Ineligible Bachelor (20 page)

“I’m not a scheming woman.”

“Aren’t you? You did send in his picture without his knowledge. You must have been planning something.”

“Nothing as sordid as what you are planning.”

“Nonetheless, it seems like we are a team now.”

“Do I have a choice?”

“No.”

Freddy fought to contain her annoyance. She didn’t have a choice. Though she hated being used for ratings, she reluctantly had to admit she had also tried to use the photo contest to her own advantage. Now Logan’s career had gotten tied to the show, with the winning bachelorette starring in his ad campaign. What a nightmare. This could only be payback for that.

“I’ll finish the show, but not because of your threats. I’ll finish it because it will cement Logan’s career in advertising.”

Annie dismissed the protest with a wave of her hand. “Whatever, as long as you finish.”

Annie’s indifference made Freddy pause. Maybe she and Logan were perfect for each other, but that train had left the station a long time ago. Maybe she had let her fantasies show on her face in a weak moment, but she wouldn’t allow that to have any bearing on how she was going to get to the end of this nightmare she had created. Logan’s career was at stake, not to mention both their reputations, all signed and sealed by a contest entry she hadn’t bothered to read.

“Logan and I have known each other for so many years. We’re like family.”

“Not any family I know,” Annie said, shaking her head in disagreement. “In fact, I don’t think we could have picked two more perfectly attuned people to kick off the inaugural season.”

Freddy frowned. “Logan and I are not attuned.” She began counting off on her fingers. “We have opposite goals, opposite interests. I want commitment, he wants freedom.”

“Lucky for me and
EB
that opposites attract.” Annie stared Freddy dead straight in her eyes. “And you should consider yourself lucky that we are giving you a way out of a whole bunch of trouble by finishing the series in a way that will make us all happy.”

The sensation of being manipulated bubbled inside Freddy along with her anger. “Happy? How do you make someone happy by forcing them into an impossible situation?”

“I didn’t. You did.” Annie’s voice was so tight that she practically hissed. “So finish it, and let come what may.”

She started to say more, but then put her hand to her ear. She looked away from Freddy, obviously listening to a voice coming from the earpiece she wore.

“Five minutes,” she said when she looked back at Freddy. “I suggest you use that time to compose yourself and figure out which of our lovely contenders is going home and which will have the next one-on-one date.” At the door, she stopped. “And remember, do it all as if your future depended on the outcome, because it does,”

After the elimination, Freddy sat on the tiled pool edge, splashing her feet in the cold water. The night air chilled her, but she didn’t care. She welcomed the cold air on her hot skin. She didn’t know how she ever got through the filming, but somehow she did and with the flair expected. Lori went home, and Madison would have
Logan all to herself tomorrow for a night on the town. Confident that Logan would see through the preppie’s smug personality and not let her get too attached, Freddy thought the date should be harmless enough.

Make a list,
Freddy thought to herself. After tonight, Careelyn would go and then Madison. Was that the right order for elimination? But that left Jade and Stacy. She didn’t like that combination.

Okay then, so Jade next, then Madison, leaving Careelyn and Stacy—the beauty queen and the teacher. Not a great combo there either. Most of the audience would probably be pulling for the teacher.

She ran though other combinations in her head. The beauty queen and the preppie. The preppie and the teacher. She sighed hard and long, each combination its own horror sideshow for Annie to play up for sweeps week.

The blood pumping wildly inside her ears turned into a screaming white noise that deafened her to most of the sounds around her. She almost didn’t hear the sound of someone clearing his throat. Then she heard it again.

Freddy didn’t have to look up to know who stood there. “Hi, Logan.”

He sat beside her and took off his shoes and socks before rolling up his pants to his knees and slipping his feet into the water. “This seems to be our meeting place.”

“What are you doing?” she asked him. “Shouldn’t you and Madison be getting to know each other better?”

“We can do that tomorrow. It’s you I’m concerned about.”

Freddy looked down at her feet. “Don’t be.” She looked at him, feeling utterly miserable. He did look concerned. “Logan, I have really made a mess of things. This has been a setup from the beginning. Annie caught me between takes and…” She stopped. It would do no good to tell him the truth. He might try to do
something gallant, and she couldn’t have that.
Keep with the plan,
she told herself.
One foot in front of the other until you get to the end.
“And she wants to make sure that we have enough drama to stay in the number one spot all the way to the finale.” She knew the night would hide the fact that all the blood had probably drained from her head, leaving her face a ghostly white color in the process.

“Is that why you chose Madison for tomorrow’s date?”

Freddy nodded.

“You know she’s not my type.”

Frustration made Freddy reach into the water and send a healthy splash at him. He still had athletic reactions and managed to dodge most of it.

“Hey!” he shouted, running his fingers through his hair. “What was that all about?”

“I have more to worry about than your type, whatever that is.” She scrunched her face and announced in a singsong voice, “I have to pick you the perfect date.”

“You don’t have to do this.” Logan’s voice was surprisingly low and calm, despite him looking almost angry to her.

“Of course I do. We both know the show must go on.”

Behind them, they heard movement, and both turned toward the sound. They saw a cameraman with a handheld filming them. The cameraman waved back when they acknowledged him.

“See,” Freddy said, gesturing to the crew member. “He is the insurance policy that we do exactly what we’re supposed to do.” She adjusted her position and put a foot of space between her and Logan.

In a fluid motion, he compensated, closing the distance to where it had been before the cameraman appeared.

“What are you doing?”

“Making a point. I’m not going to let Eyes back there govern my every move. If I want to sit next to you, I’ll sit next to you. I don’t care what it looks like after an edit.”

Freddy bit down on her lip. “You’re mad at me.”

He gestured over his shoulder. “No. I’m mad at camera boy back there.”

“He’s just doing his job. I got you into this mess.”

“But together, we’ll get out of it.” He reached out and patted her hand. “It’s been fun, and we should at least have fun while we’re here.”

“Fun?” The word fell from Freddy’s lips like a rock being dropped from the top of a mountain. How was she supposed to have fun when she would have to hand Logan over to another woman? “You just want to have fun?”

“Sure. Why not? The mansion. The sets. The scripts. Why should anything have to change? I’ve had some fun so far, haven’t you?”

Freddy felt her stomach go cold. “Of course. That’s what it’s all about. The bachelorettes having fun, the audience having fun.” She stood, sending water droplets all around as she pulled her feet from the water and looked down at Logan. “In the morning, you can start by having some more no-strings-attached fun with one beautiful lady. Then in a day or two, it will be on to the next one. You can dabble with each of them because it’s all in a contract that says anything goes because it’s just plain fun.”

Logan quickly rose and joined her, putting his hand on her arm. “Freddy, that’s not what I meant.”

She looked down at his hand before looking back up into his eyes. “Of course it is.” She hoped her expression was neutral as she shrugged her arm free. “I need to go over tomorrow’s schedule.” She started to walk away.

“Freddy, wait.”

She turned back. “See you tomorrow after your date. I’m sure it will be…fun.”

She misunderstood me,
Logan thought as he watched Freddy walk away. He had to talk to her and explain. But his feet seemed rooted in concrete. He’d been so preoccupied with the cameraman behind them that he hadn’t thought about what he’d been saying.

It’s been fun.

What an idiot.

He’d made it sound as though he’d been playing along without a thought to anyone’s feelings. That wasn’t what he’d meant at all.

He jogged back to the mansion and ripped open the front door. Steering clear of the wing where the bachelorettes stayed, he searched everywhere for Freddy but only ran into some of the production crew. They hadn’t seen her either, and she wasn’t in her suite.

He ran outside and sprinted down the front stairs. A dark movement ahead in the driveway caught his eye. Was that her?

“Freddy!” he called out.

He saw the figure stop and look back before walking again. It was her. He took off running and caught up with her in less than a minute. She stopped when he reached her.

“Where are you going?”

“For a walk to clear my head.”

“Can I come along?”

Lifting her chin, she pushed some hair from her eyes. “I think your head is clear enough.”

She started walking again, and he matched her stride. “I didn’t mean what I said back at the pool.”

“It’s okay. I understand. It’s the situation. Nothing is real here. The fabulous house, the dates, they are all props. Even us. We’re just like actors playing a part.” She tossed her head. “You were right. We shouldn’t take it so seriously and just have fun.”

He reached for her, but she stepped back. “Some things are real. We can figure out which ones together.”

“What is there to figure out? I entered a contest, and I won. You won. We get to stay at a fabulous mansion for a few weeks, during which time we have everything a person could ever want or need. And you have even more. You’ve had the full attention of six beautiful women here.”

“Seven,” he corrected.

She shook her head. “That’s flattering, Logan, but I’m not in that count.”

“You are beautiful, Freddy.”

She looked at the ground and shook her head. “Doesn’t the fact that you still call me Freddy even though we’re not kids any longer tell you something?”

“It tells me that we’re close.”

“Like family?”

He felt as puzzled as he probably looked. “Maybe closer than family.” He watched emotion play across her face and felt he had just lost something precious. “Freddy, I…”

She raised her hand. “I know. I think I’ve known from the beginning, but just didn’t admit it.”

“Known?”

She nodded and gestured to the mansion. “It’s all just a dream, the same one every girl has when she thinks about finding her
Prince Charming. But, this time, the fantasy is bigger because there are six of them all rolled into one.”

“Not seven?”

Again, she shook her head. “Besides, these shows don’t have a very good track record when it comes to making dreams come true.”

“But people keep trying, and maybe we should, too.”

“When the show is over, so is the fantasy.”

“What about the two people who end up together?”

“It’s especially hard for them. The show tapes way in advance and,” she raised her eyebrows, “the contract is pretty specific about secrecy. The couple can’t even be together until the last show airs and everyone gets back together for the tell-all reunion. That time period has proven to take its toll on even the most determined couple.”

“But we’ve shared so much these past few weeks.”

“We’re not a couple, Logan.” She inhaled deeply, and her voice broke. “What we shared was for the show. We played our parts well, and still are. I’ll always be Freddy to you. All these years, nothing happened between us. A few weeks of forced interaction are not going to change that.” She smiled. “We’re friends, Logan. That’s all we should ever be.”

“Are you sure that’s how you feel?”

She glanced down before looking up into his eyes. “You know I’m right.”

Was she? Could he have been caught up in the romanticism of the TV show and all the glitz the producers threw at him? Was she right that if something would have happened between them, it would have happened a long time ago? What he felt, was it real or reality TV? He drew her to him and rested his chin on her forehead. There was no script that told either of them how to act now.

And that just might cost both of them the chance to find out.

She pulled back slightly and lifted on tiptoes, kissing him on the cheek. “You go on back to the mansion. I need to finish my walk.”

“Alone?”

She ran her hands down his arm and took his hands in hers. “I have to figure out which one of the remaining ladies is going on that dream date with you. I think I need to do that alone.” She took s few steps away and then turned back. She put her fingers to her lips and blew him a kiss. “See ya, Logman.”