Page 10 of The Charm Offensive
They definitely did.
“He showed up unexpectedly demanding to speak to Kiana. We had no idea what he was going to do.”
Oh, they definitely knew.
Maureen places a manicured hand on Charles’s shoulder. “I am so sorry this happened.”
She most definitely is not sorry.
Ryan was right: a physical altercation on night one is going to be amazing for ratings. Dev can’t even blame her for it; Maureen Scott is only doing what she has to do. The only thing audiences want more than a happy ending is drama.
Charles says nothing in response, and Maureen drops her hand and turns to the medic. “Ten minutes?”
“Ten minutes should be sufficient to stop the bleeding, but—”
“Ten minutes,” Maureen says firmly before she follows Skylar out the door.
The medic hands Charles two cold compresses and shoves acetaminophen at Dev. “Have him keep the ice packs in place for ten, then take out the gauze and give him six hundred milligrams of this.”
At the medic’s exit, Jules takes her cue to round up the cameras and lingering crew members. Then Dev is alone with the star he hates on the show he loves, unsure of how to proceed. Charles has a cold compress under each eye, bloody gauze dangling from his nose.
“You look ridiculous.”
Apparently,thatis how he’s proceeding.
“Well, you smell like vomit,” Charles snaps back.
“And whose fault is that?”
Charles tries to smile, but the pain turns it into a wince. Hepulls the cold compresses away from his face to reveal the bruises already forming under his eyes. “Are you also going to try to convince me Maureen didn’t pay that man to come on the show?”
“She didn’t have to pay him,” Dev clarifies. “Men like that come on this show for free.”
Charles looks wounded, which is sort of his default expression since his face is 90 percent eyes. His eyes are storm-cloud gray, the color of the sky during the North Carolina thunderstorms of Dev’s childhood. Charles licks his lips nervously. “Have I… upset you, or—?”
“You said the show is fake.” The words come out harsher than he intends, and he bites his lip. Yelling at Charles isn’t going to help. Besides, Skylar is right. Dev is the best. Unless they want this entire season to be an uneditable sequence of their star getting the literal and metaphorical shit beat out of him, Dev’s got to step up.
He takes a deep breath. “I know a lot of people believe this show is fake, but I don’t. I think if you open yourself up to this process, you could find real love in the next nine weeks. I could help you find love.”
Charles kicks his legs, which don’t quite reach the floor from where they dangle over the edge of the table. “I’m not really looking for love.”
“Then why did you come on this show?”
“To have my ass kicked in front of twenty million viewers, apparently.”
That startles a laugh out of Dev. Charles tries to smile again. This one sticks, andshit. He’s kind of adorable. The women are probably half in love with him already.
“Don’t worry,” Charles grumbles back into his lap, “I’m not going to be the star much longer.”
Dev crosses the room and stands two feet in front of Charles on the table. “What do you mean?”
“I… I thought I could do this, but I was wrong. Maureen can recast me.”
“No, she can’t. We’ve already announced you publicly as the star.”
“I can pay for the cost.”
“Will you be able to pay millions of dollars after the network sues you for violating your contract?”
