She pointed a well-manicured finger at Brooke. "The rumor was that his bride had left him at the altar. That was you?"
Brooke bit her lower lip and nodded, desperate to change the conversation. But, then again, she might as well get used to it. If Spencer agreed to the show--or rather, when Spencer agreed to the show--their past would surely be dredged up and splashed all over social media. She'd never understood why, but even the stars of real estate based shows routinely ended up as social media celebrities.
And then it hit her.
She looked up, her gaze locked tight on Amanda's face. "That's what they want, isn't it? They want the drama."
For a moment, Amanda looked baffled. And in that brief, wonderful instant, Brooke let herself believe that she was wrong, and the studio didn't care about her break-up with Spencer and had no interest in playing up their past relationship on camera.
Then she saw the truth in Amanda's eyes. Her friend wasn't baffled by that particular suggestion; she was simply flabbergasted that Brooke was only now figuring it out.
"You honestly didn't know? I mean, it's pretty obvious," Amanda continued in reply to Brooke's shake of the head. "As far as they're concerned, you're the girl who dumped Spencer Dean. Not an Austin-based remodeling expert. They're casting the woman who can bring fireworks. They don't care about The Fix or even the hot guys in a calendar contest."
"They want drama," Brooke said, feeling both numb and stupid.
"Afraid so. They must think you two will be a ratings magnet." Amanda lifted a shoulder as she took the last sip of her spicy, tangy drink. "That's why if Spencer doesn't agree, your chance at a show is dead in the water."
Chapter Four
Brooke clutched her hairbrush as she peered at her reflection in the ladies' room mirror. Sometimes she hated how blunt Amanda was, but couldn't deny it was true. The network had chosen her proposal over all others not because Brooke knew how to breathe life into a rundown restaurant or how to add some pizazz to a dull bar.
No, they wanted her because of a bad break-up. Which meant that the show wasn't going to be about her work at all. It was going to be about her life.
Maybe she should just walk away.
It wasn't as if she had any great desire to be on television. Quite the contrary. If it weren't for the promotional value, she'd be more than happy to live her life well outside of the public eye.
But the show would promote her business--that much was a guarantee. After their meeting, one of the producers had texted her rough mock-ups of print ads that would advertise the show. Assuming, of course, that Spencer signed on and the show actually aired. Slick, classy-looking ads that splashed the name of the show in big, bold letters--and the show shared a name with her business.
Not only that, but the ads also included her website and contact information, in equally eye-catching fonts.
It was as if the execs had known she might get cold feet and had wanted to make sure she was all in.
Well, it worked.
She wasn't going to back off the show. Not even now that Amanda had opened her eyes.
But as for why she was sticking...
Well, the horrible truth was she wasn't sure if that was because she couldn't bear to turn her back on any possible promotion for her business ... or because of Spencer.
She missed him.
Dear God, she missed him.
Those months surrounding their wedding had felt like a goddamn Greek tragedy. At the time, she'd been so sure she'd done the right thing. Protecting his family. His show. She'd sacrificed everything for him, then held the secret close because he couldn't know. Hell, he still didn't know what she'd done.
She'd believed she could move on with her life. That there would be another man who could make her feel the way that Spence had. And maybe there was. Maybe that mystical guy was out there in the world somewhere. But if so, she hadn't found him yet.
But even though some secret part deep inside her wanted to see him again, she was certain the feeling wouldn't be mutual. She wasn't naive enough to believe that Spencer had forgiven her. Not for walking away on their wedding day. And certainly not for what he'd perceived as betrayal.
No doubt about it--their meeting was going to bruise her heart all over again.
But if it launched her business to a new level, it would be w
orth it.
She needed to keep repeating that to herself. Over and over and over.