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“I’m talking.”
“Talking? Cool. I just have one question. Did you forget yourcharm,humor, andpersonalityin the dressing room?” she asked, he assumed rhetorically. “You lookmiserable.”
He was.
“Sabrina is here, and she is wondering what is wrong with you. Avery tried to say that maybe you were shy, but I said you are not—”
“Avery?” Keaton cut her off. “Avery is here?”
“She was. I think she might have left when things started getting tense in the booth because you are being so…so… boring. You are supposed to be the breakout star of the season.”
“I am?” Who in the hell had decided that? It had to be someone that didn’t actually know him. But it didn’t matter. He was obviously doing a shit job and that wasn’t acceptable. He took a deep breath, before assuring his niece, “Sorry. I’ll be…better.”
“Good. Bebetter.” She reached behind him and turned his mic back on.
When they walked back into the ballroom, he found himself looking for Avery. Had she left? Was she still there?
No,he shook his head. He needed to focus on the women he was supposed to be dating. Not on the one he actually wanted to.
11
Readthe words in front of your face. Focus, Avery admonished herself as she stared at her computer screen.
She was doing her best not to be distracted by what she’d just witnessed. Keaton had not seemed like himself at all in the mixer. At least not the man she knew him to be. He was like a shell of that man. He looked like a robot or something. And she wasn’t the only one who noticed. Sabrina kept saying how ‘flat’ he seemed and how she couldn’t believe it because she’d been banking on him being the ‘breakout star’ of the series.
Avery had to admit, inside she was secretly doing the happy dance. His behavior with the women made her even more convinced that what they shared was special. Even if they couldn’t have a future, it was nice for her to think that their past was what she’d thought it had been.
Or, maybe he was just uncomfortable in front of cameras. That could be the reason he froze up. She’d tried to pick up on who he was attracted to, but she was completely at a loss.
All five women were stunning. She hoped, for his sake, that he didn’t end up with Zara. Although on the outside, she might look incredible, from what Avery had heard and witnessed she was not the kindest person. And Keaton deserved someone kind.
Then again, maybe it would be a good thing if he ended up matched with Zara. If she was his partner, there was a good chance he wouldn’t fall in love with her. She knew that was a selfish thing to wish for, but she couldn’t help herself.
She’d spent the past five years pining for a man who she’d assumed she’d built up in her head as something more than he actually was. Cut to present day, she finds out he is all that and a bag of chips, as the kids used to say in the ’90s. His behavior today withstanding, Keaton was charming, funny, kind, and magnetic. He had a commanding presence that couldn’t be ignored, without him even trying.
Jude wanted all eyes on him when he walked into a room, and typically, he got the attention he craved. Keaton wasn’t aware of how charismatic he was which made him all the sexier and more enigmatic.
She just hoped none of those qualities translated through the lens of the camera. If they did, then she knew he would be the breakout star and instant viewer favorite. Which meant he’d be on the show for the next two months. The longer he was on the show, the more opportunity he had to meet someone and develop real feelings for them. Sure, it was a television show, but there were a lot of couples who met and fell in love on reality TV.
She knew she was in the minority of wanting him not to do well on the show. All of Whisper Lake was rooting for him to fall in love. Everywhere she went, she sawVote for Coach Keatonsigns up. His being on the show was all anyone talked about. She’d heard it being discussed at the grocery store. The Drawbridge Diner. Lanterns. The gas station.
Apparently, all three of his cousins had recently been taken off the market and fallen madly in love with their soulmates. The entire town was rallying behind Keaton to find the same happiness.
Avery knew that sheshouldwant the same for him. She’d had her chance with him, and she’d blown it. Not that she’d ever consider Jacob a mistake. He was so far from that. He was the best thing that had ever happened to her.
Life hadn’t worked out the way that she’d imagined it would, but she had Jacob, and he was the only thing that mattered.
Her phone vibrated and she saw that it was a text from her mom. She sent her a picture of Jacob eating a piece of pizza the size of his face. As soon as she looked at it, her stomach growled loudly.
She briefly considered working through lunch. She’d barely made a dent in her work load since she’d spent the majority of the morning in a monitor booth watching Keaton meet and get to know five eligible women.
To eat or not to eat, that was the question.
After a brief moment of indecision, she decided to eat. Food was fuel for her brain. She’d make a turkey sandwich and bring it back to her desk.
On her way back to the carriage house, she bumped into Sabrina. Literally the two ran into each other because they had both been looking down at their phones.
When her friend lifted her head and saw who she’d collided with, her luminous green eyes lit up. “Oh, I was just coming to see if you had time for lunch.”
