Falling for Mister Wrong Read Free Page A

Angeles.
    That wasn’t such a big deal. It didn’t really
matter whether he was an elementary school teacher or a
commentator. And she could teach piano lessons anywhere. She was
still getting her happily ever after with the perfect guy.
    A gentle knock sounded on the door.
“Caitlyn,” a familiar segment producer’s voice called through the
wood. “We’re ready for you.”
    She smiled up at Daniel. “Probably won’t be
hearing that again for a while.”
    She wasn’t sure Daniel heard her. He was too
busy gazing meltingly into her eyes. “I love you, Caitlyn.”
    She tried to echo him, but the words got
stuck in her throat, so she closed her eyes and tipped her face up
for his kiss, concentrating on remembering the feel of him since it
would be weeks, perhaps even months, before she saw him again. Her
fiancé.
    The Rock of Ages—as she’d come to think of
her engagement ring—was safely tucked away in her carry-on bag. She
couldn’t be seen with so much as a tell-tale crease on her finger
for the next three months. As far as the world at large knew, she
might as well be another of the broken-hearted Suitorettes who had
been discarded along the way.
    Daniel opened the door and a pair of large
crew guys swept in to collect her luggage. The show always shot
strategically to make it look like each of the Suitorettes traveled
with only one dainty roller bag, but the truth was they usually
needed a separate SUV just to carry all the shoes.
    Caitlyn squeezed Daniel’s hand one last time
before extricating her fingers, her hand feeling strangely light
without his gripping it. She trailed the producer down the hall to
the bank of elevators where Miranda was waiting, her tablet tucked
against her stomach.
    “Eager to leave all of us in your vapor
trail?” Miranda asked, punching the down button with a single
slender finger.
    “Am I that obvious?” The engraved doors slid
back and Caitlyn preceded Miranda into the car. The other producer
and the two crew heavies with her bags continued on toward the
freight elevators.
    Miranda smiled her catlike smile as the doors
shut. “Honestly? I consider it one of the great victories of my
career that you didn’t pull a runaway bride on us weeks ago. Some
people have a harder time with the reality TV format than others
and the girls who come on looking for love and family and happy
endings tend to be the ones with the most disillusionment when the
reality of reality TV hits.”
    “I guess I’m lucky it was Daniel then. I
never would have made it without him. And now we really do get our
happy ending.”
    Miranda blinked. “Lucky.” But her tone didn’t
make it sound lucky at all.
    Caitlyn frowned at the producer who had
become the closest thing she had to a friend here in the last few
weeks. “You know, as pep talks go, this one sucks.”
    Miranda grimaced as the elevator doors
opened, waving her forward with one arm. “I’m supposed to be
reminding you of all the non-disclosures you signed. No discussing
the show—either in interviews or casual conversations with friends
or family. No admitting to a relationship with Daniel—not even to
the other Suitorettes, if they should contact you. Basically, the
network will sue you into the ground if you do anything to spoil
the ratings of the big finale.”
    “Understood.”
    “Telephone conversations between you and
Daniel are permitted only if you use the cell phones we have
provided for you for that purpose. You are not to use that phone
except to call me or Daniel. You are not to be seen together—no
matter how casually. At about the halfway point of the season,
we’ll arrange a weekend getaway for the two of you, but you aren’t
to tell anyone where you’re going or who you will be seeing.”
    “Miranda, I get it. I read everything I
signed.”
    They’d reached the black SUV waiting in the
valet lane at the hotel—one of a fleet of such vehicles that the
show used. Miranda stopped beside the rear passenger