LITMIR.BIZ

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it was really hot in the summer.

      On the same rack in her closet were an assortment of blouses. On the carpet below were a row of sensible, low-heeled pumps. Hers was not a wardrobe any cougar would be caught dead in.

      Geoff dropped his hands to the desk. “You’re right—you’re not a cougar. But sex sells and a woman on the prowl is interesting to viewers.”

      “Not when that woman is me. I’ve never prowled.”

      His mouth turned up slightly. “You never know. People might feel sorry for you.”

      She held in a wince. How nice. The pity vote.

      “I can’t do this.”

      Geoff shook his head. “I hate to be a pain in your ass, Aurelia, but here’s the thing. You’re with Stephen or you’re out.”

      While the words weren’t a surprise, she had been hoping for a miracle. Apparently the universe was fresh out. Or busy with someone else.

      “I have to do this,” she said earnestly. Contestants were paid twenty thousand dollars. It wasn’t a huge amount, but it was enough. When added to the small amount she’d managed to save, she would finally be able to buy a condo. She would own her own home.

      The dream was better with a husband and child, but right now she was willing to take what she could get.

      “Then do it,” he told her. “If you need to be on the show to get your mother to back off, you have to take the chance. Go through with it. What’s the worst that could happen?”

      The humiliating possibilities were endless, but that wasn’t the point. Geoff was right. If she believed the show was her way out, then she had to be willing to do the show.

      “For what it’s worth,” Geoff said, “Stephen isn’t a bad guy.”

      “Can I get that in writing?”

      He laughed. “No way. Now get out of here.”

      Aurelia felt a little better as she stepped out of Geoff’s office. She could do this, she told herself. She could be strong. She might even be able to fake being a…

      Her proud, brisk exit walk came to a halt when she slammed into someone tall and broad.

      “Oh, sorry,” she said, then found herself looking up and up until she fell into the dark blue gaze of Stephen Andersson.

      She’d only seen him one other time—during the initial filming, taping, whatever they call it, of the show. During those brief minutes, she’d barely glanced at him. All she’d been able to think about was her humiliation. The reality that he was absolutely the last man she could ever imagine dating. Okay, Gerard Butler would have been worse, but only marginally.

      “You really think it’s going to be that bad?” he asked. “Being with me?”

      The question was horrible enough, but worse was the realization that he had heard at least part of her conversation with Geoff. She felt herself flush.

      “It’s not you,” she said quickly. “It’s me. I’m sure you’re a great guy.”

      “Don’t say nice,” he warned her. “That only makes it worse.”

      “Okay, then,” she said slowly. “I’m sure you’re not nice. Is that better?”

      He surprised her by smiling. A casual but friendly smile. One that made her forget how to breathe.

      “Not by much.” He took her elbow and led her into an empty meeting room. “So what’s the deal? Why don’t you want to be on the show with me?”

      It was hard to think with his fingers curled around her elbow like that. In her world, men didn’t touch her. They barely knew she was alive.

      He was standing too close. How was she supposed to think with him taking up all the air in the room? While this would be a good time to self-edit, the truth bubbled up before she could stop it.

      “Look at you,” she said. “You’re this gorgeous guy. You could have anyone. You should be hitting on coeds. You’re not anyone who would be interested in someone like me. Even ignoring the age difference, I’m not your type. Do you know what I do in my regular life? I’m an accountant. Look up boring in the dictionary and you’ll find some version of me.”

      Knowing that if she didn’t get some small measure of self-control soon, she was going to make an even deeper hole to fall into, Aurelia pulled her arm free and stepped back.

      Instead of looking horrified, Stephen appeared amused. Humor brightened his eyes, and one corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

      “That’s quite a list,” he told her. “Where should I start?”

      “No,” she said with a sigh. “I understand this is my fault. I should never have signed up to do the show. I didn’t really want to, it’s just…” She twisted her hands together. “At the risk of being a cliché, my mother made me do it. She’s always on me about stuff. And the money. I thought…maybe, if there was someone else, it would be easier to stand up to her.” She groaned. “That makes me sound so pathetic.”

      “Hey, I get it. I know what it’s like when someone in your family thinks they can run your life. Not wanting to do what they say doesn’t mean you don’t love them.”

      Aurelia wasn’t sure what she felt for her mother. Love, of course, but sometimes the love felt more dutiful than sincere. Which made her a horrible person, she knew.

      “My brother flew here from Alaska to yell at me about leaving college,” Stephen said. “That’s how much he doesn’t want me to do this.”

      “What’s wrong with you doing the show?” She did the math in her head, then looked at him. “You’re really close to graduating, aren’t you?”

      Stephen, all six plus feet of hunky guy, shifted uncomfortably. “I was in my last semester.”

      “Before graduating?” she asked, her voice a slight shriek. “You left school for this?”

      “Now you sound like my brother.”

      “Maybe he has a point.”

      “I couldn’t do it anymore. I had to get away.”

      She shook her head. “You get how idiotic that is, right?”

      The smile returned. “Maybe, but I’m still not going back.”

      “I feel the need to take your brother’s side in this.”

      “But you’re not going to, are you?” Stephen shoved his hands into his front pockets. “Because if I leave, you don’t do the show.”

      Something she hadn’t thought about. “Why are you here? I mean really, why are you here? I can’t believe school was that difficult.”

      “It wasn’t hard, if that’s what you mean.” He sighed. “Our folks died about eight years ago. There was Sasha and Finn and me, and no one else. We were close before, but losing them changed everything. It was hard.”

      Aurelia had a feeling the word hard didn’t begin to describe what they’d gone through. “At least it brought you together,” she said, thinking that the loss of her father hadn’t brought her and her mother together.

      “Finn won’t let go. He’s holding on too tight. Sasha found the audition in the paper. He’s the one who wants to be on TV. I just want to be anywhere but South Salmon.” He stared into her eyes. “It seems to me, we could help each other. I get your mom off your back and you protect me from Finn.”

      “I’m not sure you need protecting.”

      “Everyone needs protecting now and then.”

      There was something about the way he said the words. A vulnerability that only made him more appealing. Maybe Stephen wasn’t as

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