Chapter 38
Chapter Thirty-Eight
The worst part of this godforsaken show was knowing that every move we made was under constant surveillance.
My fingers fidgeted against the table as Trace took another bite of her pasta. The evening had been full of stilted conversation and uncomfortably long silences. Everything about our final date was heavy with awkwardness.
We’d already spent the afternoon walking around a small beach town, pretending to go into store after store.
It wasn’t all bad. We shared a few laughs.
There were moments that almost made it feel normal, like when we stopped to watch pelicans dive, Trace giggling and her eyes going wide every time they vanished beneath the surface.
But it wasn’t real. Cameras had trailed us all day and Brady and his team of minions had pulled us apart more times than I could count to get interview soundbites.
Trace looked up then, shooting me a tight-lipped smile.
Her cheeks were already rosy from the glass of wine she’d barely touched.
She wasn’t comfortable. I could see it in every fiber of her being—in the way her eyes darted to the crew surrounding us, or how she’d smoothed her dress no less than a hundred times.
Worst of all, every time she looked at me, her gaze seemed to pass straight through me.
No. Fuck this.
My entire body itched with agitation. I needed to speak with her. I needed to get her away from this suffocating environment, so that we could finally communicate without any distractions.
Brady snapped his fingers a few times to get our attention. “Danny, can you step out again so we can get another interview with Trace?”
He phrased it like a question even though it was evident I had no choice.
“I’ve got to take a leak anyway.” I tried to catch Trace’s eye, but she still had that unfocused look about her.
My chair dragged on the wood floor as I abandoned the stuffy, white-clothed table and made my way to the hallway that led to the front of the restaurant.
They hadn’t even rented out the entire space to film, just the back room.
At the front, it was bustling, chairs clanging, people moving, waiters trying to deliver drink orders.
The kind of environment you could get lost in.
Instead, we were trapped like prisoners in a dungeon, the silence so thick in that back room that you could hear a pin drop.
I had one hand on the door to the bathroom when the sound of my name caught my attention.
“Danny? Danny Miller?” the guy said again and stood up from a nearby booth. Even with a backward cap and board shorts, he didn’t look too out of place. It might’ve been a nice Italian restaurant, but we were still in a beach town.
It took me a second before recognition flared in my mind. “Kaden. Hey, man.” I held out my hand, and we went in for a quick hug, patting each other on the backs.
“Are you out here catching some waves?” he asked, stepping away and giving me a lazy grin.
“I knew I could get you surfing one day.” Kaden was a former almost-pro surfer who was also big in the climbing scene.
He knew my friend Jaylon well. In fact, Jaylon had come out this way a couple of years ago for a surfing trip.
He’d begged me to go with him, but I’d had no interest.
“Not quite. I’m here filming something.” I cocked my head toward the back. The cameras weren’t visible from this vantage point, but several members of the crew lingered at the entryway, ensuring no one wandered down the hall.
Lines creased his forehead. “We were wondering what that was all about.” He jerked a thumb back to his table, still filled with guys.
“We were placing bets on what it was when we saw the cameras being brought back. Is it another documentary? Heard the ski one is killing it in the early showings. I can’t wait to see it. ”
“Um. Not a documentary per se…” I sucked in a breath and shook my head. “I’m actually trying to get my girl back. It’s a long story.”
“Trace Davis,” Kaden said knowingly. Because everyone I’d ever come into contact with since I’d met her knew how in love with her I was. Everyone except for her. And that was my fucking fault.
“The one and only,” I said.
“She’s filming that dating show down here, right? The whole town has been talking about it.”
“Yep.”
“Damn.” He chuckled. “I can’t believe you got roped into that. Sounds like your nightmare.”
“Basically. But she’s here, so…” I let my words trail off.
“Dang, well I guess I’ll let you get back to it.” Kaden reached out and clapped my shoulder. “Let me know if you need anything while you’re down here.”
We said a brief goodbye, and I pushed my way into the restroom.
I stalled while washing my hands, letting the warm water run over my fingers much longer than necessary. Going back out there meant returning to the manufactured date where Trace could hardly look at me. I needed to get her alone, away from all the pressure and prying eyes.
An idea whizzed through my mind. I frowned, staring at myself in the mirror. It was probably way too stupid to work, but if I wanted to escape the cameras, it could be the only way…
I bypassed the empty paper towel holder and swiped my hands against my pants, shouldering out of the cramped bathroom. The door almost hit a waiter in my haste to get to Kaden’s table.
His eyebrows shot up when he saw me approaching like a bat out of hell.
“Actually, man. Can I ask you a huge fucking favor?”