Lost Without You (27 page)

The only difference today was Zoe's lack of makeup.

Chip tried to convince her that she needed to apply it as she normally did, but she refused. The fact was the rain had washed her makeup away. But it was Chip who had made her realize she didn't need it anymore. Alex had shared the truth about her yesterday and today she would face it head on. It would not be edited out of the final film and therefore, she would address it today
without
her makeup but
with
her dignity.

“We're ready for you,” Chip said coming to her side. “Are you sure you want to do this now, here?”

She nodded once, resolute in her decision.

“Just another example of why you're so amazing.” Chip kissed her quickly then walked away, yelling to the cameramen to start recording.

Zoe took her place before the teams, watching as they noticed her makeup-free appearance. To her surprise, no one cringed at her scars. Maybe she had hidden herself for no reason after all.

“What an exciting finale we've had here today,” she said, clapping for the contestants. “Before we wrap this all up and I name our official winners of
Wild Expedition
, I'd like to address something quickly.”

The contestants remained quiet, far more patiently than she would have been in their position. She cleared her throat and kept talking not wanting to drag this on any longer than necessary, since the sooner she was done filming, the sooner she could be with Chip without any other distraction.

“Alex brought up that my name is not really Zoe Oliver. He's half right. That is my legal name, but it was not the name I was born with. I was Andrea Miles until I turned fourteen and was involved in a terrible car accident. Recovering from the accident was painful, but nothing compared to the viciousness I faced when I returned to what I thought would be my new normal life. To say kids can be cruel is an understatement.

“I was horribly scarred and eventually wanted a fresh start at life along with the fresh face I received thanks to the multiple cosmetic surgeries I needed to undergo to minimize my scarring. So I picked a new name to go with my new face and started over.” Zoe swallowed hard. Tears threatened her eyes at the pain of revealing the truth, but she pushed through them.

“I let people like Alex dictate how I should live my life for a long time, but thanks to this show and to Chip the producer and Alex's revelation about my past, I can finally live my life as myself. So if you want to call me Andrea or Zoe or any other name, you can. But I will always just be me. I'm done hiding my scars and I'm done hiding from my past.”

Zoe squared her shoulders feeling lighter and more alive than she had in years. “Now without further hoopla, let's get to our winners. Because of Alex's actions and his attempted blackmail, his team has been disqualified from the show. It seems Alex will now have to face his past as I've had to face mine.”

Zoe nodded to Chip, signaling she was ready for the next announcement. From out of the trees walked the doctors, the team eliminated after the last challenge. Their smiles showed their happiness at being brought back onto the show, though they hadn't been told exactly why they were there yet. That was her news to share.

“Edward, David, Joseph, and William, you have been asked to come back to the game because the other team has been disqualified. Therefore, you are now the second place team. While it would be unfair to run the final challenge again since one team did win fair and square, we would like to reward you with a second place prize of one hundred thousand dollars.”

The team cheered and high fived each other, apparently not caring that they didn't get to compete in the finale since they were awarded a prize anyway.

Zoe smiled before continuing. “That means that Rick, Pam, Todd, and Roger are the winners of a million dollars! Congratulations! You've proven you can survive the wilderness living on little more than the land itself and a few extras. You met each challenge with strength and determination. And you persevered through four long weeks of this to leave with a lot of extra money in your pockets, and a good amount of dirt under your fingernails.”

Zoe turned to speak directly to the camera focused on her. “Thank you for going on this journey with us. We hope you enjoyed the ride. And if you'd like to be a contestant on the next season of
Wild Expedition
, send in an audition video and application to the email address listed on your screen. Good night!”

She held still for a moment, smiling at the camera until she saw the red light flicker off then she walked over to congratulate the winning team. Pam pulled her into a hug and squealed happily in her arms. She shook hands with Todd and Roger. When she got to Rick, he threw an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.

“I know you're with that producer guy. I can see in your eyes when you look at him. Something changed between you two. So I ain't gonna flirt with you this time. But if you ever get tired of that pretty boy, you come talk to me and I'll show you how an outdoorsman does it.” He laughed and she wiggled out from beneath his arm.

“Thanks for the standing invitation, but I don't think I'll be taking you up on the offer any time soon.”

“We'll see about that, baby.” He winked and went back to celebrating his victory with his family.

“Zoe, I'm sorry for what I said about you,” Alex said, stopping her by putting a hand on her arm as she walked by. “I hope you'll forgive me for airing that all on TV.”

“What you did finally brought me out of hiding after all of these years, so for that I will always thank you. But if you don't remove your hand from my body in a nanosecond, I'll break your fingers. I don't like you as a person and I never will.”

Pulling her arm free, she strode out of the filming area and into the quiet of the surrounding forest. It was hard to believe she'd been itching to leave the entire time she'd been here, but now that the time was coming, she might actually miss the woods and the peacefulness they provided from her regular, crazy life.

Arms wrapped around her waist and a mouth nuzzled the crook of her neck. Chip's cologne drifted on the breeze, greeting her with a scent she hoped she'd get to smell for the rest of forever. It made her head spin and her heart flutter in her chest. His warm breath on her neck didn't hurt either.

“I was looking for you,” he said quietly into her ear. His voice sent heat through her body.

“You found me,” she answered, turning in his arms to face him. She kissed his lips. “I mean it. I was lost without you in my life, but now I feel whole again.”

“And I'll spend the rest of forever making sure you always feel that way, if you'll let me.”

Zoe brushed her fingers across his cheek and down his neck, coming to rest on his chest. His heart beat beneath her hand. She took comfort in knowing that if what he said was true, then he would always have room in there for her. “Marry me?” she asked. “I can't imagine ever going back to the way my life was without you in it.”

She held her breath as her heart pounded in her chest. She hadn't planned on asking him that question, it just sort of popped out of her mouth as if by its own will.

“Did you seriously just ask me to marry you?” His tone was light and joking.

“I think I did.” She laughed.

“And did you buy me a ring too? Are you going to get down on one knee?”

“No I didn't and no I'm not.” She smacked him on the arm. “I didn't exactly plan to ask you. It sort of came out of my mouth without me thinking.”

“So you've really thought this question through. Well, that does make my decision a lot easier, knowing you took your time to consider what you wanted from me and asked your question with intent and purpose.”

“Stop. Forget I said anything.” Embarrassment burned in her cheeks. “Can we go back a couple of seconds in time to where things were still normal between us?”

“Nope, I'm afraid not. Nothing about us is normal and I'm totally okay with that. Yes, Zoe, I will marry you. But first you will let me buy you a ring like a proper gentleman since you took the question out of my mouth before I could ask it myself.”

“Deal.”

“And you will
never
tell anyone that you asked me.”

She giggled and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, feeling completely at home in his arms. “Absolutely. It'll be our little secret.”

Chip glanced around the table at his friends as he held up his glass of champagne in a toast. “To us. To great friendships, to forgotten pasts, and to unforgettable futures.”

“To us,” they said together.

Cassidy smiled down at the baby in her arms, no doubt wondering what amazing things the future would hold for little Jeremy, and took a sip of her sparkling white grape juice. Evan had an arm draped across the back of her chair casually yet protective of his wife and six-month old son.

Chip was happy to see they'd managed to stay together after falling in love on the show
The One
. So often, couples on those shows fell in love quickly while taping then fell out of love just as quickly when the cameras stopped rolling. But then nothing was typical when it came to Cassidy and Evan since only she had been a contestant on that show while he'd been her cameraman. Maybe since their love had started behind the scenes, it stood to reason that it was a different kind of love than the contestants on screen usually found.

He hoped for their sake it was a love like his and Zoe's — indestructible, real, forever.

They made a great couple and he was thrilled to have played a part in Cassidy and Evan's romance, even if it had been the part of the obnoxious producer who threatened to sue them for breaking the show's contracts. Thank God he'd never gone through with the threat.

Zoe laughed out loud at something Miles said and smacked him on the shoulder. Chip chuckled, happy to see he wasn't the only one who got that treatment from her. Paige sat perched in Miles's lap, one arm around his shoulders, the other on his knee. They were every bit the lovesick newlyweds he hoped to be with Zoe in a few months after their winter wedding in Oahu.

“I can't believe you actually convinced my sister to marry you. I didn't think anyone would be able to tame her,” Miles said. Zoe balled her hand into a fist as if she meant to punch him this time instead of a playful smack.

“Watch it, brother,” she threatened. “I'm not afraid to kick your ass in front of Paige if I have to, thereby ruining your macho image for all eternity.”

“I'd like to see you try,” Miles taunted back.

“Now, now. Let's not go and piss off my beautiful bride before she actually goes through with marrying me. I don't know how I convinced her to do it either, so let's not draw too much attention to it, okay?” He winked at her knowing their proposal secret was still safely hidden between them.

“So the famous Chip Cormack is actually going to take enough time out of the reality TV market to get married and have a honeymoon? I'm truly amazed,” Evan said, shaking his head. Evan and Chip had worked together for a long time and it had been even longer since Chip had taken a break from production.

“I think it's long overdue, don't you?”

“Definitely.”

“Any plans for future shows already or are you waiting until after the honeymoon to dive back in?” Cassidy asked.

“Nothing planned yet, but I'm always open to new ideas. For now I thought I'd get married to the most amazing woman before she realizes I'm not as awesome as she believes I am, then take the rest of the winter off to honeymoon and relax. After that, I'll figure it out with the studio. I'm sure they'll have something in the works for me by then.”

“I'm so happy you can all come to Oahu for the wedding. I wish you could stay a little longer than the week to hang out with us,” Zoe said, glancing around the table at her friends.

“Are you afraid you'll be sick of me by the time they head home? I promise to make every second of our honeymoon mind-blowing.” Chip nuzzled Zoe's neck and she giggled.

“Get a room,” Miles and Evan called together.

They all laughed.

“Well, since you bring up wanting to spend more time together, I was thinking maybe we should all hang out together next summer. We could rent one of those huge beach houses along the coast, relax … make some great memories now that we're all friends.” He looked around the table anxiously. “What do you think?”

“I don't know,” Cassidy said. “We'll have a one and a half year old by then. It may not be so much of a vacation for the rest of you with us there.”

“I think we could make it work. We'd get a house with a bedroom for him. What kid doesn't love a summer spent playing in the sand?”

“True.” Evan nodded. “Jeremy would have a blast.”

“Will there be cameras in this house?” Paige asked, one eyebrow cocked suspiciously.

“Maybe.” Chip shrugged.

Cameras really weren't as big of a deal as they made them out to be. They just stuck in the corners of the room, out of the way. Of course, he'd never actually been on camera before. He preferred things behind the scenes. But if it meant getting to hang out with everyone for a summer and giving responsibility for production to someone else for a change, maybe he could get used to the idea of being on a show. “There could be. I bet America would love to see their favorite reality TV show stars come together to live in a house for a summer. Think of the fun we could have.”

“Think of the ratings, right?” Miles said, sarcasm thick in his voice.

“Exactly,” Chip said. “I bet I could convince the studio into big fat paychecks to bring back everyone's favorite reality stars at one time, on one show.”

“No thanks!”

“No way.”

“Not interested.”