Hopefully zero if you win.
Em instantly felt guilty for the thought. Clearly neither of them had a no-dating-soccer-players rule. Grant should spend his time and attention on someone who could return it fully, not someone who’d only crush in secret and do nothing about it. “I think this is just for fun,” she said to the woman.
T-shirt woman laughed. “Well, yeah. But I plan to take advantage of my time with him if I get the chance.”
“Oh, they just called my name,” pink dress woman said. She took a deep breath and walked out onto the field. When she reached the chairs, she sat down.
Miriam called t-shirt woman. She sauntered onto the field oozing confidence.
Em wiped her hands on her jeans. When Miriam finally called her name, Em plastered a smile on her face and walked out. She took her seat next to the other two women.
“Let’s give our contestants a round of applause.” Holding her own microphone, Miriam clapped her hands. When the applause died down, she turned to the three women. “Before we get to our questions, I’d love for y’all to introduce yourselves to our bachelor. Without saying your name, give him your best hello.”
Contestant number one held up her microphone. “Um, hello?”
Grant chuckled. “Hi, it’s nice to meet you.”
Contestant number two held up her microphone. In a deep, sexy voice, she said, “Hello.”
Grant cleared his throat. “Hello.”
It was Em’s turn. She held up her microphone. “Hi, Grant.”
Unlike the previous two introductions, hers was met with silence.
Grant
“Hi, Grant.”
His pulse went from zero to sixty with those two words. He knew that voice. Suddenly the game he’d never wanted to play in the first place just got a whole lot better.
When Miriam had first approached him to be the bachelor in the team’s version ofTheDating Game,he was slightly annoyed. He knew the only reason she’d asked him was because he wouldn’t be able to play in the game. If he was able to dress out in his uniform, he never would have been considered.
Not only that, he knew Em would be watching the game. He hated the idea of her having front row seats to the halftime show that included him interviewing three women and then going on a fake date for the second half.
Miriam had assured him it was supposed to be something fun and silly. He’d agreed in the end since it was a way to show his commitment to the team even when he couldn’t be on the field.
So, he’d put on his best suit and hung out in the VIP section dreading the halftime show. If he’d known Emmeline was going to be one of the contestants, he would have volunteered the second Miriam had mentioned it.
“Well, contestant number three, it looks like you’ve rendered our bachelor speechless,” Miriam said into her microphone. The fans laughed in response.
Grant lifted his mic to his mouth and tried to keep the excitement out of his voice. “Nice to meet you contestant three.”
Miriam pressed her lips together, fighting a smile. “Now that we’ve gone through our introductions, I’ll let our lucky bachelor ask his questions.”
Grant looked down at the note cards in his lap. Miriam had given him a stack of ten cards, each with a question on it, and told him to pick his top three. Grant hadn’t even looked through them since he wasn’t actually looking to find love.
He read the top one. “If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?”
“I would love to go to Paris,” the first contestant said with a soft, dreamy voice. “It’s the city of love.”
Grant would have also loved to go to Paris someday, but it was the kind of generic answer that said nothing about the person giving it. “Contestant number two?”
“I would love to go to Hawaii,” she said, her voice as sultry as before. “Because I look amazing in a bikini and would spend a lot of time on the beach.”
There were a few whistles from the crowd. She was really laying it on thick. Only the first question, and he was already afraid that if he chose her, she’d be trying to rip his shirt off during their “date.”
He shuddered. “Contestant number three?”
