Page 33 of Pity Pact

Paige’s upper lip curls upward in a stiff smile. “They’re in Florida until May.”

Trina’s face falls slightly. But then she looks in the mirror and catches someone else’s eye. “I’ve got to go. You two plan your strategy. Let me know if you need anything.”

My makeup person taps me on the shoulder. “I’m done with you.” She smiles at Paige. “I can do you next.”

Once Paige and I switch places, I look around the room and ask her, “Which one is Chip?”

“Just look for a troll,” she grumbles.

“I don’t see any trolls,” I tell her. “What color hair does he have?”

“Poop brown.” She looks into the mirror before adding, “He’s the guy still standing by the door.”

“The one in the green cardigan?”

She sticks out her tongue before answering, “Yeah. His car broke down at school and I had to drive him over here. It was horrible.”

“You’re a real drama queen,” I tell her. “I think he looks like a nice guy.”

“He’s short,” Paige says.

“So are you,” I tell her.

“I am not short!”Oh yeah, she’s in a mood.

“How tall are you? Five-two? Five-three?”

She whips around so fast the makeup artist winds up putting lipstick on her cheek. “I am five-three and ahalf!”

“So, a veritable giant,” I tease.

“I’m five-seven in heels.”

“Chip looks like he’s about five-seven,” I tell her.

“I bet he wears lifts,” she decides.

Before I can respond, Trina calls out, “Attention, please! Once you’re done with hair and makeup, please go to the rooms marked ‘Women’ and ‘Men’ across the hall and change into the clothes you’ve brought for the mixer. Don’t worry if your hair gets messed up. We’ll touch you all up before we start filming.”

“I guess I’d better go put on my good suit,” I tell Paige.

“See you later.” She sounds as excited as I am—which is to say, not at all.

“We’ve got this,” I assure her. Then I walk out of the room and head toward my office. There’s no way I’m going to change in a room full of strangers if I don’t have to.

While putting on my suit, I can’t help but wonder what Eva’s reaction will be to seeing me on the show. That’s when I realize that if I’m going to make her jealous, I’m going to need to be the life of the party—the kind of guy women flock to.

The only problem is, I don’t feel like that guy. I still feel like the poor sucker whose wife left him for a professional basketball player.Why didn’t I think this through?

I suddenly need to talk to Paige and see if she can help me. I know she thought I agreed to really look for love after we made that stupid pity pact, but I am not going to. My only goal is to make Eva regret leaving me.

Picking up my phone, I call Paige.

She answers after only one ring, and she sounds out of breath. “What?”

“Are you running a marathon?”

“Haha. I’ve got fabric stuck in my zipper, and I’m struggling to get it out.”

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