Page 32 of 7 Days and 7 Nights

“Don’t think, Olivia. Just feel.”

He lowered his lips to hers and kissed her—a soft, gentle joining that took her completely by surprise. The breath caught in her throat, and her pulse fluttered.

Cradling the back of her head in the palm of his hand, he drew her closer and deepened the kiss, his gentleness giving way to something more urgent.

She wanted to do just as he’d instructed, wanted to lose herself in his touch, wanted to let him make love to her once more, wanted to forget about the silly competition between them.

Competition. Olivia’s body stilled, only this time it was due not to desire but to dismay. She was sitting on a couch in plain view of their audience, being kissed by Matt Ransom. In another second she’d be kissing him back. She had a very clear idea of the kind of reaction the focus group would have to that.

“Olivia?"

“What the ...” Appalled, she pulled back desperately searching for the right words to tell him off.

Matt’s eyes lit with amusement. “I was just trying to help you relax.”

“If I want to relax, I’ll take up yoga.”

What she wanted to do was slap his smug, handsome face. Hard. In front of the world. So that no one would know just how much she’d wanted him to kiss her. Her hand itched to make contact, but she’d already perpetrated too much violence in the last twenty-four hours, and she didn’t intend to win her time slot by maiming her opponent—no matter how much he deserved it.

Olivia retreated to the other couch. “I don’t know what you’re trying to do here, but it’s not going to work.”

“I’m not trying to do anything. You looked like you needed to be kissed, so I kissed you. Let’s not make a big deal out of it.”

“We’re not going to make anything out of it. And in the future, I’ll decide when I need to be kissed. And by whom.” Olivia crossed her arms in front of her chest and glared at Matt.

From his seat on the opposite couch, he winked and offered her a mock salute. “All right, then. When you’re ready to be kissed, you just let me know. I can sit through weeks ofLove Island UKbefore knowing who wins. I think I can wait a day or two for you to beg for a kiss.”

???

Olivia picked up the phone and speed-dialed the station. Though she and Matt were allowed free access to their producers, up until now she’d only called Diane to discuss business. At the moment, however, thoughts of her show were running a distant second to the need for human contact with someone other than Matt Ransom. Someone in the real world. Someone she could trust.

“Hi, Di.”

“Oh. Hi, Olivia. Great show this morning.”

“Thanks.”

There was an expectant pause, during which Olivia wracked her brain for a topic of conversation.

"How’s the new diet going?”

Diane sighed. “I’ve lost roughly one tenth of one pound, and if I eat another piece of raw fish I’m going to have to apply for a job at SeaWorld.Inthe tank.”

“You know, if you’d just give up on these crazy diets and let me help you explore why you’re using food to—”

“I know, boss, I know. I just keep thinking one of them will actually work.” Her laugh was rueful. “So what can I do for you?”

“A jailbreak would be nice.”

“Hey, I’ll be outside at dawn with tools and grappling hooks if that’s what you want.”

The idea of escaping was all too appealing. She drummed her fingers on the table, not ready to hang up, but unable to come up with a legitimate reason to stay on the line.

“So, um, is there something in particular you wanted to talk to me about?” Diane asked.

Olivia felt like a mountain climber dangling off the side of a cliff clutching her lifeline. If she hung up, would she go careening down the side of the mountain?

“You know, if you ever really need out of there, all you have to do is—”

---