Love Elimination (13 page)

‘You need to start closer to the pole,’ Luke advised, coming to stand a metre away from Anna and her new worst enemy.

‘I hate this,’ Anna grumbled, doing as she was told. She tucked her leg around the pole and pushed off, lifting her other leg into the air.

‘Good! Now bring your feet together—just your feet—and keep your upper body tall.’

Anna followed Luke’s instructions, watching herself rotate in the mirror. Discovering that the poles spun had been like seeing behind the scenes of a theme park.

‘Chest up!’

‘I’m doing it!’ She grinned, ignoring the looks of the other women in the reflection of the mirrors.

Then Anna felt the moisture pooling in her palms. Her arms shook at the effort it took to cling to the pole and her right hand dropped by about a centimetre. ‘Scratch that. I’m slipping!’

‘Just calmly and gracefully bring your feet to the ground,’ Luke said.

Calmly Anna could do. Graceful was asking a bit much, but she managed to dismount. It was even a little easier than her experience with the horse. Luke raised his hand for a high five. Anna subtly wiped her hands on her pants and then slapped her hand against his.

‘How do you know how to pole dance?’ she asked. She hoped a conversation would mostly keep her eyes from straying to Luke’s bare chest. Anna had guessed that she, or some of the other contestants, would see Luke shirtless sooner or later. The man was an Olympic athlete. Even under a suit she could see the muscles in his arms. When he hugged her, she felt the firmness of his stomach for herself. Now she was seeing it. The man looked like a sex god without his shirt, even more so with beads of sweat on his skin. She had to squeeze her hands to her side or cling to the pole just to resist reaching out to touch him.

‘I had a practice run a few days ago.’ Luke answered the question Anna didn’t even remember asking. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from his body.

‘So you’re a natural then? I wouldn’t be able to do it with months of lessons,’ she teased, trying to hide her lust. She finally yanked her gaze to his face, and was immediately struck by his handsomeness there too.

‘Maybe I am. It seems that I excel at anything remotely physical …’ His eyes trailed down Anna’s body, touching on every part of her. Anna felt her whole body flush hot under his stare. The desire she’d been feeling before multiplied by the thousands. All she could think about was his body and hers. The way he could make her feel, if not for the cameras.

The cameras. Anna felt like a cold wave had hit her. Because to her, the moment felt just as clear as screaming, ‘Please take me!’ at the man standing in front of her. She looked around for the nearest and found it trained on the two of them. How could she forget? In her underwear and trying to heave herself on and around the pole, the microphone was more cumbersome than ever before.

Luke winked and wandered to the other side of the room, throwing compliments at the other contestants as he went. Anna had a hard time tearing her eyes away. Even when the instructor had her back on the pole, she couldn’t help watching Luke.

* * *

‘That date looked tough. Good work getting through. I’m sure you’ll all wake up with rock-hard abs tomorrow,’ Mason Lockier said.

‘I wish it worked that way,’ Anna muttered and Hadie giggled under her breath. Anna shifted her weight from foot to foot. A drip of sweat slid down her spine. She just needed Mason and Luke to hurry up and evict someone so she could get back to the beach house and have a shower. Or even better: jump on a plane, get back to her apartment, and have a shower there.

‘This next part is super relaxing. We’re going to drive you a few kilometres up the coast where there is a luxurious boat waiting for you. The catamaran will take you out onto the beautiful clear ocean and you’ll get the chance to swim with the dolphins, dive over the Great Barrier Reef and, if neither of those things take your fancy, hang out on the boat,’ Mason said. ‘And did I mention the catamaran is fully stocked with cocktails and a delicious lunch? Oh, and a spa.’

The contestants oohed and aahed on cue. Even Anna had to admit the whole thing sounded perfect. Just what she needed after doing the most intense physical exercise of her life.

‘But only a handful of you will be going.’

A few women looked genuinely crestfallen. For the first time, Anna was among them. She wanted to go on the date. With the state of global warming there was no telling what would happen to the Great Barrier Reef. Well actually, there were plenty of scientists warning what would occur. So if she didn’t see it now, she might never experience one of the world’s greatest wonders. She crossed her fingers behind her back.

‘Luke will read the names of the lucky ladies from this envelope. The rest of you will be heading back to base camp with me,’ Mason said. ‘Take it away, Luke.’

‘Coming with me on the yacht are …’ he said, opening the envelope like a singing show host. ‘Hadie, Jessica, Liu Kun, Yvette and—Anna!’

A breath of air escaped her lips and she let her fingers relax. She was going. It was worth the death stares in her direction. She could even deal with Luke winking at her from the front of the group, as though no one was watching and interpreting it as favouritism.

* * *

The yacht was huge. Bigger than Anna and Kate’s apartment. The five women boarded it wearing the bikinis, dresses, shoes and accessories they’d been given. The producers had not only gotten everyone’s size, they’d also matched the clothes with each contestant’s style. Except Anna. Since Kate didn’t approve of Anna’s retro style, Anna’s dress was another high-fashion, short-hemline design. The bikini was ridiculously skimpy. Anna immediately ruled out getting into the ocean, or the spa, in front of the cameras.

‘This is fantastic!’ Hadie cried.

A man wearing a sailor’s costume appeared, looking like a kid at a Halloween party. ‘Hello, hello! This beauty is the
Go Fish
, a twenty-nine-metre catamaran. Please come on board and I’ll let Luke take it from there.’

The women rushed onto the deck of the catamaran and by the time they were taking their first bites of quiche and sushi, the boat was pushing through the water. It was the perfect day to be on the ocean: warm and without wind.

‘Do you want a drink?’ Luke asked, placing a flute of champagne in Anna’s hand when she nodded. Then he put his hand on her lower back and guided her towards the railing of the deck.

‘It’s beautiful. Thank you,’ Anna said. The water was a deep sapphire blue, its surface glittering like crystals. Anna scanned her eyes over the ocean. The sight of grey fins popping up through the waves would make it perfect. ‘Do you think we’ll see dolphins?’

‘Maybe. I was told there might even be all manner of creatures.’

‘Do you really choose all the dates?’ Anna asked, nudging his ribs with her elbow. ‘You don’t have a little help?’

Luke let out a bark of laughter. ‘I chose this one. Does that count?’

‘Kind of.’

‘Well, I didn’t know any of you earlier during filming. Now I do. So I can actually plan dates that you might enjoy.’

‘So where would you take me now that you know me better?’

‘Oh, I have plans.’ He cocked an eyebrow and grinned down at her. ‘Just you wait.’

His tone did weird things to her. There was a tingling under her chest and a fuzziness to her thoughts. Just as she told herself it was seasickness, he reached his hand across and traced figure eights on her palm. His fingers were long and coarse. She took his hand and turned it over, examining the lines on his hand like she was a palm reader.

‘How do you get the blisters? Is it a snowboarding thing?’

‘Sort of. They’re from chin-ups and lifting weights.’ His finger ran up to her forearm. ‘Where’s this from?’

He slid the pad of his thumb along the length of Anna’s scar. A burn. ‘Grabbing a tray from the oven when I was seven. I used a tea towel to protect my hands, but I forgot about my wrist.’

‘What were you cooking?’

‘Triple chocolate brownies.’

‘Do you hold a grudge?’ he asked.

‘No. Brownies will be on the menu of my café, for sure.’

‘And did the brownies survive that day?’

‘Most of them. And yes, they were delicious.’

Apparently sick of watching from the sidelines, Yvette and Jessica slipped out of the catamaran’s cabin. Anna pulled her hand from Luke’s grasp and shuffled away from him. Neither woman missed the movement. Certainly not for the first time, Anna wished she could tell them she wasn’t any competition. That she wasn’t interested, but that they shouldn’t let themselves fall for him. Being that handsome and rich meant he would’ve had everything handed to him on a plate, including female attention. He wasn’t going to settle down and even if he did, no woman could keep his attention for long. He was a flirt.

‘Hey Anna, do you mind if we steal Luke for a bit?’ Yvette’s voice was sickly sweet. ‘You’ve already had so much time together …’

‘Of course.’ Anna ignored the tight feeling in her chest as Yvette draped her arm around Luke’s. ‘I’ll just go refill my champagne.’

Luke gave Anna a pleading gaze, as though begging her not to leave. Anna couldn’t resist childish impulses and stuck out her tongue when the other women weren’t watching. She joined Hadie and Liu Kun inside the cabin, grabbing a plate and filling it with three different flavours of quiche and the last sushi roll.

‘May I interrupt?’ Anna asked.

‘Actually, we were speculating about what you and Luke were talking about,’ Liu Kun said. ‘Pretty boring and clichéd reality-show contestant of us, hey?’

‘We are weak and tragic,’ Hadie added. ‘Please don’t hold our jealousy against us.’

Anna frowned. She hadn’t heard Hadie or Liu Kun in the group of gossiping contestants that day she hid on the stairs, but that didn’t mean they hadn’t been there, failing spectacularly to defend her.

‘We were wondering whether we would see dolphins. And then we were talking about our scars and how we got them. Not the romantic tête-à-tête you were imagining, I bet.’

‘Oh,’ Hadie said. ‘Well, that’s okay then. You are permitted to cover all grotesque subjects including—but not limited to—bodily functions, waste removal and decay.’

Liu Kun wandered over to Luke and Hadie seized the opportunity. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it to come out like that. It just hurt to see Luke giving you so much attention.’

‘But, Hadie, you’ve only known him for less than two weeks.’ Anna immediately wished she could bite back the words and keep them inside her.

‘But I’ve pinned so much hope on this—on Luke being The One. I left my son. I’m taking time off work, losing money that I need to pay for Matty’s school and clothes and health and whatever else,’ Hadie replied, her voice quiet. ‘And I’ve only known you a little over a week too. But I’m not going to be jealous any more. If I can’t have him, I’d rather he falls for you than any other contestant here.’

‘He hasn’t chosen anyone yet. It’s the second week—’

‘The end of the second week,’ Hadie interrupted.

‘There is plenty of time for you to get to know him and for him to find out just how amazing you are.’

‘Oh stop.’ Hadie grinned.

* * *

It took Luke twenty minutes to extract himself from Yvette and Jessica and return to the cabin. Excusing herself from the circle, Anna made her way back to the deck. Hadie and Liu Kun deserved their time with him. Maybe one of them could change his ways? If anyone could keep a man’s attention, it had to be Hadie. She had enough energy to power a small country during the Christmas lights season.

Anna remained outside, watching the water, until the catamaran slowed and the driver reappeared.

‘Now, who wants to go in?’ he called in a Mason-esque voice. Anna wondered whether Joe had put him up to it, or whether he took it upon himself to imitate the television presenter. Either way, she couldn’t begrudge him the moment as he ran them through some instructions and distributed snorkels. Excitement ran like electric shocks along her spine. The only thing that could detract from it was having to strip down to the bikini Kate had organised for her. It was a deep emerald green number that contrasted with her hair and skin, but it was so skimpy. Anna never wore a two-piece without a baggy shirt over the top. She’d grown up with pale skin and the pervasive Australian sun-smart message.

She slathered herself with sunscreen and, when she saw Luke approaching, convinced Hadie to cover the parts of her back that she couldn’t reach. While Yvette and Jessica were both holding their bottles out to him, Anna was not going to give the show any more footage of them together than was necessary.

And then they were in the water. Anna had never seen anything more stunning. The reef was incredible. There were more colours than Anna had thought could occur in nature. The fish came in all shapes and sizes. They swam past her like she belonged in the ocean with them, as though she was just a large creature they passed every day on the way to wherever they were going. She wanted every single sight to be captured like a snapshot in her mind.

‘This is incredible,’ Liu Kun gasped, popping her head up at the same time as Anna. Then she started coughing.

‘It’s more than incredible!’ Anna couldn’t keep her glee contained. A fish brushed past her ankle and Anna dipped underwater for a second. When she bobbed back up, she choked on some water she hadn’t yet forced out of the snorkel.

When they were called back to the catamaran two hours later, it was too soon, even though Anna’s limbs felt like they were filled with ocean water.

Anna put her snorkel in a bucket of clean water to soak for the next group. Meanwhile, Luke led Yvette and Jessica onto the top deck where there was a spa.

‘Come on.’ Hadie tugged at Anna’s arm. ‘Do you want to leave him alone with just Yvette and Jessica? They’ll be licking the salt water off him in less than a minute.’

‘Ew.’ Liu Kun scrunched up her nose and followed Hadie without any further prompting. Even Anna let herself be dragged along. She could see Yvette running her hands around Luke’s muscles and Jessica sat on his other side with her back arched, her breasts standing to attention on the surface of the water.