Page 43 of One to Watch

“You are a woman of hidden talents.” Luc chuckled as Bea deposited the final yolk in a bowl.

“She blogs, she bakes, what can’t she do?” Bea laughed.

“Tell me. You must have some weakness.”

“Besides my obvious weakness for desserts?”

She handed him the bowl of yolks, and he caught her arm for just a moment, running his thumb inside her wrist.

“It is no weakness to enjoy something sweet.”

It turned out the most time-consuming aspect of preparing crème brûlée was waiting for it to cool—for an hour or more—after it had been baked. The camera guys were on overtime, so Luc had premade a couple of dishes of cream that were already cool so they could skip ahead to the fun part: burning the sugar.

“But wait,” Bea said, “when did you hear I’d had a bad day? I just got back an hour ago, when did you have time to make these?”

Luc looked to the camera guys, who just kept rolling.

“I don’t know if I am supposed to tell you this, but Lauren called another producer earlier to come talk to me. Something about a swimsuit? She felt really terrible. She asked if I could think of a way to make your day better.”

“Oh.” Bea looked down, the reality of the situation seeping in. This wasn’t a man who genuinely liked her—this was another staged scenario of Lauren’s, a backup plan to make sure the week wouldn’t end without Bea getting her first kiss.

Well. If that was what Lauren wanted, it was Bea’s job to deliver. She forced her face into yet another smile, and readied herself for her final performance of the day.

“I guess you’d better show me how to burn some sugar!”

Luc showed Bea how to use the brûlée torch, and it really was fun to make the brittle crust and crack it gently with a spoon. The dessert was thick and sweet; they ate it sitting on the carpet in front of a roaring fire some PAs had surreptitiously built while they were baking.

“The fire, the ocean, the homemade dessert … this is a lot,” Bea observed.

“Yes, it’s a bit excessive, no? And I am French, so my tolerance for romance is very high.”

“So that’s what this is? Romance?”

“Is that what you want?”

He leaned into her, his body just inches away. Maybe he really did like her—or maybe he was acting. Maybe it didn’t make a difference.

“Luc, can I tell you a secret?” she murmured.

His voice was barely above a breath. “Tell me.”

“I don’t know what I want.”

He ran a finger along her jaw, and she nodded, yes. He kissed her softly, playfully, searchingly, and she thought of Lauren, and she thought of Asher, and she thought of Ray, and finally she leaned into him until there was nothing left to think about except Luc and the taste of sugar and cream.

EPISODE 3

“IMPRESSIONS”

(14 men left)

Shot on location in Malibu, Anaheim, and Los Angeles, California

MAIN SQUEEZE RECAP:

IS BEA SCHUMACHER THE WORST MAIN SQUEEZE EVER?

by Nichole Sessuber, vanityfair.com