“Eden! Where are you going?”
I looked to my left to see Candice hurrying towards me. “Oh, hey,” I said meekly. “I was just…um…”
I didn’t really have a decent excuse as to why I would be heading for the mansion this late on a rare night of no filming, and she raised a questioning brow as she waited for me to finish my sentence.
“I think I got turned around,” I said. “Silly me, I was heading for the trailers, but I just realized I’m going the wrong way.”
“That’s what happens when you skip dinner! You need brain food,” she said in a teasing voice. “Where were you earlier, anyway?”
“Just hanging out with Blair,” I replied, glad that she hadn’t caught my lie.
“Oh, right, I keep forgetting that you’re actually friends with her. Anyway, I’ll walk back to the trailers with you. I was on my way anyway. It’s a bit creepy out here late at night, isn’t it?”
I nodded, although I thought it was actually quite nice out here at night, and I didn’t want to go to the trailers. I couldn’t bring any more suspicion upon myself, so I knew I needed to go with Candice. I could always talk to Troy tomorrow; it wasn’t like he was going anywhere anytime soon.
Still, I couldn’t wait to see him, and I couldn’t wait to hear what he had to say. I smiled to myself as I pictured how our first real conversation in years might turn out, and the tantalizing thoughts slipped through every part of my mind like twisting vines, refusing to let go until I’d considered every single possibility of how things could go with Troy.
I definitely wouldn’t be getting any sleep tonight.
Chapter Eleven
Troy
“I’m not riding that! It’s too big! And it has those weird-looking spots on it! What’s wrong with it?”
I snorted with barely-disguised amusement as one of the contestants—a brunette whose name I couldn’t quite remember—glared at the producers and folded her arms as we all gathered at the old stables on the ranch. Today’s group activity was a leisurely horse ride over to the forested side of the property, where we’d all be camping tonight, and some of the women weren’t too happy at the prospect of being in the great outdoors for so long.
The aforementioned brunette was gesturing at the spotted Appaloosa horse which had been assigned to her, and her producer looked exasperated. “It’s part of the show, Elise. If we don’t get a nice shot of you riding, then we—“
“No, it looks dangerous!” the brunette—whose name was apparently Elise—cut in.
I saw Eden and her colleague Candice shaking their heads and sighing, and I grinned. “Hey, Elise,” I said. “It’s not too big or dangerous. Watch this.”
I jumped up onto my own horse, which was standing next to me, and I slid my feet into the stirrups before grabbing the reins and doing a quick circle around the yard. “See?” I called out before coming to a stop. “Easy.”
Eden smiled over at me and mouthed the words ‘thank you’, and I winked at her. I hadn’t gotten a chance to speak with her since yesterday after the big reveal of Blair’s betrayal, but I didn’t mind. I had a pretty good idea why—she must’ve been in Blair’s room for ages, sorting out that whole drama, and by the time she was done, it was probably late. She looked like she’d barely slept a wink, and Blair looked much the same.
I knew I’d get a chance to speak with her as soon as we’d set up the camp after the horse ride, so I wasn’t stressing about that. Still, I was nervous, apprehensive and excited all at the same time at the thought of what might go down when we talked.
What if she informed me that it was too late and she no longer wanted me after all these years had gone by? It had all been because of a big bullshit misunderstanding courtesy of Blair, but that didn’t mean things hadn’t changed. Maybe we were no longer compatible.
There was no point worrying about it now, though. I just had to wait and see.
“I still don’t think it looks safe,” Elise whined.
“Oh, for god’s sake, just get on, you ditzy moron!” Anya snapped from nearby. She was still riling everyone up as the ‘mean girl’ of the season, and I had to admit, she was doing a good job of making everyone dislike her. The producers had specifically asked me not to cut her during an elimination ceremony anytime soon, because the amount of drama her harsh words created amongst the other contestants was apparently ‘pure gold’.
Elise looked deeply offended at her words, and Eden let out a sigh. “Ladies, calm down. Elise, why don’t I get on your horse and show you how safe it is?”
“No, don’t do that,” Anya said, rolling her eyes. “She should just suck it up and do it.”
Eden held her hands up in a placating gesture. “It’s okay, I’ll be quick, and it might make her feel better.”
She hoisted herself up on the horse and slid her feet into the stirrups before shuffling herself forward on the saddle a bit. “See?” she said. “Totally safe…argh!”
As she spoke, one of the saddle straps somehow snapped or came loose, and Eden went flying off the horse’s back as the saddle slid off to the left. I reacted fast, sprinting over, and I grabbed her before she could hit the hard, dusty ground. She’d already gained a bit of momentum from the quick fall, so we almost tumbled all the way down, but I managed to stay standing in the end, with Eden pressed against me, held tightly in my arms.
Her face was only a breath away from mine, and I could see the expression changing in her eyes in a mere blink. First there was shock and fear from the fall, then a heady, fiery look of desire as she realized how close we were. She subconsciously bit her lower lip, and I almost lost it right then and there as her eyes danced over my face, searching for affirmation.
Fuck, I wanted to kiss her so bad.
I almost did, but then I snapped back to reality and remembered where I was as Elise’s shrill voice filled my ears. “See? I told you guys it was unsafe!” she shrieked before stomping away.
The moment was officially over.
“Shit, someone’s partly cut one of the straps,” Candice said, picking up the saddle and looking it over. “That’s why it fell off. It was checked just a few minutes ago so it must’ve been done pretty recently.”
She dropped the saddle and trudged over to us as I gently placed Eden back on the ground. “You okay?” she asked, lightly touching Eden’s shoulder.
“Yeah,” Eden replied, her cheeks flushing a deep pink. “Just a bit shaken up.”
Before Candice could reply, Glenn’s booming voice filled the air around us. “That was fantastic! We’ll edit the shot a bit to make it look like it was one of the girls on the horse. Eden’s hair is brown so we’ll just pretend it was one of the brunettes, and the viewers will eat it up, seeing Troy save her life.”
“What?” I said, my forehead creasing with confusion.
He grinned at me. “Normally we get stunt actors to pull off stuff like that, but that was real live action, and it looked romantic too, with you saving her from falling like that! Makes for great TV.”
Christ, Eden could’ve been seriously hurt, and all he cared about was the ratings on his show.
“I think someone intended for Elise to fall off this horse,” I said, gesturing to the saddle. “One of the straps was cut.”
He waved his hand to shush me. “Don’t say that so loudly. Don’t want to freak out the girls,” he said in a low voice. “I already have the producers looking for this supposed crazy saboteur contestant, but the last thing I need is all sixteen of them getting scared. It’ll ruin their vibe.”
“Right,” I replied, barely hiding my sarcasm. “Who cares if someone gets hurt? As long as the vibe is good.”
He ignored me and called out to everyone else. “Get a new saddle on this horse, guys!”
He strode away, and one of the other producers rolled his eyes and pulled out his two-way radio to call for one of the stable hands. While he did that, Eden turned to me and gave me an embarrassed smile as she dusted herself off.
> “Thanks,” she said softly. “I could’ve really hurt myself if you hadn’t caught me.”
“No worries,” I replied. We were still standing quite close to each other, and I could see Candice throwing us a vaguely suspicious glance, so I hastily added in a loud voice, “I would’ve done the same for anyone, Ms. Zamora,” and took a big step back from her.
Eden’s smile grew wider at that. “Ms. Zamora? Really?” she mouthed, her eyes sparkling with amusement.
“Had to make it look like I don’t really know you,” I replied, nodding towards Candice, who was now looking down at a clipboard. “She was giving us some weird looks.”
Eden nodded. “I figured. Well, anyway, I have to go do some damage control on Elise, or she’ll never get on this horse while we still have daylight for filming.”
“Tell her she’ll get a free pair of Louboutins if she gets on it. That should do the trick.”
Eden snorted with laughter as she headed off, and she turned her head over her shoulder and looked back at me once she’d reached the area where Elise and some of the others were standing now. I couldn’t help turning the corners of my lips up in a smirk, because I had the answer to my earlier question from the look in her eyes alone.
She definitely still wanted me.
Chapter Twelve
Eden
“I don’t get it. Where’s the cabins?”
One of the contestants looked at me, her blue eyes wide. She seemed genuinely confused by the fact that we were all going to be camping out on the ranch tonight despite the fact that it had already been explained earlier. This particular contestant had even given us a little soundbite about how excited she was to ‘get in touch with nature’ and ‘show Troy her outdoorsy side’, which made her current line of questioning that much more confusing.
“We’re camping, Bonnie,” I said, praying for the strength to stay patient. “In tents. There are no cabins.”
She put her hands on her hips. “I don’t understand. Where the hell am I supposed to plug in my hair curler?”
“You seemed really excited about camping earlier,” I replied, deflecting her question.
She let out a huffing sound. “I thought it was just part of all the fake reality TV stuff, kinda like the fake food they put on our plates during the one-on-one dates sometimes. I didn’t think you guys would actually make us camp!”
“It’s just for one night so we can get some nice outdoor shots and film a campfire scene where you all toast marshmallows and have fun,” I said in a soothing tone. “And I’m sure if you let Troy help you get your tent up on camera, you’ll get even more screen time than usual. That’d be great, right?”
To her credit, Bonnie saw straight through that attempt at trying to calm her down, and she pouted and flounced away, still looking grumpy. I sighed and went back to checking on the other girls to make sure they were coping without their creature comforts for the time being, and I almost ran smack bang into Glenn five minutes later.
“Sorry, wasn’t looking where I was going,” I said breathlessly. I’d just finished erecting a tent for one of the girls who’d outright refused to do it, and I was in desperate need of a stiff drink and a foot rub.
“No worries. But we need to talk,” Glenn replied. “Have you made any progress in finding out who our little saboteur is yet?”
I shook my head. “We still think it might be Anya, so we’re keeping a very close eye on her, but we can’t prove anything yet.”
“She was around when that saddle strap was cut earlier, no?”
I nodded. “She was, but so were a few of the other contestants. It’s not solid proof, which we need, as you know.”
He narrowed his eyes. “I suppose so, but we still need to do something about it. This is the second time they’ve tried to seriously hurt someone. You need to figure out who it is sooner rather than later.”
I nodded, not knowing quite what to say. Sure, we needed to find out who it was and cut them from the show, but I didn’t see why Glenn kept acting like it was entirely my job to do so.
He must’ve gauged what I was thinking from the look on my face, because he sighed and ran a hand through his thinning hair. “Look, Eden, I know I’ve mostly put this on you, but there’s a reason for that. I think you’re the best junior producer I have here on the show, so I’m harder on you because I think you’ll go the furthest. I just need to know that you can handle anything. That’s why I’m pushing you so hard on this.”
“Oh. Thank you,” I said softly.
“You always get amazing soundbites, and you have a killer instinct for drama. But like I’ve said before, not all drama is the right kind of drama.”
I nodded. “I’ll try to sort it out.”
“Good.”
With that, he turned and headed to the other side of the little camping ground we’d erected and began shouting orders at an intern about setting up portable toilets somewhere nearby. I was flattered by what he’d said to me a few seconds ago, but in doing so, he’d put a lot of pressure on me. What if I couldn’t do it? What if I wasn’t as talented in this line of work as he thought I was?
As serious as the matter was, I could barely think about it for more than two minutes, because Troy came into my field of vision, and my mind quickly flooded with images of that moment a few hours ago at the stables, when he’d saved me from falling off the horse and pulled me close to him.
So close…
His scent had been exactly as I remembered it from all that time ago—the perfect blend of masculine musk and cologne with a faint whiff of mint from the peppermint gum he liked to chew. The way he’d looked at me had been the same too, like I was the only woman in the world.
I caught his eye from across a few tents, and a grin spread across his perfect lips. That movement of his lips was potent to me, and I felt something resonate within my core. His eyes were stormy with lust, and his hungry gaze made me want to tear all his clothes off along with mine and go totally freaking crazy for hours and hours. Suddenly it occurred to me that I was staring at him way too much considering the fact that we were surrounded by cameras, and I abruptly turned my head away.
I got back to work, and three hours later, filming for the day was almost wrapped—tonight was going to be a rare occasion where it would stop before midnight. The last rays of the sun had come and gone, and it was finally starting to set. The sky was a beautiful mixture of orange, purple and pink as it slowly dipped below the horizon, and I watched it for a moment before detecting some movement out of the corner of my eye.
Troy was heading towards me.
I kept a nonchalant expression on my face in case anyone was looking, but my cheeks turned hot as he approached. His gorgeous eyes coasted over my curves, taking in every inch of me the same way my eyes had taken in every inch of his incredible body, and he finally came to a stop about two feet away from me.
“Gonna be a nice night for the campfire,” he said just loudly enough for a camera crew member to hear as he passed us by, and I nodded, pretending to be more interested in the clipboard I was holding. I didn’t dare risk being too close to him again, not after the suspicious looks Candice had thrown us earlier when Troy rescued me from the horse.
“In case you need to speak to any of the production staff later on, our tents are all over there, Mr. Ballard,” I said in a casual, matter-of-fact voice as I nodded towards the area where my own tent was set up, several yards away from the little camping ground that had been set up for the contestants.
“Great, thanks for letting me know,” Troy replied, keeping his own voice just as casual. “I probably will need a certain member of the crew….say, around midnight?”
He added that last part so quietly that only I could hear, and I suppressed a grin and simply nodded. “I think certain crew members could definitely make that happen.”
With that, I stepped away, unable to hide the smile that had crept onto my face now.
I could hardly wait till midnight.
<
br /> ***
I lay awake in my sleeping bag inside my tiny tent for a full two hours after everyone else went into their tents to get some sleep for the long day tomorrow, and I checked the clock on my phone every few seconds, silently begging time to speed up so that midnight would arrive. The minutes seemed to crawl by, but finally I heard a rustling sound outside my tent, and I slid over to the entrance and slowly unzipped it, being careful to make as little sound as possible. The closest tent to mine was Candice’s, and it was several yards away, but still, I was worried—sound could carry pretty far out here in the wilderness.
Troy was crouched outside, clad in black jeans and a bulky black jacket with the hood pulled all the way over his head, and I barely stifled a laugh at his appearance. He grinned. “What? I needed to blend into the night so no one would see me,” he said. “Can I come in?”
I nodded and moved away from the entrance, and he crouched down further and crawled inside as I lit the tent with the flashlight app on my phone. The tent was barely big enough for the both of us, especially considering how large he was, but neither of us cared. This was the first opportunity we’d had to be alone together and have a conversation since yesterday, and I was desperate for it.
“Sorry I didn’t come back and talk to you yesterday like I said I would,” I said, keeping my voice low. “I got caught up with Blair.”
He nodded and moved around a little, trying to get into a comfortable sitting position. “I figured. So what did she say?”
I filled him in on everything that’d transpired during my long chat with Blair.
“So yeah, I know it’s a red flag for our friendship that she kept something like that from me for so long, but she was a kid back then, and I guess I get why she felt like she couldn’t tell me,” I said, once I’d finished telling him most of it.
Troy raised an eyebrow. “A red flag? It’s more like she took the red flag, doused it with petrol, took a shit on it, then set it on fire.”
Daddy's Fake Bride (A Fake Marriage Romance) Page 52
