Page 76 of Bargain with the Bachelor
“Right. Okay… so the only thing we’ll need you and Hunter for, Kristal… is the kiss.”
His tone was matter-of-fact, so blasé, I almost believed I hadn’t heard it right. But Kristal had heard the same thing because she repeated the words immediately.
And her tone was the farthest thing from blasé.
“The kiss? What kiss?” she yelped.
“What are you talking about, Hap?” I demanded, playing along, while gratitude and anticipation grabbed each other and did a little whirling jig inside my chest.
Our director friend elaborated. “Well, we need one. I mean, more than one would be great, if you two are willing, but we’ve got to have at least one. Otherwise, the dating storyline just isn’t gonna fly. The viewers will be pulling for it. We gotta deliver.”
“What do you mean ‘we?’” Kristal snapped. “It’s not you and Hunter kissing. You’re askingmeto do it.”
Hap pressed his hands together in front of him, forming the prayer position. “No, I’mbeggingyou. Come on, Kris, he’s notthatugly.”
She smirked, but there was panic in her pretty green eyes.
My gaze traveled from them down her petal-soft cheeks to that heart-shaped mouth. A mouth I’d literally been dreaming about.
It was torture to be given something you’d spent decades longing for only to have it snatched away again after a tiny taste.
The past few weeks had felt like withdrawal. But the addict was on the verge of another addictive hit—I wouldfinallybe allowed to kiss Kristal again.
And it was going to happen in front of a roomful of people.
I’d have to maintain absolute mastery over my emotions, clamping down on every last nerve ending to keep from responding to her kiss the way I had in the past and embarrassing us both.
How would she react? Judging from the outward signs, kissing me would be like pulling teeth for Kristal.
But as our gazes locked, there was something intriguing in her eyes, an intensity I hadn’t seen in weeks.
Hope surged inside me, battling with a desperate fear that she’d refuse altogether.
Slowly, she nodded to accede to Hap’s request, and my pulse leapt in a primal victory dance.
Hap slapped his hands together and whooped. “All right! That’s what I’m talking about. We’re gonna shoot a love scene today.”
For a “love scene” it felt awfully technical.
Forty minutes after Hap’s announcement, Kristal and I were wearing microphones and positioned in the walk-in pantry, which had been perfectly lit.
Hap, wearing a set of headphones, stood just outside it along with a cameraman and the sound guy, Ethan.
“Okay, so you two have snuck away for a little privacy,” Hap directed. “It starts as a conversation, and then you’re gonna kiss.”
“What are we supposed to talk about?” Kristal asked.
“I don’t know—your plans for the day. Talk about going to visit Cinda and ask for a ride or something. It’ll be very damsel-in-distress.”
Kristal scowled. “I don’t want to be a damsel. I never asked any of you to save me—Hunter asked me to move in and be in the show as a favor.”
Hap’s hands went up in front of him in a defensive gesture. “Whoa whoa. Okay. Okay.”
Wanting to appease her, I interceded. “I’ll ask her to come with me to my brother’s house today. They’re having a dinner thing, and I’ll say I want my brother and his wife to meet her. Then she can pretend she thinks that’s sweet, and we’ll kiss. How does that sound?”
Hap answered, “Great,” though the question had been intended for Kristal.
She visibly relaxed. “Okay. I guess that’ll work.”
