Marla lowered herself into the sand with a small grunt. “Well, you’re not very good at hiding, Red. I found you in a minute.”
Skye ignored her. “What the hell was today?” she asked, changing the topic.
“What do you mean?” Marla said coyly. She had a smile on her face that told Skye she knew exactly what she had meant.
“The whole date takeover. That wasn’t part of the script.”
Marla shrugged and brushed sand off her legs. “I needed to throw in something unexpected,” she said brightly. “You know, to get a real reaction out of you.”
Skye raised an eyebrow. “So, you interrupted my date with Nova before we could even get to know each other alittle more. Isn’t that exactly the opposite of what we want, to interrupt a heartfelt moment?”
“Oh please,” Marla said, pulling a face. “Nothing about your conversation with Nova was heartfelt. Besides, the fans are going to love it.”
Skye didn’t reply. Mostly because she didn't trust what her face would do if she opened her mouth.
“We got everything we needed today,” Marla said when the moment got too quiet.“Paddleboards looked great, and the sunscreen bit was pure TV gold. You and Lucy have chemistry. You can’t deny it, Skye.”
Skye didn’t look at her. She simply dug her fingers into the sand and let the grains slide through her fingers. She could still feel the warmth of Lucy’s skin under her palms, and she could hear her breath catch when Lucy laughed too brightly.
“That wasn’t the plan,” Skye said. “The winner of the first impression lei isn’t supposed to get the first one-on-one date. You know this. The audience knows this.”
“Who cares? Don’t tell me you weren’t happy to see Lucy.”
“That’s not—” Skye stopped herself. Her jaw tightened. “That’s not the point.”
“No,” Marla said, her voice softer now. “The point is, it worked. You opened up a little. Got more comfortable. People want to see that.”
Skye pressed her tongue to the back of her teeth. “People want to see a fairy tale.Youwant a show. No one actually cares if the bachelorette hates every minute of her life.”
There was a pause. The wind kicked up and lifted a curl of Skye’s hair that had slipped from her bun. She didn’t fix it.
Marla pushed herself up, one hand on her knee and the other clutching her cellphone. “Are you heading up soon?” she asked, nudging her chin toward the path that led to Skye’sbungalow. “Don’t forget we’ve got that group date in ninety minutes. You still have to get to makeup.”
“I didn’t forget,” Skye replied, glancing back at the ocean. “Just need a few more minutes.”
Marla nodded and then trudged off, heading toward the path.
Skye watched her go, her silhouette swallowed by the deepening blue. She sighed and sank back on her elbows, letting her shoulders relax for the first time all day. Not that she had that much time to relax. Tonight was a group date, a late dinner out on the villa’s deck, and she still had to shower, pick an outfit and head to hair and makeup.
But right as she shifted to brush sand off her calf, readying herself to stand up, something caught her eye to the left. It was a flicker of movement where there shouldn’t have been any.
She squinted and placed her hand at the top of her sunglasses to act as a shade, even though the sun had already gone. From where she was sitting, it looked like a person wading out in the shallows.
Skye squinted harder and sat forward. She gave a really good look, far too curious for her own good, and then she blinked.
It wasn’t simply someone out there in the water.It was someonenaked. Entirely, undeniably naked.
She sat up straighter, her heart thudding against her ribs. Judging by the curve of the waist and shape of the breasts, which was a dead giveaway even in the fading light, the person was definitely a woman.
Who would be skinny dipping here? Right off the side of production, like they didn’t have a dozen cameras tracking their every move.
The woman moved a little deeper, past where the waves broke, and then suddenly, without hesitating, she dove under.
Skye held her breath.One beat. Two. Three.
Then a head broke the surface again, moving closer toward Skye, and the woman let out a laugh that carried across the water. It was a laugh that was all too familiar, a laugh that Skye could pick out in a lineup of laughs.
“Fuck,” Skye whispered. “It’s Lucy.”
