Blind Love
Authors: Sue Fineman
| Blind Love |
| Donatelli [2] |
| Sue Fineman |
| (2011) |
television reality show with a twist, but before she can develop the show, she's
called home to take care of her father, who was injured in a fall. His latest
bimbo, the woman who caused the fall, won't leave the mansion, so Catherine has
to call the security company to evict her.
Tony Donatelli helps her
remodel the house to accommodate her father's wheelchair, and Catherine realizes
he's the perfect bachelor for her show. Tony has spent most of his adult life
flirting and chasing women, but after a frightening experience with a crazy
woman, he's reluctant to get involved again. He can't help himself with
Catherine. He's falling in love, but she wants to give him to another woman on a
stupid TV show.
The first night of filming, Tony is stunned to learn the
concept of the show, but it's too late to back out now. Then the bimbo who tried
to trap Catherine's father into marriage decides she wants Tony, and she'll do
whatever it takes to get him.
BLIND LOVE
Donatelli Family: Book Two
by
Sue Fineman
Blind Love
Copyright © 2011 Sue Fineman
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from Sue Fineman.
Published by Amazon KDP
Seattle, WA
Electronic KDP Edition: October, 2011
This book is a work of fiction and all characters exist solely in the author's imagination. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Any references to places, events or locales are used in a fictitious manner.
Catherine Timmons comes up with a new television reality show with a twist, but before she can develop the show, she's called home to take care of her father, who was injured in a fall while cavorting with his latest bimbo.
Tony Donatelli helps Catherine remodel the house to accommodate her father's wheelchair, and she knows she's found the perfect bachelor for the show. He’s handsome and charming, with a killer smile and buff body. She's committed to doing the show, but after getting to know Tony, she's reluctant to share her dream guy with a bunch of love-starved women.
Tony has spent most of his adult life chasing beautiful women, but after a frightening experience with a crazy woman, he's reluctant to get involved again. He can't help himself with Catherine. He's falling in love, but she wants to give him to another woman on a stupid television show.
Her father’s rejected bimbo is determined to have Tony for herself, and she doesn’t care who gets hurt in the process. Including Catherine.
Chapter One
“I
’
ll tell you what’s real,” said Catherine Timmons. “Real is a thirty-something guy who’s still living at home and lying to his dates about what he does for a living. He may be charming and great looking, but if he’s working at all, he doesn’t make enough to pay rent, and his mother provides him with home-cooked meals and clean laundry. He’s getting everything he needs at home with Mama. Everything except sex.”
“Speaking from experience, Cat?” said Mitzi, and a soft
meow
came from somewhere in the room.
It was nearly midnight, and as other residents of the Los Angeles basin were breathing the brown hazy air outside, ten people sat around a table littered with coffee cups and crumpled paper, trying to come up with an idea for a new television show. Reality TV was the going thing these days, and everything Catherine had seen was either stupid, dangerous, or it had been done to death.
Ignoring Catherine’s remarks, Mitzi, a cute blonde who’d recently traded her breast implants for bigger ones, said, “Instead of having people playing games for money, why don’t we use rich people vying for love?”
As if she had to vie for love. Mitzi was so gorgeous she had every man in the building drooling after her. Catherine couldn’t figure out why anyone would want bigger breasts. Hers were big enough to be a nuisance, and she wore baggy shirts to hide them. She hated having men staring at her breasts instead of looking at her face when they spoke with her.
Scooter, a busy little man whose real name Catherine could never remember, said, “Rich people don’t have problems finding love. We’re talking reality television here.”
Someone asked, “What about the women?”
“Not beauty queens. I never could figure out why a beautiful woman would humiliate herself on national television to make a play for a guy who has a ninety-five percent chance of rejecting her. No matter how rich or good looking the guy is, it makes her look desperate.”
“Women want to find true love,” said Mitzi.
“On national television?” said Catherine. “Get real.”
“Everyone wants to be on national television,” said Scooter. “Besides, no one will watch unless the women are beautiful, and if he’s not rich, he’d better be good looking or have something special going for him.”
Henry Wallace, the producer and boss, made a few notes and closed his folder. “Cat, we’ll meet at ten in the morning to go over the details.”
Her co-workers rushed from the room like rats leaving a sinking ship, and Catherine was left sitting alone in the middle of an empty, but messy room with a pot of fresh coffee and a presentation to work up for Henry by morning.
As the hours passed, she sketched out one plan after another. She knew what Henry expected, but the details to make this show work weren’t coming. If the guy was too much of a loser, it would show in the way he presented himself, and most women had to work for a living. Taking a month off work to live in a mansion and play games was out of the question when you had bills to pay.
Finally, she rested her head on her arms and closed her eyes. A drop-dead gorgeous guy with dark hair, sparkling brown eyes, and a killer smile haunted her dreams. A dozen tall, beautiful women strutted around in expensive evening gowns, showing their stuff. And there was short, dumpy Catherine, in her baggy shirt and wrinkled slacks, her curly red hair slipping out of the knot, and her glasses sliding down her freckled nose. The man pointed to her and crooked his finger, probably to tell her she’d be the first woman on the show to be rejected. No surprise there. No guy worth having wanted her.
A hand on her shoulder woke her from her strange dream. Sunshine streamed through the dusty windows, and she groaned. Morning already? She didn’t have a thing to show Henry.
“Sleeping on the job, Cat?” Scooter glanced at the doodles on the pad of paper in front of her. “Productive work session, I see.”
She wanted to tell him to shut up. Instead, she said, “It’s all in my head.” God help her when Henry found out she didn’t have anything sketched out for this show.
An hour later, Henry called her into his office, poured a cup of coffee, and handed it to her. “I’m intrigued by your idea. An average, but great looking guy who lives with his mother.”
Catherine sipped her coffee and tried to clear her sleep-deprived brain. She had nothing to show him, so she talked it out. “The women can be single moms, average girls with frizzy hair and freckles, and some beauty queens to keep it interesting. We’ll let him see them all in the beginning, but they won’t exchange names.”
“Why not?”
“Because we’re calling the show
Blind Love
, and he’ll be wearing a blindfold when he interviews them. He’ll have to make his first few cuts based on personality and compatibility.”
Henry chuckled.
“It evens the playing field. She’ll have to intrigue him in the interview or she’ll be out the door. On the other hand, some guys can’t see past a girl’s appearance, and she won’t be as intimidated if he’s not staring at her boobs or the zit that popped out on the end of her nose.”
Henry’s gaze slid down to Catherine’s chest. “I see what you mean.”
She sipped her coffee. “Having the guy eliminate the first few girls before he sees them would add an element of risk. What if he gets rid of all the pretty ones? He’ll have to see them when he sends them away, and the look on his face when he realizes who he’s rejecting should be interesting.”
“How much do we tell the women about him?”
“Nothing until he’s eliminated the first half of the girls. After all, this is...”
“
Blind Love
,” they said together.
“I like it. See if you can find a guy who fits the profile and a location to film it.”
He bought it.
Catherine couldn’t believe that Henry actually bought one of her ideas. They usually got shot down as soon as they left her mouth.
If they got the right bachelor, it could be an interesting show. On the other hand, it could bomb and end Catherine’s career. The thought of going home to her father and admitting she was a failure made her stomach hurt. He already thought she was a failure or he would have kept the family business for her instead of selling it to the highest bidder when he retired.
<>
Tony Donatelli sipped his beer and scanned the room. He could barely hear the mournful country tune on the jukebox over the murmur of conversation and laughter. He’d been spending his evenings renovating a house, and tonight he wanted a date with a sexy blonde. If he could find one.