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“No.” Now it was my turn to say the word too quickly. “My focus is on The Mating Game. It’s best not to mix business and pleasure. It’s too easy to miss important details.”
“Did something else happen?”
“No. Not yet, anyway. But Hugo is Green Mountain pack. They’ll tell him the truth when they’ll only smile and wave at us. They don’t love that we’re bringing an outsider into the mix. I understand. This pack isn’t used to change, but come on. Logan Mathis is a stand-up wolf, and he could do some much-needed good for this pack.”
“You’ve seen the articles about Logan today, I assume.” Marissa slid her fork through the vanilla ice cream and took a generous chunk of chocolate cake. The chalet made the most divine desserts.
“Would anyone at this table be responsible for those articles?”
“No!” Her voice was loud enough to turn heads at other tables. “I know you think I’m screwing things up on purpose, but I want the best for Cindy and all our contestants.”
I met the gaze of a couple near us and waved at them. Their cheeks turned red, and they went back to their own business. “I admire your ambition. But both of us need to make sure we do a better job vetting our future contestants. We got lucky with Logan. Luck doesn’t last.”
“I know, and I’ve already got some shifters I think might be good candidates for Wendy.”
“Really?” She was originally supposed to kick off the series, but I hadn’t found anyone capable of sweeping her off her feet. Wendy was human, but she had some unique experiences with shifters. “No actors?”
“Nope. I’ve learned my lesson. I can’t wait for you to see their files. But more about that later. Back to Hugo. What else did he say?”
“Not much. Hasn’t seen Montana.” I sighed. “Which is not a good sign.”
“Maybe they’re not involved with Pedro?”
I shook my head. “No. He said as much himself. Either it was an extremely lucky guess on his part—and like I said, luck doesn’t last—or this is an orchestrated attack. One’s trying to distract us from the other.”
“Are all shifters this paranoid?”
Touché. “I’d call it instinctual. We sense more than humans. So when someone’s in our space, we know it.”
Marissa took a long sip of her coffee and then reached into her bag for her tablet. “I’ve set an alert on Logan’s name. The latest is that he fired his agent and there are a lot of rumors swirling around about why he didn’t finish his last movie.”
“Anything we need to be concerned about?”
“Not sure. I’ve got some of the production team working on the stories to see what’s credible, and what’s rumor. So far, we know he bought his way out of his last contract.” She shrugged as she took the last bite of cake. “And his former agent was awfully willing to offer his services, until she wasn’t. I had a bunch of messages from her last night wanting to pull out of the show, but by the time I saw them, Cindy had already chosen him, and it was too late.”
“We’ll talk to him. Whatever it is, we can fix it.”
“What if we can’t?”
“We’ll help him. This isn’t a one-way street. We’ll make over both of their lives. I’m excited to take this on.”
“Me, too.” Marissa swiped her tablet. “There’s something else that has the forums buzzing.”
“Do tell. I haven’t had a chance to keep up with them as much now that we’ve started shooting this episode.”
“They want more of you and Hugo.”
Oh, no.
I couldn’t lie, I wanted more of the wolf too. But not yet, and definitely not in front of the cameras... The wolves I’d loved in the past had betrayed me, and I wouldn’t let another one do it to me publicly.
She nodded. Her eyes brightened every time she thought she had a good idea. “There’s a whole thread dedicated to the two of you. They want to know more about him. Honestly, they have a lot of questions about you, too.”
“Hugo’s a private person.” And as much as I loved the spotlight, there was still danger in revealing my true self. “He’s more wolf than man.”
“But fate brought the two of you together.” Marissa rested her chin on her hand, a dreamy smile playing on her face. “I would love to know what that feels like.”
“That can be arranged.”
“Way to change the subject,” she laughed. “What does it feel like?”
I leaned forward, making sure no one at the other tables was listening in. “Hugo and I are keeping things strictly professional right now. And I’d advise you to do the same.”
