Fox choked. Those bands were popular when he was younger, but he couldn’t remember the last time he’d listened to something by either of them. “How old do you think I am?”
She tapped a finger on her chin and considered him carefully. “Hmm...somewhere between roaming the earth with the dinosaurs and knowing Julius Caesar personally.” Her eyes were narrowed, but the curve of her mouth was playful.
Not that Fox noticed her mouth—or the way it curved. “I’m the same age as Audrey and Eli, you know.”
“And yet, you seem decades older.”
Fox didn't get a chance to counter before he felt a hand on his shoulder. His smile fell when he saw it was Bruce.
“How are my team leads doing?” Bruce asked, a cameraman positioned right behind him. “You’re tied heading into tonight’s competition.”
“This afternoon was a fluke,” said Sienna, her playfulness gone in the blink of an eye. Her eyebrows drew together, and her eyes had turned icy. It was like the grownup version of the terrifying monster she’d used on the girls, and Fox knew she was back to playing her role for the cameras. “We’re winning everything else.”
Bruce laughed, loud and right in Fox’s ear, making Fox grimace. Which, he realized, was probably exactly what Bruce wanted to get on camera.
“But the music, that was important to Audrey, wasn’t it?” Bruce said. “Must be tough, putting something that big into the hands of the groomsmen.”
Fox bristled at this. As much as he didn’t want to rise to Bruce’s bait, he had to defend himself. “I think we’ll do a much better job than the bridesmaids with the music.”
“And you’re the expert?” Sienna cocked an eyebrow and perfectly tilted her head to catch the afternoon light.
“Yes,” Fox answered, then kept his mouth closed, not wanting to give Bruce anymore details—or ammunition—than that. He and the other groomsmen would put together an amazing soundtrack for the reception, and no one needed to know the reasons he truly was the expert here.
“Oh ho!” Bruce patted Fox’s back. “Sounds like the tension’s really heating up. That should make tonight even more interesting. What’s your strategy for dealing with the unexpected?”
Sienna jumped in, saying something about getting into their opponent’s head and keeping their eyes on the prize. A bunch of generic soundbites that would make for good television.
Meanwhile, Fox was eagerly waiting for Bruce—and the cameras—to leave.
Just eight more days,he told himself as Bruce continued chatting with Sienna, her face bright from the attention. If he could hang in just another week, there’d be no more fake reactions, no more cameras, and no more Sienna.
Fox was only partially sure that the tightness in his chest was from the brisket, and not from the thought of life without the terrifying toothless tarantula monster.
Ten
8 Days Until Dream Wedding
Sienna puton a tough face for the camera, but she was serious. The girls were winning everything else.
Losing control of the music hadn’t been that disastrous. Even Sienna had to admit her older sister had some, ah,questionablefavorites. But that didn’t stop Audrey from shaking her booty on the dancefloor at every possible opportunity, which was always entertaining. And not because Audrey was a good dancer.
Unfortunately, all the performer genes had gone to Sienna, which before today, she’d been happy about. Now it would serve them all better if Audrey and Harper were at least a tiny bit coordinated, and better at playing things up for the camera.
Maybe then she could turn off her onscreen persona for more than a couple of minutes at a time. Maybe Fox would get off her back about it.
Thankfully, that evening’s contest was making s’mores. This was Harper’s arena, and it would mean Sienna would get her much-desired reprieve.
“Can we do anything else to help you?” Reagan asked, her hands full of sticks. Audrey was taking them one by one and squishing marshmallows to the ends before lining them up along the rocks surrounding the campfire.
The girls were at the edge of the property, with the trees and mountains in the background. It would look amazing on camera, and Sienna had to wonder if the local tourism board knew how much free publicity Wellspring would be getting once this aired.
Ifthis airs, thought Sienna.
Would Bruce pull the plug if Harry did end up leaving early? He was still here, for now, poking at one of the guys’ fires with one hand, the other typing furiously on his phone.
Harper shook her head. “Just keep those marshmallows coming. Remember, donotburn them.”
Audrey stuck out her lower lip. “But they taste so much better that way.”
