Love 'Em or Leave 'Em (6 page)

Ashley saw the opportunity to get away and be alone for a while, as the camera crews surrounded the pool. She really needed a break from the insanity, so she grabbed her towel and quickly snuck away for some solitary time.

The party went on for a couple of hours. Music continued to pump loudly from the sound system. Several tables laden with an amazing array of party food and partially finished beverages with tiny umbrellas sat forgotten. Under normal circumstances, this would have been a great party. But Luke felt claustrophobic surrounded by all the eager young beauties and he needed a break.

"Excuse me, darlin'. I'll be back in a minute." Luke peeled Jenny, the attractive cling-on, off his arm and excused himself to go inside to use the bathroom. Once inside and away from the noise and activity, he felt relieved. The girls' competitiveness astounded him. It was nice to be wanted, but this was ridiculous. It was worse than fan day at Lambeau Field. Well, almost. At least Security kept the people in line there. Here, he'd been thrown to the wolves.

Luke wandered through the house toward the back doors and looked out over the pristine beach. He watched the waves roll into shore, and a sense of peace washed over him. He glanced back to the pool where all the contestants and the camera crews waited for his return. If he was lucky he might get five uninterrupted minutes before they noticed he was gone. There were just too many girls to keep straight. They were all beautiful and physically a ten. What more could a guy want? Except maybe a little breathing room instead of constantly being rubbed against, and given coy looks and a lot of fake laughter. This bachelor stint had sounded a lot easier than it was turning out to be.

He took one quick look to make sure the coast was clear and then snuck out the doors onto the back deck, and quickly took off down the beach. The sun glistened on the water and a gentle breeze brought the refreshing scent of sea air. He saw a lone beach umbrella farther down the beach. It was the perfect place to hide. He needed a few minutes of solitude to watch the ocean and gear up for the next few hours of social time.

As he walked up to the umbrella that looked empty from a distance, he noticed a lounge chair occupied by a pretty blond engrossed in a paperback novel. She looked quite content in her little paradise with a towel and a soda and the sun shining down on her. A light ocean breeze gently blew her hair around her face.

Not to be deterred from his goal to hide behind the umbrella, Luke approached and noticed that she looked familiar. "Hey, aren't you the girl who threw herself at my feet the other night?"

Startled, Ashley knocked the soda into her lap. She tried to look calm as cold liquid ran between her legs and soaked her bottom.

She'd been discovered.

"It was more of a launch," she replied, trying to look casual and not like the deserter she was. "By the way, you wore really nice shoes that night. I meant to mention it before." She smiled up at him.

Luke crossed his muscular arms over his chest. "Shouldn't you be over at the pool with the rest of the masses, trying to delve into all my inner secrets and position yourself for the next round?"

Ashley noted the hint of sarcasm in his voice, but was distracted by the incredible man before her. Luke stood to the side, forcing her to look up at him, but also blocking the bright sun from her eyes. He was over six feet of bare bronzed skin and toned in all the right places. His swim trunks hung low on his hips.

"Uh, oops, you caught me! I cannot tell a lie." She swallowed, distracted by the hunk of man before her. "I figured there was so much estrogen by the pool that no one would mind one less man-eating woman." She repositioned herself on the chair and tried to look relaxed as she attempted to mop up the cold soda in which she sat. "Plus, I figured none of the girls would turn me in," she added with a bit of sarcasm. "They'd be happy to have more time with the man of the hour."

Luke raised his eyebrows at her cynical comment. Ashley couldn't seem to shut herself up. "So, look at this as a gift, allowing you more time to get acquainted with them. One less person you have to get to know." She hoped he would take the hint and move on.

"Really?" he said. His eyes seemed skeptical. "Seems to me you just wanted to get out here to work on your tan in private." His gaze moved leisurely over her body, from the tip of her nose down to her pale white legs. "Which, by the way, could use a lot of work. Do those legs ever see the light of day?"

Ashley was relieved she'd worn her beach wrap, and repositioned it around her waist to cover more skin. It was obvious that her legs hadn't seen sun in a very long time. She lived in the Midwest, with only a couple of months of summer. The rest of the year felt like a transition to and from winter.

"Hey, I like the pasty white look" She covered as much skin as possible. "You're lucky I'm not too sensitive or you might have really hurt my feelings."

"I am so sorry!" he replied in exaggerated contrition, not looking like he meant it. "Hey, do you mind if I sit down? I'd like to keep a low profile for at least a few minutes."

"Oh, so you're the one hiding!" she accused playfully. "That bad already?"

"No, it's not too bad," Luke answered, sounding weary. "It's just a little intense back there. I feel like the last beer at a frat party." He sat down on the end of the chair facing Ashley, a spark of interest in his eye. "Speaking of hiding, if I didn't know how bad your skin needed some sun, I'd say you were hiding as well. What's up? I thought you came here to win yourself a guy, to marry the bachelor."

"Yes, it appears that way, doesn't it? I mean the win-the-guy part." She tried to figure a way to quickly defuse the situation and get him off her trail. There was no telling when she'd be alone with him again. This might be her best opportunity to steer him away from her.

"I know I look pretty desperate," she said, smiling at herself. "Actually the truth is ... No offense . . " Ashley glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "But you're not exactly my type"

"Is that so?" He laughed, obviously amused by her comment. "I'm crushed. In fact, I may have to return to the hungry pack of wolves back there just to build up my ego."

"Great" She fiddled with the fringe of her coverup. "I was really enjoying the solitude away from all those cameras. And if you stay much longer they'll probably track you down. Then I'd be caught too, so please go build up your poor deflated ego," she teased. He was a lot of fun to talk to, particularly without the horde of women always on his trail.

"Okay, but before I go, I want to know what your type is. I mean, if it's not me then don't you think it's only fair to tell me what is?" Luke challenged with a smirk on his face. "After all those personality tests you took, we should be a potential perfect match. In fact, every girl here should be a potential perfect match"

"That's a funny thing, isn't it?" Ashley spoke softly, leaning forward. "I always cheat on tests. I guess this time it backfired on me. I got the wrong guy." She sat back again and spoke confidently. "So I thought I'd just turn this into a little vacation instead. Plus, it leaves you one less to choose from. So you see, I have just done you an incredible favor by giving you one less pursuer to hunt you down." She smiled brightly.

Luke leaned back on one arm and placed his leg next to Ashley's on the lounge chair. "Fine. You're using me for a vacation. But, tell me, what is your type?" He lowered his sunglasses down the bridge of his nose so that his intense blue eyes peered over the top, straight at her. "Satisfy me"

Ashley stared back and took a deep breath. She tried to remain unaffected after receiving his piercing gaze. "Well, let's see. I really like a serious professional," Ashley said.

"I'm a professional."

Ashley gave him a swift glare. "Not that kind of professional. Someone highly educated, not afraid to use his brain instead of his brawn"

"Did you know I have a degree in mechanical engineering from Duke?" he teased with a smirk.

She tried to ignore his long masculine leg resting against hers and continued, "He shouldn't be too muscular."

Luke looked down at his buff physique and raised his muscular arm to flex his bicep. He gave her another of his devilish grins. "I'm a wimp compared to a linebacker."

"I don't like a show-off," she returned, trying to act natural. "He must be intellectual, and proud of it. In fact, I'd like someone a little on the nerdy side. I find it really endearing."

With that Luke took off his sunglasses, then put them back on upside down, and in an odd nasal voice recited, "E equals M-C squared"

Laughing at how goofy he looked and sounded, Ashley whacked him on the arm with her paperback, which he grabbed from her. "Seriously, there is something very attractive about a nerdy guy who isn't walking around with all kinds of macho body confidence"

Luke gave her a cockeyed look. "Yeah, sure there is."

"Oh, and rich ... He's got to be absolutely loaded," she added.

"Can't argue with that one." He grinned.

Trying to ignore him, she said, "I can't be tying myself down to some poor schmuck who isn't willing to drop the big bucks on me. You may have money, but it's small potatoes compared to what I want"

"I can see you have expensive tastes," he pointed out as he waved her dime-store novel in the air before tossing it back into her lap.

She attempted to ignore his accurate observation, and changed the subject. "I'm afraid it never would have worked out between the two of us"

He gave her a challenging look, as if to say, "So you think so, do you?"

"So sorry. I'm sure you'll find happiness somewhere along the way, but I'm just looking for someone a bit more ... accomplished in life."

"I see," Luke replied. "Sounds as though I have a lot of work to do before I could begin to appeal to such a classy girl as you" He glanced down at the trashy novel lying on her soda-soaked lap. "So please, correct me if I'm wrong here, but basically you are taking up a spot the woman of my dreams might have filled. You are depriving some sweet young thing from having the opportunity of getting to know me"

"Yes, I suppose you're right, but think of it this way: I'm one less person to put pressure on you and look at you with innocent little puppy-dog eyes saying, `Pick me, pick me,'" she mocked, doing her best whiny puppy imitation.

"Actually," Luke said in a soft, sexy voice as he leaned back onto one elbow, "I get more bedroom eyes from the women than I do puppy-dog looks. I guess they are appealing to my more masculine instincts."

"Ah, right," she replied, swallowing down her arousal at his low voice. "You do have quite a reputation as a ladies' man"

Ashley noticed the camera crew jogging down the beach toward them. "Oh great," she said. "They found me, I mean you! You have got to leave-now." She popped up from the soda-drenched chair and retied the wet beach wrap around her hips.

"I'm out of here" She turned to Luke once more. "Thanks for dropping by, Luke. I wish you the best in your quest to find that special someone"

Ashley grabbed her towel and book and quickly moved down the beach before the camera crews could catch up and corner her. Luke watched her hips sway as she escaped with her soggy beach wrap slapping against her milk-white thighs. He had come out to the beach for a breath of fresh air and been rewarded with much more. He'd met a stubborn woman declaring herself off the show.

Luke found Ashley refreshing. This show had become so intense, with each woman trying to tell him her life story and learn his in only a few hours. But here was Ashley, telling him to his face that he wasn't her type. He wasn't sure if it had ever happened before. This whole thing had just taken a new turn. Unknowingly, she'd started a whole new ball game. He had a surprise for her: Game on!

Luke wondered what her angle was. Everyone had one. Perhaps hers was to play coy and hard-to-get. Either way, she was a lot easier to talk to than most of the eligible women back by the pool. However, he found he was a bit annoyed at her not caring enough about him or the chance to get to know him.

Another day, another date. Thank goodness she wasn't on it. Ashley woke up feeling sore all over. Liz took one look at her and started laughing. Rachel just shook her head with a look of pity. Ashley moved to the dresser mirror. Her face was beet red. She stretched her T-shirt to expose a painfully burned shoulder, the white strap mark proving her skin had once been something other than fire-engine red.

Just what she needed, another reason to feel inferior. Yesterday she'd been the only one with pasty white skin. Today she would stand out like a beacon.

Tami barreled down the hall shoving people out of her way.

"Who took my lip gloss?" Steam practically poured out of her nose and ears. "So help me, Gwen, if I find `Charged up Cherry' on your skinny little lips, I swear I'll scratch it off with my fingernails and there will be one less person to give a rose to!"

Ashley tried to move through the chaos. Gwen wiped her mouth on the inside hem of her dress. The women were getting ready for the next big rose ceremony. Tempers flared as the ladies rushed to prepare for the long night ahead of them. Ashley just wanted to escape the insanity and find a few minutes of peace and quiet.