Fairytale Love - Becca & Brian(27)

"I just wanted to apologize for my asinine comments earlier. I was  joking around with the guys. Not that that's an excuse-it's not. But I  would never have said it if I thought any of you ladies would have  overheard it. I respect women. I do. I was raised by a single mom who  worked two jobs just to keep a roof over our heads. She's not just the  most amazing woman I know. She's also the most amazing person I know."

Reaching up, he squeezed the bridge of his nose and sniffed before  taking a deep breath and continuing. "Sometimes, I just say the first  thing I think of to try to make people laugh. I mean, look at me." He  motioned his hand down his torso. "I'm not the kind of guy people feel  at ease and comfortable around. Joking around is my way of putting  everyone at ease. But it shouldn't have been at your ladies' expense,  and for that, I'm truly sorry."

Hanging his head, he sat down to a chorus of, "It's okay," and "Aww."  Becca didn't say anything, but she was feeling a little bad for not  giving him the benefit of the doubt. Usually, she had a three-strike  rule with people. Which, basically, meant that she reserved judgment  until someone repeated a behavior at least three times. People had bad  days-bad weeks, even. She tried not to let one action define what she  thought of someone.

She felt Colton's arm wrap around her before he leaned close, really  close, to her ear. He whispered so low that she could barely hear him,  "Don't feel bad or change your opinion too quick. I heard him practicing  that little speech upstairs when he was in the shower. I asked him what  he was doing, and he said, ‘Practicing my redemption speech for  airtime'."

Becca thought she'd heard him right, but she turned towards Colton and mouthed, "He planned that?"

Colton nodded then removed his arm from around her and began eating while he gave her a private smile.

Two things occurred to her. This was a reality show, but that didn't  mean that it was real. This was, first and foremost, a competition.  People were not all here to find love or even here with the best  intentions. Even the good people, which she considered herself and Brian  to be in that category, had ulterior motives.

She was only here to support her best friend, and Brian was only here  for the money. It was fairly obvious that Brooklyn was here for what  looked like the same reason as Jax-airtime. It made her wonder …  Why was  Colton here?

He seemed like a good guy. He was good-looking. Educated. He owned property and a business. Why would he go on a dating show?

Well, she guessed there was one way to find out.

"So what made you want to do this?" Becca asked quietly, even though she  was pretty sure the mics picked up everything they said anyway. But, at  least the other contestants sitting around them wouldn't hear.                       
       
           



       

He paused for a moment, still looking down at his plate. Then his eyes  lifted to hers as he said with a half smile, "I'll tell you if you tell  me."

"I just wanted to try something new. After I graduate and complete my  residency, I want to settle down and have a family, so I figured what  other time would I have a chance to do something like this?" Becca  managed to get it out in one breath. She figured that it was her story  and she was sticking to it. It had convinced Brian, at least enough to  drop the subject, so she hoped it would have the same effect on Colton.

Becca hated lying, and that's all she seemed to have been doing over the  last few days. For some reason, whenever she even had to bend the  truth, she felt like there was a big blinking neon sign on her forehead  that said L-I-A-R.

"Oh," he said with a blank expression on his face.

She couldn't tell if he'd believed it, but she figured she'd move the conversation along either way. "Your turn."

He wiped his mouth with his napkin and took a sip from his wine before  shifting in his chair towards her. "Well, my little sister has leukemia  and she loves reality shows. She also loves butting into my life. So  when she asked me to try out, I couldn't say no. How do you say no to  someone's dying wish?"

It was official. She was the worst person in the world.

"Seriously?" Becca asked before she could stop herself.

She saw the side of his mouth twitch and a spark in his eye as he said, "No. Not seriously."

"What?!" Becca swatted his arm. And not playfully either. She hit him.  Hard. Who would joke about something like that? An asshole-that's who.

"Hey," Colton protested as he grabbed his arm and smiled at her. "Just  the deathbed part. The rest is true. Jolene does have leukemia, but  she's been in remission for six months. I am doing the show because she  asked me to, but only because after what I saw her go through with chemo  and radiation, I figured if my going on this show could bring her a  little happiness, it was the least I could do. And hey, if I find  someone in the process, then all the better."

"Oh, well … that's really sweet. I'm sorry that she went through that."  Becca's voice cracked and she felt tears brimming in her eyes.

She looked down at her food and tried to fight back the tears. Colton  might not, technically, be here for fairytale love, but he was open to  it. Too bad his ‘princess' wasn't.

She shouldn't be here. What if she had said no? He might have actually found his fairytale love.

"Sorry," he apologized, and she felt his hand rub up and down her back.  "I shouldn't have done that. I just thought, since you weren't telling  me the whole truth, I wouldn't tell you either."

"What?" Becca looked up, not following.

"You may want to try new experiences, but that's not why you're here,"  he said with a knowing smile before turning back to his plate and  continuing to eat.

Becca picked up her fork and couldn't help but feel … exposed. Her eyes  automatically shot to Brian, who looked to be deep in a flirty  conversation with Brooklyn. The worst part of seeing them stare into  each other's eyes while talking in hushed voices was that they actually  made a really cute couple. They looked like a wedding cake topper. Like  the quarterback and the head cheerleader. Like the leading man and lady  in a romantic comedy.

They looked like a real fairytale couple.





Chapter Thirteen





Brian yawned for at least the tenth time since he'd sat down at the  table for breakfast. Every time he did, Brooklyn got a hurt look in her  eye. The last few, she'd even started sighing, crossing her arms,  and-hand to God-stuck out a boo-boo lip. What grown woman stuck out her  bottom lip like she was a petulant toddler?

He'd ignored her behavior for a couple of reasons. One, he wasn't a  morning person and dealing with someone pouting was not the thing that  would suddenly convert him and put him in a good mood. He could just  explain that he'd had a bad night's sleep, but that would inevitably  lead to questions. Brian didn't feel like making up a reason that he  hadn't slept the night before. And there was no way he was going to tell  her the truth-that he'd tossed and turned because of the all-night  showing of the Becca-and-Colton movie playing in his head. And he'd  witnessed enough real-life interaction to have a large pool to fill his  mind with. Last night, during dinner, he'd seen them whispering to each  other, laughing. Hell, once he'd even seen her tear up.                       
       
           



       

What could that guy have possibly been telling her to incite that reaction?

Becca might be putting up with the cameras and forcing a smile or two,  but he knew her. There was no way that she had been faking those tears  or the smiles Brian had seen her shooting the cowboy.

"Did you hear me?" Brooklyn asked, interrupting his thoughts, sounding not too pleased.

He would think that she was just trying to play it up to get more  airtime, but they weren't filming right now. No one was mic'd. Everyone  was just eating breakfast, which meant she was really trying to connect.

Shit.

Brian picked up his mug of coffee and saw that it was empty. That wouldn't do. Not at all.

"No. Sorry." Scooting his chair back, he held up his mug. "I'm gonna go  get a refill, and then, when I get back, I'll be all ears. I promise."

That got a little smile from her. "Okay. If you promise," she said in a baby voice.

A baby voice.

Seriously. Pouting. A baby voice. How was he going to last through  breakfast, much less the rest of the week or even the next few weeks?

Coffee. He was going to need a lot of coffee.

He stepped up to the breakfast buffet the show had set up at the far end  of the dining hall and was just reaching for the handle of the coffee  pot when he heard, "If you take the last cup of coffee, I will kill  you."