Chapter Twenty-Five

The hotel room intended for private interviews contained only a sofa, a chair, stationary lighting, and camera equipment. When Matt showed Cassie in, Elliot stood. After she checked to make sure all the cameras were off, Elliot indicated a spot on the other side of the couch for her to sit.

He kept his distance. God only knew what she thought of him right then. All he’d been told by Matt was the story—Cassie thought he’d slept with a hooker in Paris. “Thank you for coming,” he said as they sat.

She wouldn’t look at him.

“I know you want to leave.”

“I don’t want to leave. I am leaving. As soon as this bullshit conversation is over, I’m going to the airport.”

“Then I need to tell you something.”

The nondisclosure agreement in all their contracts was extensive. Every participant on the show was legally bound not to breathe a single word about anything that happened during production until a full year after the show was released. Obviously people had broken the rules before, but they’d also gotten sued. The attorneys at 'Matched' didn’t play.

Cassie had been genuinely shocked and hurt last night. Her honest reaction had shown Elliot her intentions here were good. He’d liked her since the moment they met—now he’d have to trust her.

“I wasn’t with a prostitute yesterday.”

She snuck a glance at him, her eyes wary and cold.

“I was with Ginger.”

She squinted like she was having trouble reading the fine print. “Jenna, right? You said Ginger.”

“I meant Ginger.”

She gaped. “Ginger? The producer?”

Elliot didn’t respond immediately, trying to gauge what he should say next based on the vigor of her reaction.

“You were with Ginger?” she asked again.

“And it wasn’t the first time,” he added.

“What? Holy—what?”

He gave her a second to let it sink in.

By the way she covered her heart with her hand and leaned back into the sofa, he couldn’t tell if sleeping with Ginger was better or worse on Cassie’s morality scale than hiring a Parisian prostitute.

“Why are you telling me this?”

He ran his sweating palms down his pants legs, gearing himself up to go all in. “I don’t even know how to say this…”

“Well, you better say something because I’m about to freak the fuck out. You’ve been screwing the producer the whole time? What kind of a joke is this place? Is it always like this? You think you can invite women on here, get them to put their lives on hold to see if they’re right for you, and you go and do whatever the fuck you want? Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t blow this whole thing up right now!”

“I’m in love with her.”

“That’s it? That’s your reason? Sorry, dude. That’s not good enough.”

“I don’t want her to lose her job—I don’t want anyone to get hurt here—there’s been enough of that already. I love her, and I need—” He cut himself off, not entirely sure what he needed or what to tell Cassie.

“I need a way out of this,” he finally muttered.

“Just quit then,” she said, still clearly pissed.

“I can’t walk away as easy as you get to, all right? There’s no escape clause in my contract. Mine’s airtight.”

“Well, what do you want me to do about it?”

His plan only worked if she was on board. All in. “I want you to go to the end with me.”

“Pardon?”

Everything about this sucked. He got that. But maybe it would suck a little bit less if they both got something out of it. He would have an actual, real-world chance to be with Ginger, and Cassie would get a house, at the very least. Whether Ginger would approve or not wasn’t a question he was prepared to deal with yet, but if Cassie agreed, maybe he could convince Ginger to go along with it.

“The Panel wants me with Jenna. My sister wants it, Michelle really wants it—only thing is—I don’t want it. They think I’m pissed she’s here because I’m fighting repressed feelings for her—”

“We all think you’re fighting repressed feelings for her. She does, too. More than the rest of us do even. Wasn’t it Ginger’s idea to bring her back?”

Elliot waved a hand between them to erase the reminder. “Look—if I end up with Jenna after all this, I’m gonna leave her. I don’t want to be with her—she’ll have done all of this for nothing, and it’ll seriously mess with her. I don’t want that. I might not love her anymore, but I care about her. I care about you, too.”

Cassie tugged at the hem of her skirt, squirming like she couldn’t get comfortable. “You don’t think this is messing with me?”

“Cass, I’m sorry. I’m an asshole. All I can say is my intentions were good when this started. I fucked up. And you don’t deserve any of this.”

She pouted, staring at the door, but she wasn’t leaving yet, so…

“I could never have this conversation with Jenna. She and I can’t team up to outwit this system. You and I can, though. You can have the house. You can have the money—I’ll even take all the heat for the breakup.”

She slid a curious glance his way. “And what do you get? Ginger?”

“I just want out of this. As quickly and painlessly as possible—”

“This isn’t painless,” she snapped. “I actually wanted you.”

Oof.

She let the comment sit for a minute. Long enough for Elliot to understand he was an even bigger piece of shit than he thought.

“If you break up with me, you think they’d let me star in the next season?”

So, she was considering it. “I’ve got no control over that,” he said.

“Ginger might.”

“I’d rather Ginger didn’t know about this yet.”

“Why? You afraid she’s not as ‘in love’ as you are?” She exaggerated the words, adding air quotes and everything.

Elliot grimaced. Of course he was afraid of that. Trying to game the show could be a useless exercise, but it could still accomplish a couple things—it would get him off the show unattached, and it would save Ginger’s job. Whether she still wanted anything to do with him afterward was anyone’s guess, but at least they’d have a shot. “I’ll talk to her. Does this mean you’ll do it?”

“What do I have to do…exactly?”

“Act like you’re falling in love with me. Like we’re compatible as fuck.”

She gave him a slow blink. He couldn’t tell whether it was sarcastic or not. “What if we are compatible? Wildly?”

“Cassie…I like you. I have since day one. I’m not a huge fan of your family, but I think you turned out great. You’re gorgeous, fun—any guy would be lucky to have you. But my heart’s somewhere else.”

She let out a huge sigh and slumped against the back of the couch, dropping all her poise. “Story of my life. But I’ve never been dumped like this.”

“That a yes?”

“On one other condition.”

“Name it.”

“I want the challenge with you tonight. If at the end of it I think I can pull this off without my heart getting smeared all over the Rue d’whatever, then I’ll do it.”

Her concession relieved him beyond measure. “I’d hug you, but—”

She held up a hand. “Yeah. Don’t.”

Before the challenge that night, Elliot needed to find Ginger and explain his plan. If all went well, a lot of people were going to be getting the wrong idea about him and Cassie. He needed to be sure Ginger wasn’t one of them. Without a clue where to look for her, he headed for the lobby. The elevator doors slid open seconds after he pushed the down button to reveal Jenna, his sister, and Michelle recovering from a laugh.

“Elliot! Hey!” Anna grabbed his arm and pulled him inside the car. “Where are you headed?”

“Going for a walk.” He didn’t like the three of them together. It was a bad sign.

“Us, too! Join us!” Jenna unleashed that million-dollar smile, and Elliot wished he’d stayed in his room. He glanced at Michelle, but she avoided eye contact, instead staring at the panel of buttons near the door.

They arranged themselves so that Elliot stood next to Jenna. She made sure her arm was in constant contact with his. Their hands brushed against each other, and he twitched away. He wasn’t sure when she’d become repulsive, and that might not have been the exact right word, but he was somewhat repulsed—in the scientific sense of the word.

“Are you falling in love with Paris all over again?” she asked. “I am.”

“Every time,” he mumbled.

“Oh my God, same. Anna and I took a walk on the Seine last night with the Eiffel Tower lit up and I was like—this—this is everything.”

Elliot glanced down at Anna, who made a show of feigning nonchalance. Jenna hanging out with any members of his Panel was categorically unfair to the other women. Seemed he wasn’t the only one not following the rules.

“Jenna wanted to show me where the good pastries are,” his sister explained.

“Uh-huh.”

The doors opened on the ground floor, and like a magnet drawing his eyes, he spotted Ginger on a couch near the street window, examining her laptop screen. Elliot stepped into the lobby. “I’ve been looking for her. Excuse me.”

“Want us to wait for you?” Jenna asked.

Apparently, there were no rules in Paris. “You go ahead.” He was already halfway across the floor.

Ginger looked up as he approached, then she quickly scanned the room. She frowned when she spotted Jenna, Anna, and Michelle heading toward the revolving glass doors. “What’s that about?” she asked him, waving a hand their way.

“Why aren’t you returning my texts?”

“They weren’t urgent.”

“Are you still producing me or not?”

Her mouth twisted ruefully. “Honestly, I’m not sure. I’m kind of wondering who’s producing me at this point.”

Elliot almost laughed, but nothing about her situation was funny. “Can we go for a walk?”

She looked from him to the ladies as they strode ever closer to the hotel doors. “I need a minute.” She took off for the front. He followed more slowly, staying a few steps behind and stopping short of joining her at her side when she put a hand on Jenna’s shoulder to stop them. “What are you doing?” she asked.

Jenna met Ginger’s gaze with wide-eyed innocence. “We had a few hours to sightsee.”

“You need to get back to your room. This isn’t on your schedule.”

Jenna appeared to weigh the odds of winning the fight before deciding she had zero standing. Without an argument, she let go an exaggerated sigh and headed back to the elevators.

Ginger barely seemed to register her departure as she faced off with Michelle and Anna. Apparently, Jenna had only been the warm-up act. “What the hell do you two think you’re doing?”

Michelle, who rarely backed down from a challenge, moved to stand between Anna and Ginger. “We were going for a walk in Paris.”

“With one of our women. Who told you you could do that?”

Michelle’s answering smile was cold. Elliot inched slightly closer, afraid he might need to intervene. Michelle’s temper was no joke. His best friend spoke. “We have a job to do here for Elliot. We were doing it.”

Ginger stepped toe-to-toe with Michelle and lowered her voice. “Your job is to choose who’s right for Elliot. Based on their interactions with Elliot. Not to pick out who’s the most fun to go shopping with. This isn’t about you, Michelle. You came here for him.”

A sudden expansion in the area of his chest caused Elliot to heave in a deep breath.

Michelle blinked first in the standoff, with no ready comeback to Ginger’s reprimand.

Ginger took the advantage. “Interactions here are limited by design. You don’t get to pick and choose your favorites and disadvantage the rest of the cast.” She pointed a finger in his direction. “He’s the only one that matters. Your favorites don’t count. Either you start paying attention to what he needs, or I’ll have Lavonne make the final pick. Understand?”

Michelle’s lips thinned into a tight line. She glanced at Elliot who was just as blown back by Ginger’s words as she appeared to be. “You’re right,” she said.

Ginger gestured toward the revolving doors. “Enjoy your day then, ladies. This doesn’t happen again.”

Without another word, Michelle and Anna turned and left the hotel. Ginger pulled out her phone and began angry-texting someone, the tips of her thumbs banging the screen.

“Thank you,” he said, but it was barely more than a whisper.

“You’re welcome,” she muttered as she fired off the text.

“I can’t remember the last time—”

A sudden clap shut him up, even as his heart was set to explode in the center of his chest, full of so much love and gratitude he didn’t know how he was still managing to take in enough air to breathe.

“Hey—you two.” Kat hurried toward them. “What is this?”

Elliot cleared his throat, trying to make room for words alongside all the feelings that were choking him. “I was talking to my producer.”

“Why? What do you need? Your schedule? We had one sent to you this morning.”

“I wanted to—”

“Uh-uh. Nope.” Kat pointed at the elevator. “Away with you. I don’t want you two alone again for the rest of production. Elliot, if you need something, you contact me.”

“What am I supposed do?” Ginger asked her. “Sit on the sidelines and watch?”

“You and I can discuss that privately.”

“I’d like to discuss what Jenna was doing out of her hotel room all set to wander the streets of Paris with half The Panel on their own in the middle of the day,” Ginger said instead.

Kat’s head jerked back. “Excuse me?”

“Meaning—you have your own job to do. I can handle mine.”

“Oh? That’s all you two have been doing together? Your job? Want me to ask Marlon what he thinks about the extra hours you’re putting in?”

Elliot’s fight or flight kicked in as he prepared for Ginger’s reaction to Kat’s threat. True to form, a glacial mask moved across her face, guard up. Her voice was ice cold. “Elliot, excuse us, please. Check your schedule. We’ll see you later.”

Elliot took his time walking away. Meanwhile the tension mounted like a tide behind him. This had been his one chance to tell Ginger about his arrangement with Cassie before the challenge that night, but she was unreachable at the moment and, from what he could tell, for the foreseeable future. Even with everyone who mattered knowing the truth about them, he was further from having her than ever.

Cassie gave Elliot a promising smile as they wrapped up their Eiffel Tower photo scavenger hunt. There on the third level, the nighttime lights of Paris glittered with the promise of new beginnings. Cassie looked beautiful, her blond curls spilling over her shoulders, and her dimples on full display.

He faced her as they leaned on the railing. “What city do you dream of visiting?”

She sighed like she was in heaven up there. “It’s gonna sound stupid, but I’ve never been to New York.”

“That’s not stupid.”

“You’ve been a million times, I assume.”

“Just for work. Never to hang out and explore. But I like it.”

“Could you live there?” she asked as she snapped another photo of the view.

“I figure I could live anywhere—” Here goes. He gave a small tug on her hand. “With the right person.”

She looked up at him, stars in her eyes and everything. “Who is the right person for you?”

Elliot was so glad Ginger wasn’t here to witness this. It was the one small mercy this season had shown him so far. “I feel like I get closer to knowing that every minute.” He gave the words extra weight and meaning, channeling all the intensity of his feelings for Ginger into his expression. “Tonight’s been so much fun, Cass.”

“Agreed.”

Time to lay it on a little thicker. “I know none of this is easy for you. I know you left a lot behind to be here, but I’m glad you came. I feel like we really get each other.”

She stepped in closer, so close her sweater grazed his jacket. “Do any of us even have a chance with you anymore?”

“You mean because Jenna’s here?”

She kept her eyes unguarded, allowing him to answer any way he needed to.

“You do,” he said in a whisper, as intimately as possible.

“Elliot…” She brought a hand to his face, her eyes filling with tears.

He couldn’t tell anymore how much of it was an act and how much was sincere. How many people was he going to hurt when this came to a disastrous end? Before he could even take a breath to respond, her lips were on his, attempting to tease them apart as her arms wrapped around his shoulders.

Shit. No, no, no, no, no. Ginger could never, ever see this.

Before things got any worse, Elliot turned his head, his mouth brushing Cassie’s cheek instead. He pulled her into a tight hug and breathed a sigh of relief. He needed to find Ginger. Soon. To Explain. Because if everybody didn’t get on the same page fast, his plan would blow up in his face.