Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 103159 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 516(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103159 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 516(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
Bradly was right, but I wasn’t about to admit that to my brother. “There are a lot of beautiful women here.”
He just shook his head. “I would stick around and watch, but I think I’ll call it an early day and go home to my wife.”
I hit him on the side of the arm. “Tell Georgiana I said hi.”
“I will.”
Kipton approached, a beautiful smile on her face, and said, “I’m not interrupting, am I?”
Blayze tipped his cowboy hat in her direction. “Perfect timing. I was about to get out of here before the cameras start to roll.”
“Smart guy,” Kipton stated with a laugh.
“Good luck to you both. I’m sure Georgiana will have the TV on, watching the broadcast.”
I cringed at the idea of my family watching the dates. I had practically begged my mother not to watch them.
Kipton and I waved off Blayze before he made his way around all the equipment and people that it took to make a live show go off without any problems.
“You ready?” she asked.
“I guess so.”
“The show has already started, I kicked it off a bit ago. They’re showing portions of recorded footage from the women’s first impression interviews right now.”
“How do they know which girls to show?”
“I asked that as well. There are only six in tonight’s drawing after they determined all twenty in the barn at once was too much. They’ll also show short clips of your interview from yesterday, as well.”
“Oh,” I said with a smile. “So, Kimber and Sarah are in this first batch.”
Something moved over Kipton’s face, but it was gone before I could decide what it was. “I guess so. I take it you like them both?”
My hand went to the back of my neck. For some reason, despite just telling Blayze we were just friends, it felt strange to talk to Kipton about the other women. I rubbed the tension that had instantly started, and decided to listen to the warning bells going off in my head. “I think they’re both nice.”
“Nice?” she asked with a raised brow. “I think the word you were looking for was ‘attractive,’ maybe?”
Something inside me was screaming to change the subject. How, though? This was literally our jobs. That was how I’d been looking at this whole dating experiment so far, actually. As a job. “They just seem…nice,” I repeated lamely.
Kipton frowned, and she acted like she wanted to say something, but she pressed her mouth into a tight line instead, turning to face the busy crew.
“Kipton! You’re on in seven minutes,” someone shouted.
Without so much as looking in my direction, she said, “Well, I hope you get the two dates you want this week.”
Before I could say anything, or ask why she suddenly seemed so cold, Kipton walked away. She was soon surrounded by Winnie, who was fussing with her sweater in the back, and Tricia, who handed Kipton lip gloss, or something for her lips, before sweeping a brush over her cheeks.
I watched as Kipton pursed her lips and applied the gloss, and couldn’t help but wonder what it would feel like to kiss her. What she would taste like…
It was as if she felt me staring, because she looked up and our eyes met.
I quickly looked away and spotted the girls making their way into the barn. Hay bales with blankets on them had been placed strategically for them to sit on, behind where Kipton and I would be standing. A few of the girls smiled and waved at me as they entered. Sarriah, the fitness instructor from Nashville—and the one woman in the group who truly scared me—waved her fingers before blowing me a kiss. I had a feeling if I was left in a room alone with her, she’d turn positively feral. It was something about the look in her eyes that gave me the heebie jeebies.
Giving her a nervous smile, I turned my back on the women, lifted my cowboy hat off my head, and ran my fingers through my hair.
Before I knew it, it was nearly time to go live. I stood off to the side and listened to Jack count down. My eyes landed on Kipton, and I watched as she smiled and went to work on effortlessly capturing the hearts of viewers. Based on comments from the show’s blog, people loved her. At least, that was what Winnie told me. After Jack and Kipton pointed out the blog, I’d tried to read it once myself, but between the comments about what female viewers wanted to do to me, and what male viewers were saying about Kipton, I vowed to never look again.
Everyone was quiet, and the red light on the camera came on, indicating the show was live.
“Welcome back to Swipe Right! I don’t know about you, but based on what I saw during those interviews, it looks like Hunter might have a few favorites already.”