said softly. “You stand out just fine. You are beautiful and obviously, you’re smart. You two won the trivia date! So no matter what happens, your beauty and your intelligence remains the same.”
Even though his words weren’t directed at me, those words were so similar to something I would say that they wormed their way into my heart and I couldn’t deny it anymore. I liked him.
Saul came by to take our late lunch orders. Squeezing my bare knee one last time, Julian let go of me and I missed the heat of his hand immediately.
The rest of the meal was uneventful. Julian seemed to be more cognizant of splitting his attention between the two of us. I learned a lot about him and even though I didn’t share a lot of personal stuff, Bailey shared enough for the both of us.
At the end of the date, we said our goodbyes to Saul and climbed into the town car that was waiting for us. The sun was starting to set and it was truly a beautiful day. With the three of us situated with Julian in the middle, the ride back to the mansion was prolonged by an accident on the freeway. But that wasn’t the most interesting part of the twenty minute trip.
Bailey, likely emboldened by the wine, took charge of the conversation with Julian. She talked, flirted, and giggled her way through the entire ride to the house and I didn’t say a thing. To the cameraman who was sitting in the front seat and filming through the window, it may have looked as if I had given up or that Bailey was dominating the date at that moment.
Bailey was beautiful and with her hair up in that ponytail and her makeup done impeccably, she looked high fashion. Her outfit wasn’t my style, but it showed off her biggest assets. Straight men tended to like to look at breasts so I could see her thought process in that wardrobe selection. And she seemed to be playing dumb for some reason, but as her trivia teammate, I saw through the act.
So, on the surface it may have appeared as though Bailey was gaining traction on me. But I saw the way Julian looked at me tonight and he didn’t look at her like that. There was no spark between them and the fact that he discreetly held my hand while talking to her during the car ride let me know where his attention was truly focused.
At one point, I did wonder if he was holding her hand too. But when I saw him pick up a bottle of water and keep it in his hand for the remainder of the ride, I knew that he wasn’t. So I closed my eyes and relished in the feeling of his hand sensually stroking mine. I rested my head against his shoulder and felt his body react. I squeezed his hand and smiled, letting the two of them enjoy their conversation about nothing.
No seriously, they weren’t talking about shit.
*****
Chapter 8
“Zoe, we need you,” a woman I hadn’t seen before called out to me the moment Julian finished hugging me and Bailey goodbye.
Bailey raised her eyebrows and I shrugged.
She opened the door to the house and another crew member seemed to grab her for questioning as well.
“Do you feel like since you got the First Impression Charm and then the duo date, you are in a good place with Julian?” The producer asked as the cameraman got set.
Hell yeah!
“I feel as though things with Julian are solid,” I answered, channeling my mother and giving nothing away.
“Are you worried about what the other women are saying about you in the house?”
Hell no.
I smiled politely. “Not in the slightest.”
“You’ve been described as stuck-up, pretentious, and not at all Julian’s type?”
Seriously? I looked at the seven or eight crew members and tilted my head slightly. This is how it is huh?
“Julian doesn’t think that. And more importantly, I don’t think that.”
I could see the frustration in her face and body language since she wasn’t getting the reaction she was hoping for and that made my smile widen.
She bristled. “Well, I was just asking because the ladies in the house were debating that. If you’d like, I can tell you which ones.”
What’s funny is that that’s probably the only honest thing she’s said this whole time.
I let out an amused sigh. “There’s no need.”
She looked at me blankly and tightened her thin lips.
I widened my eyes innocently. “Is there anything else? I’d really like to get inside.”
“Cut,” she said with an attitude.
Giving them a wave goodbye, I turned on my heel and stalked into the house. As soon as I walked in, I caught the tail end of Bailey’s confessional interview.
“Well,” she twirled the end of her ponytail with her fingers. “I don’t know…”
I shook my head and kept going. I didn’t understand what Bailey thought she was gaining from dumbing herself down, but that truly was none of my concern. I needed to focus on what I need and what I needed most was a break from the house. It had only been a weekend and I was already about to lose my mind.
“Oh look. It’s not quite six o’clock yet and you’re already back here,” Tori called out as soon as I reached the steps. I looked over and she was walking out of the living room flanked by the redhead and a cameraman. “Aw. I guess things didn’t go well tonight. See, Tiffany. I told you she wasn’t any real competition.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but I decided against it. Tori wanted a reaction out of me and I refused to give it to her. I glanced at the redhead, Tiffany, before shaking my head and jogging the rest of the way up the staircase.
These people are going to drive me insane. I need some alone time.
I was determined to lose the cameras and my microphone and go for a walk. The only two people who would actively try to find me would be Koko, who didn’t work on Sundays, and Mya. And as much as I enjoyed Mya, I needed to get away from everything related to the show for a few minutes. I just needed to breathe.
When I entered the bedroom, I found Mya sleeping. The last few rays of the sun were trickling into the room so I moved quickly, but quietly, so to not wake her up. Creeping over to my side of the room, I opened the bottom drawer and pulled out a pair of black yoga pants, a white tank top with the words ‘Work It’ emblazoned on the front. Making as little noise as possible, I ducked into the huge walk-in closet—one of only two places in the bedrooms where cameras weren’t stationed. Once I was dressed, I eased my way into the bathroom to wash my face, brush my teeth and to take the pins out of my hair. After fluffing my curls, I grabbed my jacket, re-attached my microphone and tiptoed out of the room.
No one was in the hall, but I knew the cameras were watching me so I played it cool. My adrenaline was pumping like I was doing a covert mission when all I truly wanted was to have a few minutes to myself—not on camera and not recording my every word. I heard music coming from the patio area and figured the women were outside enjoying themselves. I’d made it just past the kitchen when I was spotted.
“Zoe?” The Mid-West accent called from behind me.
My sneakers made a subtle squeak as I abruptly stopped in my tracks. Turning, my eyebrows flew up. With what appeared to be a silk robe in her hand, Bailey stood in the middle of the hallway wearing an itty-bitty bikini.
“You like?” Her smile stretched from ear to ear as she spun around in a circle.
Her nipples were covered by small triangles and the majority of her ass was hanging out. She was as naked as humanly possible while still being able to be shown on network television.
“What are you wearing?” I asked, almost in disbelief. The swimsuit didn’t appear to be functional. “Can you even swim in that thing?”
“No, not at all!” She shook her head and made a face as she pulled on her colorful robe. “It’s for Julian. It’s for the cameras. It’s also for my competition to start taking me seriously.”
She made a face and gestured to the sun room. I turned, continuing down the hall and entered the room. She was on my heels, closing the door behind her.
“Will you turn that off please?” Bailey pointed at my mic.
I turned it off and then looked at her in exasperation.
What’s with all the secrecy? Didn’t we just spend all afternoon together?
Crossing my arms, I glanced at my watch as if I wasn’t contractually bound to the show and the mansion for the next three and a half weeks. I lifted my eyebrows in question. “What’s going on?”
“You tell me. Do you know Julian?” Her tone was a little more curious than accusatory.
I cocked my head to the side. “For the second time, no.”
“Don’t worry. My producer said that this room doesn’t have cameras because of something with the wiring. That’s why they come in here to strategize sometimes.”
“I’m not worried about the cameras. I’m wondering why you’re asking this again. We told you at the bar that we didn’t know each other.”
“Well, there’s something there. It’s only been a couple of days and it was like you two had known each other for months. I felt like the third wheel on your date.”
I uncrossed my arms and stuffed my hands in my jacket pockets. “I mean…” My sentence trailed off as I lifted my shoulders. “I don’t know what you want me to say to that.”
I didn’t know what to say. Julian and I clicked. I couldn’t and wouldn’t apologize for the chemistry between us.
Bailey shook her head. “No, it’s fine. Julian is sexy, rich and in the industry, but we don’t have anything in common. And during the cocktail party, I tried to kiss him and he brushed me off.”
I bit the inside of my lip to keep from smiling. Memories of his kiss and the way he touched me as we kissed made my insides warm.
“Why are you telling me this?” I asked.
“Because I’m here for me. I’m not here for Julian. And I think we can help each other. We can form an alliance.”