Page 50 of It Happened in Vegas

My heart poundedlike a drum in my chest when I awoke in Keaton’s warm arms.

Or was that someone actually pounding on our hotel door?

“What the hell?” Keaton growled awake, voice thick with sleep. He pulled away, his warmth leaving me in bed. He yanked on shorts and stalked to the eyepiece of the door. With brow creased, he groaned. “We’re not opening this door.”

“Why not? Who is it?” I flung back the covers. The clock on the nightstand glowed 6:00 a.m.

“Nope. Not letting this bullshit ruin our day. Back to bed,” he snapped, but I was already sliding into my dress, adrenaline surging.

“Keaton—”

“I can hear you talking,” came a familiar voice from the other side.

“Is that Melanie?” I turned the handle and Keaton sighed, stalking away.

Melanie stood there, mascara running, tears in her eyes. A complete mess. “They won’t do it,” she sobbed, voice cracking. “Vanessa says she’s done for good. Ben’s trying to coax her out,but she’s locked herself in the bridal suite and has booked a morning flight back to L.A.”

I blinked, stunned, but couldn’t blame Vanessa for her meltdown. “Seriously?”

“I promised my producers a wedding,” she sniffed, looking at me like I could pull a miracle out of my suitcase. “No wedding means no finale. No finale means my contract doesn’t get renewed with the studio.”

“Sorry about your luck. Now, if you don’t mind, we were not ready to wake up yet.” Keaton gestured for her to leave. Instead, she stepped deeper into our room, closing the door behind her. I felt a little sad for her. Last night with Keaton still smoldered beneath my skin. Facing a wrecked reality show was exactly what I didn’t need.

“Too bad there isn’t another couple to could take their place,” I said, only half joking. “That’d be a surprise no one saw coming.”

Melanie’s head shot up. Her eyes sparkled.

Oh no. That sparkle looked dangerous.

“No,” Keaton said instantly, voice like steel. “Absolutely not.”

But it was too late.

Melanie clutched my arm. “You and Keaton. You’re already here and you're both hot. The audience loves him and would love you, too. And it would be the perfect ending! The fans would get their happily ever after seeing Keaton get married.”

Keaton went rigid, eyes narrowing. He pried me free, guiding me away from Melanie’s frantic pull. “You’ve lost your damn mind.”

His fierce protectiveness warmed me, but Melanie’s words hung between us in the stale morning air.

“Can you believe her? Marry you? For TV?” he shook his head in disbelief.

Should I take offense at his question about marrying me or try to understand his problem with reality TV?

“It wouldn’t have to be real. Look, you both signed NDAs for this weekend, so I feel safe in telling you this.” Melanie pushed her glasses up her nose. “The Vanessa and Ben wedding was going to be fake. The studio needed a huge win after the flop of their last big-budget movie. So when they heard Vanessa and Ben were going to get married, they offered them a million dollar deal to do it on television. Only she wanted a wedding at home in her father’s church. His father didn’t want the cameras there. So this wedding was supposed to be fake, and then they’d marry again quietly for real back home next month.”

Webothgawked at her like she’d grown two heads.

“Technically, we alreadyarefake-dating for TV,” I pointed out to Keaton.

“What did you just say?” Melanie’s jaw dropped.

Oh no. I groaned. “Starla was pressuring Keaton to rekindle their relationship this weekend, but he didn’t want that. And because of the opportunities for Hops here, I agreed to be his date.”

“So, the two of you staged all of this? Wow, I totally bought it. You two aregoodtogether, like you belong together—married even.” How quickly she was about to turn this around.

Keaton exchanged a glance with me. I nodded, but then he said, “It may have started as an act, but I think we discovered last night there could be more between us.”

He took my hand in his and my heart burst wide open at the smoldering heat in his eyes.

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