She had slept with Birdie in Portland. She’d taken her contact details. But she hadneverpromised to call. Birdie was here in Provence. Birdie was a contestant. Alexis had pretended she didn’t know Birdie when she most certainly did. That about summed it all up.
“Alexis!” Elise called, marching over to her, this time with a can of Diet Pepsi in her hand. “Tonight, we’re doing a rose ceremony, except we’re using bouquets of lavender. Very Provence, don’t you think?”
Alexis gave a single nod that was way too tight.
But at least Elise didn’t seem to notice. “Vivian will guide you as the night goes on, but it’s important that you try to get to know all the contestants a bit.” She saidallas if she implied something. “The cameras will follow your every move.”
“Of course,” Alexis replied, trying to sound like her brain wasn’t on fire. “Get to know all the contestants. Be camera-ready at all times. Done.”
“Good,” Elise said. “You’ll have about two hours to mingle before you’re sending someone home.”
“What?” Alexis stammered. “I thought the first ceremony was the first impression flower.”
“Things are different this season,” Elise replied, popping the tab on her Diet Pepsi. “Vivian will explain everything later. All you need to do is choose your favorite nine and send the other one packing.”
Alexis just stared.Pick nine and cut one already? Tonight?Her stomach did a little backflip, but then realization dawned on her just as relief swept in, nearly knocking her over. This was her ticket out of this mess. She could send Birdie home before she even unpacked her suitcase. It would save Alexis’s redemption arc if she could send the woman home before anyone found out about her little secret.
“Okay, I’ll choose nine,”she said finally, nodding as she embraced the relief.
Easy. It couldn’t get any easier. She was going to send Birdie packing, and she was going to stay as the bachelorette with her shiny redemption arc, and everything would be fine.
Elise grinned and then nudged her head toward the path. “Now get going. The girls are waiting, and we wouldn’t want any of them getting restless.”
Alexis’s feet moved before she could consider what a group of ten restless women looked like. Before she knew it, shewas already walking through the door of the solarium to claps and cheers.
Vivian flourished an arm in Alexis’s direction. “Ladies, your bachelorette. The woman you’ve all been waiting for,”she beamed.
Alexis gave a smile, but before she could even register the flutter of claps, her attention snagged on the solarium itself. It was a huge dome of dazzling glass that stretched overhead with tangles of ivy and draping wisteria trailing down. Potted olive trees lined the edges, their silver leaves catching the flicker of golden votives perched on wrought-iron stands. The mosaic floor glittered as if someone had broken a thousand champagne bottles and glued them back together. And the bar overflowed with flutes of champagne.
The contestants stood in a semicircle, each one holding a champagne glass. Alexis had to fight not to notice Birdie. But fighting her self-control only did so much. She risked a glance. Birdie still looked shell-shocked, with wide brown eyes fixed on nothing in particular. Her lips were parted like she’d forgotten to close her mouth, and her shoulders were a little too rigid for someone who was supposed to be enjoying a glass of bubbles.
Alexis felt heat sweep up her stomach.
But then Vivian clapped her hands together, the sound snapping through the air like a firecracker. “All right, ladies. Here’s how tonight will go. First, you’ll get the chance to mingle, have a drink, maybe even steal a moment with Alexis.” She winked at Alexis, who resisted the urge to wink back. Panic made her do funny things. “Then, we’ll gather right back here for your first rose ceremony. Or rather, your lavender ceremony.” She gestured toward a tall table brimming with fragrant bouquets of lavender. “That’s right. One of youwillbe going home tonight.”
A ripple of gasps went through the semicircle. Alexis tried not to look at the contestants and the panic on their faces.She knew all too well how they must be feeling: the jitters, the stomach-flipping dread, the sudden, desperate urge to make an impression. She knew there was an intense desire not to be the first person sent home because, goodness, that would be mortifying, wouldn’t it?
She’d been there herself once, clinging to a cocktail, wondering if she’d said the right thing, smiled enough, or laughed at the right time.It was wild, really, how a show that claimed to be about finding love could leave a person doubting whether they were even worth loving in the first place.
“Already?” Nina, the contestant with the thick doll eyebrows, whispered. She shot a glance at Kinley, whose entire right arm was covered in a rose petal tattoo.
“Yes, tonight,” Vivian chirped, grinning like a cat with a bowl of cream. “I know our bachelorette must be dreading the thought of sending someone home so soon.”
Alexis forced a tight, polite, and even slightly apologetic smile. But the truth was, she wasn’t dreading the ceremony at all. If anything, it was a relief, a lifeline. If Alexis played this right, if she moved quickly and without hesitation, she could get rid of this entire Portland-shaped problem before it had a chance to explode.
“And starting tomorrow, you all will get a chance to go on a date with Alexis. Whether that’s a group date or one-on-one, it will be decided by our viewers.” She paused, letting the gasps and whispers ripple through the room once again. “Sorry, girls, but you’ll be at the mercy ofThe Sapphic Matchapp that was recently launched,”Vivian went on in a singsong voice, clearly savoring every second.
Even Alexis was slightly stumped. Dates decided by viewers, and one person already going home tonight. Her head was spinning. Or maybe that was just Birdie, who was standingthere like a forest-green lighthouse in the crowd, distracting her more than she’d like to admit.
Vivian got everyone’s attention again. “Alright, ladies, mingle. Have a drink. Charm our bachelorette, and remember, she’s watching.” She wiggled her eyebrows and then swept toward the exit, leaving Alexis standing there in the glittering solarium, ready to put her plan in motion. She was going to send Birdie packing tonight.
Chapter Six
The universe had officially stopped being funny.
Birdie wasn’t laughing. In fact, she wanted nothing more than a good old-fashioned sob, the kind that wrung you out, left your eyes raw, and maybe gave you just enough perspective to make the disaster in front of you feel slightly less catastrophic. Except this wasn’t a problem she could cry away. This was a person. One person in particular. Alexis Wolf.
Just comprehending that Lexi from Portland was Alexis Wolf, the bachelorette onThe Sapphic Match,made her stomach feel like it had been swapped out for a snow globe and shaken until everything inside her blurred. And then on top of that, Alexis—apparently her name wasn’t Lexi anymore—had looked right at her and acted like they’d never met.
