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She softened the critique by throwing her arm around my shoulder and pulling me to her side. “You are marvelous and kind and hardworking and fucking hot as sin. You deserve to find someone to share that with. So, find them! Besides, who knows, maybe this won’t pan out and they won’t pick you.” She shrugged. “But it doesn’t hurt to try. Promise me you’ll try?”
Her voice had gone softer at the end and, instead of excitement and begging, she had gone with sincerity, and I hated it. She knew I had trouble saying no to her, and yet here she was, using her evil powers against me.
Could it be so bad? Yeah, honestly, it could be. Except, there was one benefit for doing the show, especially if I didn’t think I’d find my soulmate or whatever on the island. Brand awareness.
The more I thought about the relationship thing, the more I realized Es might be right. I absolutely loved my job and what we’d built. But I had a tendency to downplay it with guys I dated so they didn’t know the whole scope of my workaholic nature.
I had hidden myself and who I truly was for fear of running guys off. Even if I didn’t get on the show, that was something I needed to stop doing.
So what if I worked a lot? Loving my job didn’t mean I couldn’t also love someone just as much, if not more. Fear of rejection had made me dampen my sparkle, and I certainly couldn’t have that. Plus, how nice would it be to have an orgasm or two?
Realizing mid-mental rant that I had my answer, I groaned. Es figured it out at the same time I did and cheered beside me, pulling me up from the chair and throwing her arms around me.
“You’re really going to do it?” she asked.
“I’m going to fill out the NDA and the questionnaire. I don’t know if they’ll pick me, but yes.” When Es finally released her death grip, I stepped back and looked around at my cluttered and chaotic office. Colorful sticky notes were adhered to every available surface with things to get done scrawled on the cheery paper. “I’ll put all our best stuff on display for the camera, but what about all the work here?”
She patted my shoulder like I was an idiot. “Bish, please. You think I haven’t thought about that? I’ll handle your side of the business stuff after you teach me what to do. You have a million designs in that sketchpad you carry around, and if you take into account everything you’ve come up with already, we are currently on track for the rest of thisyear. Relax. It’s only four weeks, and if it makes you feel better, I bet there’s a way to work it into your contract that you can receive emergency work calls or something.” Es was over the moon about my agreement, already talking about the best schedule to shadow me before I had even reopened the message.
“This could be so good for advertising,” I said, focusing on the one thing I could control if I ended up being chosen. “Think about the market share we could take if this show picks up steam.”
“Definitely!” Es cheered. “We’ll send you with clothes from the line, and I’ll post to socials about your outfits on the show with links to buy and everything!”
And with that, she had me.
CHAPTERTWO
Sophie
“So,tell us about yourself. But be sexy about it,” the producer, Stephen, said from beside one of the four cameras pointed at me.
Lord, where to begin? How did I make my current obsession with potatoes sound sexy? I could tell them about my last failed relationship. Or maybe my capacity for cheese and wine pairings that would make any mother proud. Oh, what about my ridiculous sock collection at home?
“I’m Sophie,” I said, fluttering my lashes like an idiot. Stopping immediately, I widened my eyes to resist doing it again, and they started watering.Smooth, Sophie.I must have looked like a cartoon character.
“I’m a designer and own a brand called So Free. I believe everyone deserves to feel their best, but not all brands carry extended sizes. That’s where I come in. Creating amazing clothes for fashionable, curvy women is my calling.” I winked at the camera.Therewas my confidence. Just get me talking about work and I felt more in my element. “I’m twenty-seven, originally from Montana, but now I live in Los Angeles for work.”
Stephen waved his arms above his head and cut me off. “Don’t be too specific about where you live. LA is fine for general talk because it’s so big and most of the participants live here. Just no neighborhoods or anything, please. Legal says it leads to stalkers.”
“Oh, okay. That makes sense, I guess.” I adjusted the black skirt around my thighs and recrossed my legs on the dainty little stool they’d perched me on. “So what else should I say?”
Stephen rolled his eyes. “We picked you because of your social media presence. You’re bubbly on camera when you make posts on TikTok and Instagram. Try pretending this is one of those. Tell us what you’re looking for in a partner or why you agreed to come onLove on Display.”
I took a deep breath and imagined it was just me and my phone making a new post for socials and selling myself instead of my creations. I hid my hands under my ass so the camera wouldn’t pick up on their shaking. Instead, I’d just created my very own vibrating chair. The sexual possibilities were endless and I wondered if the island had vibrators in case we didn’t like any of the guys. A girl still had needs.
“I’m a business owner who loves her job, so I’m not looking for someone who needs too much time from me or who will try to ‘quiet’ my hectic life. I love having fun and going out to restaurants, bars, or shows with friends a couple nights a week. So, I guess what I’m looking for is someone to join me on this wild ride, not yank me off it.”
Stephen was nodding from his position, an encouraging smile across his bearded face. He waved a hand in a circular motion to keep it going.
“I’ve had good and bad relationships, like anyone. But I close myself off—shield my true self—when things get too emotional. That’s why I came on this show; to push myself out of my comfort zone. Four weeks on an island with potential partners means there’s nowhere to run and hide. So I hope you, the viewers, can help keep me accountable for that.”
“Perfect!” Stephen said, tapping the cameraman closest to him on the shoulder. “That was great, and the appeal to the viewers is exactly what we want! They like to feel seen. They have as much sway over your relationships on that island as you do.”
That was a terrifying thought.
But it was partly the reason I was here. Sure, I could pick a guy, but I was clearly terrible at follow-through. And unless Es would make all my relationship decisions for me—which she would absolutely opt to do—I was putting it all in the hands of the viewers. A real-time dating show combined with the immediate gratification of voting, like onAmerican Idol. Viewers would pick who won a weekend away by voting every Friday.
Oh, and the prize money if I won the show? That was worth everything to me. If I found love, great. But if I secured the cash prize at the end, I could use it to push So Free to the next level, and that was even better. Not to mention, I had an opportunity here to prove that curvy didn’t have to mean frumpy. I’d prayed for representation of my body type in the past and found primetime severely lacking. If that’s all I accomplished at the end of this experience, I would consider my life’s work complete.
