Page 103 of Alice Chen's Reality Check

“Alice, why don’t you feed Daniel a strawberry?” Leah says. It’s really more of a command than a suggestion.

I pluck a strawberry from the tray. “Come here,” I say. Daniel is a polite distance from me. “Why are you so far away?”

The water sloshes in the hot tub as Daniel scoots closer. I slide the strawberry into his mouth, my fingers brushing his lips.

“Delicious,” Daniel says. He’s starting to turn red, from either the sun or the heat of the water.

“Did you put on sunblock?” I ask him.

He gives me a strange look. “Of course.”

“Good, just checking,” I say, popping a strawberry into my own mouth. Damn, these are good. The tangy bite of the strawberry cuts perfectly through the creamy dark chocolate. I could eat ten of these, easy.

“Okay, enough talking. Let’s get some shots of you making out,” Leah says—a very normal thing to expect people to do on command.

I lean in to kiss Daniel, and Leah makes a displeased noise.

“That’s not going to convince anyone,” she says. “This is your moment to really sell this. Are you in love or not?”

I couldn’t even be convincingly in love with Chase when Iwasin love with Chase. How can I possibly pull this off with Daniel?

But just as I’m starting to panic, Daniel gives me an encouraging smile. He clearly thinks he’s got this, and if he can handle this, surely I can, too.

At my nod, Daniel’s hands find my hips, and he pulls me fully into his lap, my thighs straddling his as the water laps against us. I expect him to kiss me, but instead he rests his forehead against mine.

“Relax, Slayer.” His voice is quiet, low, just for the two of us. “We practiced for this, remember? Albeit, Ididhave the upper hand back in our room.”

I know what he’s doing. He’s trying to bait me into being so competitive that I forget my awkwardness.

And it’s working.

I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him in, my fingers tipping his face so his mouth meets mine. It’s a different angle from our otherkisses, and I’m pleased by the leverage I have on Daniel. And then he gasps and leans into the kiss, stoking the heat between us, sucking the taste of the strawberries right off my lips. We press closer together until there’s no space left between us, and there’s only his skin against mine, and the slosh of the water against the tub as we move.

I’m not sure how much time goes by. It could be seconds or hours, but there’s nothing I care to think about more than Daniel’s hold on me, tethering me to our moment.

“Damn,” Leah says, and I jerk out of the kiss so abruptly, I push off Daniel’s lap, sending a wave of water slopping over the edge of the tub. “Shawna’s going to be thrilled with this footage.”

Daniel doesn’t move to pull me back, and it feels like a bucket of cold water falling over me. I’m disoriented, having completely forgotten about the cameras. But Daniel doesn’t look even remotely frazzled. Was it all just for the cameras for him? Of course it was. But part of me wishes we could have kept going.

“That looked cozy,” someone says, and the thought of doing more with Daniel flies out of my head.

It’s Dawn Taylor, and she’s handing me and Daniel luxuriously fluffy waffle-knit robes like she’s a PA. Freya hovers behind her, clutching a clipboard.

“Leah told me about the snake,” Dawn Taylor continues, making a face like I’d just complained there was a fly in my champagne, or something equally trivial. “I’m so sorry.”

“There’s been a lot of safety issues on set,” Daniel says.

“And I apologize for that,” Dawn Taylor says, sounding not one bit apologetic. “It won’t happen again, I guarantee it.”

“Thank you,” I say, tugging on the robe and stepping out of the tub. I really don’t feel like being half naked in front of Dawn Taylor.

“Anyway, I wanted to personally tell the two of you that I’m so impressed by how well you’re doing, especially for such a new couple,” Dawn Taylor says. “I think you have a real chance at winning.”

Dawn Taylor takes my hands. “So my advice, and I hope you take itseriously, is that you just focus on the competition. Don’t worry about anything else. No more getting into fights with my producers or playing detective, mmkay?”

I can feel the tips of her manicured nails dig ever so slightly into my palms.

She says with a sweet smile, “I’d hate to see any of the contestants get hurt.”

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