Emmett nods as his finger swipes over my hand.

Several seconds of silence pass before he hits me with a blunt statement of his own.

“You should go on that date.”

Panic courses through me, my body snapping to attention. “What?”

“That Riley set up for you.” He nods, swallowing a couple of times before he speaks again. “I think that would be good. Safe. I don’t want you risking your future for… something that can’t happen.”

I regard him, recognizing he’s pushing me away. We both know this blind date isn’t what I want. But maybe it’s what I—we—need to do. To keep us both from crashing out and blowing up our lives.

“I don’t want to—”

“Jules, just go. Even once this charade is all over… per my contract I can’t publicly date anyone for a year. Until every episode has aired. And you deserve more than that. Better than that.”

I swallow. “But what if I—”

“We’re in the same shitty boat here, doll. You don’t have to do anything. You just have to try. Who knows? Maybe you’ll fall for how sweet he is.”

Emmett hits me with a smirk.

A sad smirk.

I only offer him a wooden nod. Hating this conversation, hating the way it feels, and kind of hating what it all means for us.

“Well, maybe when this is all over, I could try to kiss you again.”

Emmett just laughs. It’s a dry, brittle laugh. “Jules, that’s sweet of you, but I know how this goes. By the time I see this thing through, you’ll be over me. Hell, you might even hate me. For your sake, I hope you move on to someone better.”

His words are a punch to the gut. Not because they’re true. Not for me. But for him, they are. He believes there is someone better than him for me.

And that kills me.

We eat our omelets in uncomfortable silence. And when we depart from the front steps of the diner, he pulls me in, wrapping me in a tight hug. He drops a quick, polite kiss on the top of my head and leaves without a single backward glance.

It feels an awful lot like goodbye. Like closing the door on something that never got a chance to properly start.

I should be relieved, but I drive home with tears in my eyes, gutted over how a man as deeply good as Emmett could ever believe that moving on from this—from him—will be that easy to do.

OceanofPDF.com

OFFICIAL MEMO

To: Richard Wadsworth

From: Teri Baker

Subject: Third Elimination Ceremony

This week we filmed at a local country bar. Cookie was eliminated after getting into a physical altercation with Evelyn.

The spin right now is that Evelyn is our bachelor’s favorite.

Tension in the bunkhouse is at an all-time high with every woman remaining disliking Evelyn and making no effort to hide it.

Loads of good footage, though very Evelyn-centric. Next week we will work on bringing some other women into the fray to have our bachelor appear more torn and confused on who he is connecting with.

Top choices right now for character variation: Akira, Catherine, Jada.

Please let me know if this strategy meets your vision for the show.

Sincerely,

Teri Baker

Story Producer

OceanofPDF.com

OFFICIAL MEMO

To: Richard Wadsworth

From: Teri Baker

Subject: Double Elimination Ceremony

We took the cast and bachelor out wine tasting in a party bus this week and caught a lot of good moments—especially once the alcohol started flowing.

The surprise double elimination made for a lot of drama (and a lot of tears). Callie and Adriana were sent home. Emmett is still playing the game and was very comforting to the women after delivering the news.

He is still resisting major physical contact. The only kiss we have on camera is from his hike with Evelyn, which may pose a problem for the show’s pacing. We could potentially move that date later in the show to make the development appear more organic. Thoughts?

We are now left with four daters, and they are exactly who I thought they would be: Evelyn, Jada, Catherine, and Akira.

The other outing was boating on the lake, where we captured great footage with only bathing suits on. Emmett was made for TV in that regard, and I think you’ll be happy with the clips and private conversations from that outing.

Emmett has been on his best behavior, and I can tell that he’s trying for the cameras this week. He seems focused and willing and like he’s putting his best foot forward.

Julia has been the picture of professionalism, and I think whatever boundary testing they were flirting with has lost steam.

According to studio accounting, halfway-point payments have now been made.

We have reached out to his biological father to make an appearance but have yet to hear back.

We are officially in the home stretch!

Sincerely,

Teri Baker

Story Producer

OceanofPDF.com

OceanofPDF.com

CHAPTER 27

Emmett

“PARKS,” I CALL out to my sister before even turning into the barn office.

“What?” She doesn’t bother looking up to acknowledge my arrival.

She’s right where I expected her to be, hunched over a stack of mounting bills, seated at the desk in the corner. This is where she spends much of her time, going over breeding contracts, making and receiving payments, ordering feed. Not to mention every other administrative job you could imagine that comes with running a breeding operation of this scale. We’re just lucky she has a keen eye for this side of it all, but I know it wears on her, having to balance it all.

Usually her days are swallowed by managing the farm, and her evenings by taking business classes at the university to finish her degree. It’s left her life practically dedicated to this place. I feel a pang of pity, thinking about her having to retake a course over such a simple mistake.

She deserves to take a break.

“You’re not busy right now,” I announce like it’s a fact, only to get a dry, squinting look from my sister as she leans back in the upholstered rolling chair. The one that’s probably been in this office for several decades now.

“Yeah, positively nothing to do,” she replies dryly while gesturing to the stack of papers before her.

“Great, that’s perfect then. I really need someone to go for a drink with me tonight.”

She quirks a brow. “Why would you ask your least social sibling to go out for a drink with you on a weeknight? Don’t you have a stable of women who you could ask?”

I scoff at my sister. “For starters, there are only four left. And for clarity, I don’t like any of them enough to hang out with unless I’m getting paid for it.”

“Woof.” She rears back slightly with an amused tilt to her mouth. “And people think I’m the coldhearted one.”

I just shrug. No point in defending myself, especially since I meant what I said.

The minute they call “Cut!” and tell me they’ve shot all the B-roll that they need for the week’s episode, I get the fuck off set as fast as I can.

“Why don’t you ask Evan?”

“He’s not the type of company I want for tonight.”

“Okay, so take Riley.”

I release an exasperated sigh and prop my hands on my hips. “Parks, you know she’s got her head in the game with the horses right now. She’s treating her body like a temple and shit. Going to bed early. Working out. Something about micros and macros. You know, prissy athlete stuff that probably doesn’t make a difference.”

Plus, I can’t ask Riley because she’s the one who set the whole thing up and casually dropped all the details while I was helping her turn out horses one morning. And if I ask her to join, she’ll just mock me mercilessly.