Her TV Bachelor Fake Fiancé: Christmas Romance Series Page 4

  Soon the scene changed and they were on the moonlit playground, talking late into the evening as the crickets chirped. Canyon was on one swing, Cambria on the one beside him.

  “I saw that the charity of your choice was called Breaking Free,” Canyon said while carving a line into the sand with the toe of his boot. “It has something to do with addiction, right?”

  Cambria nodded. “Right.”

  “Can I ask why you chose that one?”

  She held his gaze for a blink, then nodded. “Yes. Someone very dear to me was addicted to prescription drugs once. She was missing out on life and going downhill fast. Luckily, and I should add eventually, too, she agreed to get help. The facility was small, more of a startup thing, but it worked. And since then, she’s joined forces with the operators and helps run the place.”

  He held her gaze for a long while. The cameras zoomed in on him in the stillness. “Someone I love had the same problem,” he said in a whisper. “And sometimes I worry that the problem’s coming back. But I’m not sure.”

  Cambria nodded. “It’s hard to know how serious it is,” she said. “I know that, while I was trying to figure out what to do about it, I just felt so… helpless.”

  “Exactly,” he said.

  “You’re not though,” she assured. “Whoever this person is… there’s hope for him or her. In fact, I’ve got connections to a really awesome facility. I’ll hook you up, okay?” She’d tried to keep it light, as heavy as the topic was.

  The chemistry that had stirred between the two on that night poured into the small theater. She wasn’t sure why. But as she watched herself abandon her own swing, slide onto Canyon’s swing like she’d done with her friends when she was young, more of those feelings came back.

  “This is called the spider,” she said, holding onto the chains as she settled onto his lap. “See how my legs are going one way and yours are going the other?”

  Canyon wrapped a hand around her back while keeping one hand on the chains and smiled at her. “Anything that puts you in my lap like this is a very good thing.”

  She laughed, and so did he. And then Canyon brought a hand around the back of her neck and looked into her eyes. “Thank you for opening up to me about the charity and your loved one. It gives me hope.”

  She tilted her head, a soft, almost sad smile pulling at her lips. “There’s always hope.” And then she leaned in for a kiss that was undeniably initiated by her.

  Their lips touched, gently at first. One kiss. Two.

  He pulled back, looked at her in the moon’s glow, and traced the shape of her lips with the tip of his thumb. She kissed even that, seduced by the magnetic draw. At once, Canyon came back in for a longer, more persuasive connection.

  If she’d been the one to start the kiss, he’d been the one to escalate things into a moment that had left her dying for more of the same. Her hand wove through his hair. A whimper sounded from her throat. Canyon released a muffled groan.

  Cambria stared at the screen as those feelings poured over her anew. She couldn’t help it. Having him in the same room with her, so close and accessible. A very real part of her longed to relive the moment right there and then.

  Canyon must have been having similar thoughts, because suddenly his hand dropped to the small space between them. Face up. There was the very thumb he’d traced her lips with. The one she’d kissed a moment before kissing that beautiful mouth of his. When she didn’t respond, he stretched his fingers enough to trace the side of her leg. Down her lower thigh, up and over her knee. It was the first bit of attention he’d given her since the show started.

  Cambria was biting her lip again. A giveaway, if he’d paid close attention, that she was nervous. She almost wished Canyon would neglect the big screen and pull her onto his lap once again.

  “I just wanted to tell you,” Cambria’s own voice broke into her thoughts. The scene had shifted to the moment before things went wrong.

  Canyon pulled his hand back and straightened up. The chemistry stirring between them vanished like vapor.

  “It’s tempting to ignore the situation,” she continued. “But even if it puts your relationship at risk—”

  “I’m not ignoring the situation,” he snapped. “It’s just… it’s probably not as bad as I thought so you don’t have to worry about it.”

  “So you don’t want the number to the facility?”

  “Nope.”

  “Because I could just give it to you so that if you change your mind—”

  “I’m not going to change my mind. There’s not a problem, okay? Can you just drop it?”

  Cambria stood there, stunned. “Then why did you say that there was?”

  Canyon shrugged and looked away before setting those stormy blue eyes back on her. “It got you to kiss me, didn’t it?”

  He’d barely finished the sentence when Cambria slapped his face. “You’re a jerk,” she hissed. She stepped away from him, tore the token off her neck and threw it in his direction. “Don’t give this back to me tonight. I want to go home.”

  Had she left the show prematurely, without Canyon letting her go, Cambria’s charity wouldn’t have received the funds promised in her contract with the show. So she’d shown up at the formal Stay or Go ceremony while the token necklaces were handed to six of the remaining women, while she and another gal, Chalice, were sent home.

  Suddenly the screen went black, the lights flicked on, and Lisa spoke up from somewhere behind them. “Well, I bet our couple has a lot of digesting to do now that they’ve relived those moments. At the present moment, they’re going to bid one another goodnight. But join us next time when the two sit down and discuss just what went wrong. It might be their only chance at finding their destined fiancé.”

  Canyon was on his feet before Cambria could get herself to move. And then he was bolting toward the movie room’s exit. “Goodnight, all. It’s been real good.”

  The camera crew began tearing down the set, collapsing umbrellas and tripods, unplugging and winding cords. Cambria got to her feet, wove her way past the crew with silent nods and smiles, and strode toward the spot of light shining from her room down the hall.

  Her emotions were teetering so quickly from one extreme to the next, it was hard to pinpoint what she was feeling. Excitement, anger, both? The truth was, she’d almost forgotten how deep her feelings for Canyon had managed to go in such a short time. Forgotten, until she watched it back with him all flirtatious and warm and smelling good beside her.

  Find My Fiancé had deemed this shot at redemption as a Winter Wonderland, but after tonight, Cambria was certain that—at least for her—it’d be more of a whirlwind.

  Chapter 5

  “Canyon, what do you have to say to Cambria about what you did to her?”

  It took every conscious sliver of strength to not roll his eyes at the therapist conducting the session between him and Cambria, a joker of a man who looked just like a wild scientist, crazy hair and all.

  The camera came in so close to his face Canyon mused he might fog the lens if he exhaled the breath he was holding. He glanced at Cambria, and noticed she wore a crown on her head. America’s Favorite, the jeweled piece boasted. And was that a wig she was wearing? Yes. Cambria looked very much like the queen of England suddenly.

  And what was this? Canyon gasped as he glanced down at his own clothes. Filthy and torn, his shirt and pants barely clung to his dwindling frame. The one shoe he wore was torn so badly, half of his foot was exposed.

  Suddenly his father’s voice boomed from behind. “I told you not to tell anyone about your mother’s problem. Good luck supporting your mom and sister without my help.” A deep chuckle echoed so loudly it pulled Canyon from sleep.

  He sat up like the puppet master had pulled the strings, barely a conscious thought attached, and fought for breath. Cold beads of sweat dripped down his temples. He smeared his forehead and sighed. Just a dream, Canyon It was only a dream.

  He shoved off the cover
s and made his way to the bathroom, led by the scanty light of dawn pouring in from the vaulted windows.

  The rock, slated floor was cool beneath his feet as Canyon pulled his tee shirt over his head and tossed it in the corner. His boxers hit the floor next, and soon he was stepping inside the steamy shower. Hot water trickled over his shoulders and neck as he rolled his head from one side to the next. He reached blindly for a bar of soap, tore off the package with his teeth, then rubbed the small square over his chest and arms as it began to suds up. A nice pine smell came from the soap, which matched the environment here in Jackson. But the crisp scent wasn’t enough to pull his thought from the dream for long. There was no mystery behind the recurring theme. And as Canyon often did, he pondered the moment that triggered the undying fear in his heart.

  Instantly, he was there, sitting in the backseat beside Rain. Just a baby at the time, his sister was buckled into her car seat, facing Canyon with a wide, rosy-cheeked grin.

  “Take a look out your window, Raylene,” his father had warned from the front cab. “Take a good, hard look. If you leave me… you and the kids will be out on the streets, just like these folks.” Canyon’s mother remained quiet as Canyon, just nine years old, stared at the homeless people lined up to get a meal outside the shelter.

  He recalled sifting through the trail of men with long hair, overgrown beards, and soiled clothes. And there, as if proving that what his father threatened could become a reality, a woman sat with two small children on her lap, rocking back and forth and singing while they waited. The dirt smudges on her face weren’t an unexpected sight; however, the smile she wore as she looked at her kids was.

  Over the years, Canyon pondered the woman’s smile. The tattered state of her clothes said they’d been on the streets for a while. The grin, as genuine as it looked, couldn’t have been real. Somewhere along the way Canyon became convinced that it wasn’t. She was merely trying to put on a show for her kids. See? Things aren’t so bad. We’re about to eat very soon.

  He couldn’t help but wonder how many of Mom’s smiles had been feigned over the years.

  A rash of guilt broke out over his body. As much as he tried convincing himself otherwise, he worried that his mother was still trying to numb the pain. Sure, she’d overcome the addiction and gotten clean over two years ago, but he couldn’t help but worry the signs were coming back. Signs he was trying very hard not to see.

  He wouldn’t let it get that bad again. Ever. And neither would Rain. The truth of that leant him the comfort he longed for. If Mom really had turned back to the pills, Rain would know it, and she’d let Canyon know. The thought appeased him, even if he didn’t fully believe it.

  * * *

  The buzzing of Cambria’s phone pulled her from sleep, one vibrating pulse at a time. She flung her arm toward the other side of the massive bed and tugged it from the charger.

  “Hello?” she said, eyes still closed and only half-awake.

  “Did you read through this thing?”

  Cambria lay there, trying to figure out whose very familiar voice was on the other end of the line. And why was he yelling at her?

  “Cambria? I’m looking over the contract you sent me and I’m pretty sure you didn’t read the fine print.”

  It came to her then. Jack, her lawyer.

  “Ummmm…” She yawned and stretched and let out a very loud and sleepy sigh. “It’s like two hundred pages, Jack. So no. I didn’t. No one does.”

  “Did you really just say ‘no one does’ to a lawyer? I read everything.”

  “Well, what does it say?” She tossed off her covers and yawned again. How bad could it be? So she had to pretend to like him or go on a dozen fantasy dates with him. Who cared?

  “If he proposes to you within the two-week timeframe, you have to say yes on camera.”

  “No I don’t.”

  “Yes,” he said. “You do. You’ve basically been hired to be an actress. I’m texting you the highlighted spots in your contract now. They’re paying you to play the part of a smitten lover if he falls for you.”

  Cambria let that sink into her suddenly wide-awake brain. Her phone buzzed a few times, letting her know she’d already received the texts. “You’re kidding.”

  “Nope. Take a look for yourself.”

  She chuckled.

  “How is that you’re laughing about this?” Jack sounded so disturbed that he made her laugh some more. She could just picture him and those dark-rimmed glasses, getting his goatee all in a knot.

  “Because first of all, Canyon is not going to fall for me, and second of all, even if he did, no one would ever really believe I was in love with him in return. It would make for the worst TV ever. I’m just not the fake it ‘til you make it type. Marsha totally knows that. If they want it to look like amateur hour, they’ll go ahead and have him propose to me. That ought to be good.”

  That silenced him for a bit. “You legally couldn’t tell your own family or friends that it was all an act,” he added. “Even after the fact.”

  That stung. “Ever?” she asked.

  “Ever,” he said. “They could sue you for everything you own or ever will own.”

  “Huh.” A gloomy cloud worked to settle over her head. One that might very well stick with her the entire two weeks if she let it. “That’s weird. Hopefully he won’t propose then.”

  “And if he does propose and you do say yes, which you’re legally bound to do, you must stay engaged for no less than sixty days at which point you could either break up, get married, or continue with the engagement until the wedding date of your choice.”

  That legality caused another laugh to bubble in her throat. “That’s absurd. Talk about wishful thinking. You know, I’m starting to think that Marsha’s a romantic at heart. She really wants to see the two of us together.”

  “Yeah, well, she’s in the minority with that vote. Most fans want to see you dump him on his butt again, preferably with another face slap.”

  “Now that sounds a lot more likely to me,” Cambria said through another yawn.

  “Well,” Jack said, “good luck with that. Consider yourself warned.”

  Cambria would be lying if she said the call hadn’t unsettled her at least a little. She tried to imagine Canyon Byer actually getting onto one knee and asking for her hand in marriage. As unrealistic and unappetizing as the idea was, a tiny thrill jolted through her in response to the image of the gorgeous man looking up at her through those dark lashes to declare his undying love.

  That, she decided, was her weak side. The part that was swept away by his incredible good looks alone. And the fact that she’d crushed on him for a solid year before they’d even met didn’t help. So yeah, of course part of her would be enticed by the idea. The bigger part of her knew better: Being the recipient of a proposal from Canyon, under the circumstances, would be horrible for her, him, and all of America who had to watch. Cambria might have had something that made the viewers at home root for her. But if there was one thing she lacked in spades, it was acting skills. She just hoped she wouldn’t be forced to play the lead role in such an ugly sham.

  Chapter 6

  Canyon eyed the array of baking ingredients spread over the counter before setting his gaze on Lisa Throw.

  The woman wiggled her shoulders, blew out a slow breath, and gave the cameramen a nod. “We’re back with an exciting new episode of Find My Fiancé, winter fantasy edition. After our dramatic ending to Canyon and Cambria’s movie night date, we promised our bachelor and bachelorette that we’d try to sift through the troubles that inevitably severed their relationship. Now it’s time to see if these star-crossed lovers can clear the path leading to the chemistry they so obviously shared.”

  Canyon glanced at Cambria to see if her face changed at the mention of their chemistry. The truth was, there wasn’t a shortage of sparks between them even still. Heck, just watching that kiss between them set the room ablaze. At least for him. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, Camb
ria’s unique confidence was as sexy as it was intimidating.

  “Meet Dr. Harold Hallinger, the counseling cook,” Lisa chirped, gaining his attention once more.

  Canyon could hardly believe his ears. He lifted a brow. “A counseling cook?”

  Cambria cleared her throat, but it sounded a lot like a laugh.

  One of the two cameramen panned over to the kitchen’s entrance. A round gentleman wearing dark-rimmed glasses, a baker’s hat, and a white coat strolled into the room with a smile on his face.

  Canyon fought an eye-roll. Only on reality television. Dr. Hallinger took a moment to explain his passion for both counseling and cooking, which led to his unique service of offering therapy sessions while helping the couple cook a meal they’d sit down and eat together. In this case, they’d be making eggnog pancakes with rum syrup.

  “We have him over here on one side and her over here on the other and as we go along, we’re going to move you two a little closer, and a little closer, and by the time we’re done, you’ll sit down to a lovely breakfast and enjoy one another’s company.”

  At the mention of the distance between them, Canyon let his gaze drift to her side of the counter. He was surprised to find Cambria’s brown eyes were already fixed on him, the look of contemplation on her face.

  Warm sparks stirred low in his belly.

  “Canyon,” Dr. Hallinger said. “Flour is what holds our ingredients together in baked goods. In a relationship, that element is trust. So, we’re going to address the very incident that caused the distrust, right up front, when you took back what you’d told Cambria at the park.”

  Great.

  “So,” the counselor continued, “would you please measure out the flour, drop it into the bowl, and then tell us your truth regarding the words you spoke the moment before Cambria slapped you.”