“I understand, but this is nonnegotiable.”
“How about this? You can periodically check your phone, but not every day. And I have to be in the room when it happens to make sure no sensitive information is leaked. Either by you or to you.”
I sighed. The paranoia was ridiculous. But she was serious about her job, and I had to respect that. “Fine. I agree. Now where can I go to sleep?”
“Follow me.”
She explained that the mansion had eight bedrooms and nine bathrooms. Which wouldn’t be fun at first since we’d all have to share, but would get better as time went on and people got sent home. Taylor explained that we would have to double up, and, in a couple of cases, triple up. She led me into a darkened room where I could see Genesis sleeping in one of the twin beds. “She claimed you as her roommate. Have a good nap.”
I nodded, so tired I could barely keep my eyes open. I heard the door close behind me as I kicked off my shoes, pulled my jersey and jeans off, and climbed into bed.
And prayed I wouldn’t have any dreams about Dante.
Genesis gently shook me awake. “Sorry, Lemon,” she said in a soft voice. “They want us to go outside to the pool because they’re announcing a group date for this afternoon.”
Showtime. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. Genesis looked pretty and natural. She’d put her hair up in a ponytail and her face was makeup-free, and she was the kind of woman who looked nice even without it on. She had on a green one-piece bathing suit under a sheer cover-up.
My luggage had been brought over and was at the foot of my bed. Just beyond that were shoe boxes and dress bags hanging up in my closet. I ran over to take a look and was glad that Taylor had such excellent taste. She chose dresses I would have chosen myself.
I had two swimsuits with me, and I knew how much of this show took place poolside. I held my bikini up, and Genesis said, “They have swimsuits downstairs. Apparently we’ll be wearing them a lot. You should probably hurry, because I think you’re the last one up.”
I told her I’d meet her there and to go on without me. I jumped in the shower, dried off, put on sunscreen, and fixed my hair. I put on one of my bikinis, a pair of shorts and sandals, grabbed my sunglasses, and went to inspect what else they were offering.
What they had were barely there suits that would leave little to the imagination. I would have had more coverage if I’d slapped on a couple of Band-Aids.
But beggars couldn’t be choosers. I tried to pick the least offensive ones of the bunch and decided America could get over it if I wore the same bikini more than once.
I came out to the pool where the girls were all sunning themselves, angling their bodies just so to make sure that they didn’t look fat or flabby. I wondered if their backs hurt from arching them like that.
There were bottles of liquor and glasses everywhere. I guessed that production assistant hadn’t been kidding when she said our job was to interact and drink heavily.
I grabbed a lounge chair next to Genesis, who smiled at me as she slathered on more sunscreen. “I have to wear like SPF 9000. I have two shades. Pale white and bright red.”
“Me too,” I told her, putting my sunglasses on. I never liked the way spray tans looked. Although, considering the women surrounding us, I was alone in that sentiment.
We couldn’t wear our mike packs because of the water and the bikinis, so there were several sound guys holding boom microphones over us. There were also cameras everywhere, and I wondered how they all managed to stay out of each other’s shots. They were fixated on the girls in the bathing suits, filming their conversations. I didn’t understand this because presumably the show’s target audience was women between eighteen and thirty-four. Women who weren’t all that interested in watching other women in their swimsuits. Now, shots of a half-naked Dante, on the other hand—that I understood.
There was some giggling and splashing, and I turned to see a bunch of girls getting into the pool. They had deigned to do so because Dante had shown up and, as if he’d read my mind, was taking off his shirt to join them.
His shirt hit the ground, and he flashed his very muscular and defined torso, and I melted. I was so, so shallow and grateful for my sunglasses that allowed me to watch him without him knowing. “I wish I didn’t like that so much,” I murmured to myself.