Romancing Miss Right Read Free

people,
grinning with patronizing approval. “Got it.” He caught both of her
hands, giving them a squeeze. “That was perfect, sweetie. You’re a
natural.”
    “Do you need me to model any more of the
outfits?” She’d been playing dress-up for nearly two hours—twirling
and primping and laughing for the camera in the Miss Right
wardrobe, furnished this year by the most recent winner of Project
Runway in a cross promotional stunt. Thank God the winner knew how
to make a girl look good rather than like a piece of abstract
art.
    “No, we’re all set.” Behind Linus, the camera
and sound people were already packing up their cables while the
hair, make-up and wardrobe people hovered behind, waiting for him
to be done with her so they could descend. “You have about an hour
before you need to be back in wardrobe for tonight. Miranda will
arrive just before sunset to shoot the intro exteriors, then you’ll
have your official anticipation interview with our own Josh
Pendleton. After that it’s inside the mansion to meet your Suitors!
Get some rest—you probably remember how grueling the first night
is, but tonight will be five times worse because it’s all about you
this time. You won’t get a moment’s break with all the men vying
for your attention.”
    Marcy grinned. “Poor me, exhausted because
there are too many men fighting for me.”
    Linus laughed, flashing the gap between his
front teeth. She was never sure if he really thought she was clever
or just thought it was his job to make her feel entertaining. “Take
a nap if you can. You won’t have another chance for eight
weeks.”
    As soon as Linus turned away, her dressers
swarmed around her, stripping off the couture gown with brisk
efficiency. Marcy had never been a squeamish person, but the show
had divested her of what modesty she had. A year ago she might have
flinched at being in a crowded room, bared down to her strapless
bra, underwear and heels, but thankfully one of her sisters owned a
gym with her husband back in Murphysboro and she’d designed a
punishing training schedule to hone Marcy down to her most sexy
self for the show.
    The dressers—sisters named Claudia and Eunice
Yu—handed her a light-weight button up blouse and a pair of shorts.
Apparently with civilian clothes she was allowed to dress herself.
The hair and make-up geniuses cautioned her to sleep carefully and
not destroy all their good work, and then, with a mass exodus, the
hive of people who made her into Miss Right left her alone in the
spacious guest bedroom that now housed her extensive Miss Right
wardrobe.
    Marcy stepped out of the heels that she knew
she was going to hate by hour two tonight and wriggled her toes in
the plush carpet for a moment before tugging on the shorts and the
blouse.
    “Cinderella?” the dry voice floated from the
open balcony door. “Really?”
    Marcy turned as her youngest sister Dinah
pushed back the gauzy curtains and strolled into the room. “You’re
here to squee with me over the clothes, not mock the process.”
    “I squeed for the cameras, right on cue.”
    “You did, thank you. How long have you been
hiding on the balcony?”
    “I wasn’t hiding. I was trying to sneak a
peek at the man-flesh buffet next door through the hedges.” Dinah
flopped gracelessly onto the overstuffed white chair the set people
had brought in so the room would look complete. “You really should
have a word with the landscape people about trimming back some of
the roughage. You can’t see a thing.”
    “I’m not supposed to be able to see a thing.
Ruin the surprise and all that.”
    “Screw surprises. I want a view. What’s the
point of having the Suitors’ Mansion and the Miss Right Mansion
next door to one another if you can’t watch the muscles rippling by
the pool from your bedroom window?”
    “I believe the original point was
convenience, but these days it seems to be more so the Suitorettes
can be caught on camera trying to sneak over the