by Amy Vansant
“I always wanted to stay here,” said Kady.
Garrett pulled to a stop and shut off the engine. “Well, you’ve got the place to yourselves tonight. They’re remodeling half of it and they opened one section just for us.”
They piled out and grabbed their luggage. Inside the foyer, a roaring fire greeted them.
Emily put a fist on her hip, watching the flames flicker. She turned to Kady. “That reminds me of my guest room.”
Kady’s brow knit. “Huh?”
“Your phone charger.”
“Oh no. Did I leave it at your house?”
“Sort of. It burst into flames about two minutes after you left.”
Kady gasped. “It did? I’m so sorry.”
Emily chuckled. “No biggie. All it burned was my paint job and any chance I had for a moment alone with Sebastian.”
Kady giggled. “Seriously, I’m so sorry.”
Sebastian dropped his bag and watched the fire. “Why do I have the urge to sit in front of that with a whiskey and a hunting dog at my feet?”
“Do they provide hunting dogs?” Kady asked Garrett, but he was already on his way to find Nicole.
Emily elbowed Sebastian. “Come on. Admit it. This is fun.”
He tilted back his head to stare at the ceiling. “I didn’t say we wouldn’t have fun. You just haven’t been involved in as many disasters as I have that started with my brother telling me how great everything was going to be.”
Sebastian sat and Marc paced the room, picking up statuettes and china, flipping them to inspect the bottoms and then returning them in the general vicinity of where they’d been. Kady wandered to the fire and Emily followed.
“What happened with you two while you were gone?” asked Emily.
Kady glanced to see if anyone was listening and leaned toward her. “Marc hit Joe.”
Now it was Emily’s turn to gasp. “He beat him up?”
“Not exactly. I think it’s known as a bitch slap but I refuse to call it that for obvious reasons.”
Emily laughed. “Obviously. But what started all that?”
“Joe tried to drink away his troubles last night. He was passed out in the bed when I went to get my clothes. When he woke up we started arguing and Marc must have heard us. He appeared like a superhero and slapped Joe around a little.”
“Yikes. What did Joe do?”
“He yelped and jumped on the bed.”
Emily covered her mouth with her hand to dampen the sound of a snorty laugh. Kady grinned, but Emily could tell her mind was elsewhere. She followed her friend’s gaze and realized she was watching Marc pace the room.
Emily smirked. “Uh oh.”
Kady’s gaze shifted to her. “What?”
“You are so done. Look at you. Marc standing up for you has you all giggly.”
Kady’s grin grew broader and she looked away. “It was pretty cool, I have to admit. Pretty sexy.”
“Why is men acting like morons always such a turn on?”
“It’s so manly. He’s like...an animal.”
Emily shook her head as they giggled. “You’re hopeless.”
Garrett reappeared and raised his arms to get their attention. “Hey, I found Nicole, follow me.”
The four followed Garrett to a large ballroom where six couples sat, stood and mingled. All heads turned to watch the fresh meat enter.
Garrett’s wife appeared with a clipboard in hand. “Everyone line up!” She spotted Emily and Sebastian, flashed a smile and looked away.
“Apparently we’re supposed to pretend we don’t know her,” said Sebastian.
Emily agreed with his assessment.
The couples drifted to the center of the room and lined up as best as they could manage without more specific instructions.
“Let’s introduce ourselves, starting with you,” said Nicole, pointing at a blonde standing to the far right of the line. “Let everyone know your name and why you hope to win.”
The girl placed her hand on her chest and tossed her hair. “Me? I’m Claire, and this is Tad.” She grabbed his arm and clung there, shaking with apparent excitement, her knee bent and foot lifted from the ground like a smitten teen. Tad smirked, clearly pleased with his effect on her. “We don’t need the money. We just love competitions.”
Studying Claire’s thin headband and plaid skirt, Emily whispered to Sebastian. “I’m starting to see some themes. They’re the preppy couple.”
“The old Prepperonis,” mumbled Sebastian.
Tad wore red shorts with tiny blue whales dotting the fabric. Emily thought any money they won would be well spent on some new pants.
Heather checked something off on her clipboard and pointed to the next couple. “Great, next?”
The rail-thin girl standing to Tad’s left appeared as if she’d stepped from the pages of Easy Rider Magazine. She wore jeans, black leather chaps and a short sleeve tee with a cartoon of a pig riding a motorcycle emblazoned across the front. Tattoos covered one entire arm. Her opposite appendage lagged in artwork but was working very hard to catch up. The dark-haired pixie stared at Claire, her lips slightly parted, as if Claire were a new species she’d never seen before.
A handsome, tan man with slicked-back, black hair and a helmet tucked beneath his arm standing to the tattooed girl’s left bumped her shoulder.
“We’re Jack and Maria,” he said. His girlfriend shifted to catch her balance, before snapping from her trance.
“Yeah, I’m Maria. Hi. I’ll probably pay off my bike, I guess.” She looked at Jack and he nodded as if her idea sounded like a good idea.
Two statuesque blonde beauties were up next. They broke into simultaneous grins upon realizing it was their turn.
“We’re Ashlyn and Tara,” they said in unison, pointing to one and then the other. “We’ve been saving up for a house we can share,” added Tara.
“Holy crap, dude,” said Marc, slapping Sebastian’s chest with the back of his hand.
Sebastian winced. “Ow.”
Marc ignored his protestations and continued. “Where are their boyfriends?”
“Maybe they’re each other’s boyfriends,” suggested Emily.
Marc’s eyes grew wide. “Seriously?”
She shrugged.
“They’re lesbians?” Marc’s voice echoed through the room and all heads swiveled in his direction.
Kady’s head dropped into her hand.
Marc raised his hand in apology and leaned toward Sebastian to mumble, his eyes never leaving the blondes. “Duuude...”
Emily could only compare Marc’s expression to that of a passionate art lover watching someone unveil a recently discovered Van Gogh.
She leaned to him. “They’re sisters, idiot. Look at them. They’re twins.”
Marc scowled. “I thought everyone was a couple here?”
“I guess not.”
“Twins...” Marc appeared to mull this new information and then grinned. “That’s almost as good.”
Sebastian and Emily introduced themselves next, followed by Marc and Kady. Marc announced he’d use the money to buy video games and Kady stared at him, jaw slack.
Emily felt very plain next to the finely-crafted stereotypes of the other couples. The couple after Marc and Kady included a tow-headed man wearing camo cargo shorts and a t-shirt featuring a large deer that said Got Bucks? His girlfriend appeared to be a strange mixture between supermodel and him. They wanted to put their winnings toward starting a new hunting-guide business. The final couple were brother-sister chefs from Baltimore with booming laughs that made everyone else giggle. They were business partners in a catering business and hoped to win so they could afford to buy a food truck.
Garrett had fallen asleep in a chair behind Nicole and as the chefs finished their introductions, he snorted himself awake. Nicole glared at him and then returned her attention to the group.
“Thank you all for coming. Tonight—”
“Sorry we’re late.”
A female voice cut Nicole short. Emily turned in time to watch a pair of breasts bounce into the room. They were attached to a body, which was attached to a familiar face.
Greta.
Emily felt the blood drain from her face. She said the word before she could stop herself.
“No.”
Sebastian had been sipping from a bottle of water and he sputtered, coughing violently into his hand.
Lagging behind Greta, Joe entered the room, looking sheepish.
Kady gasped before slapping her hand over her mouth.
Joe refused to look in Kady’s direction, and instead fell into pace behind Greta as she strode toward Nicole. Greta met Emily’s gaze, smirking as she thrust a piece of paper in Nicole’s direction.
“Last minute entry.”
Nicole snatched the document and scanned it. Scowling, she slipped it under the paper on her clipboard and nodded toward the end of the line.
Greta walked to her spot, hips swinging, with Joe slinking behind her, hands thrust in his pockets.
“How is this possible?” Emily hissed to Sebastian.
He cleared his throat a last time and bent close to whisper, “Her aunt works for the station.”
“What?”
“I totally forgot. That’s how we met. Her aunt is a VP or something at the station. She’s Nicole’s boss.”
Emily closed her eyes.
“You have got to be kidding me.”
Chapter Five
After a brief orientation and hours of obligatory safety and rules briefings, the contestants gathered in the Cherry Lodge’s dining room to enjoy a gourmet meal on Channel Six’s tab. Garrett, Nicole, Emily, Sebastian, Kady and Marc shared a table after both Sebastian and Garrett dismissed Nicole’s concerns over nepotism and insisted upon sitting together.
“You’re not going to get in trouble for sitting with us, are you?” Emily asked Nicole as they sat.
“It doesn’t matter. You-know-who is my boss’s niece so apparently it isn’t a big deal.” Nicole nodded her head to the left and Emily followed the motion before she could stop herself. She spotted Greta’s head thrown back, mouth open in uproarious laughter. She didn’t seem to have a care in the world, except that she was staring directly back at Emily from the corner of her eye.
Nobody in the history of the world had ever laughed that loud while staring from the corner of their eye.
Emily’s mood darkened.
She wants to make sure Sebastian sees how happy she is without him and wants me to see she doesn’t care about me.
Emily was convinced Greta had arrived with the sole purpose of making her and Sebastian’s lives a living hell. She’d thought they were free of her meddling, and now it was starting all over again.
Nicole stared at her brother-in-law’s ex-flame.
“Happy to be reunited with Greta for a little longer?” she teased Sebastian.
He hooked his mouth to the right. “Yeah, thanks for that. Like this wasn’t ridiculous enough.”
A waiter circled the table, placing salads in front of each of them.
“One for you, one for you...” he sang.
His levity made the drama simmering seem ridiculous and made Emily laugh.
Let it go, let it go...
Nicole stabbed a piece of lettuce. “I’m really sorry about her, Bash. I had no idea she’d be joining us. Her aunt is my boss, remember? There’s nothing I can do.”
“It’s my fault,” moaned Kady, guiding a pepperoncini to the edge of her salad plate like a pepper shepherd.
Emily scowled. “How can Greta be your fault?”
“I’m the one who told Joe about the show. I was trying to rub it in and make him mad, and instead, I told him where I’d be. He must have called Greta and they hatched a plan to come here.”
Emily considered this. If it was Kady’s fault, it meant Joe and Greta showing up had more to do with Joe than it did with Greta. That boded well for her. Maybe Greta really was over Sebastian’s rejection. Maybe she wasn’t holding a grudge...
She glanced at Greta’s table to find her nemesis staring at the back of Sebastian’s head, her jaw steadily masticating a forkful of lettuce as if she were imagining her salad was Sebastian’s skull.
...or maybe not.
Emily looked at Sebastian. “Did Greta ever mention the show to you?”
He shook his head. “No. Not that I remember. We weren’t exactly talking the last month I was there. She spent a lot more time with Joe—” He winced and caught Kady’s eye. “Sorry. I didn’t know it was Joe at the time. I didn’t mean to...”
Kady waved away his concern. “Not your fault. He’s the cheating bastard. And her, of course.”
“I think this is all awesome,” said Marc, dropping his fork to his empty plate. He’d inhaled his salad.
“You just like being this close to lesbian model twins,” muttered Kady.
Marc grinned. “It is a once in a lifetime. Am I right?”
Garrett nodded in agreement and Nicole scowled at him until he dropped his head and returned to his salad.
The waiter, Jack, reappeared. “Somebody’s not eating their food,” he said in his sing-song voice, like a mother teasing a child.
Sebastian realized he was the focus of Jack’s attention and offered a sheepish grin. “I’m not that hungry.”
Jack gathered up Nicole, Marc and Garrett’s empty plates before leaning down to speak to Sebastian in a dramatic whisper. “You don’t need to diet, honey, you’re a tall glass of water.”
Sebastian’s eyes grew wide as Jack winked and sauntered away.
“I don’t think Greta is your biggest worry,” said Katy to Emily.
Emily laughed and then stopped as she watched Kady’s smile drop, her gaze locked above Emily’s left shoulder. Emily swiveled, and had to recoil to keep her nose from embedding in Greta’s cleavage. The harpy had stopped by their table and leaned in to talk to Nicole, her plunging neckline leaving little to the imagination of the table’s occupants.
Emily deadpanned a look back at Kady, who burst into giggles.
“What do you think would be appropriate clothing for tomorrow, Nicole?” asked Greta. She caught Kady’s eye. “Joe and I are going to bed so I wanted to ask before we go.”
Kady’s eyes narrowed into tiny slits.
“Just shorts,” said Nicole.
“And a top, of course. You might want to be more specific with some people,” said Kady, her gaze never leaving Greta.
Nicole cleared her throat. “Right. Don’t worry. We’ll give you time for clothing changes should the competition call for it.”
“Great.” Greta flashed everyone a smile and headed back to her table.
“I’m going to kill her,” growled Kady in a tone that fell somewhere between agitated bear and angry demon.
“Get in line,” said Emily.
Sebastian remained silent, glowering at his brother, as if to remind Garrett he’d someday pay for roping him into the competition.
Marc put his arm around Kady’s shoulder and shook her. “Come on, lighten up. What do you care if she’s going to bed with Joe? You’ve got me.”
Kady sighed. “You’re right. I don’t care. It’s just—this competition was going to be fun. It was supposed to take my mind off all that stuff.” She noticed that the cameraman roaming the room had his camera pointed at her. She smiled and leaned in to peck Marc on the lips. He kissed her back and then gave the camera a thumbs up.
“Try to pretend the camera’s not there,” said Nicole.
Marc nodded. “I am.” He winked at the lens and the cameraman wandered away.
Emily followed the cameraman with her gaze as he headed for Greta’s table. That’s when it hit her.
“She’s the bad guy.”
Sebastian looked at her. “What?”
“Greta. She’s the bad guy. You know, the evil character. The one trying to break up the other couples or breaking the rules or whatever on these reality shows
. It’s her job to cause drama to make the show better.”
Sebastian looked at Nicole. “Is that true?”
Nicole shrugged. “I might have received a phone call about something like that.”
Sebastian’s shoulders slumped. “So you did know? You knew all along she was on the show. The late arrival, the letter—that was all for the cameras?”
Nicole’s lips twisted into a knot. “No, I mean—”
“Is that why you asked us in the first place?”
Garrett scowled at Nicole. “Did you know she was on the show when you asked me to ask him?”
“No. I swear. I told Karen, Greta’s aunt, that Sebastian was filling a slot, though. She might have told Greta after that.”
Sebastian stood and placed his napkin on the table. “I’m going to take a walk.”
Nicole stood as well. “Bash, don’t go. I’m already in so much trouble for letting the other two couples slip, you can’t quit—”
“I won’t. I just want to get out of here a second.” Sebastian left.
“That’s messed up, Nicky,” said Garret, standing.
Nicole put a hand on his arm. “Go after him. Don’t let him quit. I need him. This is important.”
Garrett followed after his bother.
Nicole flopped back into her chair and turned to Emily.
“I didn’t know until she got here, I swear.”
“It’s okay.” Emily looked at Kady and saw her smiling. “What are you so happy about?”
Kady’s grin grew. “It sounds like Greta recruited Joe, not vice versa. That means this disaster wasn’t my fault.”
Chapter Six
Emily opened her eyes to find she was alone in her Cherry Lodge bed. She glanced at the clock.
Eleven p.m.
She’d fallen asleep. Sebastian and Garrett hadn’t returned to the table and she’d left before dinner was served to look for them. Unable to find them, she’d returned to the room thinking she’d lay down for a second and rest her eyes.
Apparently, she was more tired than she realized.
She moved to the bathroom and freshened up before returning to the main lounge area. She spotted Sebastian almost immediately, alone on the sofa in front of the enormous fireplace.
