Chapter 45
ASPEN
Mallory put the call on speaker. “Aspen’s here with us. She’s single.”
“No way,” I said aloud, shaking my head at what she was suggesting.
“What happened with Dr. Dark and Dangerous?” Georgia asked through the phone.
“It’s over.” I wasn’t going through it all again. Ever. “And Sierra comes back tomorrow.”
“I’m sure she’ll be thrilled to watch the show on set,” Georgia said, which was probably true.
I had a night of movies and popcorn planned downstairs with Mrs. Waddle, which couldn’t compete.
“I’m sorry to hear about you and Derek Dashwood, but if you want to get back on the horse, so to speak, you can have three hot bachelors vying for you tomorrow night on live TV,” she offered, as if the opportunity was tantalizing. It sounded awful.
“Just what I need, more fake boyfriends,” I muttered.
“I saw the commercial,” Mallory replied, her eyes alight with eagerness. “The guys are cute. They’re cowboys. Like real ones. And the saying is, spare a horse, ride a cowboy.”
I was not amused. “It’s a TV show. It’s not real,” I reminded.
“You’ll be given the questions to ask the men, but they don’t know them in advance. Their responses will be genuine. At the end, you pick your favorite. You get a free trip to Hawaii with the guy.”
“Hawaii? The last thing I want to do is go to Hawaii with a strange man.”
“Take Sierra,” Georgia tossed in. “I’ll make the production company pay. I’m really desperate and Mac will have a stroke if I start wandering around town to find someone in my condition.”
The way she said the last, I imagined her using her fingers to make little air quotes.
Mallory raised an eyebrow. “A Hawaiian vacation with Sierra? Since when have you two gone anywhere on vacation besides that hot springs down by Yellowstone? I’d say that’s not bad for a night’s work.”
“With a strange cowboy,” I reminded. “I think I’ve learned my lesson about going places with strange men.”
“You’d have a nine-year-old chaperone,” Mallory reminded.
I glanced at Theo who hadn’t said a word. He only shrugged, and that wasn’t much help.
“It pays seventy-five thousand dollars,” Georgia said, sweetening the pot.
“Holy shit,” Mallory whispered. “That would–”
“I know,” I groaned.
Fuck. FUCK!
I closed my eyes, took a cleansing breath. I needed that money to pay off Duncan for the ring. While Theo was being amazing and organizing a group to go on the search for it, I didn’t have much hope we’d find it.
This show? The money was a guarantee. I could do it. Right?
Maybe. Ugh.
“Fine,” I groaned. “Fine! I’ll do it.”
Now I was going to be the one who was acting.
What the hell happened to my life?