Marrying Mister Perfect (33 page)

On the beach below, Jack and Lou still hadn’t
come up for air and some of the crew members were starting to
catcall—which was unprofessional, but they’d all been pulling for
Lou and Jack, so she’d just have the sound guys put some orchestral
music over that part of the make-out session.

“Do they mind that you’ve made their lives
into a soap opera?”

She shot Bennett a glare out of the corner of
her eye, no longer the least bit weepy. “They’re together and they
wouldn’t have been if not for me.”

And she had no qualms about taking credit for
their happily ever after. Lou was too self-sacrificing and Jack too
oblivious for them to have ever gotten together without an act of
God. Miranda was perfectly willing to count herself as an act of
God.

“I got the job,” she told him. “You’re
looking at the new executive producer of
Marrying Mister
Perfect
.”

He held her gaze for a long moment and then
nodded. “Let me know if you ever want a change.”

It felt like he was offering her more than a
job—which was part of why she would never accept it. “You’re
supposed to say ‘Congratulations.’”

“Congratulations. Can I buy you a drink to
celebrate?”

She eyed her former mentor. “Thanks, but I’m
not looking for career advice right now.”

“I was asking for a date.”

A slow flush stole across her cheekbones and
her mind went stunningly blank. “Well. Okay, then.”

Epilogue

Six months later…

Lou sat cuddled against Jack’s side on the
couch. If not for the blazing hot lights and live studio audience,
she might have been able to convince herself they were at home
watching this fiasco on TV.

The host of the
Marrying Mister
Perfect
reunion show leaned forward in his chair, his eyes,
like everyone else in the room’s, locked on the pair of them.
“Jack, Lou, this season of
Marrying Mr. Perfect
is already
being hailed as the most ground-breaking season of reality
television yet. Audiences fell in love with you as a couple and our
fan boards lit up with pro-Lou campaigns from the very first
episode. And I think what all of your fans are dying to know right
now is how is your relationship now that the show is over? Lou, I
notice you’re still wearing the ring. Have you set the date
yet?”

As Jack smiled and smoothly answered that
their relationship was stronger than ever and dodged the date
question, Lou fidgeted with her engagement ring. The contracts Jack
had signed prohibited him from getting married before the reunion
show aired—it was too easy for marriage licenses to leak to the
press and spoil the surprise—but they had picked a date.

None of their rabid online fans, nor anyone
on the crew of the show had any idea that a pair of matching
wedding bands were tucked in the inside pocket of Jack’s jacket
right this instant. No one knew about their tickets on the
overnight flight to Paris tonight or that both of their families
were already waiting there with the kids. A quiet ceremony in a
French hotel wouldn’t draw much attention here in the States. At
least, that was their hope.

“Lou!” Josh Pendleton’s cheery voice startled
her out of her musings. “Jack tells us you watched every episode
together. What did you find most surprising about seeing your
romance unfold week by week?”

“I think I was most surprised by the number
of hidden cameras you guys had squirreled away around the mansion.
Particularly around the Jacuzzi.”

The host gave a jolly old elf of a laugh.
“Audiences really admire your candor, Lou, even though you
sometimes had some rather unflattering things to say about
Marrying Mr. Perfect
as a route for finding true love. Since
the show has been such a success for you, are you ready to change
your tune?”

“You do realize I wasn’t actually a
Suitorette, don’t you?”

Josh rocked in his chair with his
over-enthusiastic laughter. “Of course! But you stole the show,
capturing American hearts and minds. To what would you attribute
your success?”

Lou could have cited her long-standing
relationship with Jack or the authenticity of emotion the viewers
saw when they looked at the pair of them, but this was one question
she knew exactly how to answer. She looked straight into the camera
and smiled. “My best friend Kelly taught me everything she knows
about
Marrying Mister Perfect
. She wrote the book on this
show.”

The host gave another fake, jolly laugh. “Oh,
no, our contestant
Marcy
wrote the book.” He turned to the
camera with a cheesy grin. “Tune in next season for
Romancing
Miss Right
, ladies and gentlemen, when Marcy Henrickson has her
pick of thirty of the most eligible bachelors in America on the
quest for her own happily ever after!”

Lou met Jack’s eyes, nearly laughing out loud
at the ridiculousness of the spectacle.

All the things that had driven her crazy in
the beginning were now just jokes they shared. She’d suffered
through watching the other girls kiss him, and he’d made each kiss
up to her a thousand times over. The kids had squealed with delight
whenever they saw themselves on screen—and seemed not emotionally
scarred in the least by their brush with child-stardom.

They’d withstood the media spotlight while
the show aired by staying in most nights, away from the curious
glances and paparazzi lenses. Their life had more or less returned
to its normal routine. The kitchen remodel was finished and looked
amazing. They had no plans to sell the house, though they were
discussing a few changes. First among them turning the little guest
bedroom upstairs, the one no one ever used anymore, into a
nursery.

Lou grinned at Jack as the audience cheered.
Yeah, he was Mr. Perfect, but even more importantly, he was perfect
for her. No fantasy could compare to that reality.

THE END

About the
Author

Winner of the Romance Writers of America’s
prestigious Golden Heart Award, Lizzie Shane lives in Alaska where
she uses the long winter months to cook up happily-ever-afters (and
indulge her fascination with the world of reality television). She
also writes paranormal romance under the pen name Vivi Andrews.
Find more about Lizzie at
her website
.

Sign up to receive Lizzie’s
New Release
Newsletter
for updates on upcoming Reality Romance
releases.

And read on for a sneak peek inside the next
book of the series,
Romancing Miss Right
.

Romancing Miss Right

(Reality Romance, Book 2)

They aren't in it for love... but
love has it in for them.

Marcy Henrickson isn't looking for love as
the latest Miss Right on the reality dating show
Romancing Miss Right
. She's realistic enough to know
the odds of finding true love on national television are
astronomical--but the chance that the exposure will boost her next
book onto the New York Times Bestseller List? That's a risk worth
taking. And if she's the one picking from the handsome Suitors, how
can she possibly get hurt?

The last thing Craig Corrow wants is to fall
in love. San Diego's Favorite Bad Influence is looking to
transition from local radio shock-jock to national television host
and a reality dating show is his ticket to fame and fortune. He's
there to stir things up and Miss Right is just another pawn in his
game plan...

Until he meets Marcy and she isn't the fake
reality princess he was expecting. She's all too real--and so is
the way he feels about her. But when he's faced with a choice
between love or money, can this bad boy give up his villain ways
and get the girl?

Prologue:

“I’m sorry, Marcy. I think you’re an amazing
woman and any man would be lucky to have you as his wife, but I’m
afraid my heart is engaged elsewhere. I just didn’t feel that
spark, that connection—”

On the screen, the footage of Mr. Perfect’s
perfect face twisted into an expression of contrition cut to
Marcy’s reaction shot. Or rather her lack-of-reaction shot. Miranda
grimaced—she knew what was coming.

“Emotionless,” Wallace barked, hitting the
pause button so the jumbo television that dominated the wall of his
office froze on Marcy’s pretty face, gazing back at the man billed
as the most eligible bachelor in America without even a glimmer of
a tear in her stunning green eyes as he was supposed to be breaking
her heart on national television.

“Frigid.” Wallace flung his iPad toward
Miranda so it landed on the desk blotter with an audible thunk in
time with his next adjective. “Unfeeling. Robotic.”

Miranda obligingly studied the focus group
data that had turned her boss into a walking thesaurus. “They also
say she’s gorgeous, clever, and witty.”

“They don’t like her,” Wallace snapped,
Marcy’s face still looming over both of them from the wall.

“Sure they do,” Miranda argued, tapping the
spreadsheet. “Eighty-seven percent approval.”

She was the whole package. Lustrous brown
curls, classic good looks, and striking green eyes with the
slightest hint of a wicked sparkle.

“Fine, they like her, but they don’t
feel
for her. How am I supposed to market the girl who
didn’t even blink when Mr. Perfect dumped her? No protestations of
love. No begging for an explanation. No sobbing uncontrollably in
the rejection limo. America
loves
the fucking sobbing.”

“She isn’t an idiot. She knew Jack was in
love with Lou from the first time she saw them together.”

“I wish she were an idiot. America likes
idiots. Idiots make good television.”

“Marcy will make good television. Trust
me.”

“I don’t trust people,” Wallace snapped.

“Then trust the ratings,” Miranda countered
just as forcefully. She hadn’t clawed her way to executive producer
at such a young age because she was meek and retiring. “The finale
of
Marrying Mister Perfect
was the most watched episode of a
reality dating show in the last six years. We not only beat all our
previous seasons, we flat out spanked
American Dance Star
and
Matchmaker Express.
We’re talking
Idol
style
numbers.”

“You caught lightning in a bottle last
season, no one can argue with that,” Wallace acknowledged. “And you
got the promotion to prove it. But no one cares about last season’s
success. Audience retention is the name of the game and the girl
who shrugged off her shot at true love isn’t going to have people
rushing to their televisions every Tuesday night.”

“Marcy understands the show. The camera loves
her and she’s a dream to work with—”

Wallace reached for the iPad, flicking
through the focus group data. “
Guarded. Has walls around her
heart. Uses her intellect to keep men at a distance. Can’t allow
herself to be vulnerable.
”

Miranda glowered. Who’d let the amateur
shrinks into the focus group? “Okay, yes, she’s a little
emotionally reserved, but the situation will be different when
she’s playing Miss Right. She’ll be in control and more willing to
show how she feels—”

“I want her to cry,” Wallace said, brutal and
hard. “America loves criers. Give me messy emotional breakdowns I
can promo the hell out of and you might keep your shiny new office
for another season.”

Miranda bit back the urge to tell her boss
exactly how wrong he was about America loving criers. They’d had a
girl who’d cried at the drop of a hat three seasons ago who was
among the most hated Miss Rights in living memory. What America
loved was a good love story. That was why they’d fallen in love
with the saga of Jack and Lou, why Miranda had gotten her promotion
from supervising producer to executive producer, and why they would
fall in love with Marcy. All Miranda had to do was make sure Miss
Right fell in love. Seeing a guarded, snarky woman show her softer
side would bring the audience in droves.

But Wallace knew shit about love, so instead
Miranda promised, “She’ll cry. Trust me. Marcy Henrickson is
ratings gold.”

“Stop saying trust me. There is no trust in
television,” Wallace growled. “There’s only success or
unemployment.” He stabbed a finger at the remote, making the screen
on the wall go black.

Miranda didn’t flinch at the threat. The uber
boss of
Marrying Mister Perfect
and its companion show
Romancing Miss Right
was a bully and a prick who liked his
television with cheap theatrics and easy hits. She’d known that
before she started working for him years ago, fighting her way up
from segment producer all the way to EP. Wallace’s official title
was EP too, but he surveyed events from on high in his office,
connected to the show only by reports and rundowns.

Miranda would be the one in the trenches,
pulling love out of thin air, and Miranda understood her audience.
She knew what America really wanted to watch and she knew how to
manipulate situations and emotions to make it happen.

Miss Right was going to fall in love this
season. Whether she wanted to open herself up to it or not.

And it all started with finding the right man
to woo her.

Chapter One

“And the last entry into the
Where-the-hell-is-Craig-disappearing-to-for-eight-weeks sweepstakes
is from Penny in Santa Clara…” Craig braced his forearms on the
desk and leaned into the mic, crooning into it in his trademark
almost-too-suggestive-for-the-morning-commute style as he read the
entry his producer had just sent to his tablet, “
A monastery in
Spain where you’ll be taking a vow of celibacy.”
He chuckled
darkly into the mic. “Good guess, Penny, since I did say it was the
last place you’d expect Your Favorite Bad Influence to go, but no
there are no monasteries in my future—Spanish or otherwise. Though
it would probably take me eight weeks just to confess all my
sins.”