Page 52 of Trusting Fate (Hope Falls: Brewed Awakenings 2)

She wasn’t sure how much of the information she’d actually retained but the one thing she did know was she could not have asked for a better person to sit through a boring meeting with. Easton had entertained her the entire day. She’d had no clue that he was funny, but he was. And his humor only made her more attracted to him, like he needed any help in that area.

As they stood in the hallway, Grace found herself trying to think of something cool to say but she couldn’t.

“So, you’ve been busy the past few days,” he commented as he leaned his shoulder against the wall.

“Oh, yeah. I’ve been hanging out at the coffee shop, spending time with my sisters.”

“Hmm,” he nodded. “So you haven’t been trying to avoid me?”

She shook her head and started to reply but they were approached by a young woman who did not look old enough to drive much less be employed. She had a bright red pixie cut, freckles sprinkled across her button nose, and huge brown eyes that filled up most of her face. She was wearing a sweatshirt, jeans with a belt with a walkie talkie attached to it, and Vans.

“Hi, Easton, Grace, I’m Maura, I’m going to be your field producer on this shoot, which is basically just a glorified PA. If you have any questions, concerns, or issues, I’m the person you come to. I’ve texted you both so you should have my number.”

Grace pulled out her phone and sure enough, there was an introduction text from Maura.

When she looked back up, she saw that Maura had started walking quickly down the hallway. Easton and her exchanged a look before they both followed behind her.

“So right now, I’m going to bring you to the confessional booth they have set up.” Maura talked almost as fast as she walked.

“Confessional booth?” Easton looked at Grace.

“Oh, sorry.” Maura glanced over her shoulder. “A lot of us have worked on dating shows and that’s what we called it. It’s just a room where you’ll be interviewed. It will be where you do your talking heads. They’ll have a remote van set up at base camp where you’ll be doing your daily interviews from now on.”

“Base camp?” Easton repeated.

“Your house,” Maura explained. “Each day you’ll do daily video diaries in the booth that is identical to the other three teams because they can’t show anything that will give away which property is yours.”

“Okay, here we are.” Maura stopped beside a non-descript door. “They have a boom in there, so you don’t need lav mics.”

“We just go in?” Grace asked.

“Yep. They’ll ask you some background questions. Just be yourselves and have fun.”

Grace was used to being asked questions by reporters in press conferences, but those questions were always about her clients not herself. It felt so different knowing that these questions were going to be personal.

“Thanks, Maura.” Easton’s easy smile should have been soothing, but it was actually sort of annoying to Grace. He didn’t seem like he had a care in the world as he opened the door and held it so she could go in first.

When he did, she saw that in the room there were two chairs, three large lights and two cameras set up. She told herself to walk in, but her feet were planted on the floor.

“You okay?” Easton’s large hand settled on her lower back and apparently that was all she needed because her feet started moving.

She nodded as she walked inside and sat where a man named Christian told her to. He introduced himself as an AD and said that he would be asking them some questions.

After some basic individual questions about their childhood and background the questions turned to being about them. As a couple.

Of course, Grace had known that they would probably have to talk about their “relationship”. She even made talking points and had gone over them with Easton after they found out they were cast. What she hadn’t known was that her being asked those questions would make her want to crawl into a hole. She wasn’t sure if her reaction was because she was walking a very fine line between lying and honesty or if it was because she actually liked Easton and she didn’t want anyone to see that.

“So how did you two meet?” Christian asked.

Grace froze but thankfully Easton did not.

“We met during a snowstorm. Grace’s SUV had a flat tire. She was on the side of the road and I pulled over to help her. When I was fixing her tire, a tree fell. Grace saw it coming and she jumped on me and got me out of harm’s way.” Easton reached over and placed his hand on Grace’s knee and squeezed. “She saved me.”

“Was it a big tree?” Christian asked.

“Oh yeah, it fell on my truck and totaled it.”

Grace put her hand over his and squeezed. It was her way of silently telling him that she was sorry. She really was. She still felt bad that his truck was totaled. She’d offered to buy him another one, more than once, but he just kept telling her that is what insurance is for.

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