Page 59 of Fall Into Temptation
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By the time Eva was led back into the meeting room, Gia looked as though she’d been steam cleaned and hung up to dry.
“They asked me about birth control,” Gia hissed when Eva sank into the seat next to her.
Eva snorted and tried to cover it up with a cough.
Amethyst turned out half of the lights, throwing the room into shadows.
“We’ve come to a decision,” Bruce said gravely from the front of the room. “And unfortunately, we can only allow one of you to join our ranks.”
Eva felt oddly disappointed, but Gia looked crestfallen.
“You two must choose,” Bobby announced, her demeanor calm and distant like that of a priestess.
“Wehave to decide which one of us gets to stay?” Eva squeaked.
The committee members nodded.
“It should be you,” Eva said to Gia. “You’ve wanted to be a member since you were matched. I think you’d be a wonderful, stable addition to the committee.”
Gia squeezed Eva’s hand. “I really want to join, but Eva I think you could benefit more from this.”
“What?”
“I already found my happily ever after thanks to the B.C. It’s your turn, and I think with this committee steering you, you’ll end up happier than you ever imagined.”
Eva felt her eyes go damp. “But you want it so much,” she argued. “I want you to have this.”
“I’d rather see you happy,” Gia sniffled.
“I’m not taking something that you want away from you,” Eva said. “It should be Gia.”
“It should be Eva,” Gia countered.
Amethyst flipped the light switches chasing away the shadows, and Bruce beamed at them.
“Excellent work, ladies. Allow me to be the first to welcome you both to the Beautification Committee.”
The other members applauded. Someone pressed another glass of champagne into Eva’s hand.
“I don’t understand,” Eva began.
“The most valuable quality a Beautification Committee member can have is selflessness,” Willa explained grandly. “We do what we do, not for personal gain or notoriety but to truly make the lives of our neighbors better.”
“You two just proved that you would give up something important to you to make the other happy. That’s exactly what we’re looking for,” Bobby told them.
Gia squealed and grabbed Eva in a hug that was closer to a headlock.
“Thank you all,” Eva said through the strangulation.
“Let’s get down to business,” Bruce announced.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“I would like to propose to the committee that we revisit a declined pairing,” Bruce announced to the room. “Since theoriginal resistanceto this pairing is no longer a decision maker, I would like to finally pair up Eden Moody and Davis Gates.”
A collective gasp worked its way through the entire Beautification Committee except Eva. She had no idea what was gasp-able but had a feeling that Ellery was the “original resistance” to which Bruce was referring.
