Love Elimination (6 page)

The yellow sun hovered high above the horizon. Those bright Australian rays were almost blinding. It was worth it for the beach, though. The water glittered like Swarovski crystals opposite a forest of palm trees. The white ocean swell rubbed against the sand. Luke swam backwards, watching the beach as it retreated. The jagged line of hills or mountains in the distance framed the tropical beach. It wouldn’t have been a surprise if a pod of bottleneck dolphins had appeared from beneath the flat surf.

He stayed like that, gently paddling and looking back at the sand, as he saw Anna emerge from the tree line. She hurried along the beach, dressed in gym clothes and clutching something small in her hands, coming to a stop about where the path from the ocean to Luke’s guest house behind the mansion was hidden. With only the occasional glance at the scenery around her, she dropped to the ground and drew her knees up to her chest.

Luke didn’t deal well with upset women, but he couldn’t exactly leave her alone now he’d seen her. Plus there was something about her that didn’t add up and Luke wanted to know what it was. She acted differently from every other contestant. The producers and director didn’t seem to think of her as a contender. And now, surrounded by one of the most beautiful landscapes Luke had ever seen, she didn’t look up once.

As he swam towards the shore, he saw that the object she held was a phone. A contraband phone that she clutched to her ear.

He wasn’t trying to sneak up to her. There were splashes of water and the crunch of shells under his feet to alert her to his presence. But she didn’t notice, her attention fixed on the conversation at hand. He was a metre away when she looked up, and an involuntary gasp escaped her lips. Her eyes widened even more when he flopped onto the ground by her side, ignoring the way she watched the water drip from his body. He felt his shorts tighten as he noticed how her clothes clung to her thighs and the front of her singlet stretched across her breasts.

‘I have to go,’ she said into the mouthpiece, hanging up in a swift movement and pocketing the device.

‘Good morning,’ he said. He had needed to say something to distract her eyes from his body—to prevent them from creeping below his waistline. Whatever she expected from him, speaking clearly wasn’t it. At the sound of his voice, Anna jumped; quite clumsily, given that she was in a seated position.

Luke held his hands up. ‘Woah, calm down. I’m not going to rat you out.’

‘You’re not?’ Her words came out breathy and sultry. She cleared her throat and tried again. ‘I mean, you’re not?’

Luke felt no less affected the second time. His body reacted to her tone, angling to face her. He cocked his head and said, ‘You’re risking an awful lot for a few check-ins.’

The lawyers ran him through the contracts months before, explaining the legal action that would be taken if he were to sneak a banned device onto the show. Not that they would actually sue him. His father was founder and CEO of the network, and he had more than enough money to cope with a fine. He was the only man; it wasn’t like they could evict him, like they would the women.

‘You should understand. You were an elite athlete. Imagine that dedication, but to a small business. A brand new business.’ She eyed him like she wanted to grab a handful of sand and throw it in his eyes. ‘And I’m not checking in. I’m coordinating the tradies.’

‘Hey … I’m sorry.’ He held up his hands again. Her scowl was adorable and Luke was quickly discovering that he liked it when she was feisty. This was the type of girl he’d joined the show to meet. Not the cookie cutters and the women obsessed with the decline of their fertility. ‘You’re the one who’s starting a dessert café, aren’t—’

‘I’d better be getting back.’ She struggled to her feet.

‘You don’t want to be here, do you?’

At that she stopped and narrowed her eyes. Luke hid a grin.

‘What?’ she said.

‘What I can’t figure out is, why?’

She hesitated.

‘You can tell me the truth. Why are you here?’

Anna slumped back against the trunk of the palm tree. ‘I … My sister, Kate, is a producer and someone dropped out.’

‘You’re a fill in?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Do you have a boyfriend at home?’

A weight lifted from Luke’s chest as Anna laughed. ‘No.’

‘Do you want one?’ he teased. He couldn’t get enough of her open smile, the one that showed off her straight rows of teeth. She rewarded him with another and shook her head.

‘So, are you going to kick me off the show?’

He nudged her knee with his. ‘Why would I do that?’

‘Maybe because I don’t want to be here?’

‘You’re already here. Why not have some fun?’ he said, putting a hand on her bouncing knee before she jumped up and away from him again.

‘I have a business to get back to.’

‘That’s what the phone is for, right? But if you stick around, you can go on great dates and get some relaxation for free.’

‘I didn’t come here for fun.’

‘But you’re here now. And if you were going to leave, you would’ve done it already.’

‘I can’t leave. I signed a contract.’

‘Ah, so they threatened to sue you. They tried that with me too.’

‘Why would you need to leave?’

‘Have you met the women on this show?’ he said, thinking of the headshots from earlier.

‘Some of them are really nice.’

‘And all of them want my babies.’

‘Isn’t that the point?’

‘Not for me. I was told it was a dating show, with no wedding in sight. Just a serious relationship. Love.’

‘Well, good luck with that.’

‘You’re going?’

‘Yes, because I can’t get caught talking to the
Love Elimination
suitor off-camera. I’ll get kicked off the show and have to pay back the money.’

‘Well if this is about the money, we can come to an arrangement,’ he said. ‘You could stay with the show and I’ll give you the designer ring in the finale.’

The offer came out before he had a chance to think it through. Had he really given up on the show already? The cameras, the pushy producers and the vacuous women were more than he’d been expecting. But he really was ready for a serious relationship. Ready to fall in love. He wouldn’t have agreed to it otherwise, even with his father asking.

‘Or you could just send me home,’ she said, brushing the sand from her long, smooth legs. The sight was better than the beach around them. Then she left and Luke couldn’t tear his eyes from her as she walked away or remove the grin from his face.

* * *

The mansion was buzzing when Anna returned. She adjusted her phone in her jacket pocket, crossed her arms over her stomach to hold it in place and ran upstairs to her room. Thankfully it was empty. She unzipped her jacket and dumped the phone on her unmade bed, but before she could stash it away in her suitcase, the door swung open.

‘Anna! Where have you been this morning?’ Hadie called, walking into the room. Anna tried to turn and throw the sheets over the phone simultaneously. She achieved neither. Instead she managed to topple over and fall to the floor, giving Hadie an even clearer view of the bed. It was impossible to miss, stark black against white sheets. Hadie froze.

‘Is that yours?’ she asked. The hurt in the downturn of her lips cut straight through to Anna’s conscience. The woman couldn’t seem to hide a single emotion or thought. Weirdly, it was the thing Anna liked most about her. She automatically trusted Hadie.

‘Yes,’ Anna said in a whisper. There was nothing to do now except wait as Hadie spun around, stalked from the room and told the other women. From there, the crew and producers would find out only too quickly what she’d done. Even Kate wouldn’t be able to save her.

Anna fought the disappointment welling in her heart. She really couldn’t give the money back. The deposit was paid, lease contract signed and renovations begun.

‘How did you sneak it in here? All our bags were checked!’

‘There’s a hidden pocket in one of my dresses.’

There was a silence as Hadie absorbed her words.

‘I know we’ve only been on the show for five seconds, so, objectively speaking, this is kind of ridiculous, but you should have told me.’

Anna leaned back against the bed, still slumped on the ground. ‘I couldn’t risk it.’

Hadie nodded but didn’t say anything. She crossed the room to her own suitcase, pulling out a singlet and shorts. Without looking in Anna’s direction, she changed into the outfit.

‘Do you think, maybe, I could borrow it sometimes? To call my son?’

The tenderness in her voice broke Anna’s heart. Compared to Hadie, she had no compelling reason to break the rules. She cared about her business, but it was not even in the same league as leaving a child behind.

‘Of course,’ Anna said. ‘Of course you can.’

The women made eye contact and Hadie’s relief hung between them in the air. ‘Thank you.’

Neither said anything more until the moment passed.

‘You missed the announcement,’ Hadie said eventually, riffling through her suitcase again and coming out with a pair of socks and some sandshoes. ‘One of the producers popped by earlier. We have an hour to get ready in fitness wear for the first group date this evening.’

Anna grabbed her phone and packed it away, searching through her own bag for an appropriate change of clothes.

‘Hadie?’ The tightness in Anna’s chest hadn’t yet receded. ‘You’re not going to tell anybody, right? About the phone, I mean.’

‘No. It’s just between us.’

‘Thank you.’ She smiled gently. ‘Do you want to call your son while I take a shower?’

Anna had spent the past three days sneaking around the villa, trying to use her phone without the rest of the cast finding out and avoiding the producers when they dropped by to film interviews.
Three days.
It was enough confinement to drive a person insane. She was entirely ready for the next elimination. What she didn’t want was to be dragged out of bed at ridiculous o’clock for a group date. But now she was here, she couldn’t quite summon the energy to be annoyed.

‘This is great!’ Hadie squealed. ‘I wish Matty was here.’

Anna’s face stretched into a grin. Any two-year-old boy would love this. They were in a shed that had been transformed into the ultimate kids’ playground. Trampolines covered every inch of the ground, some on different angles. There were trampoline basketball courts, trampoline slides, trampoline playgrounds … Maybe it wasn’t the expensive sky-diving or international holiday date Anna expected, but it looked like more fun than she had had in years. Her inner five-year-old fizzed with excitement.

‘I know,’ Anna said. ‘What do you want to do first?’

‘That’s easy. The slide!’

Hadie bounced off without waiting to see if Anna was following. How Hadie’s child coped, Anna didn’t know. His toys would get more use from her than him. She imagined him being dragged from playground to playground by his excitable mother.

When they turned the corner and found the slide, Anna and Hadie stopped. Luke was a few metres up the ladder that was higher than your ordinary roof, with Yvette at the base. It was impossible not to watch him. All three women stood with heads tilted back. The muscles in Luke’s arms and legs tightened as he climbed. His body was enough to make a woman drool.

‘Wait here,’ Yvette sneered. ‘Luke and I want a moment alone up there.’

‘Well, you better hurry then,’ Hadie said. Yvette shot Hadie a truly impressive glare and spun on her heel, following Luke.

On the first night, Yvette had struck Anna as the type of person who may be cast as the bitch—someone playing a part the producers wanted her to play. Now she wasn’t so sure it was an act, even with two cameras and a GoPro aimed at them.

‘It’s pretty busy here,’ Anna said, glancing up at
Love Elimination
’s suitor. ‘I think I’ll go try something else.’

‘Nonsense.’ Hadie tugged on her arm. ‘It’s fine—and you promised we’d stick together. This is the first date I’ve been on since I got pregnant.’

‘I don’t think that platform is going to hold four people, Hadie. Wouldn’t you rather get a moment to chat with Luke?’

‘So we’ll just push Yvette down first. Easy peasy,’ Hadie said.

Anna rolled her eyes at her new friend, who had already hoisted herself onto the ladder.

‘Come on!’

* * *

Luke waited impatiently at the top of the slide. This wasn’t the type of date he would’ve organised to get to know eleven women. Not that
Love Elimination
was the way he would have tried to find a girlfriend in the first place.

‘Hi handsome,’ Yvette said on reaching the platform. ‘Finally, I get some one-on-one time with you.’

‘Absolutely,’ he said, faking enthusiasm for the microphone on his shirt and the camera pointed at them from below. ‘Tell me about yourself.’

‘Well, I’m a flight attendant, so I travel a lot. I work in business class and meet a lot of interesting people.’

By interesting he was sure she meant ‘rich’. The way she’d eyed off his watch on the first night had not escaped him.

‘But my favourite part of the job,’ she continued, ‘is walking a runway every day; I’ve always wanted to be a Victoria’s Secret model.’

Then she started talking about her nails. She didn’t need questions or any indication that Luke was still listening. She just kept speaking. Uninterrupted. Luke tried to pay attention. He really did. She was the type of woman he usually dated: hot, polished, social climber. Unfortunately for her, he was done. He was sick of women who cared more about his wealth and fame than him.

Only when the short blonde woman reached the platform did Yvette stop talking about herself. A few seconds later, Anna joined them. The platform was too crowded for the four of them. Time he made his escape.

‘I guess that’s my cue to move along,’ he said as he pushed off. The landing at the bottom of the slide was an inflated surface that wrapped around his body. He dragged himself to the edge as a thump sounded behind him. Luke stretched out his hand for the body that had landed where he’d been a moment earlier. Yvette grabbed it, groaning as he pulled her free. She stumbled into his arms.