Page 15 of Idle

Her southern drawl is like a caress. “Are y’all with the show?”

I force myself to remain in my seat, although all I want to do is hop up and offer it to her. “Yes. We’re waiting for someone from the network to show up.” Plus my truant partner.

I’m rewarded with a wide smile from the bombshell. “Thank you.” She approaches and points to the empty spot next to me. “Is this seat available?”

Interesting she didn’t stay with her Tumi twin. Considering Xander and Theo made it very clear to me that Paige was off-limits, I welcome this new beauty. “Sure is.”

She glances toward the cowboy and settles in next to me. For his part, the grubby cowboy sits in the empty loveseat opposite. Near chatty Nancy. I lean over to the blonde and extend my hand. “I’m Jesse.”

She slides her palm over mine and shakes. No sparks fly like they did with Paige in Vinny’s, but she’s a no-fly zone. “Mary Ellen.”

As she gets settled, I ask, “I’m from the New York, New Jersey area. How about you?”

“Dallas.”

Not long ago, I spent a week there meeting with one of the bank branches. “I was there recently. Gorgeous town. Big.”

She laughs, the sound pinging down my spine but not in a good way. More akin to horses neighing. Well, I guess everyone has their own flaws. “Yes, we do everything big.” Her eyes bounce from my face to my crotch, and back up to my eyes.

Forward. And not hard on the eyes.

Across the way, her partner makes a big stink out of introducing himself. By the time “Bo” reaches me, I’ve learned he’s the third-generation carpenter in his family and rides rodeo on the side. Yee haw.

When Bo approaches me, I stand and shake his hand. Dude is about my height, with dark brown hair rather than my lighter color.

“Nice to meet you, Jesse. Do you do carpentry or are you the interior designer of your group?” He looks around. “And who is your partner?”

Deciding to take his questions in order, I reply “I’m the carpenter. My partner is Paige, and she should be here in about five minutes.”

“I reckon.” He glances at his partner sitting next to me, then turns on his boot-covered heel, and returns to his seat.

I repeat his phrase—what the heck does that even mean?

Mary Ellen mutters, “Asshole.”

“But he’s your partner.”

“Don’t remind me.”

All conversation ceases when the door opens again and the whirlwind known as Paige Hansen enters the building wheeling a matching set of Louis Vuitton luggage. Her brown eyes light up when she spots me, a smile dancing about her mouth for a brief second until she realizes I didn’t save her a seat. She glances around the group, zeroing in on the only available space on the loveseat next to Bo. A pang of guilt bounces through my body. Paige is, after all, my partner for the show and I don’t need to rile her up before action is even called. Too late now.

With a huff, Paige plops herself down by Bo. Narrowing her eyes at me, she deliberately turns her entire body toward the cowboy. “I’m Paige. Judging from your arms and”—she picks up his hand, running her slender fingers over his—“hands, I can tell you’re the carpenter of your team,” she purrs.

I roll my eyes at my partner and focus my attention on the lovely woman sitting to my right. “So, how did you get paired up with him?” I tilt my head across the room.

“We were married.”

I cross my left ankle over my right knee, trying to hide my shock. “Oh. For how long?”

“Three years. Can you believe it?” She studies her ex and my partner, their heads tilting close to each other. “Other than amazing sex, we had nothing in common.”

That’s a vision I didn’t need. Stomach churning at Paige andBochatting it up across the room, I force my gaze to the beauty next to me. “Honestly, you two seem very different.”

She smiles, her face transforming into something breathtaking. Easy to see what Bo saw in her. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

A woman with long, brown hair about the same shade as Paige’s approaches our group.Wonder what Paige would look like with long hair? Nah. She’s perfect the way she is.The new addition removes her sunglasses and holds up a sign.Welcome to NYC Views!

Everyone clamors to their feet and claps as she introduces herself as Quinn Walker, the director for the show. She will be with us every step from now until a winner is crowned. “I can tell you’ve already started to get to know each other. That’s great. Why don’t you grab your bags, and we’ll go up to the apartment that you’ll be calling home for the next five weeks, or as long as you’re onNYC Views,” she smiles.

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