Page 34 of Playing With My Heart Strings

My hands cup both sides of her face, and our lips crash together. For a split second, I think maybe she doesn’t want this as much as I do, but then she kisses me back. Her mouth seems to fit perfectly with mine, and when she takes a small breath and I slide my tongue past the small gap in her lips, she opens up to me, entangling us in a slow but sensual dance.

Her hands slide up my jaw around the back of my neck as mine travel down her body to her waist. A soft moan leaves her, and I can’t lie and say it doesn’t give me a bit more confidence.

When we finally break apart, I look into her eyes, hoping to find a glimpse of something to further reassure me. Instead I’m met with what seems like uncertainty.

“Maybe that—” she whispers, but I place a finger against her lips. I don’t want to ruin the moment with a conversation about why we shouldn’t have done that.

“Shh…” I whisper and then kiss her again before disappearing down the hall into the elevator. I wish I could stay longer, but from now on, if I have any say in things, Baylor and I won’t have to rush. We’ll have all the time we need.

the confessionals

Dusty:Holy [bleep].

Valerie:We?—

Dusty:—kissed.

Producer:On your date with Valerie?

Baylor:He kissed me.

Producer:Pardon?

Baylor:I mean, I wanted him to kiss me. We didn’t kiss on our date, you guys know that. You were following us with the cameras the whole time. But…I-I wanted him to.

Producer:How is that making you feel about the whole process?

Dusty:I—man. There were sparks. She’s—she’s incredible, in more ways than just the kiss.

Producer:Valerie is?

Dusty:Erm, yeah. Yeah, Valerie.

Baylor:I feel…good. I’m confident in whatever we have going on…I think.

14

baylor

Sworn to Secrecy

The production companyreserves two days between the last date of the week and airing day for editing, which means I have two days to ruminate over the kiss with Dusty.

When I heard the knock at my door, I wasn’t sure who to expect. Daniella had already been at my hotel room earlier that night, so I thought it would be weird for her to be back, especially since the hotel isn’t exactly close to our apartment. But thelastperson I expected to see was Dusty. And I definitely wasn’t expecting him to kiss me. Or for me to like it.

I don’t really want to spend time with the other girls right now, even though I’m probably supposed to. I just need this time to decompress by myself. Besides, the producers did say we could spend our days off however we want to, within reason. Which really means we can do whatever we want in our hotel rooms or at the property SSP is renting, since we aren’t allowed to go anywhere offsite without the whole group—and a slew of producers to watch our every move. I’m almost confident thereare loopholes to that, though, especially if Dusty was able to sneak into the hotel to kiss me.

I pace the carpeted floor of my hotel room a few times before flopping backward onto my bed, the mattress immediately sinking beneath me as I stare up at the ceiling.

I can’t believe Dusty kissed me.

God, I wish I could tell someone about the kiss. But we weren’t evensupposedto be kissing. Not off camera at least. As far as production is concerned, the kiss—the spine-tingling, stomach tangling, butterfly-inducing kiss—never happened.

My brain doesn’t comprehend that, though, and the entire interaction replays through my mind like a film reel. The softness of his lips, and the sensation of his mustache tickling my skin, still lingers, even hours later.

If I thought I could confide in any of the other girls, I would tell them. The only one who I think I may be able to trust with this is Sage, but even then I’m hesitant. She’s still a contestant on the show, and the girls are all here for the same reason—to win. Even though I’m not expected to win, I can’t give anyone a reason to stab me in the back. Not with my job on the line.

This will just have to be a secret I keep to myself. At least until we kisson camera.

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