‘Hi, you,’ she said coyly.
Declan noticed that she had taken a seat in clear view of the camera in the corner – he envied her instinct to always place herself at the perfect angle. The past few days had reminded him how lucky he’d been to find someone with the same goals. With Zoë, he’d found everything he had come on the show for.
He came up behind her, keeping eye contact in the mirror. ‘You look beautiful.’
‘Aww,’ Imogen cooed from the next vanity over. ‘Couple goals.’
Declan leaned down and wrapped his arms around Zoë, smiling at their reflection. She turned and pecked him on the lips.
‘We’d better go,’ she said, standing.
Declan nodded. ‘I’ll walk you out.’
He escorted Zoë downstairs, the other girls trailing behind them.
‘Wow,’ Jack said from the bottom of the stairs, staring at Maeve, ‘you look amazing.’
Maeve flushed, and Jack dropped a kiss to her cheek when she reached him.
‘We’ll be back soon,’ she said, squeezing his hand.
The girls departed in a van, and the boys were left to sit around the pool and look bored for the cameras.
‘I miss Maeve,’ Jack said petulantly.
‘I miss Stella,’ Niall agreed.
‘I hope the girls are having a good time,’ Declan said.
Oliver snickered. ‘You lot are pathetic; they’ll be back soon enough.’
On cue, the loudspeaker chimed with a new message. ‘Boys, we know you miss your girls, but love is a battlefield. The girls won’t be coming back today, but we’ve found some new recruits to keep you busy.’
The boys traded bewildered glances.
‘Hello!’ a voice called, and Declan turned to see four girls walking out onto the patio. One for each of them, he noted.
The two groups made their introductions. Faye, a tall, dark-skinned expat from America, was the one who had greeted them, and a redhead named Eavie was by her side. The others, a set of identical twins, introduced themselves as Amelia and Annabelle.
From Declan’s position on the patio, he could see through the large glass windows of the villa straight to the front door. The production staff was clearing out the other girls’ suitcases, loading them into a van.
Paige sent the new girls upstairs to change into bathing suits and instructed the boys to have a chat.
‘The crew is stretched thin between the two locations, so I’m expecting everyone to be on their best behaviour,’ she said sternly. ‘Your girls are in another villa right now meeting brand new boys, so it may be in your best interest to keep your options open.’
‘Are the other guys as hot as me, though?’ Jack joked.
‘Hotter,’ Paige deadpanned.
Jack had the good sense to look nervous. ‘Fair enough. All right, boys, let’s talk about our feelings, yeah?’
The boys nodded and Paige waved a cameraman over.
From Declan’s casual viewing of the show, he knew the rival villa was the hardest test for the couples. The introduction of anew set of contestants sent specifically to try to steal them away from their established partners made for good drama, but it was also a trap. Straying from Zoë now would only make him a villain to the audience – all he could do was trust that she wanted to win as much as he did.
‘So…’ Jack said, after an awkward pause, ‘what do we think of the new birds? Decs, what’s your assessment?’
Declan straightened and raised his hand to his forehead in a mock salute, feeling ridiculous. ‘Faye seems sound, Eavie is gorgeous, and who doesn’t like twins, sir!’
