Throb (5 page)

He turns the photograph. There’s another beautiful girl, but still not Kate. “Mercedes Mila.” He smiles like a Cheshire cat. “I’d like to take a ride in this Mercedes. Twenty-four, nurse.”

Ten minutes of résumés later, we’ve covered everything from student to lawyer to stripper. I’m growing impatient. Finally, Miles flips the photo and my eyes land on Kate. “Kate Monroe. Twenty-five. Blackjack dealer. Working on her doctorate in physical therapy. She’s my girl next door. Looks sweet and innocent, but she has a streak of something wild. Father was a hotshot card player.” Miles pauses. “I’m curious if this one’s wild in the sack.”

My brother’s insolent commentary was already wearing thin on my nerves, but his disrespect for Kate gives me the urge to kick him under the table. Jaw clenched, I stare at the remaining headshots, but my mind is a million miles away. I ponder the strange combination … medical student and blackjack dealer. Strangely enough, from the little that I know, it fits her.

“I saw this morning’s dailies,” I say. “What happens next?”

“Tonight he picks his first stranded date.”

“Stranded date?” With my brother’s penchant for risqué, I’m almost afraid to ask.

“He picks one woman and he gets a twenty-four hour date with them on a deserted island. We set up cameras all over the place, so there isn’t even a cameraman following them around.” Proudly, he continues, “We’re hoping to take away all their inhibitions. Other reality TV shows, the contestants are constantly reminded they’re being watched. Filmed. Having cameramen around makes the women think twice before they go too far.”

“What happens if Beckham and his date aren’t into each other?”

“Oh, they’ll be into each other. We make it impossible for them not to be. They might be stranded, but we set them up for romance. Think of the perfect romantic date—the kind that gets you both in the mood. Then multiply it times a hundred. We know how these contestants tick. We’ve done our homework. There
will
be action on that island.”

Perfect. The first woman I can’t stop thinking about in years, and she’s about to have the most romantic date of her life … with someone else.

“Does Beckham have favorites? Any idea who he’s going to pick for his date tonight?” I ask Miles as I downshift, slowing into traffic on the Pacific Coast Highway. My request to visit the set was eagerly accommodated by my brother. He’s anxious to show me his show. I’m only anxious to see one contestant.

“He has a thing for Jessica.”

I let out a breath too soon.

“And Kate.”

Fuck. “And if he picks someone you don’t think will make for good TV, you can override his decision.”

“Scripted reality TV, bro. It’s what makes ratings. Can’t always let the bachelor think with his dick. We need to think with our wallet. But I won’t have to interfere with his pick this time. He’s salivating to get his hands on one of those two. Either will do. Hell, I’d like to get my hands on one of them.”

I weave in and out of traffic, enjoying my brother grabbing onto the door handle once or twice as I cut a swerve that makes him a bit nervous.

“This thing is thirty years old. Time for a new one that handles better, Coop,” Miles says, referring to our father’s Porsche. The car he loved. It wasn’t worth nearly as much as the other cars he had, but he went through two clutches in this thing teaching me to drive. Great memories. Miles was only too happy I took the less valuable car. Unfortunately, our ideas of value have always been measured on different scales.

“I bought a new car. A bump in the rear at a light cost eight thousand for damage repairs. I like driving this one better anyway.”

We arrive at the Malibu house that Miles rented to shoot most of the show. I choose to hang back, watching the action through the camera feed in the three-car garage they’ve turned into a makeshift studio. Miles jumps right into the thick of things.

Some of the crew I know from Montgomery projects, others are new. Joel Blick comes over to greet me. “They let anyone in around here.” He slaps me on the back, grabbing my hand for a shake.

“Joel. How the hell are you? Didn’t you retire yet?” I prod, knowing he’s only in his fifties.

“I’m never retiring, I’d have to hang out with Bernice all day.” He rolls his eyes and says it like he’s joking, but he isn’t. And I don’t blame him, I’ve met his wife. I’d work as much as I could if the alternative was spending my days with Bernice complaining all day.

“You the director?”

“Yep. I didn’t know you had an interest in reality TV,” Joel says.

“I don’t.”

He smiles knowingly. “Miles drag you into investing?” He lowers his voice so no one else in the crowded room can hear him.

I turn to face him, growing serious. “Is it a bad investment?”

Joel looks away, coming back with the only answer he could give that wouldn’t throw Miles under the bus, yet still not require lying to me. “Reality TV is risky. When you hit, you hit it big. Look at
Survivor
or
The Bachelor.
But it’s anyone’s guess what will hit these days. Young people are a fickle audience. Their appetite changes faster than we can keep up. I’d say faster than they change their underwear, but sitting behind the camera all day, I know most of ’em don’t wear any.” He shakes his head ruefully.

I nod. The monitor I’ve been halfheartedly watching pans to focus on Kate. Joel keeps talking, not realizing he’s lost my attention. Kate looks beautiful, all dressed up in a pale blue gown that shows off the tan she deepened while playing in the pool today. My moment of joy is quickly replaced by an ache in my chest as Flynn Beckham walks to where she’s standing alone outside on the deck. The lighting from the sun beginning to set creates a romantic backdrop.

“Pull in on three,” Joel yells into a headset. I watch as the camera pans in on the couple.

“Wow. I didn’t think you could look more beautiful than you did today in the pool.” Flynn takes Kate’s hand. She looks down at their joined hand as he twines his fingers with hers.

Kate smiles, her response timid, like she’s not used to receiving compliments regularly. Only, I can’t imagine that to be true. “Thank you. You clean up pretty good yourself.”

“What were you just thinking about? You looked a million miles away.” Flynn takes a strand of her hair and tucks it gently behind her ear. His eyes never leave her face. It’s difficult for me to watch, disappointment mixed with a hint of jealousy builds inside of me at seeing another man touch her. Yet I know I have no right to feel this way.

She hesitates, looking away for a second, and then back. “Sorry. I was just thinking about last night.”

I knew it. You’re thinking about me too, aren’t you?

“You should be thinking about tomorrow, not yesterday.” Flynn leans his head down, dragging her eyes back up to his.

Tilting her head to the side, she asks, “What’s tomorrow?”

“Our date.” The asshole smiles so big, I want to smack the smugness from his face.

“You want me as your first stranded date?”

“Cut! Camera three, fade to black,” Joel yells, and the picture I’m staring at fades away, along with my hope.

An hour later when Miles finally comes back from the set, I feel deflated. “Have you been watching?” he asks excitedly.

“I watched for a little while.” My tone is curt. I’ve never been one to easily hide my emotions too well. But Miles is riding high and doesn’t even notice.

“There’s so much chemistry going on in there, the set might explode.”

“That’s great, Miles.”

“We’re on a fifteen-minute break and then Flynn is going to announce his pick for the first stranded date. I’ll be able to wrap up in an hour, then we can head back to the studio.”

“Great.” My brother completely misses the sarcasm in my tone.

Joel comes back out of the house, just as Miles goes back in. Taking the seat next to him, I decide to watch the final scene, against my better judgment. Roaming cameras tape random exchanges between the contestants, finally settling in on a couple as they pan in outside near the pool area. Flynn appears on camera again, only this time he’s with Jessica.

My interest piques back up as she lays both her hands flat on his chest. She looks up at him from beneath big, round, hooded eyes laced with long, thick black lashes that offset her sparkling blues. She really is attractive. A bombshell, one whose curves radiate sex appeal. Apparently Flynn thinks so too. “I’d love to get to know you better in private,” she coos at him, her voice sultry and seductive, full of hidden meaning. Normally, she’d be exactly what I would be into.

Flynn seems to get caught in the web she weaves, as easily as she spins it. “I’d love to get to know you, too.” He rubs her bare shoulders before he continues, but the exchange is different than it was with Kate, less intimate. “There are a lot of stranded dates coming up.”
Fuck!
He’s hedging.

Not thinking it through before I open my mouth, I turn to Joel and do something uncharacteristic of me. In fact, it seems more like a Miles thing to do. “Tell Flynn to ask Jessica on the stranded date,” I demand.

Joel’s brows furrow. “Pardon?”

“This is scripted reality, right?”

“Yes … but—”

I’m in no mood to argue. “Script him to invite Jessica for the first date,” I demand.

“Can I ask why?”

“No.” My response is clipped.

Joel’s eyebrows shoot up.

“You have my word: This show doesn’t make it, you direct the next project over at Montgomery Productions.”

Seeing I’m dead serious, knowing I’m a man of my word, it doesn’t take long for Joel to see things my way.

“Cut camera five!” he yells into the microphone. “I need a moment with Flynn.”

Joel looks to me for approval. I stop him as he heads toward the set. “Don’t mention any of this to Miles.”

He nods and walks off.

Not sure if I feel disappointment or relief that Flynn picked Jessica for the first stranded date, I plop my unused overnight bag inside my front door.

“Guess Flynn picked someone else, Miley?” Sadie says, pulling a bottle of wine from the fridge and pouring two glasses. “What a loser.”

Tossing my keys on the counter, I join her in the kitchen. “Actually, he asked me to go, but I said no. Told him I’d rather come home and share a cheap bottle of White Zinfandel with my best friend.” I take the glass she just poured from her hand before she can sip.

“I wouldn’t put it past you.” She squints, assessing me.

“He picked Jessica.” I sigh and sit on the stool on the other side of the counter.

Sadie leans in. “Aren’t you violating your contract, disclosing who he picked to me?”

I sip my wine. “My attorney advised me to violate that pesky thing every chance I get.”

“Good advice. I bet your lawyer’s got a great rack too.”

“The weird thing is … I really thought he was going to ask me. He pretty much told me he was going to.”

“So what happened?”

“I don’t know. Guess he changed his mind when he got a load of Jessica’s boobs in that dress.”

“Well, he doesn’t know what he’s missing.” Sadie holds the second glass up, an unspoken toast to me before drinking.

“It’s okay, I needed to bring the Jeep into the shop tomorrow anyway. And I’m going to see if I can grab a shift at the casino tomorrow night, since I’m off till Monday now. Think you can give me a ride to the studio in the morning? I can find someone to give me a ride back to the shop after it’s done.”

“Sure. But if Mr. McNiceAss is there, you have to introduce me.”

“Miles?” But I know who she’s talking about. She’s been obsessed with his ass since she came with me to the interview portion of the application process for the show. Some women have a weakness for dimples, others have a thing for broad shoulders or height. Sadie is most definitely an ass girl.

“Who else?”

“There’s something weird about that guy. He’s nice and all, but I don’t trust him. I keep my distance.”

Sadie shrugs. “I don’t want to marry him. I just want to get him naked.” She sips her wine. “And dig my nails into that fine ass as he plows into me.”

“How do you practice in entertainment law? Aren’t most of your clients handsome actors? It must be difficult for you to get any work done, with your brain constantly in the gutter all day.”