Throb (8 page)

“Let’s start out with an example of what is
not
sexy. We have some clips from the show that landed on the editing room floor. This isn’t the first day of shooting, ladies. We need to forget the cameras already.” Miles motions toward his dutiful secretary, and the concealed screen at the front of the room begins to inch down.

The video starts off with a kiss so awkward, it makes me uncomfortable just to watch it. Jenny Clark and I did better than that behind the dumpster in the back of the school in sixth grade. At least the way
I
remember my first kiss.

A second kiss comes on, this one a little better, but the woman looks right into the camera the second it’s over. Not exactly the voyeuristic feel my brother is going for. A few more roll across the screen, none of which hold my interest for long.

I watch as Kate glances up at the screen on occasion, but her doodling seems to have her rapt. The corner of her mouth quirks up slightly as her pencil swirls around the corner of the page. It makes me curious what she’s drawing. Then suddenly her pencil stops, she raises her head, and our gazes meet. And hold. She blinks a few times, almost as if she’s deciding if I’m really standing here or not, then her eyes widen when she decides I’m really on the other side of the room.

Amused at her reaction, I flaunt a smile and watch as she becomes flustered. Nervously, she looks to see if Miles is watching our exchange, then looks back to me. My brother is oblivious. He’s busy pausing the video so he can berate the poor women who he’s caught uncomfortably sharing a kiss with the moron bachelor.

Not quite sure what to do, Kate tries to ignore me. Her eyes dart all over the room—to Miles then back to me, down at her pad for a second, then quickly back up to me. My stare never waivers. She fidgets in her seat when she realizes I’m not looking away anytime soon.

I casually move from my position near the back door. Kate’s eyes flare wide when she realizes I’m walking toward her. I stop a few feet behind her. She shifts her hand to cover her doodle, but I catch it before she does. A script C is scribbled over and over. Again I’m brought back to sixth grade. Jenny used to scrawl my name all over her notebooks. I smile triumphantly. Kate’s fidgeting in her seat becomes more pronounced as I take a step closer to her from behind.

I’ve lost track of what Miles is talking about as he drones on … until a close up of Kate freezes on the screen.

“Well, ladies. We’ve learned what a bad kiss looks like, now let’s learn what a good kiss looks like.”

Miles nods and his assistant begins the video again.

“Did you know,” says Flynn, the bachelor I’ve come to despise, yet never met, “that on the majority of dating shows, the first kiss on the show winds up being the last?” He reaches for Kate’s hand.

Kate looks down, watching him lace their fingers together. “I didn’t know that. But sounds like you may want to be selective with who you bestow the coveted honor on.” There’s a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

“Oh, I’m selective all right. I’ve been saving the kiss for the right one.”

Kate squints. “So you haven’t kissed anyone yet? That’s not what the ladies are saying.”

Flynn’s face shows surprise.

“According to rumors, you’ve kissed plenty more than one.”

“I haven’t,” he protests.

Kate looks up at the longhaired dickhead. “Why would they lie?”

“Strategy, I guess.”

“Hm. The thought of kissing someone right after they’ve kissed someone else does kind of gross me out.”

Dickhead takes their joined hands and wraps them around Kate’s back, pulling her close to him. “Well, I haven’t kissed anyone else, Kate.” He pauses and waits for her to look up. “I was saving it for the someone I thought might be my last kiss of the show.”

Kate opens her mouth to say something, but Dickhead doesn’t give her a chance. He seals his mouth over hers and kisses her. At first, it’s stiff—he’s kissing her, but she isn’t sure what to do.
Come on, Kate, don’t kiss him back.
Then the reality hits me like a blow. Her body melts into him and she kisses him back.
Kisses the fucking asshole.
I see Kate turn to sneak a look at me a few times, but I don’t ease my glare at the screen. The loud snap of the pencil I’m holding in my hand echoes through the room two seconds before I storm out.

Back in my office, I pace as I rake my fingers through my hair, tugging as I bellow harshly at Helen. “Go find Kate Monroe. She’s in my brother’s production meeting. Wait till it breaks and bring her to my office.”

“Ms. Monroe?” a kind-looking older woman asks as I exit the production meeting.

“Yes?”

“My name is Helen. Could you come with me?”

“Umm … sure. Where are we going?”

“Mr. Montgomery would like to see you.”

I turn and look back at the room.

“He asked me to bring you to his office after the meeting was over.”

“Oh.”
Shit.
Miles knows. He must have caught on with how the two of us were looking at each other. The guy would probably be thrilled if I’d been making out during the meeting with one of my fellow bachelorettes, but I’m likely to get fired for even flirting with one of his colleagues.

Together, Helen and I make our way across the complex and up to the top floor of the building. She brings me to an open door at the corner of a luxurious-looking suite of offices. Much nicer than I would have expected of Miles. Classier. I would have thought he would be more a metal-desk-and-worn-shag-carpet kind of guy. The sleek, intimidating swank of this place doesn’t fit.

“Ms. Monroe is here,” Helen announces and steps aside for me to enter.

I walk in with trepidation. I really need to make it to the top four.

“Did you like kissing him?” The voice catches me off guard.

“Cooper?” I look up, confused.

He stalks to me. “Did you?” He infiltrates my personal space but I don’t move.

“Where’s Miles?”

“I don’t care where Miles is. Answer my question.”

“But …”

“Please, Kate. Just answer the question.”

“I don’t understand.”

He takes a step closer. I take one back.

“Did you like kissing him? It’s a simple question, Kate. Yes or no.” His voice is flat, monotone, but it’s not the kind of flat sound that makes you think the words aren’t important. Just the opposite. The way they’re said in such a controlled tone makes me think the answer really matters and he’s controlling himself to even ask the question.

“It isn’t a simple question. Nothing about what I’m doing is simple.”

Another step closer. One more back for me.

“Did you feel the same thing kissing him as you did when I kissed you yesterday?”

I don’t say anything.

He takes one more step toward me.

I retreat another step. My back hits the wall behind me.

Cooper leans in, one arm pressed into the wall on either side of my head. I look to the right, then the left. His stare is unrelenting, even while I avoid his eyes.

“You’re not answering me.”

I’m not sure how to respond, so I don’t. At least not with words anyway. Instead, I give in to what I’m feeling and let my body tell him the answer. My mouth closes the small distance between us and I literally devour his lips.

I may have started the kiss, but it takes less than a heartbeat for Cooper to take over. With a growl, he pins me against the wall and devours me. Wrapping my hair tightly in his fingers, his grip is so firm, I couldn’t escape if I wanted to. But it’s irrelevant, because there’s nowhere else I’d rather be in this moment.

“Wow,” I breathe when we come up for air.

“Jesus, Kate.” His voice is low and thick, chest heaving.

“No,” I whisper.

Cooper’s eyes question me.

“No, it didn’t feel like this when I kissed Flynn.”

“Who?”

“Flynn … the bachelor?”

“Oh. I’ve taken to calling him Dickhead.”

Cooper’s serious, although it doesn’t stop me from laughing. In fact, his stern demeanor makes me completely crack up. He doesn’t seem happy that I’m finding amusement at his expense. “Dickhead? Really?” I laugh.

He tries to remain serious, but I catch the corner of his mouth twitch. “I have a few other names, if you’d like to try one of those on to see if it fits better.”

I shake my head. “What did he do that made you conjure a vast dictionary of nicknames?”

“He’s in my way.”

Cooper hasn’t moved, and I suddenly realize where I am. “Ummm … where is Miles?”

“Probably on the casting couch with one of the contestants from your show.”

Miles is undoubtedly the casting-couch kind. I smile and look around. “Wouldn’t he be casting in this office though?”

“My office? Miles tries to avoid me at all costs most days.”

I pull my head back, confused. “This isn’t Miles’s office?”

Cooper furrows his brow.

“But Helen said Mr. Montgomery wanted to see me, and she brought me here.”

Cooper inhales, then blows out a deep, audible breath. “Sit.”

“Okay, now I’m ready,” Sadie says as she hands me a very full glass of wine. She kicks off her four-inch heels and settles in on the loveseat for the story of my bizarre day.

“You do realize you aren’t supposed to fill the glass to the brim, right?”

She shrugs. “I’m efficient. If I pour a half glass now, I’m only going to have to get up again in five minutes.”

She has a point. I gulp a mouthful of wine and dig in. “Cooper is Miles’s brother.”

Sadie is a lawyer—not showing surprise is her forte—but her eyes bulge when I give her the news. “We’re going to need a second bottle.”

“Picked it up on my way home.”

“So he knows you’re on the show?”

“Yep. He didn’t know when we played cards last week. But he saw the dailies from the show and recognized me.”

“And?”

“And I kissed him when we were in his office.”

“How was his office?”

“Really? That’s what you want to know. Not how was the kiss or aren’t you in breach of your contract? How was his office?”

“You can tell a lot about a man by his office.”

I gulp another unladylike sip from my wine glass. “His office was beautiful. Sleek, overlooking the city. It oozed power.”

“Nice. Bet he fucks like he owns you.”

The thought of what he’s like in bed is enough to make me lose my train of thought.

“Go on,” Sadie prods.

I don’t continue immediately.

“You forgot what you were up to because you were thinking of him fucking you like he owns you, didn’t you?” My best friend smirks knowingly.

“Shut up.” I pause. “Anyway, I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

“Well, him. Obviously.”

“I wish it were that easy.”

“What was his take on the whole thing?”

“He said he didn’t care if I was breaking the rules. He wants to get to know me.”

“And by ‘get to know you,’ he means starting with the inside and working his way out. I saw the way that man looked at you. I almost had to come home and change
my
wet panties.” She pauses. “But I took them off instead. There’s something really empowering about walking around in a skirt and no panties at work, don’t you think?”

“Can we get back to my issue? Dealing with yours will take years.”

Sadie shrugs. “So, you both keep quiet, what’s the big deal?”

“Forgetting about the contract, and the fact that Miles can sue me for more than I will probably earn for the rest of my life, I just don’t think I can be involved with two guys at once. Even if I don’t win, I really need to get to the top four to win enough money to buy some time to come up with the rest my mom needs.”

“How long do you have left?”

“Seven weeks.”

“So tell Cooper you need a couple of months.”

I drain the rest of my wine glass. “Something tells me that won’t go over too well … asking Cooper to wait around while I date someone else.”

“What choice does he have?”

“I don’t know. But Cooper Montgomery is not the type of man you give an ultimatum.”

“I thought that stupid meeting would never end,” I grumble, falling in step with Kate as she walks down the hall after her morning production meeting.