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“He must be one of the bootees.” She could not bear watc
hing any more footage of him and the lovely imposter. Why had she not thought this through to its natural conclusion? Of course, the woman would fall in love with Jeff. How could she not?
“I can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“He topped the polls and won the date with Jane. Tonight’s the big night.”
“No.” Isabella’s heart wrenched at the thought of what the night might bring. Could she bear another kiss between Jeff and the other woman? “You must stop this at once.”
“Why?”
“I do not wish for him to remain in my home.” More truthfully, she did not wish for him to have a private date with the other woman. Knowing she would watch the film of the date only made the tightening in her chest more painful. “Please see to it that he leaves the castle tonight.”
“This is outta my hands, Princess. I can’t tamper with the numbers. Unless Kensington is legitimately booted, he stays.”
All she had wanted was the opportunity to see Jeff one last time. She should have flown to Central America and volunteered once again as Izzy Strover.
But she had been greedy and had wanted Jeff to visit her country in hopes of…what exactly? Jeff falling in love with the land she loved? Perhaps it was only appropriate since she had manipulated his journey that instead of soil, he was falling for a savvy American woman.
A woman who was free to chose Jeff.
“Then, there is nothing that can be done?”
“The ball’s already rolling. Now we just have to watch it play out.” JP crooked his head at her. “Do you want live feed of tonight’s date?”
Did the man intend to torment her?
“Yes,” she breathed, knowing she would not rest until she had watched Jeff and “Jane’s” date. “I would appreciate that very much.”
# # #
“I can’t believe my letter got the most votes.” Jeff spread out a blanket, then took the large white oak picnic basket Jill held. They’d gone out near a small, private lake on the estate. The moon shined big and round in the star-studded sky.
“I can. It was very sweet.” Almost as if he wrote it to a woman he’d waited a long time to meet, a woman he’d thought about a great deal and longed to spend time with.
“Sweet?” He laughed. “That’s not exactly what I was going for when I wrote it.”
“What were you going for? I almost felt as if I were reading a letter from a long lost lover. One the fate’s had torn me apart from, but had seen fit to allow our paths to cross once again.”
“Whoa.” He held his hand up, but she noticed a slight tremble in his voice. “That’s a bit deep for me.”
“Me, too,” a deep baritone interrupted.
Jill’s head shot around at Rob’s words. She glared at him in the soft light created by the equipment the crew had set up.
Why had he insisted upon tagging along on her date with Jeff? Most of the time he stayed hidden in the studio. Which eased her mind tremendously in regards to fear of being found out. Too bad her heart was breaking in the process.
Sending him a quick frown, she turned her attention back to Jeff. “Well, I thought your letter was endearing and apparently a lot of other women did, too.”
Jeff cast a confused look toward Rob, then offered his hand to her. “Let me help you sit down.”
Jill took his hand and lowered onto the rough, thick blanket. You’d think the crew could have found a more comfortable blanket. The material almost felt like wool beneath her palm. Thank goodness she’d worn slacks rather than a skirt like Gregory had tried to talk her into. Otherwise she’d have had to cut the picnic short from itching to death.
“I hope you like the meal I requested be prepared for us. I wasn’t sure what you’d prefer.”
“I’m sure it’ll be great and I’m starved.”
