The Husband Hunt - Kat's Season (The Bachelor Series) (12 page)

             
“Was he your choice today?” Mary smiled tentatively.

             
Kat nodded. “I am totally head over heels in love with that man. Bring him on!” Kat twirled around in her dress, as the hairstylist frowned at her and motioned for her to stop.

The setting at the beach was perfect. Kat positioned herself between two low palm trees on the stage they’d set up. The ocean pounded on the rocks in the background, and beyond that the sun crept towards the horizon. God, she hoped Ben wouldn’t leave her standing here at the end of this thing. Her feelings for him were so much more than her feelings for Liam had been when she stood on a similar stage in Tahiti six months earlier. At least today, she’d been spared the agony of letting Colton go. Before this, she’d done an interview on camera about how upsetting it was to see him go. They let her add that Colton was right about something just not working in their relationship. She didn’t want anyone, mostly Ben, thinking that she’d just decided today who would to choose. She’d known for a week, maybe two, deep in her heart, but had wanted to leave options open in case anything changed as she got to know each man better.

             
When Ben’s smiling face came around the corner of the golf clubhouse, Kat was deliriously happy he was still here.
Thank God!
Dressed in a black suit, white shirt and a striped tie, Ben was all class. He looked good enough to eat and when she remembered she’d seen him naked, at his most vulnerable, a jolt shot through her like electricity. Ben was a beautiful man. Stunning to look at, but also such a sweet person. Oh God, when she told him she was in love with him, would he say the words too?

             
“Hi Handsome.”

T
hey hugged and he whispered into her hair. “You look so pretty, Kitty Kat. Please tell me I’m not going home without you.” They drew back, joined hands, and faced each other, as instructed by the director earlier.

             
She wanted to blurt it all out, even though she’d rehearsed the speech with a production assistant earlier and was supposed to synopsize their relationship from the first moment they met. “Oh Ben. You sweet man.” She didn’t know she could smile this big and hoped that Ben took that as a good sign. “The night we met, I knew you were someone special when we shared a moment out by the pool.”

He smiled.

“And as the days went by, I became more and more interested in you. You watched from the sidelines, waited patiently, and whenever we had time together, things between us got more interesting. To tell the truth,” she laughed, “you seemed too good to be true.”

He grinned.

“And, in Maui, things changed between us. I realized that I had feelings for you that weren’t like the others. And then in Taiwan. You showed me with every new experience and every day that you are someone special. Someone honest, caring and a person I admire. That foot rub in Taiwan put you in whole different category.”

He smiled sweetly and squeezed her hand. He knew what she meant about coming to her room to make
her feel better when she’d been frustrated in Taiwan.

“And then on hometowns
, and meeting my family, I felt like I was your girl and that felt right. My mother told me to imagine who I couldn’t imagine life without and that would be you. I’ve fallen in love with you, Ben, and I’m really hoping that you feel the same.”

He squeezed her hands
and finally smiled. “I’m there, Baby. You know I love you too.” He took her in his arms, lifted her off the ground, spun her around, and kissed her neck. “I love you Kat,” he whispered. “Are you ready for your proposal?” he set her down and dropping to one knee, reached inside his coat pocket.

             
She gasped, not expecting this from him. He said he wouldn’t do this at the end. Hadn’t he?

             
Katherine Grace Houston, I love you with all my heart and can’t imagine life without you. Since we met, I’ve felt like the man I always wanted to be. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you. With us. Will you marry me?” He opened the top of the Neil Lane box to present the ring, but by that time she was pulling him up, into her arms, tears pooling in her eyes.

             
“Yes. I will. I do. Yes!”

             
He put the ring on her finger and she didn’t even look at it, only gazed into his sweet face. Sweeping her up in his arms, Ben kissed her passionately. “We are going to be so happy,” he whispered to only her.

Kat couldn’t stop smil
ing. She didn’t see the cameras, didn’t care, and later when she watched this moment from the couch backstage at ABC, she and Ben laughed. “Look,” she said to him beside her. “I haven’t even glanced at this gorgeous ring.” She held up her hand where the ring lived, now joined by a simple band. They watched the final few moments of the show and waited for their final interview with Crane to show off their happiness to America on national television. And to tell them they hadn’t waited to be married.

             
“Are you ready to go out there without me, Mrs. Ben Workman?”

             
It sounded wonderful to be called that, even though she’d kept her own last name for professional purposes. “Honey, I never want to go anywhere without you again, after this.”

             
He kissed her tenderly. “Soon we will be a normal couple, fade into obscurity, go out to dinner, get married, make babies.”

             
They’d made a pact that once they were finished with this last show, neither wanted to ever be seen on the cover of a magazine, do another interview for TV, or have a wedding that would be broadcast all over America. And that was only one reason why they’d tied the knot secretly with only families attending, a week earlier. They didn’t want to leave themselves vulnerable to all the speculation and media attention during a long engagement. Both agreed, it was best to go straight to marriage and obscurity. Kat was looking forward to settling down to paint, travel with her new husband and be the love of Ben’s life. “No more TV,” she said.

             
“Except to watch it from the privacy of our home.” Ben added.

             
Kat kissed him once more, reapplied her lipstick, and followed the production assistant to meet Crane onstage for her final interview for The Husband Hunt before dropping out of the public eye.

The End

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this novella, you might like the first story The Husband Hunt
http://amzn.com/B00BN1YNS0

It’s the story of Jaxie and Crane, slightly shorter at 18,000 words and only .99

The next in this series will be out in July!

I also write full novels under the name Kim Hornsby, Kiki is my nicknam
e


Necessary Detour is published by The Wild Rose Press under their Suspense line and available on Amazon
http://amzn.com/B00AU50M76

Or at
www.thewildrosepress.com

The Dream Jumper’s Promise is Romantic Women’s Fiction with an element of the supernatural. It’s been called “Inception with Romance” and is available on Amazon at
http://amzn.com/B00AA4FAJC

Kiki/Kim