Lights, Camera, Lies

She shook her head. “I don’t know, what would I even do with myself?”

“You’ll study hard at school, you’ll quit your jobs so you have more time, and we’ll have a dinner date every single night.” I managed to bite my tongue before I insisted again that she was moving in immediately.

Alice started to laugh, but I interrupted her with a kiss. Searing my lips against hers, it only took a moment to register that she was just as thrilled as I was.

Her hands pressed against my chest, then around my shoulders, pulling me close. Then I kissed down her silky throat, making her gasp against me.

“Tell me you’re mine,” I growled.

“I’m yours,” she whispered.

“Mmm, good.” Working my way back up to her lips, I murmured, “Then let me find us some dinner before I eat you up.”

Her laugh was adorable, and the fire in her eyes assured me that she’d be sleeping in my bed tonight.

7

_____

Alice

After a wonderful dinner of homemade lasagna that Taylor’s housekeeper had left in the freezer for him, we moved back to the living room as Taylor got a text. He chuckled darkly. “Gary sent the link. The intro and first episode are online. Do we want to watch it?”

“Of course!”

He pulled out a laptop and sent the video to his large screen TV that took up half the wall. “This is going to be awkward,” he grumbled.

“Yeah, but we have to know how we’re doing. We only have one challenge left.”

I realized that I automatically curled up against his side without even thinking. It was like my body knew what my heart wanted, and wasn’t allowing interference. His heavy arm wrapped around me, pulling me close.

“Plus,” I looked up at him with a smile, “We’re allowed to be terrible people and point out if the other couples make mistakes, right?”

Taylor leaned in to kiss my nose. “Absolutely.”

The show started, and although Darrell and his shiny suit and teeth were a bit cringey, he conveyed the tone of the program quite well.

They weren’t quite angling it as a prank show, which relieved me. Although there were silly elements to the overall concept, they were framing it more of an experiment, to see if people could lie well when money was on the line. It really was an interesting new angle to a competition show.

I noticed that they were careful not to mention exactly what the winners would be receiving. And they didn’t mention that the six of us were being paid to be on the show.

Luckily, the intro clips were quick, and I didn’t look like an idiot. Everyone looked a bit nervous. It surprised me how slick that lousy set looked on camera. With the lighting adjusted a

nd a warm filter, we all looked pretty good.

“You’re gorgeous in person,” Taylor said softly, “but you also show up really well on camera.”

“You look incredible,” I murmured, as Taylor came on screen. The light hit the angle of his eyebrows, making his eyes seem dark and mysterious instead of warm and sweet. He looked almost savage.

Watching the other two couples at the auto dealership was a painful experience. Michael and Britta looked like they’d never seen a car before, and were terrified to get within three feet of each other.

Eileen and Eric kept asking unusually detailed questions about what they needed in a car, which accidentally pointed out that they didn’t know each other at all.

When our segment started, I gripped Taylor’s hand nervously. We stared in silence as what honestly looked like a real married couple walked in. She was excited to get her own car. He was overprotective in a sweet way. They browsed, spoke with the salesman, then shared a beautiful romantic kiss before leaving.

“I can’t believe that’s us,” I whispered.

“Damn,” Taylor muttered. “I knew you were the girl for me from the very beginning, but seeing us like that…it just proves it, right?”