Page 38 of Bargain with the Bachelor
I’d just been saving face with that “Right, same here,” comment, but Kristal was “really, really happy” we werefriends.
She’d forgotten what to me had been a mind-blowing, unforgettable kiss, said it had meant “absolutely nothing.”
All that hope now felt like a sandcastle drowned by high tide, drifting away grain by grain until there was nothing left but a sad little blob on the shore.
Mybrilliantplan to win her over was doomed right out of the gate, and now I would get to live with the humiliation and frustration. Every. Single. Day.
I went back downstairs where six pairs of eyes turned toward me.
“Well?” Paul asked.
“Well what?” I barked back, highly irritated at my friend’s all too obvious interest in Kristal.
“What did she say?”
“Yeah,” Aiden said. “Does she like it here?”
“How could she like it here?” Reid growled. “You guys drooled over her like a pack of puppies. I wouldn’t blame her if she never unpacks her suitcase. She’s probably climbing out of one of the upstairs windows to escape right now.”
“She likes it fine,” I said. “She said her room was nice.” Shooting a grateful look toward Hap, I added, “Thank the set designer, would you?”
I’d prevailed on Hap’s friend Mary Ellen to redesign and furnish my own suite in preparation for Kristal’s arrival. It looked great to me, but what did I know? Kristal had seemed to like it, and that was all that mattered.
“Thank her yourself,” Hap said. “She’s coming over in half an hour to make over everyone else’s rooms. She mentioned being extra eager to get a look at themasterbedroom,” he added with an exaggerated eyebrow waggle.
“She already has. That’s where Kristal is staying,” I said.
Paul shot up out of his chair. “You moved her into your bedroom?”
Rolling my eyes, I bounced my hands in front of me in the universal sign forcalm down. “I movedoutof it, idiot. I’ll be staying in a guest room while she’s here.”
Josh gave me a bewildered glance. “Why did you give her your room?”
“Because it’s the nicest one. I’m being a good host.” Not wanting to discuss it further, I changed the subject. “Now can we try to get some work done before the film crew comes back from lunch? We’re behind.”
“And whose fault is that?” Reid asked.
Hap and I pointed at each other simultaneously then burst out laughing.
By the end of the second week we were settling into a new normal.
The filming seemed to be going well, and everyone was getting along. The guys’ fears about having Kristal living there seemed to have been replaced by sheer delight at her presence.
But I couldn’t share in it.
Not that I didn’t love having her around. I did.Too much. She was even sweeter, and funnier—and sexier—than I’d realized.
Having known her for so long—but only from afar—it seemed almost surreal to see her walking around the house in cutoffs, a flannel shirt, and a pair of fuzzy knee socks.
Did she have any idea how alluring the thrown-together casual ensemble was?
Everything about her was captivating, from her throaty laugh, to her sharp and funny conversation, to her bewitching green eyes and beautiful smile.
And she seemed to be totally unaware of any of it.
It was sheer torture. After a few days it became obvious I wasn’t the only one of the “dwarves” who was harboring a severe crush on Kristal.
Paul followed her around like a puppy dog, always managing to get hungry whenever she was in the kitchen and sitting next to her on the sofa in our home theater whenever we all crashed after a hard day’s work to watch movies or re-runs ofThe Office.
