Chapter Thirty-Two

The grounds of the Hacienda were empty when Ginger pulled into the driveway, but the number of cars she was forced to park behind said everyone was working overtime to get the cleanup done. She walked the remainder of the way up the hill and climbed the steps to the kitchen patio. Before entering, she peered through the glass door panes. Kat was screwing the cap on a bottle of whiskey and returning it to one of the exposed shelves. Ginger tapped on the door, and her friend waved her inside.

Everything was pretty quiet. Ginger had expected more action.

“You have the phone?”

Ginger reached into her bag.

“Wait—no—” Kat interrupted with a wave of her hand. “I wanted to show you something first. Come with me to the Candle Room.”

“Why?”

“I knew you’d show up wearing your interview clothes, so I had Vanessa go and buy us these two outfits I saw on sale at Nordstrom. We are going fancy tonight.”

“I look fine. I don’t need to be fancy.”

But Kat was already crossing the empty living area and heading for the Candle Room. Ginger followed her. “Where is everybody?”

“Out by the pool and the guesthouse, I think.”

Reaching the romantically decorated room, Kat closed the door behind them. She picked up a garment bag from the velvet sofa and shoved it at Ginger. “I got us a reservation at Castile’s, so you can’t wear that. Try this on.”

People said amazing things about the desserts at Castile’s. “I’m sure it’s fine.”

“Just try it on! Jeez. How much do I ask from you? Your makeup looks awesome by the way. How’d the interview go?”

“Pretty well, I think.” Ginger unbuttoned her blouse as Kat unzipped the long black bag. “White? I’m pretty much planning to drown myself in chocolate sauce, black would be better—”

“Here.” Kat thrust the short, flirty dress at her. “I’ll give you a second. You don’t have to strip naked in front of me, but when I come back, I want this dress on that bod. Got it?”

Ginger laughed, some of the awkwardness of returning to the Hacienda dissipating in the midst of Kat’s ridiculous demands. “Yes, ma’am.”

Kat whisked herself out of the room, leaving Ginger alone to change.

Elliot’s heart lodged in his throat.

All the footage, every snippet of film that Elliot had insisted must have existed of himself and Ginger during the season scrolled across the screen before his widening eyes. And then some. Moments he hadn’t considered, but someone had combed through and dug up. “This is impossible,” he whispered.

“Obviously, we’ve all met your producer Ginger,” Michelle said. “The two of you tackled challenge after challenge, sometimes easily, sometimes not so much. The day you came across the zip line together you demonstrated everything the show stands for.”

“Compatibility, communication, compromise,” Lavonne supplied. “The three Cs of every successful relationship.”

“And chemistry,” Anna added with a smile. “I totally ship it.”

“I like her for you, Elliot,” Michelle said.

It was so much to process. His emotions bounced between anger and elation. “You wanted me with Jenna.”

“I wanted you to find your match.”

Hope, something he’d completely lost, emerged like a warm fire in his chest. “What does this mean?”

Irene beamed at her son. “It means you have our blessing to follow your heart. The choice is yours.”

“Ginger’s one of my choices?”

The entire Panel nodded.

“Is she here?”

The door to The Panel’s room opened. Elliot’s head turned sharply toward it. “We need your decision first, Elliot,” Kat said from the hallway.

He pointed at the screen where Ginger’s beautiful face remained frozen in a laugh. His heart threatened to shatter his ribs. “That woman. She’s the one. Consider me matched.”

The commotion approaching from the hallway sounded like Kat was bringing a pack of dogs with her. It was more likely people were hauling equipment out of The Panel’s room, though. Without a mirror to check herself, Ginger would have to rely on Kat’s word to let her know whether this dress was far too much for a night out or not.

She suspected it was.

The door flew open, and her former PA Vanessa burst in. “Get your shoes on!”

“What? Why?”

“Um—because—Kat says—uh….”

“Jesus, Vanessa.” Ginger stepped into the black heels she’d worn to her job interview. They didn’t go with the dress at all. “Is there a fire?”

“I don’t know.” Vanessa scooped the open garment bag into her arms, along with the clothes Ginger had worn over. She tossed all of it behind the velvet sofa.

Before Ginger had a chance to protest her expensive pants being thrown on the floor, Vanessa was closing in on her, fluffing out her hair, fingers rubbing beneath her eyes. Ginger batted her hands away, stumbling backward in her heels. “What the hell are you doing?”

“They’re coming!”

“What—?”

The first camera entered the room, green light blaring, and Ginger’s stomach dropped. “What’s happening?”

More cameramen pushed their way into the small room, surrounding her, crowding her view of the door, leaving her no means of escape from whatever stupid prank Kat was pulling.

“Ginger!”

His voice.

Elliot, looking insanely handsome, appeared in the doorway between two cameras trained on him.

Every other lens captured Ginger’s jaw drop as her knees softened to nothing.

He was on her in a heartbeat, hands grasping her waist, moving up her back, burning lips capturing hers in a passionate release of a kiss.

At first, she tried to hold him off, desperate for no one else to see this, but she’d missed him too much. She shifted to cradle his face, holding him close to her for as long as they had left.

Wait—how long did they have left? He wasn’t supposed to be there—why were they filming?

What the fuck was happening?

“Wait—” she managed to say, breaking away and leaning back to meet his intense gaze. “We can’t—” She glanced at the cameras, and spotted Kat and Matt crowded against the wall behind them. Matt eyed her nervously, but Kat looked like she was about to burst with glee or—pride?

“You can,” Kat said, beaming.

“We have The Panel’s blessing,” Elliot said, dropping his forehead to rest against hers. Like he’d run a thousand miles, he closed his eyes and let out an exhausted sigh. “You and me. Please tell me they didn’t make another mistake.”

The pieces put themselves together. The footage she’d caught Kat going through, the cameramen, Vanessa, the white dress…

She was on the finale.

She was Elliot’s match.

“You picked me,” she whispered.

He nodded, their heads moving as one.

“And The Panel was okay with it?”

“I need you to catch up, Ginger,” he said quietly. “I’m freaking out here.”

“Why?”

“Because if I lose you one more time, I won’t have any heart left to give away.”

“I—” Ginger could barely form a thought, much less words.

He hugged her tight, arms wrapped around her back, his cheek pressed against hers. “I love you. I meant every word. I was about to walk.”

She melted against him, secure in his embrace, sure he’d hold her up if she did indeed swoon.

“Okay. You have to say something. Are we in this together or not?”

“Of course we are,” she managed.

“And?”

She pulled away a few inches to be able to look him in the eyes. Those gorgeous eyes, slaying her once again. “I love you, too.”

A grin stretched across his face, showing his laugh lines and his perfect teeth. “How ’bout this loophole, huh?”

His joy was radiant. “I guess you showed me.”

He lifted her clear off the ground. Despite the crowd, despite the cameras, she gave herself to the moment and wrapped her whole self around him, officially claiming the man of her dreams.

“If you guys don’t mind,” Elliot announced to the room, “I’d like to have my happy ending now.”

“That’s the season, ladies and gentlemen,” Kat called out. “It’s a wrap.”