Page 70 of The Billionaire Love Match

Casey felt uncomfortable any time she looked at this woman’s eyes. But she made herself stare straight into them. Instead of the blue ice chips, she saw something softer, but just as ugly. Pity.

“I guess you don’t know about Colton’s...involvement in the show.”

Casey resisted the urge to squirm in her seat. “I do not.”

The woman sighed and leaned forward over the desk. “The show was built around Colt, but he’s also one of the executive producers. He’s had a hand in much of the planning throughout the show. Does that change things?”

Only everything.

If Casey had ever wished for the ability to hide her emotions, it was in this moment. She could feel herself crumbling on the inside, which meant she would soon be crumbling on the outside.

Colt planned the show?

To what degree?

Did he know about Lucas?

The thought of Colt being involved at all in the show’s manipulations shook her. She had felt so sure of him. If he asked her to marry him tomorrow, she would have said yes.

Casey closed her eyes. She was a terrible judge of character. Amanda had told her this. Her parents had told her this.

She had seen Colt’s ability to shift from one emotion to another as easy as breathing. This was reality TV. Why had she been so stupid to think any of it was real?

But the night at the restaurant with no cameras it had felt very real. Marco and Sarah—they were old family friends. They seemed to have nothing but love for Colt. They were an anchor for her memories. He couldn’t have faked that much emotion in front of them if they’d known him most of his life.

“Can I ask—what role did Colt have in planning the show?”

Grace flipped through some papers on her desk. “He didn’t have that much of a role in the planning per se.”

“Oh, good,” Casey said.

“But he basically knew what he had to do on camera for each week and what we needed to stage the show. Here’s an example of what he had to work with each week.” Grace pushed a single typed page across the desk.

Casey let it sit there for a moment. She had a sense that if she touched that paper and read it, everything would change. If she wanted happiness with Colt, she needed to walk away. But she couldn’t not look.

She picked up and read the title: UNFILMED ONE-ON-ONE DATES. Expectations for Colt ran down the page in bullet points.

Give their favorite flowers (Casey: tulips, Tessa: roses)

Talk about your father’s death

Share intimate conversation

Hint about the end of the show, but reveal nothing

Convince each woman you’re in love and want a future with her

When she had made sure that she waited long enough to speak without crying, Casey folded the paper in half and put it in her purse. She leaned forward. “Where do I sign?”

The woman opened her mouth like she was going to ask for the paper back, but instead pulled a pen from the desk and gave Casey the contract. Casey signed in five places, initialed two. She could hardly see the paper through the tears. She worked to keep them from falling all over the contract. Finally, she pushed it back across the desk and sat back, crossing her arms.

“Done,” Casey said.

The woman smiled and put the contract in a folder. “I guess I should say welcome to the family.”

Casey looked up, wiping her eyes. “I’m sorry?”

“It’s good to meet you, officially. I’m Grace, Colton’s mother.”

---