Page 16 of House of Desire

It’s obvious this advice is accurate as I watch camera people follow those who are imbibing the most.

“Do you think they will serve us dinner?” Drew asks.

“No, there’s no dinner,” I tell her, watching Persephone tell a story, her body moving in an animated fashion while all the women around her stare, enraptured.

Hours tick by and I wonder why I’m here for the millionth time. Dating has never been my forte and there’s no way love can really be found in this situation. Once my embarrassment at Miles’s rejection wore off, I deeply regretted telling Lorelei to give her brother my name. However, since I’m not one to back out of a promise, when I received the call, I accepted the casting.

When I told my parents I would be needing to take time off, they were extremely worried about me. I haven’t focused on myself since I opened my bakery. Once I explained where I was going, they were excited. They are hoping I come home with a husband while I just hope I make it past night one. More to avoid the embarrassment at being let go the first night.

Mom and Liam immediately agreed to take over the bakery for me while I was gone, which will help me to avoid losing any customers I have. It also allowed me to continue taking cake orders during the time I’ll be out. While a great cook, my mother’s decorating skills are limited. I made sure to only accept the types of orders we had discussed.

It took twenty minutes for Dom to stop laughing when I told him. If he had been in the room, I would have thrown a shoe at him.

I’m going to miss being at my bakery, but hopefully this turns into the best choice I could make.

Bethany H, the fashionable accountant, plops down on the couch, sloshing her martini out of her glass and across my arm.

“Whoops!” she says giggling. “You’re beautiful.” Her hand is slightly sticky as she runs it down my face.

“Oh, well, thank you so much. Can you stop touching me?” I try to pull my face away from her, but she wraps her arms around me, pulling it back toward her. For a drunk girl, she’s surprisingly strong.

“Can I tell you a secret?” she whispers in my ear, her spittle making me cringe.

“Only if you get away from my face.”

“I’m only here because I want to become a leading Hollywood actress. Don’t tell, okay?” She hiccups before giggling.

“Ladies!” a production assistant calls, clapping his hands loudly. The noise diminishes immediately. “Parker and Jacob are about to come in. There should be a lot of excitement and cheers. Everyone please be standing and mingling during this time.” He looks pointedly at Drew, Bethany H, and me until we all stand awkwardly.

“Also,” he continues, “Jacob will reintroduce Parker to you all and then he will say a few words. There will be a toast at the end, so everyone please have a glass in your hand. Everyone will need to talk to Parker tonight. Have fun!”

A few camera people come into the room, adding to the visible cameras that are placed around the room. This entire situation makes me feel like it’s the first day of school where no one really knows what’s going on and I’m just following the lead of others.

An unseen production assistant calls out a countdown to the doors opening. When she hits zero, Jacob and Parker push in and we all cheer as instructed. They both smile at us until the noise settles down.

“Ladies, welcome to House of Desire!” Jacob says, causing another round of applause. “This season is going to be a great one, I’m sure. As a reminder, five of you will be going home tonight. Parker, would you like to welcome the women fighting to be the flame of your desire?”

“I’d love to,” he says, taking half a step forward, smiling at us. “Ladies, I can’t wait to get to know you all over these next few months and for you to get to know me. Thank you for your willingness to be here. I already know I’m the luckiest man alive.”

Everyone claps politely as he looks around the room. Locking his gaze on me, he shoots me a wink. Confused, I look behind me, thinking maybe he meant that for someone else, but there’s no one else there. I point to my chest, just to confirm. He nods and winks again.

This time, everyone turns and looks at me. Some women with confusion, others with outright hostility, and I know this singled out attention is going to hurt my ability to make friends.

“Parker will now choose the woman he’ll have a one-on-one moment with first,” Jacob Jacobson says.

Parker looks at me and I can tell he’s about to call me out again. My eyes widen, worried everyone is going to hate me if I get his attention again. I shake my head infinitesimally. Confusion colors his expression, but he seems to understand and calls on another woman.

She’s the shortest of the group, barely coming up to Parker’s chest, but her boisterous laugh and sunny disposition more than make up for her lack in stature. He leads her outside and the rest of us break up, mingling more.

An hour into the night, I have settled back onto the couch, trying to be comfortable as we wait to cycle through our time with Parker.

“Cletus is my thoroughbred. He’s the most beautiful chestnut color,” Leslie says to the small group of us. She is everything I would expect from a debutante, something she told us about within the first minute of her joining our group. Her long, blonde hair, blue eyes, pale skin, and slight southern drawl pair perfectly with the string of pearls clasped around her neck.

She has shared the name of every horse on her family’s farm and their various pedigrees like it means anything to us. My eyes glazed over around the fourth horse, unable to follow the conversation, never having been near horses in my life.

There was a girl in our town who was the designated “horse girl” growing up. She was a nice girl, but the deep obsession took up her entire life and a good portion of her wardrobe. In elementary school, she would often whinny when teachers would call on her. Luckily, she grew out of the habit and once she developed boobs, the guys in our grade quickly learned to ignore her dedication to the animal.

By the time high school rolled around, she would participate in competitions, winning the majority of them. Her love of the horses took her all the way to the Kentucky Derby as part of a now famous trainer duo.

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