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She eyes me admiringly. “I shouldn’t be impressed, but I am.”
“What can I say?” I reply, flopping back in my chair and placing an ankle over my knee. “I’m impressive.”
“You know, we could both be fired for this,” she informs me in the best scolding tone that she can muster, but it falls flat. She’s completely smitten by my spontaneity, and I’m pleased with myself for having thought of it. “We’re not supposed to be hanging out off the set.”
I’m distinctly unconcerned by her worry. We aren’t being tracked, and I can tell she’s enjoying herself, the escape from the chaos of the day making her happy, even if it is a little forbidden.
“First, they have to find out, then they’ll have to track us down,” I reply lightly, with a flirtatious wink. “And I’m not about to tell the producers where to find us. Are you?”
“Hell no,” she snorts. “It’s a stupid rule, anyway. If they want the public to believe that we’re all in love and getting married or whatever, they should be encouraging us to go out and be private people, too.”
“Hear, hear!” I concede, raising my beer. “Screw the producers!”
Screw authority,I add silently, but that thought has little to do withHeart’s Desire. I shrug it off and beam at Stella, refusing to let the thought of my family weigh me down today. I am out celebrating with a beautiful woman in a sweet, dusty cantina in Mexico, far away from their reproving eyes.
She raises her water glass, and I offer her a harder drink again, signaling toward the waiter behind me in the sleepy café where we’d landed. Stella gestures no, but I order another beer, and the server moves away.
“No. I want to keep a clear head for whatever’s coming up.” She raises an eyebrow. “Is that why you cornered me? Because of first dates?”
I exhale. “In part. But I also want to get to know therealyou.” I smile beguilingly, but she’s not impressed, much to my amusement.
“That’s a good line. You should save it for the cameras,” she quips.
I laugh aloud. “Maybe I will.”
She sits back in the rattan chair and peers at me speculatively. “Why are you doing the show?”
I sit forward, dropping my forearms on the table. “Why not?”
“That’s not an answer.”
“Will you do a shot if I tell you?”
She scoffs. “Andthat’semotional blackmail. It went out in the nineties.”
I almost slap the table with amusement, but I manage to keep myself in check. “No, it’s not. You can refuse to do a shot. No one is forcing you.”
“Never mind,” she replies. “You don’t have to tell me. I’m just trying to figure you guys out. I mean, I know why I’m doing the show. I’m an actor.”
“I would think there are better acting gigs out there,” I comment, and her eyes flash with annoyance. “But to each her own, I guess.”
She goes on as if I haven’t said anything. “Forrest is an actor, too, but you and Bennet…” She trails off and looks at me expectantly.
“Maybe we’re both sick of online dating,” I reply.
The edges of her lips move as if they’re struggling to turn upward, but they never quite do. “Something tells me you’ve never downloaded a dating app in your life.”
I like her. She’s smart and observant. She knows thatHeart’s Desireis nothing but a reality show, and I assume it’s something of a last resort for her. We all have our own reasons for being onit that have nothing to do with love. It’s a relief to know we’re all on the same page.
“It’s good for business,” I admit. “This reach this show has is phenomenal—the number of people who watch it is huge. And the demographics of the viewers are perfect for my lines of beer. So, I was lured in by the free advertising.” I sit back again and study her face inquisitively. “You don’t know much about the show, do you?”
Her cheeks tinge a light shade of pink. “I know enough,” she answers defensively.
The server returns with my beer, setting it down on the table in front of me, and I take a drink before turning my attention to Stella fully.
“Heart’s Desireis broadcast in seven countries and watched by twenty million viewers,” I explain. “There are German, British, Russian, and French versions of the show now.”
“What? Really?” Stella is stunned by my revelation.
