Chapter 21
RAFE
The excitement from all the women when they see August Pitt is palpable.
I can tell, even from my vantage point, that he’s tall and handsome, and he has an aura about him that makes people pay attention.
I guess it doesn’t hurt that he’s a famous movie star and he has a commanding presence, but I’m immediately pissed off when I see that he heads directly over to Juniper.
Not that I am surprised. In fact, that’s the reason I came to the beach this morning—partly because I just wanted to wish her a happy day, but also because I was worried.
I didn’t know what to expect. And even though I knew she wasn’t on this show to find love or even do anything with anyone else, I knew she had a light and an energy to her that would attract people to her, especially someone like August.
I find myself walking closer to the set, even though there are barricades put up. I notice a lady with short hair heading toward me. She’s got a clipboard in her hand, and she’s talking into what appears to be a tape recorder, muttering something. She stops right next to me.
“Hey, are you Juniper’s friend?”
I look at her in surprise. “I am.” I thought she would have remembered me.
“Hi, I’m Jackie. I’m one of the producers on the show. I’m actually the one who got Juniper to sign up.”
“Oh, great. Nice to meet you, Jackie.”
“I understand you and Juniper went on a date last night.”
I stare at her in surprise. “We did. Why? Is Juniper trying to drop out?”
“No, of course not.” She looks at me like I’m crazy. “And Juniper’s going to be one of the stars of this show.” She tilts her head to the side. “And it looks like August has already taken a liking to her, as you can see.”
My eyes narrow as I look over at Juniper and August. She’s laughing at something he said, and I can feel myself growing angry again.
“I have a proposition for you.”
“A proposition for me?” I look at her in surprise. “What’s the proposition?”
“You like Juniper, I assume?”
“Yes. Why?”
“Well, how do you feel about perhaps having a role on this show?”
“What do you mean, a role on the show?”
“Look, reality TV shows are all about ratings. If we want to get a second season, we need drama. We need drama to bring in audience members. We need drama that’s going to go viral on social media.
I want people posting on TikTok, Instagram, Threads, Facebook, YouTube about the drama that’s happening on this show.
And what better drama is there than August Pitt, Hollywood leading man, falling in love with a Coconut Beach local, only to find out that she’s secretly been dating a local vet and they’re going to fight for her love?
” She grins. “Or I can change the storyline up some.”
I stare at her. “What? Are you joking right now?”
“Not at all. In fact, I was thinking that we could perhaps tease a little drama in the first couple of episodes, and then you can show up on the honeymoon.”
“On what honeymoon?”
“On the honeymoon where August and Juniper go after they get married, of course.”
“What are you talking about? The show hasn’t even started yet. He hasn’t even chosen her.”
She looks at me like I’m dumb and shakes her head. “Hon, I’m the one who will choose who he ends up with.”
“What?”
“I take it, you don’t watch many reality TV shows.”
“No, but what does that have to do with anything?”
“It’s not real. Reality TV shows are as real as Sharknado.”
“Okay. I’m going to take your word for it, but I have no interest in being on this show.
In fact, Juniper is not looking to marry August, and I am not looking for her to marry him either.
She is part of the show because …” I pause.
“I don’t really know if I should say this information because I don’t want Juniper to get fired, even though I desperately don’t want her to be involved with whatever drama is about to be strung up because I have a feeling it’s going to get complicated. ”
“Listen to me. What was your name again?” She stares at me.
“Rafe.”
“And what do you do again, Rafe?” Is she just a bad listener or does she have a memory problem?
“I’m a vet.”
“Perfect. Oh my gosh. I can see it now. Hollywood star versus small-town vet. The gorgeous, handsome movie star takes on the cozy, comforting—”
“Excuse me?” I interrupt her. “Neither of those terms are exactly—”
“Oh, don’t mind me. I haven’t come up with the exact phrasing I’ll use.
” She looks me up and down. “And don’t get me wrong; you’re a very handsome man.
You’ve got very blue eyes. Your hair could use a cut, and your dress sense is shit, but you’re a small-town vet.
I don’t expect anything better. But we get you into styling, maybe some makeup, lift some muscles, lose ten pounds …
shit, I’ll have women all over America dying to be with you. ”
“I don’t want women all over America dying to be with me. I want to be with Juniper. I’m not really sure what’s going on here, but I’m not going to set up in some sort of love triangle on this dating show. And Juniper is not interested in getting married to or going on a honeymoon with this guy.”
“Okay. And you speak for her, do you?”
“She’s my …” I pause. “I can’t call her my girlfriend because she’s not technically my girlfriend, but she’s my lover,” I admit.
And immediately, I feel regret at exposing that fact, seeing as we only just got together the night before.
I expect Jackie to be shocked. I expect Jackie to immediately turn around and fire Juniper, but all she does is start laughing.
“I see. Well, good on Juniper. Didn’t know she had it in her.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I mean, she’s such a good girl. I wouldn’t expect her to fuck a dude right before she started filming a dating show. But I suppose you were with her before she technically met August, so she’s not cheating.”
“What do you mean, she’s not cheating? What on earth are you talking about?”
“I don’t know if you’ve been listening to me, Rafe.
I don’t know if, as a vet, you’re not used to human interaction, but Juniper and August are going to be a couple.
They’re going to get married. They’re going to have a honeymoon in Mauritius, sponsored by , and then they will go to Fiji, and then they will likely compete on The Amazing Race.
And then there will be a follow-up TV show about them trying to get pregnant.
And if it happens within the first couple of years, there’ll be another show documenting them as young parents.
After that … well, who knows? The sky’s the limit. ”
I stare at her like she’s absolutely crazy. “Does Juniper know any of this?”
“I don’t know”—she shrugs—“but August sure does. And he seems to agree with me that Juniper is the perfect match.”
“It looks like there are many other beautiful women who are interested in him. Why Juniper?”
“Because August isn’t looking for a woman who’s seeking fame. He can’t trust a woman on social media. They’ll say and do anything for a couple of bucks. He needs someone like Juniper, someone who’s trustworthy, someone who will keep all his secrets.”
“All what secrets?”
“Well, I would be no good if I told you,” she says. “Look, what about twenty-five grand an episode?”
“No, of course not.”
“Thirty?”
“I’m not interested. And I think if Juniper knew what you were talking about, she wouldn’t be interested either.”
She frowns. “Fuck you small-town guys. Always got principles.”
“Juniper has principles as well.”
“And you’re going to fucking ruin this for me, aren’t you?” She lets out a deep sigh and looks back over her shoulder. “You do realize this could be the beginning of an amazing career for Juniper.”
“You just need to back off.”
“Excuse me? If you care for her like you say you do, let her have this.”
“What if she doesn’t want it?” I say.
“You don’t know if she wants it or not.” She stares back at me.
“Let’s ask her then.”
“Wait, what?”
“Juniper!” I shout out. She doesn’t hear me, so I take a couple of steps forward.
“You can’t go on the set, Rafe!” she calls after me angry and worried.
“Juniper!” I shout louder this time, and she looks over at me. “Hey, come here.”
She looks at me in surprise, but she hurries over.
“Hi,” she says softly.
I take in her pretty face and smile, and my heart warms. “Hey. How’s it going?”
“Good. What are you doing here, Rafe? We’re just about to start shooting.”
“I know, but …” I look over at Jackie, and she’s glaring at me. “I don’t know if you know this, but they’ve already decided you’re going to be the winner.”
“What?” She blinks at me. “What do you mean?”
“They’ve already decided you’re going to be the winner and that you’re going to get married to August here, and they want me to play some sort of jealous ex.”
“No, you can be the jealous boyfriend,” Jackie says. “Or you can be the jealous ex-fiancé. It’s up to you.”
“I’m not going to be a jealous anything,” I say, shouting. “This is not going to happen, Juniper.” I look at her. “This is getting out of control. This isn’t what you want, is it?”
I stare at her, and her eyes widen.
Next thing I know, August is hurrying over to us.
“Hey,” he says. “How are you? I’m August Pitt.”
“I know,” I say, dismissing the outstretched hand he has. “Juniper? I don’t think this is a good idea.”
“What’s going on?” August says, frowning.
Jackie sighs. “This is a friend of Juniper’s, who seems to be a little overprotective. He doesn’t really want her doing the show. I don’t really understand why.”
“You know why.” I glare at her. “Juniper?”
“I don’t understand what’s going on,” she says. “I literally just got here. I haven’t even shot a day. What’s going on?”
“Do you trust me?” I ask her, staring at her. “If you trust me, you’ll leave this set, and you’ll just come with me.”
“But, Rafe, I …”
She pauses. She looks over at August, who’s staring at her. Then she looks at Jackie.
“Fifteen thousand dollars an episode, Juniper,” Jackie says.
Then she looks at me. My heart is racing.
“Just because you guys had sex last night doesn’t mean anything,” Jackie says.
My heart drops as I see Juniper’s face paling.
“Yeah, he told me,” Jackie says, shrugging.
“He didn’t care about keeping it a secret.
Maybe because he sees you as some prized possession, and now that he realizes you have a shot with a man who’s ten times whoever he’ll be, he’s not taking it well.
Is that the sort of man you want to be with, Juniper?
” Jackie says nonchalantly. “A man who will tell a stranger that he fucked you last night on the beach.”
“I never told you that,” I say, eyes narrowed. “How the hell did you have that information?”
Juniper stares at me, her eyes watering. “You told her that? Really, Rafe?”
I press my lips together and take ten deep breaths. “You know me, Juniper. Do you think I would do that?”
And I know this is the crux of the situation because if she believes I would tell this stranger that we had sex on the beach last night, then she doesn’t know me at all.
She stares at me for a couple of seconds, and I watch as she plays with her hair.
August takes a step closer to her, and he grabs her hand.
“Juniper, I know you don’t know me,” he says softly.
“We just met, but you’re something kind of special.
You’re the sort of girl I don’t meet in Hollywood.
And regardless of whether or not you want to continue on this show, I feel like we could have something.
I feel like you’re the sort of girl who deserves the world, and I feel like I’m the sort of guy who could give that to you. ”
I stare at him in shock because this man literally just met her, and he’s declaring things that I would never have declared if I barely knew her.
Juniper looks over at him, her mouth wide, and then she looks at me.
“Rafe,” she says softly.
“Juniper.”
She just stands there, and my heart sinks because, from the look in her eyes, I can tell she’s already made a decision.
She’s going to choose the show.
She’s going to choose the unknown.
I waited too long.
I think about just blurting out what she means to me. I think about telling her I love her. I think about telling her how I fucked up, how I wish I’d stepped forward before all of this started, but I don’t want to have to do that.
And then I see the mic above our heads and the cameras pointed at us, and I realize it’s all for the show.
Every last part of it was for the show. August wasn’t for real.
He wasn’t sincere. He was playing a part, and I don’t even know if Juniper knows.
I’m about to say something when she steps forward and grabs my hand.
“Rafe,” she says, giving me a small little smile, “I know.”
And I know from the tone of her voice that everything is going to be okay.