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As soon as we step outside of the restaurant, every one of the cameras is back in our faces again.
Stella slips her arm through mine, pulling me close. “Will you trust me?” she whispers, rising on her tiptoes to breathe in my ear. The wave of her breath gives me a thrill. “Just follow my lead,” she instructs me.
We continue our conversation, strolling down the streets as night begins to fall, and I stop in front of the building where we’re supposed to meet our tour guide.
“We should probably use the facilities before we start the tour,” Stella suggests, nodding toward the historical building behind us. She catches my eye, and I read her silent meaning.
“Good idea,” I agree, the pair of us heading across the road as a horse-drawn carriage passes us by.
As we enter, she hisses, “Make a break for the back exit. I’ll meet you in the alleyway.” Dumbfounded, I gape at her, butshe gives me a little push. “Hurry now,” she urges. “Before they figure out what we’re doing.”
She ducks into the bathroom, and a cameraman follows me toward the men’s room.
“How about some privacy?” I snap.
Sheepishly, the cameraman backs off. “I’ll just wait outside.”
“Good thinking,” I growl, marching into the men’s room.
Hesitating, I ensure the camera crew is nowhere around before beelining it for the back exit and meeting Stella in the alleyway, where she exhales with relief.
“Are we making a break for it?” I ask, half-stunned, half-impressed.
“Gabe taught me this,” she informs me. “I don’t think we’ll get away with it a third time, though. But for now, let’s get on with that tour—just the two of us.”
We both turn off our cell phones and begin our tour of the streets, keeping a vigilant watch for anyone associated withHeart’s Desire.
“How did you get away with it last time?” I’m curious to know.
“I don’t know,” Stella says. “I think Gabe handled most of the fallout. After the initial reprimands, I never heard anything more.”
A surprising spark of jealousy flickers within me. “Are you two hitting it off?”
She stops walking and returns my look evenly. “I’m hitting it off with all three of you,” she replies honestly. “I like you all.”
My jaw twitches, and we continue through the darkening streets, learning the twists and turns of the tiny but quaint town together. The architecture is sweet and old, the town itself well maintained with the history well documented on various plaques in front of the buildings, which we stop to read as the moon rises overhead.
Stella follows me without question, her hand slipping into mine as we proceed silently.
“You really don’t date much, Bennet?” she asks after a moment.
“Not really, no.”
“This show is kind of an odd place for you then, isn’t it?”
“Not really. I don’t really want to win.” I say the words even before I hear them in my head.
Stella tries to stop and gape at me, but I keep moving toward the boardwalk, heading down toward the water. Stars twinkle brilliantly above us, a few ambitious birds still fishing as we find our way back toward the stream. A gentle rushing of water guides us deeper through the pines toward a waterfall, hand-in-hand.
“How can you believe that?” Stella demands. “Why would you come if you don’t think you’ll win, anyway?”
“I already told you; the money is going toward my newest charity.”
“You have plenty of money,” she scoffs, not believing my story. “You don’t need to humiliate yourself on some reality television show to raise funds for at-risk teenagers.”
I stifle a sigh. “My PR guy thought it was a good idea to create an awareness of the charity,” I confess, embarrassed to say it aloud. I hate that I listened to some loudmouth public relations “expert” on this matter. “But the money really is going to the kids.”
“I believe that,” she agrees. “But I can’t believe you don’t think you’ll win.”
