LITMIR.BIZ

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any of my friends. You’re not the only one who can be persistent. You might as well give in.”

      His words coaxed a smile out of her, easing his guilt over his carelessness.

      “All right.” She sighed. “I have your cell number. I’ll call you when I’ve got the contract.”

      AS GRIFFIN STOOD OUTSIDE Maggie’s hotel room door at seven-thirty that night, he wondered why he’d suggested they go to dinner. She’d offered to bring the contract to the ranch, and next thing he knew the invitation had jumped out of his mouth before he’d thought things through.

      Didn’t matter. He could use tonight to find out more about what he was getting into. Plus, he’d need a friend when he got to Vegas, since he’d have to be on guard with the women he was dating. Saying the wrong thing or picking the wrong one could cost him money, and his mother couldn’t afford that.

      Convinced he had valid reasons for seeing Maggie, and confident it wasn’t because she had the most beautiful eyes in the world, he knocked on her door.

      A minute later she answered. The first thing he noticed was her hair. Unlike earlier, when she’d had it in a ponytail, long, glossy chestnut waves now flowed around her face, softening her sharp features, making her look almost pretty.

      She pointed to the far side of the room. “The contract’s on the desk. You can go over it while I finish getting ready.”

      Maggie headed into the bathroom and Griffin sat at the desk, knowing he’d have plenty of time to examine the document. No woman he’d ever met, other than his mother, was ready when she said she’d be.

      The agreement seemed fairly straightforward. He chuckled when he read how the producers and “anyone associated with the program are released from liability for any consequences, emotional, medical or otherwise, resulting from any sexual intimacies entered into by participants during the filming of the show.”

      From what he’d learned from his sister when he’d questioned her earlier, reality shows played up the sexual tension. They worked hard to create it, pitting people against each other and kept the alcohol flowing. Then they had the nerve to say they weren’t responsible for what happened?

      At least Griffin wouldn’t have to worry about those issues, because no way was he getting sexually involved with any of the bachelorettes. That would only complicate things. Nothing changed a relationship like sleeping with a woman.

      He kept reading, finding nothing in the contract that bothered him. Right up until he hit the misrepresentation clause.

      If the producers determined he “wasn’t sincere in his desire to get married, if he withheld any personal or professional information that would impact his suitability as a husband, or in any other way compromised the integrity of the show,” he forfeited all monies earned and faced possible legal action.

      He read the clause twice to make sure he understood. Damn. Getting out of proposing might not be as easy as he thought, but how could he turn down earning some fast cash to help the family? He had to pull this off. His mom needed him to. The clause meant he’d have to do some fancy dancing and watch his every word to avoid proposing without breaking the misrepresentation clause.

      A plan. That’s what he needed. If he came up with a good one, remained focused and clearheaded, he could do this.

      “Maggie, has the show ever used the misrepresentation clause?”

      “No, though we came close last year.”

      “What happened?”

      She poked her head out of the bathroom door, a frown causing little worry lines on her forehead. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

      Of course he was, but not for the reason she thought. “I answered that question this afternoon. My concern is that this clause gives you the right to ask for your money back for vague reasons.”

      The lines above the bridge of her nose deepened. “As long as you’re up front and honest about everything you’ll be fine.”

      A knot formed at the base of his neck at her choice of words. Honesty. He’d be straddling the line with that one, but honesty didn’t mean a man had to share everything. Plus, he was going on the show for a good cause. His mom. That had to more than balance the scales.

      “Then there’s no problem,” he said as Maggie stepped out of the bathroom. As far as he could see the only thing she’d done was put her hair in a ponytail, pulling it back so tight she had to have a headache. “Why’d you change your hair?”

      “If I don’t put it up it gets in the way.”

      “It looked better down.”

      She blushed and smoothed her hand over her hair. “You think so?”

      “You should wear it down all the time.” He grinned. “I’ll wait while you change it.”

      “It’s fine. No sense in taking time to mess with it.” She nodded toward the contract. “Do you have any more questions?”

      Instead of answering, he picked up the hotel pen beside the phone, initialed the contract where indicated, and scrawled his signature on the last page. No turning back now.

      “We need to talk about the women.”

      He’d spent the afternoon scrutinizing the bios. Not wanting to be sidetracked by a pretty face, he’d flipped the photos over and concentrated on the facts.

      Reading the bios made his decisions easy. He concentrated on women who’d find ranch life or moving difficult. Since relocating to Colorado would force the lawyer and the dentist to start over with their practices, they went directly into his keep pile. The job prospects for an opera singer in Estes Park were worse than dismal, and wouldn’t she want to live in New York?

      He pulled two pictures from the inside pocket of his leather coat and placed them on top of the contract. “I want to use my veto on these two.”

      Maggie picked up the first grade teacher’s photo. Griffin figured if the woman faced a class full of ankle biters, what were the chances that he could scare her off?

      “You can’t veto her. Every season we need a woman who tugs at viewers’ heartstrings. This year it’s the teacher. She’s sweet, loves the outdoors and has a great sense of humor. Her husband was killed in a plane crash two years ago. Our viewers will go crazy over her.”

      “I didn’t agree to my vetoes being conditional.”

      Maggie pointed to the contract. “You did when you signed that. It states that you are ‘allowed to veto three of the selected bachelorettes unless removing said bachelorette will detrimentally change the dynamics of the show.’ In our eyes, removing the teacher does.”

      He’d read the stipulation, but hadn’t thought anything of it. “There has to be someone else the viewers can root for.”

      “This decision comes from higher up.”

      He thought about pushing the issue further, but would doing so make Maggie suspicious? When they’d first met, he’d tried to charm her into viewing things his way, but she’d seen through his ploy. If a man were looking for a wife, this teacher would be at the top of the list. He couldn’t risk tipping Maggie off and losing thirty grand before he even started.

      “Why don’t you want her on the show? Is it because she was married before?”

      “I don’t want to talk about it, and since she’s staying, it doesn’t matter.” That was true enough.

      “Finding Mr. Right is in the works. To get the show off to a good start, we want our first bachelorette to be someone the viewers are familiar with. Someone they’ve gotten to know on a previous season. The teacher’s one of the names being talked about, so the producers would like her to stay as long as possible.”

      Griffin shoved his fisted hands into his coat pockets. What had he gotten

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