Laguna Nights (26 page)

“With Josh?” Tom said from off camera.

“What? No, with this, with television, with acting,” Madison said.

“Not even a little bit of this was because Josh was, as you said on the
Laguna Nights
show, the love of your life,” Tom said. “You guys really seemed to have an instant attraction. Pretty hot.”

Madison smiled. “I suppose he does have something to do with it,” she said. “But this is his travel show. Not mine. I’m just helping him out. He’ll take off again, and I’ll go back to my regular life, already in progress.”

On screen, the camera shot pulled in tight on her face as she said, “It was amazing doing it again.”

It was Madison’s turn to stand up. “That was all Tom. He edited that together. It made it seem like we had slept together.”

“Well you did at some point,” Francine said, pointing at her burgeoning belly.

On screen, the camera showed Josh walking quickly across the beach, up the stairs and disappearing into the crowd. Laura’s voiceover said, “While Holly’s having fun, Josh is more of a love ‘em and leave ‘em kind of guy. I should know. We’ll be right back.”

Madison walked to the kitchen and filled a glass with tap water. She couldn’t figure out what Laura was up to. She wanted to portray Madison as willing to do whatever she could to win Josh over, including sleep with him on the beach in broad daylight. Meanwhile, Josh was still the bad guy. But to what end?

“Come back over here, it’s almost over,” Josh said from the couch. “We’ve got this.”

Madison sat down and onscreen the shot was a close up of a bird-of-paradise, the orange beaked flower blowing in the gentle ocean breeze. The shot pulled back and was an overhead shot of two men eating outside. Josh and Marty, at the table with the hidden camera.

Laura’s voiceover said, “Things aren’t always as they appear, are they? Maybe the guy you think is the worst guy on television really isn’t. Sometimes, reality TV cast members aren’t at all what they appear to be. Other times, they are who they are. Can you guess what Josh is?”

On screen, the camera is a tight shot of Josh and Marty. Marty says, “Well, what about Holly? You two together, now that would be some good TV.”

Josh is chewing his food with a smile on his face. The bad boy smile, Madison noticed, and as she watched she hoped he didn’t make her regret letting him move in, having his child.

“She is really special to me. I can’t believe how I treated her on camera back on
Laguna Nights
. I mean, Laura is hot and all, but Holly, she is my first love,” Josh said, pushing his sunglasses up on his head. Madison noticed he touched the side of his glasses with his crossed fingers, holding them there for all to see.

Tears leapt into Madison’s eyes. “Oh my gosh, you told them? You told the world?”

“What, I’m sorry,” Josh said, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

“That’s the most romantic thing ever,” Madison said, snuggling in close as on screen, Josh was describing their high school getaway and the meaning of the fingers-crossed gesture.

“At this hotel in Mexico the staff used a gesture as a form of welcome. They covered their heart with their fists. It comes from a small Mexican Indian tribe the concierge told us. After a couple of days, we decided to make our own gesture, a way of staying real no matter the craziness of the TV show. So we crossed our fingers. It didn’t work, though, not in the long run,” Josh said, looking out into the ocean, directly into the hidden camera, his eyes misty.

On screen the shot cuts to a camera mounted on a car driving through the streets of Laguna Beach. In the voiceover Laura said, “Maybe your little gesture between the two of you did mean something in the long run, Josh. Because what was great about bringing these cast members back together again . . .”

On screen the shot is of the three of them – Madison, Josh and Laura -- at their awkward lunch in town as Laura’s voiceover continued: “Is that while it may not be easy for Holly to overcome what she thought she knew about Josh and who he was in the past, it’s very rewarding once you do. You see, what I’ve discovered was that even when Josh was pretending to love me, he was pining away for Holly.”

On the screen, a still shot from
Laguna Nights
, season two, episode four. It was the still frame of a young Josh, his fingers crossed behind his back as a sign to Holly before he entered the hot tub behind Laura.

Laura’s voiceover said, “I didn’t see it back then, did you? We’ll be right back for the final reality check.”

Madison leaned over and kissed Josh on the cheek and then they held each other’s gaze. She was so happy she’d trusted Josh enough to let him show her that scene before Laura revealed it to the world. That had been a moment meant for her eyes, a gesture she’d missed. But now, he was beside her again.

“You two were meant to be, all along,” Francine said breaking the spell.

“We have one more segment to get through,” Josh said standing up and stretching, still tense Madison noted. But the torture was almost over.

On the screen was a wide shot of the sun setting, the view was from up on the hillside, a view from Laura’s parents’ home. The camera zoomed to a lit up, bubbling hot tub and Laura sitting in it alone, staring off away from the camera.

Laura’s voiceover said, “I didn’t see them do this when they got into the hot tub with me the final night of taping, but the camera did. It catches everything.”

On screen, there was a shot of Josh and Madison, sitting side by side in Laura’s hot tub, each holding a hand above the water, fingers crossed. They were smiling at each other.

Laura’s voiceover said, “But it doesn’t matter. I like happy endings.”

On screen, Scott walked down the steps and splashed Laura, sitting down next to her on the hot tub seat as she delivered her closing lines.

And then the screen faded to black.

Dear Readers!

Thank you for reading
Laguna Nights
! I hope you enjoyed Madison and Josh’s story! And if you did, please recommend it to your friends and please review it! The next book in the Laguna Beach Series is
Laguna Heights
, featuring Madison’s best friend Annie. Annie’s perfect Laguna Beach life suddenly is turned upside down when a man from her past appears. I know you’ll enjoy Annie’s story! I’ve included a brief excerpt here, just to tempt you!

My other contemporary romance series is the Indigo Island Series featuring the wealthy Putnam family. I’ve included an excerpt from book one,
Weekend with the Tycoon
. I hope you enjoy it!

Thank you so much for reading
Laguna Nights
. And please remember, if you liked it, a review really helps other people find it, and means a lot to me, too. I read every one of them! I’d love to stay in touch! Join my
newsletter
list for fun extras and notices of new releases. I’m active on
Facebook
and
Twitter
, too! Keep in touch!

Xo

Kaira

Annie Watson has a secret, and she’s kept it for almost ten years. Married and living the life of her dreams in Laguna Beach with her husband Hank, and two kids, Annie still has fans approach her from her stint on the reality TV show, Laguna Nights. One fan, in particular, has appeared in town. Chris Johnson is the last person she expected to run into, and the one person she always hoped would never discover the truth.

Laguna Beach

Why wouldn’t Madison pick up the phone, Annie wondered, her hand shaking as she held her phone. She was hiding in the front seat of her car, ducked below the steering wheel, hoping Chris didn’t follow her out to the Ralph’s grocery store parking lot.

Knowing him, as she had, he would.

“Madison, it’s Annie. I need to talk to you. Please, call me,” she said before hanging up. Breathe in, breathe out, she reminded herself, techniques the counselor at college had taught her to deal with this situation her senior year in college. She had been free from Chris for more than a decade.

What was he doing in Laguna Beach? Had he come here to find her or was it just a coincidence?

A fist pounded on the driver’s side window. “Hey Annie,” Chris yelled through the glass as Annie screamed.