Chapter Twenty
Sienna woke up to light. Not the soft, forgiving kind that crept through the gauzy white curtains of her bedroom back home, but rather the kind that flooded the room and pierced her eyes like needles.
Her first thought of the morning was that the sheets had never felt this soft.
But then she remembered that these weren’t her sheets.
They were Vivian’s, and she wasn’t lying in the bed in her glamping tent, but rather in the villa she’d snuck into last night.
Sienna glanced next to her. Vivian was still asleep.
She was lying on her stomach, and her short blonde hair was stuck up at the back.
One arm was bent under the pillow, and the other sprawled across the mattress.
The sheet barely covered the curves of her hips, and the morning light that streamed mercilessly through the wide glass doors caught the slope of her spine.
Sienna’s breath hitched.
And then it all came flooding back: the rose ceremony, the conversation with Elise that had driven Sienna to Vivian’s villa. The two of them together in that hot bath. Then the bed. Then, falling asleep in Vivian’s arms and feeling safer than she’d felt in a long time.
Sienna raked her fingers through her hair and hoped this feeling would last forever.
This giddiness that seemed to expand in her chest until it reached the tips of her fingers and her toes.
It even seemed to reach to the knots in her hair.
There were plenty. In fact, her fingers couldn’t even pass the top layer without yanking hard at her tender scalp.
Then she imagined Vivian only pretending to sleep and somehow watching her yank out entire clumps of hair. She gave up. There was nothing romantic about a woman detangling her hair.
For the second time in two minutes, Sienna glanced at Vivian again.
This time, however, there was a dangerous, fleeting moment where she considered trailing a finger down Vivian’s sunlit spine.
Just once. Just to see if it was real. Just to make sure she wasn’t actually hallucinating.
But then Vivian stirred, and before Sienna could turn onto her side and act like she’d just woken up, Vivian rolled onto her back.
“Morning,” she said, her voice rough and thick in a way that made Sienna’s brain forget complete sentences. “How did you sleep?”
“Fine,” Sienna said. “Good. Can’t complain.” The truth was Sienna had slept like the dead. She hadn’t even had a single dream, which was a first for her. One moment Vivian had kissed her softly on the temple, and the next the bright morning light was stabbing her eyes. “How about you?”
“Same,” Vivian said, rubbing a finger under each eye as if she were trying to wipe away exhaustion, but there were no shadows there, just flawless skin.
“Though I think we probably shouldn’t have fallen asleep.
I can’t imagine it’s going to be easy sneaking you out of here.
” If Vivian was worried about getting caught, she didn’t show it.
Which should’ve given Sienna some solace, but then again Vivian often resembled a Greek statue who had just stepped off her pedestal.
“I think our best bet is for you to go out first,” Sienna said, pressing her palms into the mattress until she was sitting a little more upright.
The sheet slipped down and caught just above her breasts.
For a flicker of a second, Vivian’s gaze dropped to her chest, and Sienna considered letting go of the sheet altogether.
They could probably fit in a quickie before she had to run off.
The thought was so enticing she felt a hum between her hips.
But no. Sienna really did have to go. Even though she didn’t want to. Even though she’d rather stay here and have Vivian wrap her arms around her. Even though they should probably talk about what was going to happen next.
“Where would I go?” Vivian asked, interrupting her thoughts.
Sienna blinked herself back into the room and said, “Just far enough for you to check if the coast is clear and send me a signal.”
“You mean like whistle from the bushes?” Vivian asked. “Or squawk like a bird? I can do both if you want. Or maybe a secret drumbeat on the nearest tree. Or better yet, I’ll stomp my feet as hard as I can… whatever you think will work best.”
“You’re making fun of me.”
Vivian laughed, and before Sienna could respond, Vivian’s hand found her wrist and tugged her closer.
The kiss that followed was a culmination of last night, of every longing stare, and every touch.
It was ridiculous and perfect all at once.
Vivian’s lips didn’t just press against Sienna’s mouth; she also nipped with her teeth and tasted with her tongue.
All the while Sienna’s fingers tangled in Vivian’s short hair.
The seconds rolled on. Outside, the sun was rising, spilling heat into the room. But every time they tried to pull back for air, they failed miserably and laughed into each other’s mouths instead. Sienna cupped Vivian’s breast and decided that she could easily do this forever.
“Vivian!”
Each and every molecule in Sienna’s body froze.
“Are you up yet?” Elise called, her voice invading the villa like a wildfire. “I know it’s early. Well, not that early. Look. I need to talk to you.”
Vivian shot out of bed so fast that Sienna felt the impact of it on her hips. “Shit,” she hissed, grabbing for the sheet that was left behind. “You need to—” She made a vague, panicked gesture toward the bathroom. “Hide.”
Sienna, who had scrambled out of bed almost as quickly and had half tripped over the rug, her hands flying to cover herself, mouthed, “There’s no place to hide in there.”
Vivian seemed to know this already. Her eyes flicked to the small library, where a green futon stretched in front of the shelves.
Sienna considered diving behind it, not that it would give enough coverage, unless, of course, she could climb out of one of the windows.
Now wouldn’t that be a sight. But then another knock rattled the door.
“Are you decent?” Elise called.
Nothing about this situation was decent. In fact, it was soooo indecent, Sienna was sure she would be fired over this if Elise found out. Which apparently wasn’t far off. Before Vivian could answer, the door swung open, and Elise walked in.
Sienna had no time to wonder why the door was unlocked in the first place.
Surely they’d locked it last night, or had Vivian gotten distracted when Sienna had just marched in uninvited and climbed naked into the bathtub.
Her body kicked into gear, and she crouched behind a nightstand.
Which, unfortunately, was not nearly as wide as she’d hoped.
Elise’s eyes landed on them. Well, first on Vivian, who had the sheet half wrapped around herself. And then on Sienna, who couldn’t make herself smaller even if she tried.
“What in—” Elise started, her voice as calm as a watering hole at noon. But that didn’t last nearly as long as Sienna had hoped. A crimson blush crept up her neck, her cheeks puffed, her hands, which hung stiffly by her sides, curled into fists so tight her knuckles turned white.
“THE FUCK!” she screamed.
Sienna flinched. She wanted to say something—anything—to make this better, but frankly, nothing could ever come close to fixing this.
Not that either of them would even get a chance to try.
Elise was already pacing, muttering to herself.
Then not muttering at all. Her voice grew louder, shriller by the second.
“Are you kidding me? Are you fucking kidding me? I can’t believe this is happening.
Again. AGAIN! What is this, some prank? Am I cursed?
I must be cursed. Because this level of betrayal, this humiliation, it’s beyond what any person should ever have to endure! ”
“Elise—” Vivian started.
But Elise spun around so fast her curls snapped like a whip.
“Don’t.” She jabbed a finger at Vivian. “YOU. Of all people. YOU know we have a damn script to follow. You should know how bad this looks. For fuck’s sake, Vivian.
Do you ever think before you act? Or are you just so used to doing whatever the hell you want and letting the rest of us clean up the mess? ”
“It’s not—” Vivian tried again, her voice cracking.
“Don’t,” Elise barked, slicing her hand through the air. “Don’t you dare say this isn’t what it looks like, because honey, it’s pretty fucking obvious what it looks like.”
She turned, eyes narrowing on Sienna, who was still crouched naked behind the nightstand. “For the love of god, put some clothes on!”
Sienna didn’t need to be told twice. She was more than ready to cover herself.
But there was a tiny little problem. She’d shown up at Vivian’s place in her rose ceremony dress, and slipping it back on just felt…
wrong. At least Vivian seemed to understand why Sienna wasn’t already rushing off to find it.
She jerked her head toward a woven rattan chair in the far corner where a cream linen button-down hung over the armrest.
Sienna darted for it—acutely aware of her bare ass on full display—and yanked it over her head.
Thank goodness the buttons were already done.
She couldn’t imagine having to fumble with them first. She was also grateful that the shirt at least skimmed the tops of her thighs.
Though at this point, modesty was just a luxury.
“What are we going to do about this?” Elise said, still fuming, still pacing. Except now her fingers were yanking at fistfuls of her hair, and Sienna worried she was going to pull the strands out by the roots.
But then all at once, Elise stopped. She went still.
It happened so abruptly that even the air seemed to hold its breath.
Her arms fell to her sides. Her expression went blank.
The first thing that popped into Sienna’s mind was that Elise was about to faint.
But she neither swayed nor collapsed. The silence just stretched.
One second. Then ten. Long enough for Sienna to worry.
Long enough for Vivian to catch Sienna’s eye and flash her a look that said this isn’t good.
Then Vivian stepped forward slowly. She reached one hand out but let it hover. “Elise, are you okay?” she said softly.
Elise didn’t answer. She simply stood there, staring at the floor like she was watching her life replay on the wood. Sienna considered offering to fetch Maurine, but then Elise lifted her chin, and Sienna took a step back instead of forward.
Her face had changed. Gone was the fury, the crimson blotches on her neck, the shaking hands. She looked eerily serene, almost radiant, like she’d come back from a silent retreat instead of a full-blown meltdown seconds ago. Which, frankly, was more troubling than the outburst.
Sienna didn’t like this. Not one bit.
Especially when Elise drew in a long, deliberate breath and smiled wide, unblinking, and eerily unhinged. “I’ve got a plan,” she said.
“A plan,” Vivian and Sienna both repeated.
“Yes,” Elise said evenly, clasping her hands in front of her like some demented headmistress. “The plan is for you two to act like this never happened. Finish the season. Do your jobs. Everything else… this…” She gestured to Vivian and then to Sienna. “You can finish when the show is over.”
It sounded incredibly easy, completely reasonable, if, of course, you ignored the small fact that last night had happened. And then there was the part where Sienna had fallen for Vivian instead of one of the contestants.
“You mean lie?” Sienna asked. Her voice cracked somewhere between disbelief and sheer confusion. Had she heard Elise correctly? Had Elise said they should just carry on with normal and act as if she hadn’t caught them in bed together?
Elise turned to look at her and Sienna suddenly felt ten years old again.
“I mean keep your mouth shut and let the cameras roll. The viewers don’t need to know you two broke the rules.
The network doesn’t need to know either.
Nobody needs to know. Not. This. Season.
” She punctuated each word so forcibly that there was a dribble of spit at the corner of her mouth.
But Sienna wasn’t going to stand for this.
She opened her mouth, ready to argue because pretending that nothing had happened didn’t just feel immoral but delusional as well, but Vivian placed a finger over her mouth, shushing Sienna like she was a kid interrupting church service. “Okay, we’ll do as you ask,” Vivian said.
Elise exhaled, looking extremely relieved, and then looked between them one last time. “Now, let’s go make good television,” she said, her voice bright, eerily so. And with that, she turned and walked out. The door slammed behind her.
Sienna took the moment as an opportunity to launch right into a full moral monologue about lying to the contestants who’d come here to find something real, about having integrity, about the sanctity of lesbian reality dating, but Vivian held up a hand for the second time that morning and stopped her in her tracks.
“You should go,” she said. “Before any of the contestants get wind of this.”
Sienna felt like she’d been slapped in the face.
At least the owner of said hand was gorgeous and lovely and had spooned her through the night.
But still. She considered using all those things to her advantage and complaining anyway, but something told her not to.
So, Sienna just nodded before heading to the bathroom to retrieve her dress from last night.
She made her way to the door. “I’ll see you later,” she said, turning the knob. Then hesitated.
For a second she imagined Vivian suggesting they take time apart, and her chest tightened painfully.
But then Vivian said, “See you later,” and Sienna let out a breath so breezy she didn’t care that she was carrying her dress in her hand and wearing only Vivian’s shirt when she stepped out into the morning light.