Chapter Twenty-Four

Ginger had no time to be trying to find Kat to explain what she and Cassie had walked in on the previous night. She had way too much to do. Nevertheless, she searched for her until the B-reel crew started blowing up her phone wanting to get their tour of Paris out of the way.

Ginger was loath to leave the hotel. She’d been a mess when she’d left Elliot, and there was no telling what he’d do with a few unscheduled hours in front of him. She’d been too emotional last night to offer words of consolation or give him any instructions, and was clinging to the absurd hope he’d stick to his room and brood.

But she had to get a handle on the Paris situation before it spiraled completely out of control. She should have had the details of the challenges planned out already. Instead, she was having to avoid reliving all the events of the night before in order to map out a route for the evening’s challenge, all the while not even knowing if she still had a job.

Thank God Marlon wasn’t there. He never went on the road with the show. It was all up to Ginger and the other field producers to make it work. Marlon’s specialty was the Hacienda and playing God from the control room. Ginger’s specialty was being on location.

Or it had been, until she’d ruined her life because her mouth forgot how to form the word “no.”

It was a long beating of a day. By the time she and the crew got back to the hotel that afternoon, they only had half an hour to regroup before the first challenge was scheduled to begin. Desperate to find Kat, Ginger was relieved to spot her in the hotel lobby having coffee with Matt.

“Matt, can we have a minute?” Ginger asked after storming straight toward them.

In response to the fury in her eyes, he stretched, groaned and vacated the lobby. Kat looked up at Ginger from the restored antique sofa she was perched upon, lips pursed in disappointment.

No less defensive than she’d been earlier, Ginger went on the attack. “You want to explain to me why you’re escorting women into Elliot’s room with no warning or discussions?”

Kat blinked her big blue eyes like Ginger had said the most offensive thing possible. “Excuse me? Is this a lecture on appropriate professional behavior?”

Ignoring the dig, Ginger pressed on. “I mean, what was the plan? Leave them there to eat cookies and get to know each other better?”

Kat gave Ginger a withering glare. “And you thought I was stupid for sleeping with the boss.”

She had been. Very stupid, but that was beside the point. “You promised me you wouldn’t try to sneak him any women. You know how badly that can backfire, and I told you not to, but you went ahead and did it anyway—”

“Give it a rest, Ginger!” she whisper-shouted. “You’re fucking the star of the show. Don’t you dare try to make it out like I’m the bad guy here—you could lose your job.”

The words jolted Ginger back to reality. Her mouth snapped shut. There she was, so mad at her friend she could spit, and she’d managed to back-burner the only thing that mattered at the end of all this—her terms of employment. “It was only the one time.”

“Oh, whatever. I don’t believe that for a second. We all saw that huge hickey you were trying to cover up in the redwoods. This has been going on since the beginning. Probably since the end of last season—am I right?”

Ginger stepped back, putting some distance between them to get some much-needed air. It didn’t help.

“His dick must be really magical for you to be putting your job on the line, and for Jenna to be crawling back here for another shot at it. How could you be so stupid?”

“I don’t have to listen to this.” Ginger started to walk away, but before she took a step, Kat clamped her hand over her wrist.

“You’re done, right? It’s all out of your system? This won’t ever happen again?”

Ginger couldn’t make her mouth move—couldn’t form the words she knew she had to say to have the barest sliver of hope she wouldn’t be fired and blackballed in the entire industry. Promising never to touch Elliot again was like swearing off carbs—it was a vow that could only last so long before the temptation got to be too much. She knew. She’d tried.

“Wait. You’re not in love with him, are you?” Kat’s tone was gentler, but only slightly. There was still the ring of judgment in it that set Ginger’s teeth on edge.

“Of course not.”

“Because you can’t be together. Like—ever. You know that, right?”

“I know how the show works.”

“So you’ll forget about him and keep your distance, yes?”

Ginger wrenched her wrist out of Kat’s grip. She hiked the strap of her messenger bag higher onto her shoulder. “Would you rather I quit? You can be in charge of Elliot and the women, and you can bring whoever the fuck you want into his room at all hours without me telling you what to do?”

In retrospect, it was a hysterical question—one Ginger couldn’t defend. It screamed jealousy and fear. But for the first time—the bigger fear wasn’t losing her job—it was losing Elliot. The truth hit her like a runaway train. How did that happen? When? Had it been the strawberries? Versailles?

God—she couldn’t stand this!

Despite Ginger’s obvious unraveling, Kat didn’t change her tone. “You have worked too hard for too long to let a man who can’t keep his dick in his pants destroy your career. You told me that once. Those are your words. I can’t stand Jenna either, but the truth is—he’s fighting her being here because they have feelings for each other—real ones. He’s only avoiding them by messing around with you. That’s how he is—it’s how men are.”

Ginger bit her lip, not finding a whole lot to argue in what Kat was saying.

“He didn’t come here to find Mrs. Right. He came here to find a broodmare—a rebound he could settle in with for the long haul so he wouldn’t have to deal with how she hurt him last season.”

Kat’s ability to summarize all Ginger’s doubts in one sentence was both impressive and massively triggering.

“If there’s no chance he’ll fall for anyone else, why would you bring Cassie to his room?” Ginger asked.

“To set her up as next season’s star. Elliot’s gonna pick Jenna. She’ll break him down, win his heart, and they’ll ride off into our scripted sunset together, and that’ll be that. Love is gonna win the day. He won’t be able to resist her. She’s a force.”

The words rang so true, they hurt.

All Ginger had to do was remember how undone Elliot had been after the last elimination at the Hacienda. How Jenna had upset him so much he’d needed to take a break, and Ginger hadn’t let him. She wanted so much to believe the things he’d told her last night, but it was so much easier to believe she’d been right all along. She’d been a distraction. A way for him to avoid feeling the hurt and confusion Jenna had left him with.

“Ginger, I love you. God knows we all do, but you’ve got to get out of the way, because this is the story we’ve been waiting to tell on this show.”

Ginger knew. It had been her idea. But Kat, at least, had the benefit of distance—perspective. And she was right.

Kat’s face finally lost the glacial facade. “You aren’t actually falling for him, are you? Oh, Ginger…honey…it can’t be you…”

Right again. There was no chance. There was no loophole. There was only making the show a success even if it broke Ginger’s heart. Elliot was contractually obligated to find a happy ending. And Ginger had to get out of the way.

The first Lost in Paris adventure was not the fun, problem-solving romp through a foreign city it was intended to be but was instead entirely about Elliot convincing Elizabeth every shadow wasn’t a rat, and that they were still on Earth—not lost in space with no roads or signs. He and The Panel looked thoroughly exhausted by the end of the evening, and it was no big surprise —although it was great TV —when Michelle and Anna took it upon themselves to send Elizabeth packing as soon as they arrived at the cafe they’d been tasked to locate.

Michelle wasn’t even nice about it. “Look, it’s a bad fit,” she said as her dark hair blew wildly across her face. Elizabeth, after her trying evening, sobbed uncontrollably.

Elliot, without an ounce of regret on his face as he stood with Irene on the other side of the café, gave Elizabeth a nonchalant shrug and told her he was sorry it hadn’t worked out. He wished her luck, and the crew whisked the virgin away.

While the restaurant staff muttered things in French and swept the floor between their chair legs, Matt, Kat, and Ginger had an impromptu production meeting to decide whether or not they even needed to go through the motions of a Panel elimination at the end of the week. No one had expected Elizabeth to be sent home so abruptly, but it was their practice on the show to give The Panel complete autonomy at this stage, so long as they saved at least two women for the finale. If they kept going at this rate, though, Elliot’s choice at the end would be Jenna or Jenna.

“We can’t let them send anyone else home,” Kat said. “That’ll totally screw up the production schedule.”

“They won’t.” Matt didn’t elaborate, but he was the one closest to The Panel. “I’ll talk to Lavonne.”

Lavonne was the only one on the payroll, so they had the most influence over her, but she was known for serving the intentions of the show more than petty production concerns. She did whatever the fuck she wanted, in other words.

“We need to deal with Cassie,” Kat said.

Ginger weighed the likelihood of one of the pissed-off waiters being cool with swapping out her coffee with a bottle of wine.

“Why?” Matt asked.

Kat cut a glance Ginger’s way.

“He knows,” Ginger mumbled.

Kat’s jaw dropped. She turned an incredulous glare on Matt. “You knew about them?”

Matt glanced between the two of them. “You told her?”

Kat answered. “I walked in on them last night.”

Matt wasn’t pleased. Folding his arms over his broad chest, he turned his disappointed dad eyes on Ginger. “Thought that was an accident. A one-time thing.”

Ginger could have died. She would have rather died than have this conversation.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Kat’s frustration was all aimed at Matt for the moment, tempting Ginger to run far, far away.

“Because it wasn’t supposed to happen again,” he growled, clearly pissed at them both. “What kind of mess are we in?”

Ginger burst. “I’ll leave, okay? I’ll pack my shit, and I’ll quit. You guys can fix it. You can handle the rest. None of it meant anything.” She was about to break down again, and she’d rather do it after being cast out on the streets of Paris so she wouldn’t have to listen to them talk about what a train wreck she’d created for all of them.

Matt waved a hand to clear the air. “No one’s leaving. Calm down. Let’s take this one landmine at a time. What does Cassie have to do with anything?”

“She was with me when I found them,” Kat said.

Matt’s dark eyes zeroed in on Ginger. “She saw you?”

Ginger’s mouth opened, but no sound came out.

“She saw enough,” Kat said, “But she doesn’t know it was Ginger.”

Matt turned his accusatory glare in Kat’s direction. “I’m not sure I want to know what you and Cassie were doing in Elliot’s room last night, but…”

“She had these macarons—”

Ginger kicked Kat’s foot under the table, silencing her for the moment.

Matt had clearly had enough of both of them. He pushed back his chair, rising from the table. “I’ll deal with this.”

The producers sat down to meet with Cassie at dawn in the hotel restaurant. Her bags were packed, and she was determined to leave. Ginger, Matt, and Kat were equally determined to make her stay, and they were prepared to pull out all the stops.

“Holden hired an escort for Elliot,” Kat said, all smooth. “None of us knew about it until after the fact, and he’s in serious trouble for it. We are so sorry this happened. I can guarantee you when we get back to the States, there’s gonna be hell to pay.” Kat’s lie was so ridiculous and disgusting, Ginger couldn’t even meet Cassie’s eyes.

“An escort? He had sex with a prostitute? In Paris?”

“Elliot’s been struggling a little. We can see why Holden thought it would help, but bottom line is—nothing like this will ever happen again. Elliot spoke with Matt this morning, and he’d like to see you before you make up your mind about leaving. It’ll be totally private. No cameras, no microphones. None of us—including Elliot—want you to go. Not like this, Cass.”

Matt talked to Elliot? That was news to Ginger. She might not have been fired yet, but clearly the show was moving on without her input. No one trusted her anymore. To keep an eye on Ginger, Kat had spent the night in her room, both of them sullenly silent until Ginger had fallen into a fitful sleep only to wake up to this bullshit.

Cassie held her head high. “I can’t imagine what he could possibly say to change my mind.”

“Hear him out,” Matt insisted. “He feels terrible for what happened.”

“He should,” she said bitterly, scooting her coffee cup away. “When does this have to happen?”

“He’s ready now if you are.”

“Whatever. Let’s get this over with.” Slamming her hands on the table, Cassie pushed herself to standing.

After a cutting look from Kat, Matt stood, too. “I’ll walk you.”

Once they were out of earshot, Ginger broke her silence. “A hooker? Really?”

“Don’t look at me like that. Better Holden than you, am I right?”

Of course she wasn’t right! “Does Elliot know what you told her?”

“Matt and I both talked to him before we came down here. He’s fine with it.”

Ginger doubted that. “Don’t you dare tell me Holden knows, too.”

“Holden thinks you hired the escort.” Kat snickered at that.

“This is so disgusting. You’re horrible.”

Ignoring the insult, Kat pushed her chair back to stand. “So…you know Elliot better than the rest of us. Obviously. You think he can convince Cassie to stay?”