Page 3 of Home to Me

The truth was that Ben felt an incredible responsibility to the show and the twenty-five-plus people who worked on it. He knew that aside from the incredible shots of gorgeous homes that each episode featured, he was the main linchpin upon which the success of the show hinged. The better the performance he delivered, the better chance they had for solid ratings, and the better chance to keep twenty-five-plus crew members employed in an increasingly unstable job market.

Yes. He took that responsibility very seriously.

He knew that in order to have the greatest chance to give the best, most engaging, most magnetic performance possible, he needed to be “in character” the entire time he was on the set. In his mind, he referred to it as being “in character” even though he was appearing on the show as himself and not a character in a scripted drama. It was, in a way, like acting out a part—the part of a highly stylized, amped-up version of himself.

Any natural charm and charisma that he innately possessed, he did his best—to paraphrase the immortal words of Christopher Guest—to turn it up to eleven. There might be people out there who could turn their “it factor” on when the cameras started rolling and then revert to their natural state immediately after the director yelled “cut”—Ben wasn’t one of them.

It wasn't like he had set out to be a television personality, after all. He’d been an average run-of-the-mill real estate agent. When one of his clients, a producer, recommended him for the gig, he'd been completely unprepared. He learned on the fly and was doing the best he could under high-pressure circumstances.

When the town car came to a halt, Ben could see—by the collection of equipment vans parked in the driveway and out on the street—that they were in the right place.

Giving himself a small pep talk, he reminded himself that everyone in there was going to be on edge. Don't add to the stress. Be happy. Be charming. Be magnanimous. Put on a great show.

Ben took a deep breath, pasted a wide smile on his face, and got out of the car.

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Karina and Lauren walked over to stand side by side in the archway that led from Karina's entryway to her living room. It was the perfect vantage point to watch the event that had everyone on the set buzzing with busy energy, scurrying to and fro, and chattering to each other in their headset mics. The entrance of Ben Stevens.

Lauren recognized him as he walked through the door. Yes, that was definitely the handsome host she had seen a number of times on her television screen.

As Ben crossed the threshold, the production team began to clap and cheer.

Lauren knew that, although tardiness was a pet peeve of hers, for personal reasons, most people did not feel as much vitriol as she did for lateness. Still, she found herself crossing her arms in a pointed refusal to join in the applause and leaning down to comment to Karina snarkily, “Must be nice to have a job where you actually got applauded for waltzing in eight hours late.”

Karina smiled at her indulgently, “Again. Welcome to show biz, babe. What you're witnessing is the scale of talent. When you're not a “name,” you get treated like cattle. When you are a “name,” you can do no wrong. There's no in between.”

Lauren shook her head. “It's such a bizarre world you live in, Karina.”

Karina eyed her sideways. “Hey, don't look at me, Laur. This isn't my world anymore. I live in Hope Falls now, same as you.”

Ben moved to the center of the entryway and was waving both hands to the assembled crew, who were still applauding. Lauren thought that he looked like royalty about to address his subjects.

Give me a break.

“Hey, folks,” he said with what Lauren thought was a transparently false, humble expression. “I know there's been a big delay. I’m sorry about that, these things happen. But moving forward now... Let's have a great show.”

Lauren turned to Karina with a raised eyebrow. “Wow. ‘These things happen.’ How sincere! That's right up there in the kind-of-apology department with 'mistakes were made.' I can tell he's really and truly sorry after that little speech.”

Karina laughed and was about to reply but they were interrupted when the very topic of their conversation himself approached them.

“Ladies,” Ben said in a loud, too-hearty voice, “I'm sorry to interrupt, but I wanted to introduce myself before we get started. I'm Ben Stevens.”

Of course, since Karina was the huge superstar and the guest on the show he was about to host, he’d really come over to introduce himself to her and not to the both of them. Lauren knew this. However, she couldn't get past the uncanny sensation that the majority of his spotlight-like attention was focused on her and not on Karina.

“Hi, Ben,” said Karina, offering her hand casually. “I'm Karina. Pleased to meet you.”

Ben extended his hand and gave Karina's a firm shake, saying, “Absolutely. It's a pleasure to meet you. We're all so happy that you're doing the show.”

“Of course,” Karina replied pleasantly. “And I'd like to introduce you to my very good friend, and the agent who helped me with the purchase of this home, Lauren Harrison. She’s here to do a short segment describing the property.”

Lauren extended her hand to shake his, saying in a neutral, businesslike tone, “Pleased to meet you, Mr. Stevens.”

Ben took Lauren's hand, but instead of shaking it like she’d expected him to do, he slowly turned it so that her palm was facing down and lifted it to his lips, pressing them to the back of her hand for, what felt like to Lauren, an uncomfortably long time.

She was too shocked to yank her hand away, and by the time she recovered enough to do anything at all, he had already lowered her hand, winked at her, smiled his megawatt, made-for-TV smile and said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Harrison.”

Ben’s behavior was so outside the realm of what Lauren would’ve expected to happen in a business situation that it left her momentarily speechless. She was grateful that she maintained enough composure to keep her jaw from dropping, but nevertheless, she was rarely rendered speechless, and she didn't relish it.

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