And then, in the final moments of euphoria, my pleasure-flooded head went to silly places.
I saw him smiling down at me, his hands in mine, as he told me he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. I saw a house filled with warmth and happiness and laughter. I saw him climbing from our swimming pool, our children clambering to him, as he met my eye with a smirk.
I cursed myself once the orgasm had passed.
A family together?
It makes no sense, but I can’t deny the feeling that touches me now, as I pull into the coffee shop’s parking lot. It’s the same desire, the same insane compulsion, to somehow get the CEO’s attention.
He’s on a show with five beautiful women, some of whom have literally won beauty competitions.
Do I really think he’d even look at me?
I’ll just be a nobody in his eyes.
After getting the coffee, Lisa instructs me to sort an accommodation issue for Hallie, one of the contestants. Apparently, her hotel claims that they have no record of her booking. I’m on the phone for an hour, trying my best to assert myself with the receptionists.
I’ve never been the best at causing a fuss, but I’m quickly learning I’m going to have to get used to it. I can’t afford to be timid in this bustling world, where results are all that matter.
Finally, I manage to sort the issue, and then I have to run into the city to pick up a dress. When I return, the set is far quieter than before, dark except for the stage. I take the dress to the wardrobe room and then sneak to the very back of the set, my body, and mind weary from so much running around.
The show is starting, I realize. Everyone is silent as Kayden Kater walks onto the stage.
I bite down on a breath, forcing myself to stay silent. Kayden is even more captivating in real life. Even with the cameras and the crew members between us, I feel my body getting warmer, my sex giving a pulse. I run my tongue over my lips, my mouth suddenly dry.
He's wearing a steel-colored suit, the same shade as his hair. His face is clean shaved, his jaw square and strong. His hair is cut slightly longer on the top and short on the sides. And his body… he looks like he could burst out of his suit at any second, his muscles bulging.
He sits in the armchair and looks at the camera, at the director. The director gives a thumbs up and Kayden does his best to smile, but it comes across as a smirk as if he knows the punchline to a joke we can’t even guess.
“As the CEO of a multi-billion-dollar company, it’s difficult to find time for love. That’s why I’d like to thank Vista Studios and, in particular, the five ladies who have agreed to this. Unfortunately, however, in the search for my true love…”
He trails off, his smirk twitching. I get the sense he’s trying to hold back a laugh. Maybe he finds the whole thing ridiculous.
“… there can only be one winner,” he finishes, as though forcing the words out.
I know that there is a presenter elsewhere, doing voiceover for the live studio scene and that someone is also playing music in the background. But on the set, there’s only silence until the women start walking out.
My chest tightens when I see them.
It’s silly. It’s not like I ever had a chance with Kayden freaking Kater anyway, not in a million years, but when the contestants introduce themselves, I know I have less than a zero percent chance.
Yasmin is a three-time beauty pageant winner, tall and sleek and elegant, with flowing coal-black hair, and a glittering dress hugging her body.
Grace was a high school swimming champion, with a bob of blonde hair and a stylish look about her.
Natalie is a fitness instructor, and she looks the part. Her body is fit and model like, the opposite of mine. She even has a nice voice, husky and suggestive, the sort of voice that could drive any man wild.
Oaklyn was a Miss World runner-up. She’s wearing the most extravagant dress, straps criss crossing over her thighs. She’s the most like me in build, but that’s only because the others are so athletic. She holds her curves better than I ever could, and has a confident way of walking that would make me feel silly.
The final contestant is Hallie. She’s a socialite with a dress so short it almost shows her ass. Her arms are covered in tattoos and her fringed hair is dyed pink, her bracelets jangling as she walks over to her spot.
All of them are between twenty-five and thirty-five, another point against me. I’m only nineteen. There’s no way Kayden would want someone like me when there’s an age gap of twenty-four years, not that it would bother me.