Page 47 of The Billionaire Love Match

“A lot of the women have shared negative experiences about Casey. You were on the group date where she seemed to have a connection with someone else. Was that an accurate portrayal of what happened?”

“I saw the whole thing. I mean, she didn’t even talk to Colt, but spent the whole day with that instructor. You saw yourself when she hugged him in the video. There was something there. She’s just not here for—”

The right reasons.

“—Colt. And that’s not fair to him. Or to us, when so many of us are forming real connections and taking strides forward.”

With each interview, each new woman in the hot seat, Casey felt like her body was slowly turning to stone, starting at her toes and moving upward, slowly and surely to her heart. By the time Chris Haversham called her name, dead last, she didn’t even feel nervous or fearful or anything else. She felt...nothing. She could not look at Colt.

“Casey, we had another interesting week with you. One thing that everyone can agree on: you don’t fly under the radar.”

He said this like it was supposed to be a joke, but the studio audience didn’t laugh. Casey just looked at him, waiting for a question she could answer.

“Tell us about the group date. We all saw what happened. This is your chance to explain from your perspective, if you can.”

Casey could feel Colt’s eyes on her, but only looked at Chris when she answered.

“It was a really hard day. I have a fear of having my face under water. Holding my breath. I was panicking before we walked in the doors. Ty—”

“Is that the instructor’s name that you bonded with?”

“Yes. Ty was assigned to me and picked up on this right away. He simply tried to help me get through it. I didn’t expect that I’d win the solo date or anything, but I just wanted to do my best. For Colt.”

“What about that hug?”

Casey swallowed. Were people supposed to know Ty was Colt’s friend?

“I just felt really grateful that he worked with me and helped me work through my fears. It was nothing.”

“It seemed so...intimate.”

“It did look that way. But I can assure you that I didn’t and don’t have feelings for Ty. I have no idea why he and Colt were arguing.”

“What about Colt? I can’t help but notice that you haven’t looked at him even once in this conversation tonight. Is there a reason? Something you’re not telling us?”

With great effort, Casey swung her head to look at Colt.

The stone in her heart softened at the look on his face, which was anything but casual. He looked tortured. Miserable. She wanted to comfort him, though she suspected that’s exactly what he was feeling for her. He looked like he wanted to jump across to her seat, pick her up, and carry her out of the room.

So why didn’t he?

Did he think that she might have feelings for Ty?

“I’m just finding this increasingly difficult day by day,” she said.

“Do you feel like you want to go home?”

Colt’s face jerked to look at Chris Haversham. Casey realized what this was: an open door. The show was giving her an out.

Did she want to go home?

Yes.

No.

Casey searched Colt’s eyes for her answer. She saw it instead in his fingertips on his thigh.

S-T-A-Y

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