Page 61 of His Choice

“It’s cable, Cliff. The viewers get to enjoy Dani as much as you,” Emilio reminded me. “And the boy’s got it going on, huh?”

I had the feeling that each contestant was free to exit the dressing room once the reveal was over, but I stepped forward and closed the curtain on Dani. “You can get dressed now, Dani. Thank you. Er, nice job.”

Nice job? I could imagine the screams of laughter coming from Mitch, Adam and Keller when they were finally allowed to watch the show.

Emilio was befuddled by my actions but moved to the second curtain at Marv’s urging.

“All right, then, let’s see who’s hiding behind curtain number two,” he said with feigned excitement. “Ready, contestant?” Without waiting for a response, Emilio pulled away the fabric. Ted stood in a non-descript sleeveless athletic shirt and pair of equally boring sweat shorts. Perhaps to make up for his lack of creativity, he flexed his biceps.

Even Emilio couldn’t hide his disappointment. “So, Ted, what exactly are you trying to communicate with this…outfit?”

Ted shrugged. “Well… I figured if it was a Sunday at Cliff’s, we’d probably just have worked out and might be sitting down to watch a game on television.”

“And that would lead to something spicy between the two of you?” Emilio prodded, trying to get the man to confess something titillating.

Ted almost grimaced. “Uh, yeah. Sure.”

Damned producers. It was even clearer to me now that Aaron wasn’t the only straight guy they’d thrown into the mix. I wondered how many more were putting on an act.

Emilio frowned for a second, then replastered his phony smile. “Thank you, Ted. Let’s move to curtain three, shall we?”

When the drape was pulled, it was Aaron. Straight guy number two. He was decked out in a short-sleeve, unbuttoned baseball shirt—showing off his nicely muscled chest and abs. The baseball pants were as tight as spandex, hugging his narrow hips and perfect legs. The tease hadn’t zipped up, exposing the waistband of a white jock strap. He’d accessorized with white socks and sneakers, and a backwards baseball cap on his head. I couldn’t help but smile. Aaron was the epitome of how to make cute sexy.

“Very nice,” I commented. “Would we be playing baseball?”

Aaron shrugged before grinning. “If it was just the two of us, maybe a game of catch. Followed by a game of…catch me.”

Right. A game where I could chase forever unsuccessfully. That didn’t sound like much fun for me.

“Well, you look…” I appraised him some more, thinking he really was beautiful.

“Hot?” Emilio finished.

“Yes. Very,” I agreed. Aaron smiled.

“Speaking of catch,” Emilio added, “I’ll bet Aaron is ready to play catcher to your pitcher.”

It was obvious Aaron didn’t know what Emilio meant, and I was thankful for that. The poor guy would be mortified. I figured it was best to move us along. “Who’s next?”

Emilio walked us to the next booth, where Alex stood wearing surgical scrubs and gloves, minus the shirt. His skin was perfection.

“You would role play doctor?” Emilio asked with a wink.

Alex appeared puzzled. “Role play? No, I would give Cliff an actual exam.” He turned to me. “Because I can tell good health is important to you.”

“Oh. Yeah, sure,” I muttered, still wondering if the guy’s continued seriousness was a gag he was playing. “But then, why no shirt?”

He glanced down at his chest as if forgetting it was exposed. “They said to look sexy.”

I nodded. “Yes, well, you do.”

He smiled. “Thank you.”

Emilio jumped in. “And you could check out Cliff’s most private places.”

I blushed, but Alex seemed unfazed.

“To be thorough, of course,” he replied. “Testicle cancer is a leading cause of death among men Cliff’s age.”