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Maybe it would create the barrier I so desperately needed.
“That’s your question?” she asked, her lips parted slightly again, as if I’d shocked her.
I zeroed in on them and then shook my head slightly and brought my eyes back to hers.
“I can assure you that I’m perfectly qualified and able to teach here in the second-grade classroom.” Her tone was cold. It wasn’t as chipper, and I sensed some relief pour through me, which helped the tightening in my chest.
“Until the next parent-teacher conference,” I said with a nod.
Then, I turned and left the room, not looking back, no matter how badly I wanted to.
Before I know it, Alice is stomping off the platform, and I go to follow her, grasping her wrist and sensing that same electric shock slice up my arm, like the first time we shook hands in her classroom.
I’m in a daze as she confronts Boris, not able to even contribute much to the conversation, and before I know it, Boris is leaving, his sharklike smile in place while all I’ve done is stare at Alice. Up close and personal.
She turns to me with anger in her eyes as she reaches up to rub at her forehead.
“Well, shit,” she groans.
“My thoughts exactly,” I reply, but I’m probably not talking about what she is talking about. I might be on a completely different level than her at this moment.
Her attention is diverted by Headset Lady, the same one who seems to be everywhere, as she herds us into a room with the other couples. She immediately divides up the women from the men and seats us in opposite corners.
“I’ll be back to get you for the date round. Do not talk to your match until then.” She levels us all with a stern look and then says something into her microphone before turning to walk out.
I stare at Alice from across the room as she does her best to look everywhere else but this corner. The men whisper around me, no doubt talking about their matches, but I don’t pay them any attention. My thoughts are haywire, scrambling around with no beginning or end, throwing me for a loop.
I’m highly analytical. I have to be as a doctor. My thoughts and actions are compartmentalized into boxes, and I only open the box that needs to be used at that time. But now, I’m wondering what Alice is thinking and feeling. I’m wondering what Ivy will think about all this and how she’s going to react. Panic fills my chest when I remember that Vicky is leaving us soon. What will I do about that?
And now, since per the rules of the show and the contract we signed, Alice will have to move in with me. I’m going to have a houseguest who hates me for six weeks.
My dick jumps a little at the thought. Having Alice around will be torture but sweet at the same time. A complete contradiction to my earlier thoughts, but I try to wave it off as lust wars with sensibility in my mind.
My previous stance on women hasn’t changed, but it has been a while since I’ve been with one. I know it makes me sound like a dick, but I was crushed once, and now, my walls are erected, tough to break through, no matter how much my hardening cock wants to change that.
Alice’s eyes finally meet mine across the room, staring, unblinking, and piercing. I can see how blue they are, even from here.
“We are ready. Please come this way,” a woman says, sticking her head in the door.
We stand and file out, ushered quickly to our next dating farce, and I’m finally seated across a wooden table from Alice. A typical date scene.
I don’t see any of the other couples. We are all by ourselves in this little alcove, decorated to look like an outdoor patio to a restaurant. I glance around at the camera that is far enough away for the illusion of privacy, but I know that it will pick up everything. Every little nuance, word spoken, and expression made during this date.
“So, Dr. Morrow,” Alice starts, clearing her throat.
“Simon is fine,” I say, trying to keep my voice even. I don’t know what I’m doing.
Before, I wanted to throw the entire show and get out of here as quickly as possible, but Boris’s words ring in my ears. “You two little lovebirds will be a fan favorite.”And I know there is truth to his words.
We won’t be cut. And a part of me thinks that even if we were the lowest-voted couple, Boris would keep me here out of spite. I can feel it radiating off of him when he’s near. He knows I don’t want to do this, but he also knows what’s at stake for me.
Damn him.
“Simon, you’re a surgeon, correct? Ivy once told me you worked on hearts.”
“I am,” I say and then pause as someone sets glasses of water in front of us. “I’m a pediatric heart surgeon.”
“Hmm,” Alice muses, twirling her straw. She stares at me with those piercing eyes, and I feel like she can see right through me. “That must be awfully stressful.”
