Page 35 of Bargain with the Bachelor
And it’s not like I’ll be underhim, as I am every night in my dreams.
With those fortifying thoughts empowering me, I walked up to the mansion’s front door and let myself in with the key Hunter had sent over with the movers.
At least I wasn’t nervous about seeing theotherguys again—they’d all been really nice in school, the kind of boys you’d trust to date your little sister or go into your house while you were on vacation to pet-sit and water your plants.
Hap met me in the entryway. “Kristal! So good to see you again. Wow—you’ve hardly changed.”
“Hey Hap.” I returned his brief cheek kiss. “Great to see you too.”
He’dchanged—a lot. Like Hunter, he’d filled out and looked much more grown-up than he had back in school, though he’d always been cute.
As a child actor, Hap Bailey’s curly hair, sparkling eyes, wide grin, and funny lines had made him a favorite on family TV as well as a “safe” outlet for little girls and pre-teens to direct their puppy love.
By the time he’d moved to Eastport Bay and started high school, he’d developed into a quick-witted, if somewhat awkward-looking teen, gangly in that way adolescent boys raised to an art form.
The gangly wasgone. Tall and well-built, Hap had grown into a very handsome man.
Though I’d heard his interests leaned more toward behind-the-camera work these days, he looked like he could easily slide into a leading role on television or in the movies.
“Come on in. The asylum can always use another lunatic,” he joked as he led me through the warmly lit stone foyer into the main gathering area.
It did look like a madhouse. There were people everywhere. All of Hunter’s housemates appeared to be present, stationed in various spots around the room with their laptops.
Camera operators, grips, and production assistants moved through the space, setting up equipment, adjusting lighting, and rolling out cables.
A stylist fussed with the messy mop atop Tucker Donnegan’s head. He appeared to have just woken up.
He’d changed a lot since high school as well, but I recognized him instantly.
Yawning widely, he spotted me and lifted a hand in a wave. He rolled his eyes as if to sayCan you believe all this?before his mouth stretched in another wide yawn.
Reid Nolan, another classmate of ours, wasn’t quite so laid back about the situation. He was literally growling at a makeup artist who stood in front of him, holding a powder puff in one hand and a brush in the other.
“I just have to knock the shine off,” she protested, reaching toward him.
“I’m going to knock someoneoutin a minute,” he replied, his glower making his icy blue eyes even more wintry.
“Not you of course,” he assured her. “But no one said anything about makeup. I want a word with ourglorious leader.”
Though Reid was a few years younger, I remembered him from school. He’d been a generally happy guy who’d loved computers, golf, and his high school sweetheart Mara—and not in that order.
Mara had always come first in his life, which had made me and all my girlfriends envious. That kind of devotion was compelling.
Today, he looked anythingbuthappy. “WhereisHunter anyway?” he snarled.
That was a good question. I scanned the room, looking for him, but he was nowhere in sight.
From the sofa nearest me, I heard a quiet, “Hello Kristal.”
I turned to see Aiden Gleason, a guy who’d suffered from such crippling shyness in high school that these were literally the first words he’d ever spoken to me.
Aiden might have been the biggest ugly-duckling-to-beautiful-swan story in the room.
Tall and sculpted now, with thick, dark auburn hair and clear, tanned skin, he would have caused a stampede of estrogen back in school if he’d looked anything close to this.
“Hi Aiden. It’s so good to see you again.”
Paul and Josh were also on that side of the room and offered their greetings. I addressed the three of them. “Thank you so much for agreeing to give me a place to stay.”
