Page 116 of The Accidental Honeymoon

I make a face. “I’m not even the type of girl usually featured on these shows. They’re poised and polished. I’m… something else.”

“We could fix that for you.” Marcus sizes me up. “A haircut, a new wardrobe. Maybe we’d whiten your teeth so they pop on camera…”

My hand flies up to my mouth. What’s wrong with my teeth?

Elena grabs my hand. “You are the perfect ringer. You are the right age, the right height, the right…” Her eyes travel to my waist. “Well, I can’t see what kind of body you have. But it doesn’t matter. In a month, you could be ready. And I could be writing you the biggest check you could imagine.”

The money is pretty damn tantalizing. I’m trapped. They know it. "I… Okay." My voice is barely a whisper.

"Excellente." Elena’s tone is firm. "This will do wonders for your career."

They leave the conference room. I follow on unsteady legs, wondering what I have just agreed to. I’m not cut out for this kind of attention. I can’t even handle a staff meeting without breaking into a cold sweat.

As we step outside, I suddenly stop, doing a double take. “What ishedoing here?”

By him, I mean Ryan fucking Haart. He’s leaning against a wall, all casual arrogance. My heart does that stupid flutter thing it’s been doing since I wastwelve. He’s a perfect specimen. Even more so in person. Tall. Blond. The kind of blue eyes that make you believe in clichés. His abs have abs.

He’s also fuckingawfulto me. Literally the meanest boy I’ve ever met.

Elena waves. "Ryan, we should talk about your agent.”

But Ryan’s eyes are on me. He looks shocked. No, wait. More like horrified.

Great. I feel my face go hot.

"Wren?" He looks like he can’t believe I exist. "What are you doing here?"

“Why are you on my set?” I blurt out. “Seems like we all have questions.”

"Ryan, Wren. Please. We’re introducing Wren as the new bachelorette." Elena’s tone is calm. "Don’t worry. We’ll take care of her. She’s in good hands."

Ryan laughs, but he looks so dismayed that it’s hard not to take it personally.

Elena gets a call. “Oh, let me take this, Wren. I’ll be right back.”

And then she leaves us alone in the hallway together. An awkward silence settles in. Ryan scratches the back of his neck. It’s a gesture I’ve come to recognize as his tell. He’s uncomfortable. That makes two of us.

"So." He drags out the word. "You’re really doing this?"

I shrug. "I don’t have a choice. They’re making me."

He laughs. It sounds forced. "This is going to be interesting."

"Why are you here, Ryan?" I already know the answer. I just want to hear him say it.

"Jay didn’t tell you?" He sounds surprised. "I’m the next bachelor."

My jaw clenches. “He might have mentioned something about it. I try to tune Jay out when he gives me updates on your life.”

A part of me in the back of my head says,Yeah. Of course Ryan is the bachelor that you’re supposed to lust after. You didn’t think getting that $100k was going to be easy, did you?

“You’re a contestant now?” Ryan folds his arms across his chest and smirks. “You’re never going to win. You realize that, right?”

My hands ball into fists. His constant leer makes me feelviolent.

“Andyou’rethe worst human being ever. It’s hard to choose between Scylla and Charybdis.”

Ryan blinks. “I don’t even know what that means. No one does.”

---