Page 83 of One to Watch

“Hey!” she shouted over the noise of the falls. “Is everything okay?”

“What do you mean?” he asked, his back still toward her.

She grabbed his arm—he turned in surprise. “Can you at least look at me?”

He did, but his expression was hard, his manner guarded.

“Are you stressed about your kids?” she asked. “Whatever it is, can we please just talk about it?”

Asher’s jaw tensed. “Did you sleep with Luc last night?”

“What?” Bea felt like she’d been slapped in the face.

“He and I are roommates in the riad,” Asher said curtly, and Bea’s stomach dropped. “He left the room around midnight, and didn’t come back until four. When I asked where he’d been, he smiled and said he was with you.”

Bea flushed crimson. So not only was Asher furious, now the one private moment she’d had with a man all season long was going to be a major plot point of this week’s episode.

“I don’t like asking you to air your private business on television,” Asher said, “but if you’re going to meet my children, I think I have a right to know what happened.”

“Really?” Bea pushed back. “Because I’m having trouble seeing how one thing relates to the other.”

“Bea, I haven’t introduced anyone to my kids since their mother left. You think I’d let you meet them if you’re not taking this seriously?”

“You think I’d want to? Come on, Asher. I’m not a monster, I don’t want to drag your kids into a limelight you don’t want them in—I would never ask that of you, period, let alone if I didn’t think—”

Her heart was pounding. She couldn’t say it.

“What?” he prodded. “If you didn’t think what?”

Bea closed her eyes. “If I didn’t think I could really fall in love with you.”

She looked up at Asher—his expression was pained.

“I hate this,” he said finally.

“What do you hate?”

“You, with other men.”

“You knew the premise of this show when you agreed to be on it, right?”

“That doesn’t mean I have to like it,” he sulked.

“No one’s asking you to! But I don’t see a way for us to make it through this if you shut down during what precious little time we actually get to spend together because you’re busy thinking about everyone else.”

“I know,” he admonished himself. “Believe me, I hate that I’m behaving this way. I couldn’t get back to sleep after Luc came back. I kept thinking about the two of you, and wondering …”

“What?”

For the first time all day, he looked Bea dead in the eye.

“If you feel as strongly for me as you do for him.”

Bea sighed in frustration. As much as she didn’t relish sharing this particular detail on television, she had a feeling it was the only thing that would get this date (and this relationship) back on track.

“Asher, I didn’t sleep with Luc.”

He looked up at her, surprised and a little hopeful. “You didn’t?”