Page 30 of Hot SEAL, Under Pressure

Why was she in this business again? Fame? Nope. Not yet. Fortune? Definitely not at her level.

“Good. You’re here early.” Joanne strode into the room like a boss, glancing from Lucy to Shelly.

Lucy straightened up and snapped to attention. “Good morning, Joanne.”

Joanne nodded in reply. She pulled out a chair at the table, sat, and leaned back as she waited for them to entertain her.

Shelly moved to the table and set down her laptop and file folders containing her life at the moment—everything she’d gathered to do withUnder Pressure.

Jonas walked into the room, his eyes widening when he saw Joanne already seated and Shelly and Lucy both there.

His fear-filled gaze shot to Shelly. She lifted one shoulder.

With a look of trepidation, he glanced at the clock on the wall, as if to confirm she was indeed twenty minutes early and it wasn’t him who was late to the meeting.

Even so, he sidled silently along the wall and took a seat at the end of the table, out of Joanne’s sightline.

Lucy looked as if she’d just realized she was still standing in the front of the room and slipped into a chair at the table. That left Shelly as the last one standing.

She moved to the laptop Lucy had left open and connected to the projector.

Clearing her throat, she reached to tap the key and prepared to begin.

“Episode one is the introduction of the cast members. We’ve got some great footage from the obstacle course where they first met each other and interacted throughout the day. We’ve got bios and headshots and we’ve already filmed all of them—”

Shelly stopped herself when she realized that two cast members were missing. Her and Stefan. She regrouped and corrected her initial statement.

“—almost all of them on camera introducing themselves. That should be enough to fill the first hour.”

She’d have to pin Stefan down and get him to talk about himself. That should be real fun.Not.

Then, she had to do it herself too. Ugh.

As she pondered the upcoming horrors, Lucy leaned forward. “From what we have already for episode one, we’ll be able to set up the characters for the season. The most competitive, the diva, the bitch, the flirt, and so on.”

Lovely. Shelly wondered which one she’d be cast as.

“I’ve already started to build the site with features for each of the cast,” Lucy continued.

When Lucy finally finished, Shelly said, “All right. Moving on to episode two. This will be the cast’s arrival on San Clemente Island where they’ll set up—by themselves—the tents they’ll be staying in for the time they’re there.”

“We have permission and permits for San Clemente Island?” Joanne asked.

“Applied for it yesterday. Just waiting for approval,” Jonas replied.

Joanne tipped her head in a nod. “Let me know if there’s any problems with it,” she said before turning her attention back to Shelly.

“Episode two will also have the welcome bon fire and beach barbecue—including free-flowing drinks. The twist is that the cast isn’t allowed to eat until all sixteen pass the sugar cookie, sit-up, push-up test.” Shelly shot Jonas a hate filled glare for his idea.

Joanne’s eyes lit. “I love it.”

Shelly breathed in with relief that at least Joanne was happy, even though she was not.

She continued. “At the beach party the host will finally tell the contestants the rules, which are that the SEALs are to be coaches only and it’s their female teammates who will be competing against each other.”

“So it’s the civilians’ performances that determines victory or defeat. Wonderful.” Joanne smiled.

“We’ll also reveal the first challenge that night. That’ll be the protocol for the remainder of the season. The challenges are revealed one at a time. The cast will be in the dark about what’s coming in the weeks ahead, to keep them off kilter. And so they can’t prepare in advance.”

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