Page 71 of The Wrong Bachelor

Willow lifted her brows and turned to me, a broad smile on her face. “Of course I do,” she said.

“Oh,” I replied. She was so happy to admit it. Did he feel the same for her in return? I hadn’t sensed any romantic vibes between the two of them, but maybe I was wrong.

“But not like that!” Willow said, laughing at my reaction. I wasn’t really sure what was so funny though.

“You know he’s my cousin, right?”

I stopped trying to line up my golf ball and turned to her. “What?”

Willow’s grin grew wider. I swear I’d never seen her face so animated before. “We’re cousins. I thought you knew that.”

“No. Was I supposed to? Who else knows?”

“No one really, but Cole’s mom and dad brought you to some of our family functions when we were little. We met at least a handful of times.”

“Huh,” I responded. “You have a good memory.” The last time I’d gone to a family event with the Kingstons must have been years ago. I could barely remember any of them, let alone who else was there.

“More like I have a cousin who never shuts up about you.”

My eyes darted to hers, and I tried to figure out if she was telling the truth. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know though, so I didn’t press her.

“Isn’t it weird being on a dating show with your cousin?” I asked.

“Not really,” she replied. “No one at school knows we’re related and Cole begged me to stay once we were both nominated. I couldn’t say no to him.”

“Why did he beg you?” I asked.

“Because Cole doesn’t want to date a bunch of people,” she said.

“But he wanted to be the bachelor.”

“Did he?” Willow said. “He just got voted in like you and I did.”

“Then why is he still doing it?”

“There’s obviously something keeping him here,” she said, flashing me another wide smile.

I fell silent as I tried to understand what Willow was hinting at with the way her eyes were glinting at me.

“How’s it going back here?” Cole asked, breaking my train of thought as he walked over. Brett was following him closely with a camera. It had been a relief to hang with Willow for most of the night without the lens focused on us.

“Well, I don’t think either of us is going pro anytime soon,” Willow said.

I wanted to smile at her joke, but I was still processing what she had said before. Was I the girl Cole wanted? It didn’t make any sense. I wasn’t even single when this contest started, he’d kissed one of the others, and he hadn’t asked me on one date. Willow must have been mistaken.

“Maybe you both need some help,” he suggested. He glanced at me, but it was only for the briefest of seconds. He didn’t even meet my eyes.

Laurie called out Cole’s name, pleading for him to come back over.

“Just a sec,” he called over his shoulder.

“You should go to her,” I said. “I’m pretty sure we’re both lost causes back here, so there’s no point wasting your time with us.”

He looked at me, and this time our eyes locked. I couldn’t tell if he was reluctant to return to Laurie, or hesitant to speak with me. There was definitely something he was holding back though. I just wished I knew what it was.

“Cole!” Laurie moaned. The sound was so annoying I wanted to pull off my ears and chuck them at her head. Cole must have felt the same because I saw him visibly wince.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay and give you some pointers?” he asked.

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