Page 56 of The Holiday Games

“Please, Millie,” I say, casting a beseeching gaze her way. “I would never do something like that. I know we don’t know each other well, but I’m not a cheater. I swear, I’m not built that way. I would never betray an enemy, let alone a friend. And I…” I suck in a quick breath, fighting to keep it together. “I consider you a friend. I really do. I hope we can still be friends when I leave the show. I’d really love that.”

“You should leave the show right now,” Jenna says before Millie can respond. “If you were actually the decent human being you pretend to be, you’d already be gone.”

“I just found out about the video and the accusations a minute ago, on the ride over,” I say, meeting her glare with oneof my own. “But you’re right, Jenna. For once. Iwillbe leaving the show. Right now.” I pull the lapel mic from the top of my coat and press it into Grace’s unwilling hand.

“Oh no,” she says, panic flaring in her blue gaze. “Please, Caroline, don’t leave. Like I said, let’s just get through the day and?—”

“I’m sorry. I have to go,” I say, backing down the sidewalk. “I’ll get my things from the hotel and be out of the city as soon as possible.”

“The hell you will,” comes a deep, devastatingly familiar voice from behind me.

I spin to see Leo, looking like he just rolled out of bed, standing not two feet away. But even with his hair sticking up all over and tired, puffy eyes, he’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.

The realization that I’ll never touch him again, never feel his arms around me or his lips on mine, hits hard enough to make me wince.

A beat later, I’m running in the opposite direction, heart hammering as Leo calls out, “Wait, Caroline! For God’s sake, please wait! Caroline. Caroline, I love you!”

twenty-two

. . .

Leo

For a heart-shattering second, I’m not sure she’s going to stop.

She’s going to keep running, and I’ll never get to tell her that I don’t care that the show’s ruined or that I’ve botched my one shot at taking control of my career. There’s no way investors will look twice at a Leo Fenton production now, not when I blew half a million dollars in funding and ended up with nothing but a scandal and a lawsuit to show for it.

But I don’t give a shit.

I would leave behind the entertainment industry, the city I love, and just about everything else for Caroline. In a few short days, she’s become the dream I most desperately want to come true.

So, I tell her I love her.

I do it right there on the sidewalk in the snobbiest part of the Upper East Side, surrounded by strangers filming on their cell phones and contestants gaping by the curb, and half my staff, who I’m sure are wishing they had pickedanyproject but mine right about now.

But the risk pays off.

Caroline turns, her wide eyes filled with wonder and pain. I sense I have about five seconds before she runs again, so I do what any man in my position would.

I’ve waited my entire life for this, to meet a woman who feels like she was made to be mine. I’m not about to lose her because I was too cowardly to put it all on the line on Madison Avenue.

“This doesn’t matter.” I sweep my arm wide, gesturing to the cameras, the boom mics, and the production assistants with their clipboards and fretful expressions. “None of it. I don’t care about the scandal. I don’t care if this ends my career. I don’t regret a single step I took with this show, because every one led me to you.”

Tears fill her eyes. She shakes her head, but I push on before she can speak, “I’m serious. I love you. I know this happened fast, but I don’t doubt the way I feel. Not for a second. This is it. Youknowit is. We found the real deal, Caroline Cane, and we’d be fools to turn our backs on it.”

“I can’t,” she says, tears streaming quietly down her face. “I’m so sorry, Leo, but I can’t. I can’t stay. And I can’t be with you, not ever.”

“Why?” I ask, my voice breaking in the middle of the word. I take a beat, fighting for control before I ask, “What could possibly be more important than this? Fuck the scandal and the show and what anyone else thinks. This is our shot to live the dream, the most important dream. The one where we’re finally safe and loved and happy and…home.” Tears coming in hot behind my eyes, I add, “I want to be your home, Caroline. I want to be the person you can trust to have your back, in good times and bad times and everything in between. I want to laugh with you and cry with you and hold your hand when we’re old and gray.”

“I want that too,” Millie pipes up. I glance over to see both her and Eduardo wiping at their damp cheeks. “And I want itfor you guys. Stay, Caroline. Stay, and talk it through. We’re innkeepers! Making people happy is what we do, and anyone with eyes can see that the two of you would be so happy together. Leo’s right. This is the real deal.”

“And you don’t walk away from the real deal,” Eduardo adds, accepting the tissue Grace presses into his hand. “You can’t. I refuse to allow it. I’ll quit the show first.”

“Sheshould quit the show, not you. It’s only fair,” Jenna says, but her voice is far less heated than it was when she was tearing into Caroline a minute ago. And she actually smiles as she adds, “But you should stay in New York, Goody Two-Shoes. Stay and love this dude. You know you want to.”

“I do,” Caroline says, tears still streaming down her face and not a hint of hope in her gaze. “I want it more than anything, but I can’t. I really can’t. I’m so sorry, Leo. I hope you can forgive me someday. And I hope you finish the show. The others deserve that. I don’t want my mistakes to ruin things for innocent people.”

“I’m not innocent,” Eduardo squawks, propping his hand on his hip. “I’m pissed! I’ll be even more pissed if you don’t wake up and smell the coffee, girl. This man puked his heart out onto the pavement for you. Do you know how rare that is? Get over here and pick it up before Uncle Eduardo has to get out his mean voice.”

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