Page 9 of Hot SEAL, Under Pressure

“Gabby doesn’t do anything fast unless it’s running down the aisle at Home Depot to get the last item on sale on Black Friday,” Zach added. “It would take her an hour to complete that course, minimum.”

The three men continued to amuse themselves at the expense of her idea as she slinked off to the kitchen.

There was a case of some nice wine chilling in the fridge. She knew because she’d arranged for the delivery from a show sponsor.

She couldn’t think of a better time to crack open one of those babies and drown her sorrows.

Apparently, she wasn’t the only one with that same idea. The women were already there, wine glasses in hand as they chatted, unaware their men were disparaging their athletic abilities just outside.

“Shelly. Hi. Come join us,” Gabby said in her usual welcoming tone. “I’d offer you something to eat but Tasha made me move the charcuterie board to the other room so it wouldn’t tempt her.”

“I’m sorry. But I could barely zip my dress today.” Tasha shook her head. “Gain a couple of pounds and it settles right in my boobs.”

“Oh, you poor thing.” Dani rolled her eyes. “I’m sure Clay hates that your boobs are bigger.”

“Wine?” Gabby asked, diffusing the sarcasm while reaching for an empty glass from the ones laid out in neat, Instagram-worthy rows on the counter by the open bottle.

That was part of the sponsorship deal. Shelly was to make sure they all posted pictures of the guests—and especially the shows’ stars— enjoying the wine on social media. She’d have to make sure the cameraman had gotten some good footage of them all drinking it as well. Influencer marketing at its best.

“Yes, please. Thank you. I could use a drink.” Shelly sighed as she took the glass Gabby offered.

“I know that tone. Men problems?” Tasha asked.

She laughed. “Kind of, but more executive producer problems.”

Dani, who had worked beneath Joanne before she left New Millennia Media, groaned in commiseration. “I hear you on that.”

“Anything we can do to help?” Gabby asked.

“Unless you can get your men to agree to shoot a sizzle reel for me, not really.”

“A sizzle reel for what?” Dani asked, her producer ears perking up.

“For one of our shows?” Tasha asked.

Tasha had been in front of the camera for years as a morning talk show host. And in spite of the fact she was just weeks away from marrying the camera-adverse Clay, she was always willing to put in the extra work whenever NMM asked them to.

All three women were focused on Shelly, eagerly waiting for her to explain the concept for the show that their men had so quickly shot down.

Why hadn’t she thought of this before? Brian and Alicia had been wrong.

Appealing to the competitive nature of three of the most alpha males she’d ever met, confident men who had nothing to prove to anyone, was the wrong tactic.

She needed to appeal to the women. Afterall, all three of the SEALs had appeared on reality shows not because they wanted to. Oh, no. They had most definitelynotwanted to. But they all did it to help the careers of the women they loved.

Thesewomen.

Shelly drew in a breath and launched into her carefully worded presentation. “I came up with an idea for a new show. Teams of two, made up of one Navy SEAL and one civilian, would compete against each other in challenges based on the actual training the guys go through during BUD/S.”

Dani nodded. “Sounds like a great concept to me. Right in New Millennia’s wheelhouse. So what’s the problem?”

“I’ve had no problem finding SEALs for five of the teams. And I have a casting call scheduled for the five civilians. That will cover five of the eight teams competing. The issue is that Joanne wanted the final three to be made of up celebrity teams.”

Shelly threw that word—celebrity—out there to woo the women. Stroke their egos a bit. Remind them that NMM was responsible for them having a million plus followers on Instagram.

“You three, to be exact” Shelly elaborated. “With Clay, Zach and Nick as your partners.”

She watched for a reaction.

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