Page 40 of The Love Rematch
As if on script, Ethan leans back to take her in and flirtatiously asks, “How the hell are you single?”
Nina cuts in from the side. “No cursing.”
They roll their eyes together, and Ethan asks again. “How in the world are you single?”
It’s a testament to the magic of the show that she almost tells him the truth. She’s so wrapped up in the evening, so eager to believe in any possible love story, the secret almost rolls off her tongue. But a few hopeful hours aren’t enough to undo seven years of hiding. Reality crashes in around her. Jake is there again, the elephant in the room no one else can see. Her throat closes. She remembers the camera, remembers who’s watching, remembers why she’s been covering up her past.
The spell breaks.
Emily glances away from Ethan’s magnetic green eyes.
“I guess for the same reason most people are,” she says with a shrug, waiting until her defenses are fortified before looking back at his face. “I dated someone. I loved him. I thought we were the real deal. For life. And then it ended. He left without even saying goodbye. And after that, I was afraid to get hurt again.”
It’s true, yet not. Sheisafraid to get hurt again, but it’s deeper than that. The truth is, after Jake, she doesn’t trust anyone will stay. And because of that, she never gives them the chance—to hurt her or to leave her. It’s easier to be alone.
“Well, if it makes you feel better…”
Ethan pauses to lean in. He takes Emily’s hand and ducks his head, as if saying something in confidence. She knows the move is really to bring them closer together, to set the stage. Because he wants to be the one she can trust? Because he wants to be the hero of her television love story? Because he wants to be the next one to break her? Emily doesn’t know. But she does know what’s coming next.
“Your ex sounds like an asshole.”
Emily laughs on cue, unable to tell what’s entirely real anymore. “You’re probably right.”
“I am. You’re a catch, Emily. Everyone can see it. And if you give me a chance, I promise, I won’t hurt you like he did. You can trust me.”
Can I?
He wets his lips.
He leans in.
Emily glances to the side for a split second, her gaze connecting with Nina’s. The producer holds her chin with her fingers, staring at Emily like a specimen to dissect. She knows there’s more to the story. She knows Emily is hiding something. She heard the hesitation in her words. Nina said it herself—she misses nothing. And it’s not in the woman’s nature to let anything go.
Shit, Emily thinks.
Shit. Shit.
Ethan stops an inch before her mouth. He whispers, “Give me a chance, Emily. Ask me to stay.”
He probably doesn’t even realize how precisely perfect his choice of words is. All she wants is someone who will stay. It means everything.
Ethan might be that man, or he might not be, but right now, it doesn’t matter. She’s desperate to escape the probing look in Nina’s eyes, desperate to keep her secrets safe for one more day, and yes, she’s desperate to believe that someone, somewhere, may actually find her worth fighting for.
So she gives in.
To the wine, to the empty stomach, to the romance, no matter how artificial.
Emily answers Ethan with a kiss and loses herself in the feel of his lips.
CHAPTERTEN
jake
Jealousy burnsthrough Jake as Trish pauses the image on the screen—Emily and Ethan locked in a passionate kiss. He can’t even pretend it’s anything else. Anger. Pain. Bitterness. Desire. They’re all there, but the core of this jumbled mess of emotion is good old-fashioned jealousy, something he has absolutely no right to feel.
Trish grins. “We have our first hubby of the season.”
“Ethan? Really?” He fights through the knot in his throat, the words coming out far more nonchalant than he feels. Try as he might, he can’t pull his eyes away from Emily. No matter where he looks, she’s there, in one of the dozen screens littering the video village. Every smile mocks him. Every laugh is at his expense. Filming is supposed to be his happy place, but right now, it’s his own personal hell, a prison he can’t escape.
