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Book Excerpt: Getting Real
"My manager wants me to get married," Sarah said.
Luke's heart sank. She was engaged. The reality show was only television hype, not a real chance to win Sarah's hand. "Who's the guy?"
"She wants me to settle on someone from this group."
His brain made a sudden U-turn. All was not lost. "I thought that was the point of the contest."
"Not exactly. The wording's ambiguous and sort of old-fashioned. It offers you a chance to win the favor of Sarah Donovan, like they used to do in the days of knights and tights. But the contract doesn't require me to choose a husband at the end, or even a fiance."
"So what do you plan to do at the end of the contest?" He had a bad feeling about the answer, but he had to know.
"I'll imply that the winner has become very special to me without saying the M word. We'll do some press conferences, be seen in public together a few times, and that will be the end of that."
"I see." Disappointment settled in his gut. Obviously he'd read the contest rules and used wishful thinking to interpret them.
"But Destiny thinks that if I found my Prince Charming on this show, I'd reestablish myself as the sweetheart type and people might finally forget about Death Plan. So she wants me to pick a husband."
And just like that, his fortunes changed again. Heart thudding, he considered the murky ethics of the situation. Would he agree to marry her as a publicity stunt? Would he be willing to be the trained monkey who walked down the aisle so that she could regain her image in Hollywood?
In a New York minute.
"So that's why I wondered if you'd been coached," she said. "I thought Destiny might have stacked the deck. From your reaction, I can see that she didn't try that, fortunately."
He couldn't make the offer fast enough. "Sarah, if you need someone to play the role of a husband in your life, I'll do it. I'll relocate. I have a pretty easy time getting clients, so I could build my business up again in no time."
Sarah stared at him. "Um, thanks. But I...uh...wasn't asking that."
Heat crept up from his collar. Life didn't get much more embarrassing than this. "My mistake. I thought, because you told me all this, that you were considering Destiny's plan."
"Absolutely not. I would never marry anyone unless I loved
him and wanted us to grow old and gray together. And seven days is not enough time to figure out if that's true or not.
Don't you agree?"
He wished he could agree with her. Then he'd sound like a sane person. "No," he said. "I believe in love
at first sight."
Sarah's heart fluttered. Luke might be a financial planner
with a mind like a computer, but he also had the soul of a poet. She hadn't realized that she'd be into that kind of romantic approach, but she was.
For her benefit, she wouldn't mind having Luke hang around this week. But he was liable to get hurt. That poet's soul of his could end up trampled in the dirt, not to mention the physical abuse he could take before he was eliminated from the competition.
Putting her hand on his arm, she gazed into his eyes. "I'm telling you this for your own good. Go home. Forget me
and find yourself a wonderful girl in Indianapolis who wants to have your two adorable children. Some nice person who
appreciates all the terrific things about you."
"No."
"You're going to get hurt. I don't want to be the one responsible for--."
"You're not. I'll take all the responsibility. I'll take the responsibility for this too."
Before she understood what he meant, he pulled her into his arms.
"Wait, Luke. You don't know what you're doing."
"I've been told that when it comes to this, I know exactly what I'm doing." And he kissed her.
Talk about your truth in advertising. Luke did know what he was doing. She couldn't remember a kiss quite this good, and she'd had her share, both on camera and off.
His mouth was not too dry, not too wet, but just right. Oh, so right. The pressure of his lips sent a wave of excitement through every cell in her body, but the main event was taking place between her thighs.
Suddenly the thought of doing the wild thing in the tub had merit. She'd been teasing before, but now Luke was the one doing the teasing, using his tongue like the expert he apparently was. Damn, he was good at this, which suggested he'd be good at the whole program, from start to prolonged finish.
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