Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 28472 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 142(@200wpm)___ 114(@250wpm)___ 95(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 28472 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 142(@200wpm)___ 114(@250wpm)___ 95(@300wpm)
“My twin is a boy.” My eyes flick to the camera currently following us. “He’s a brat really,” I add in, knowing my brother Ethan is going to be watching. Leo chuckles. It sounds sexy as hell coming from him. I really want to ask him what he’s doing here. He doesn’t fit who one would think would sign up for a dating show.
“Hey.” Serena comes walking over, Emile right behind her. “You boys should get us some drinks.”
“Would you like something?” Leo asks me.
“Whatever is fine.”
“I’ll be right back.” He doesn’t look like he wants to leave me here, but he goes, taking Emile with him.
“That man is into you. You feeling it?” She gives me a teasing smile. I shrug. What I feel is uncomfortable. I’m still wrangling with the things I feel for Leo. I certainly don’t want to admit all those things out loud for the world to hear. And I’m trying not to lose focus on why I’m here.
“Ladies.” Hudson walks over.
“Hi,” I respond. I haven’t had much time to get to know a lot of the other contestants. This is the first time we’re all together in a relaxing environment.
“So, you’re a vet.” Serena pounces right in, wasting no time at all.
“Yeah, actually I was going to ask if you know Dr. Barns.”
“Of course. He’s come out to our sanctuary a few times. He saved two of our cheetahs when they became ill. None of us could figure out why they were sick.”
“He’s one of the best. When I realized who you were, I figured you’d met. I had the pleasure of doing an internship under him.”
“That must have been amazing.”
“What’s amazing?” Leo cuts in, handing me a martini glass with pink liquid in it. It smells good.
“Thank you.” I take a sip. It’s yummy. Normally I only have wine or beer, and that’s only occasionally. It’s all Ethan keeps around.
“We figured out we have someone in common is all.” Hudson answers his question.
“This is really good. I don’t think I’ve ever had a martini before.”
“Really?” Leo shifts his body, taking up all the space in front of me. “Not a lot of partying going down at the animal sanctuary?”
“Nope.” I laugh and take another sip. The liquid is warm in my belly.
“Do you guys have Wi-Fi out there?” he teases me.
“We actually do. Have you heard of SpaceCon?”
“Have I heard of SpaceCon?” He lifts a brow.
“Right, tech guy. Richards makes sure we have access. He is one of our sponsors.”
“You’ve met Nick Richards?”
“No, not really. Only over Skype. He’s ah—” I freeze, catching myself, almost insulting Richards on TV. The man has a giant ego, and hurting it would not be good.
“Knows his satellites,” Leo fills in for me, a knowing glint in his eyes.
“Exactly.” I finish off the rest of my drink. “Can we get another?”
“We can do anything you like.” Leo slides his hand into mine, leading me toward the bar and far away from everyone else.
CHAPTER 11
LEO
I mix her a Coke and sour and then lead her onto the beach. It’s darker here with only the moonlight illuminating the ocean. It’d be fucking romantic if there weren’t two camera crews trailing behind us—one for her and one for me.
“How did you end up on a show like this?” I ask, wishing I could turn off the mic.
“I’m interested in love, why else?” she quips.
“You said you run the social media account for your sanctuary?”
She nods. I guess she can’t say that she’s only doing this for clout because it would come off wrong on camera, but a girl like her doesn’t need a dating show to find love. She probably has a line of men a football field deep wanting her time. I nearly choked on my tongue when she walked up earlier tonight dressed in denim shorts and some sort of top that tied around her neck. The fringe on the denim swings around the top of her thighs, and the shirt molds to her juicy rack. I don’t know what she wears at her job, but if it is anything like this, the sanctuary must be raking in the ticket revenue.
“Do you fund the sanctuary via donations or admissions or what?”
“It’s a little of everything. We accept donations, but a lot of people will only give for a big ticket item like a new cat or maybe an upgrade to a shelter. People want tangible evidence of their gift, but a lot of our expenses are eaten up by admin stuff or the unsexy day-to-day costs like paying salaries of people to clean out the stalls, manage the software, deal with licensing.”
Meaning there’s a lot of stuff she needs money for, and pissing off the general public by being bratty on camera isn’t going to be on the top of her list.