You've Gained That Loving Feeling

Kristina had to give them this much: they weren’t skimping on appearances.

When Bruce said they’d booked her at a five-star resort she didn’t expect this level of opulence. It was like something out of a movie. The lighting was perfect, the décor perfectly placed. If the manor had been engineered to be the platonic ideal of the rich and famous, this was the original article.

No sooner than Kristina had gotten her hands on her room key than she noticed that the cameras were rolling on her. It gave her only a moment’s notice before she heard that voice again.

“Welcome to New York.” Jules. The man was wearing a grey quarter zip and dark slacks, with the widest smile on his face. “You must have had a long flight. Shall I escort you to your room?”

She’d like to escort his face to her fist. But not in front of the cameras.

“I’d like that.” Kristina offered her hand, which Jules took without a second thought. As the elevator doors closed, she checked the number on her room key. That was quite the large number.

Jules looked over her shoulder and whistled. “They got you the penthouse suite! That’s crazy.” They went into the elevators alone, the doors closing behind them. “I’m on the tenth fl – ok, I think we’re alone for a bit.”

Kristina pushed the button for the tenth and top floors. “You don’t really think you’re getting into my room after the cookout, do you? After what you pulled with that dance?”

But Jules’s eyebrow shot up. “I seem to remember you kissing me.”

“You thought I was going to let you get the last word with that tease?” she growled.

The doors came open as the elevator got to the tenth floor. It was Jules’s stop. Except –

Did that moron just hit the emergency stop button? Kristina threw up her hands. “The hell are you doing?”

Jules stepped out of the elevator car and leaned in. “You never did answer my question at the party. The one after our pickup game.”

Her eyes widened as she remembered something Jules said back at the reward party. “We’re playing at being on a dating show. I recognize that look in your eye. You wouldn’t be here if you didn’t have something riding on this.”

Kristina folded her arms in a huff. “Why would I tell you?”

“Because I gave you that Tell the Truth card. Because I called out those other bachelors’ allegiances at the party. Because I’m the only one who’s treated this whole thing the way you have. And because if I didn’t care, I’d wouldn’t have hit the emergency button that car.”

Was he daring her to use the card? Because she could do that. The only caveat was she was certain they’d have to refilm her using the card on him and Bruce would go ballistic over that. Bruce wanted ‘genuine’ reactions.

Jules had called her bluff without even knowing it. The funny thing was, she’d never be able to tell the truth with the cameras rolling anyway.

“I wanted to become an actress. But when you look like me…” She flexed her arm, nearly ripping her cashmere coat. “All the casting people want these girly thin sticks with big buns and small personalities. And that’s never been me. The only auditions I could get were for reality shows. That’s how I got here. Bruce promised that if the show did well, he could get me a big role in a romantic movie. And I’m sure you think that’s stupid.”

Kristina wasn’t sure what reaction she’d expected from Jules. Dumbfounded laughter? Disbelieving skepticism? Derision? But of anything she’d thought of, genuine interest wasn’t high on that list.

“You went onto this show to follow your dreams,” he said. “That’s not stupid at all.”

She saw Jules chew on his tongue, unsure what to say. Frankly she wasn’t either. Why was he being so sincere? It always threw her off when he did this.

He looks kind of cute when he does that.

Kristina slapped the thought out of her head. Where the hell did that come from? Jules gave up on saying anything, instead moving to unlock his room.

“Wait a minute,” Kristina called after him. “Get this elevator moving again!”

Jules shrugged. “Enjoy climbing the stairs.” He ducked into his room and closed the door before Kristina could start cussing him out.

----

Staying at a five-star resort was enough to make Kristina ignore having to go up a dozen flights of stairs to find another working elevator.

Because the room that she was staying in was insane. She had a beautiful view of the New York City skyline from her window, complete with a view of the Statue of Liberty. The king-sized bed was the perfect level of firmness. In the dining room, the staff had left out a selection of snacks that she could have and a room service menu to order from.

The bathroom was a marble and porcelain wonderland, and Kristina could actually fit into the bathtub! She could finally have a moment’s peace to herself and collect her thoughts.

In a bath filled with aromatics, lots of bubbles, and a small rubber duck, Kristina sunk herself beneath the surface. Four bachelors left. And with Ryan gone, she didn’t have a clear idea of what to do.

Christian was staying. Maybe his hometown visit would help her see a different side of him. They kind of had something in that movie scene. More than Parker and Zach. She was starting to wonder if Zach was aroace or something like that; maybe he wasn’t a romance kind of guy.

Not that there was anything wrong with that, but then why would you go on a dating show?

That left Jules. He was insufferable. One of the first cuts she’d have made if she’d been able. He’d made a terrible habit of pratfalling into her chest, and getting into arguments with her. Her heart raced as she thought of how hard they’d gone at each other.

That stupid, arrogant, sexy –

Kristina slapped the thought out of her head again. Sexy?! That’s what she thought of him? No no, come on, she had a freaking model on the cast, that was a traditional eight or nine out of ten. That was who aspiring starlets should try to date, not milquetoast guys she met at a bar!

Milquetoast guy at a bar who wasn’t afraid to challenge her. Who’d seen her in her bathing suit. Who was a good kisser. Who she’d like to throw against a wall and –

Her cheek was getting sore from all the thought-slapping she was doing. But it wasn’t going away now. Nor was the stupid smile on her face.

“…Well. Shoot.”