Page 41 of The Love Rematch
“You didn’t see the first two dates,” Trish comments as she rewinds a few minutes. “They were disasters, which makes Ethan look even more perfect.”
“A littletooperfect, though? He’s a typical salesman. We usually weed them out before hometowns.”
“Not this season.” Trish stops the video. “Here, watch this.”
On the big center screen, Emily and Ethan stare at each other through candlelight. Los Angeles twinkles like a starlit sea behind them, the romance palpable.
“He left without saying goodbye,”Emily says. Jake knows exactly to whom she’s referring. “And after that, I was afraid to get hurt again.”
“Your ex sounds like an asshole,” Ethan comments.
Emily laughs, deep and true. Once upon a time, the sound was like music in Jake’s ear but now it cuts like shattered glass. “You’re probably right.”
Ethan leans in for a kiss.
Emily looks away. Uncertainty flashes over her features. She has good instincts. She’s always seen through bullshit. But then Ethan says four words, four words that make every muscle in her face shift, expression turning from wary to wanting.
“Ask me to stay.”
Jake’s chest burns as she closes the distance and seals that request with a kiss.
I would have stayed if you asked, he thinks, the past and present mixing so time ceases to exist.That’s why I didn’t give you the chance to ask. Because I couldn’t stay. I couldn’t do that to you.
The reason he left was so obvious it didn’t need to be spelled out, to be spoken. They couldn’t be together. They both knew it. She was too good for him. She was going places. He refused to hold her back. He refused to be like his father. It was better for her if he left. He didn’t want to. Lord knows, leaving was the last thing he wanted.
But he almost cost her everything.
All her dreams.
All her hopes.
Her entire future gone in a heartbeat.
Then he got a second chance to do the right thing, and he took it. No turning back. It was the hardest decision he ever made in his life, and if everything hadn’t happened the way it had, he might never have had the strength to make it. But he did. And seven years later, he still doesn’t know if it was the right choice. At the time, it was the only way he could think of to set her free.
Now, he’s the asshole.
The one who broke her.
The one who gets laughed at over wine.
The idiot who let her go.
“You see what I’m seeing?” Trish says, bringing him back to the present as she pauses the image mid-kiss yet again. Another dagger to the gut. “We all know Emily is a bore. She was a bit better in her confessionals today, but she’s never going to bring the drama, not the way our show needs. It’s up to us. And Ethan? He’s perfect. The viewers will see through him long before she does—at least, they will if you do your job right and make sure his real personality comes through in the group scenes. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a villain win the show. I think it’s exactly what the season needs.”
He hates that he sees her point. If it were anyone except Emily on that screen, he’d be nodding and agreeing without a second thought, and he’s not sure he likes what that says about him. When did he stop seeing these people as people but as pawns?
“You think the viewers will want that?” he asks, applying gentle pressure.
“Ethan will be F1,” Trish continues, ignoring his pathetic attempt at resistance. “Cooper, the cowboy. Let’s get him a mini-date next episode. Make it happen. He’s the perfect foil. We get him as F2. Then it’s up to Emily to pick good over evil. It’s a win-win. If she picks the good guy, people will cheer. If she picks the asshole, then she’s the idiot who couldn’t see through his buffoonery the way the viewers did, and the cowboy becomes our next lead. Either way, the show comes out on top.”
And Emily?he thinks.What about her?
Trish couldn’t care less.
Jake is dismissed. He drags himself back to his room, then sits in the shadow of his windowsill to look across the lawn at the brightly lit guesthouse. A figure moves behind a gauzy curtain. She’s so close, yet so far.
Ask me to stay.
