Page 21 of Sensuous

“Exactly! We’ve already told him about you two, so go have fun!”

I consider asking if we’ll ever be cooking anything on this cooking reality show, but I decide not to. I’m beginning to think food and doing anything with it won’t be a big part of this competition after all.

On my way over to where Marco stands still looking at his phone, I take a deep breath and try to see this as a positive thing. The audience seeing me as someone a guy like Marco could like can’t hurt. It’s certainly better than what I thought I’d be cast as before today.

Shane calls the next person over as I reach Marco. He looks up from his phone and gives me a smile that’s nothing short of wolfish. He doesn’t actually think we’re going to hook up, does he?

“Heard the good news, huh? I wasn’t sure at first since I heard you and Alex over there go at it the other day and Ithought you were a total bitch, but Maria convinced me that it was all an act, so I told her I’m all in on this romance thing with you.”

My appreciation for Marco instantly disappears. How nice of him to inform me he thought I was a bitch. Great way to start out a fake relationship.

“Yeah, well, I guess I’m going to be pulling double duty fighting with him and pretending to be involved with you,” I say with far less enthusiasm than I think he expects.

“I was thinking while I was checking my messages that we should be obvious right out of the gate with this whole romance thing between us. Lots of PDA. Subtlety isn’t really what I’m into anyway, so that will work for me.”

As he tells me all this, I can’t help but think he’s just like my first boyfriend back in high school. Brash, entirely too sure of himself, and basically a tool. The thought of lots of PDA, as he calls what we’ll be doing together, makes me cringe, but he doesn’t notice because he’s returned his focus to his phone.

Nothing like being paired with a self-absorbed jackass. I guess there’s no use in bothering to ask him about himself and where he works as a chef. God, I hope he’s at least a decent kisser. If he’s not, having to pretend to like him will be nothing short of hell.

CHAPTER TEN

Alex

Out of thecorner of my eye, I see Kat walk over to that guy Marco’s station and wonder what that’s about. Not that I care at all what she does, but he doesn’t seem to be her type. He can’t stop looking at his phone or taking selfies with him flexing, and she’s got a real man-hating thing going on.

Then again, stranger couples have existed.

Why she thinks this is a place to pick up guys baffles me too, though. Maybe that has something to do with the storyline the producers gave her.

“Alex! You’re up!” Shane barks out, so I make my way over there to hear what they’ve come up for my story on the show.

Even before I sit down in the chair across from them, Maria looks like she can’t hold in the news of what I’m going to be doing and who I’ll be doing it with. All I want to ask is when we’ll be cooking since that’s what I’m here for, but with the first words out of her mouth, I realize neither she nor Shane has much interest in that.

“So we put a lot of thought into your story because we want the audience to see your strengths, so listen to this. You are going to be wanting Kat.”

Maria’s words filter through my brain, but they don’t make sense. What does wanting Kat mean in regard to this competition?

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“That’s your romance storyline for the show!” Shane says, as if that explains anything.

“You just told me not a day ago that we’re arch enemies and I need to build that up, and now you want me to be in love with her? She’s paired up with Marco, if what I just saw is any indication, although that doesn’t look too promising. No one is going to believe I want her. Trust me on that.”

But nothing I say dissuades them from believing their idea to have me pining away for Kat while she’s supposedly with Marco is a great one. “They will,” Maria says. “We know this business, Alex, and you can believe us when we say the audience will love this. You two will have conflict, but behind that will be you wanting her. Viewers will totally be rooting for you because they’ll see you as a multi-faceted character.”

As if I’m not that in real life. And in real life, there’s not a chance in hell that I’d ever want a woman like Kat. On her best days, she’s a miserable shrew. I don’t even want to imagine her worst days. No thanks.

This entire storyline disgusts me, as does the lack of any interest in actually doing any damn cooking on this cooking show. I’ve held my tongue for the past two days, but now I’m done.

“Tell me, will any of this show involve cooking? You know, the thing that’s supposed to bring us all together since we’re all chefs?”

A look of confusion settles into both Shane’s and Maria’s expressions, as if I’ve asked something utterly foreign to what we’re all doing here. She nods and gives me a tiny smile, much less excited than her usual toothy grin.

“Of course. It’s just that on this type of show, no one wants to just see you guys cooking food. They want real life stories, and that’s what we give them because they sell the show for viewers.”

Shane abruptly stands up and walks away without saying a word, leaving Maria and me alone. She leans forward and whispers, “Here’s the truth, Alex. We chose you because female viewers are going to love you. I knew it from the first moment I saw you. Trust me. This is going to work out terrifically for you and your future.”

Unsure if she just implied that they’d already decided I’d win this silly competition, I ask, “So this has nothing to do with my ability as a chef? I’m here as eye candy?”

---