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“Your mother is a trailblazer, which I hope to be also.” Bibi tipped her head and smiled. “If you say yes, I’d like to ask Bjorn to go on stage, too.”
“What?No.” I was up off the bench, pacing. “What we did…was a one-time thing. A mistake in the heat of the moment. I’m sure he’s as ready to forget about this whole thing as I am.”
“If you really wanted to forget about it, you wouldn’t have told me.” Bibi might not have had the years of experience in reality TV that I did, but damn, what she lacked in resume experience, she made up for with her sharp instincts. Nothing got past her.
Why did I tell her? That stupid Hudaknocker energy overcame Bjorn and me, and we hadn’t done much talking when things were happening. He did a lot of that rumbling that every contestant on the show thought was the sexiest thing ever—oh, hell—now I had to add myself to that list. It was hot. A couple of wows, a rake of his big hand through his long, blond hair, and then awe better get back to work.
All business, that bear.
My insides were still fluttering at the thought of him. Bjorn wasn’t just good at his job, he was good at a whole bunch of things I needed to stop thinking about immediately.
But did I really want to stick it to him? He destroyedThe Scoop with Suzanne. My poor mom had been canceled. Now, if anyone dared mention her in the media, it was always prefaced with “the embattled” before her name. No, she wasn’t lawful good anything, but she was my mom. Family. Bjorn never talked about his family. Not that we engaged in much small talk.
Would it break his heart if I brought him on stage and chose another contestant? That was a bold assumption. He had no problem ruining my life once. Maybe he wouldn’t say yes if Bibi asked him.
Or would that breakmyheart?
Ugh. Why did the big, gorgeous beast have to be so damn infuriating? And why couldn’t I stop thinking about him?
The Hudaknocker. That was why. And I would forever blame that damn artifact for the next words out of my mouth.
“I’ll do it.”
ChapterTwo
Bjorn
I wasn’t exactly avoiding Bibi this morning, but I was laying low. Hoping that the first inevitable scandal of the day would break before my fairy dragmother graced me with her fabulous presence.
The Mating Gamewas a dream gig, as far as reality shows went. It paid well, we had a home base, and everyone was easy to work with. Of course, the hours were crazy, and sometimes the contestants did the exact opposite of what we expected them to, but the way Bibi handled it, it was no big deal. She always said finding your mate makes people do crazy things.
She wasn’t kidding.
I only had the office door open a crack, but I knew what was going on. This was not the morning for surprises. Things were always chaotic around here, but never more so than between episodes. This morning, I was grumbling to myself over my third cup of coffee, trying to piece together the footage of the party after Wendy and Gabe’s ceremony.
Problem was I missed a big chunk of it because I got into an argument with Marissa about strategy, and the only way to get her to stop bitching at me was to kiss her. Something I’d wanted to do for…longer than I cared to admit.
If I’d only known that kissing her solved the problem, I would’ve done it a lot sooner. But we didn’t stop at kissing, and it created a whole new set of problems.
Which was why I was avoiding Bibi this morning.
“Good morning,” the sound of her voice startled me, but she was in the hallway, just outside the door. Not talking to me.
Excellent.
I took a moment to go through the rehearsed apology one more time in my head, but I had another problem.
I wasn’t the least bit sorry I had sex with Marissa.
But the last thing I wanted to do was disappoint Beebs. She was the best boss I’d ever had, I considered her a friend, and on top of everything else, I needed this job.
“Did you have fun last night?” she asked someone in the hall. It took everything I had not to tip the door a little more open, so I could see who she was talking to.
But not enough to get her attention.
“So much fun.” That was definitely Hannah. She only had one mode—bubbly. Everyone else in the office was nursing a post-mating-ceremony hangover, but she seemed immune to such things. “All I could do was picture myself in front of the crowd, promising myself to a gorgeous shifter.”
“And it will be you soon enough.” There was an awkward pause. “Oh, I hate this. Sometimes, I have to be the bad guy.”
