22. Chapter Twenty-Two

"So you're definitely not doing the tour?"

Jared shook his head. "I'm definitely not."

"Then we really need to talk to someone at Destination Love. Probably soon." Before I had a chance to say anything else, an insistent buzzing began from somewhere on the floor.

Jared scrambled to get up and fish for his phone from where it had been left in his jeans pocket to answer it. "Hello?" I couldn't identify the voice on the line, but Jared quickly put it on speaker.

"Doug Cutler here. Is this Jared? Do you have a minute to chat?" the voice said. Doug was the executive producer of Destination Love, and I grimaced as I heard his voice.

"Yeah, sure, Doug. Thanks for calling. I've just put you on speaker. Matty's next to me."

"Excellent, glad to get you both at the same time," Doug said smoothly. "I've just spoken to Charlie Blythe and there are some things we need to work out."

My stomach churned, icy dread filling me. "Ja, we agree, Doug."

He hesitated for a moment before continuing. "See, here's the thing, gentlemen. You signed a contract."

"We know. But we didn't agree for the producer to try to rip us apart by springing something major on us in front of the cameras. We didn't even have a chance to process the news or decide how to react before we were just… being recorded."

"Jared. That's just how these things work. The viewers want drama and romance, we give them drama and romance. And believe me, our Destination Love viewers love the drama. They crave it. And you two, well, you've just been too much in love. You're giving us the romance, but not the drama."

Jared stifled a laugh, but not before I caught the grimace on his face and the hard shake of his head. "We're not breaking up just for your show. Why isn't the drama we just went through enough?"

"Okay, so you don't want to give in to this drama, we'll have to find some drama. Maybe Matt has second thoughts. Maybe your parents hate each other. Maybe your kickball team gets you hammered at your bachelor party and nearly ruins the wedding. Look, I don't particularly care. I just need something."

Jared scrubbed his hands over his face, clearly frustrated. "Fine, we‘ll agree to some type of excitement. But it won't be us breaking up, and we're keeping it as lighthearted as possible. That I can promise you."

A sigh came from Doug. "Great. We'll figure something out. But in the meantime, this is a wedding show. Do some fucking wedding planning. Charlie's on her way back to you. Got it?"

"Loud and clear," Jared said.

The call ended silently. Our only indication that Doug had hung up was Jared's phone screen blinking off.

Jared turned to me, where I was still sprawled in bed, naked. "Well?"

I shrugged. "I suppose we need to get dressed and ready for wedding planning then." I sat up and sighed. "Shall we?"

It only took about a half hour for us to shower and get dressed again, despite Jared's valiant attempts to get his mouth on me again in the shower. I couldn't deny that it was tempting, but I also wasn't interested in more drama with the show.

Once we were both clean and dressed, we headed to the living room, Jared saying he was going to get started on dinner prep, even though it was barely lunchtime, while I sat and pretended to read, anxiety eating me from the inside while I waited for Charlie and Heidi to return. Soon enough, though, the crunch of gravel in our driveway stopped both of us.

"Show time," Jared said from the kitchen, the unhappiness clear in his sullen tone.

When footsteps sounded from the front porch, I put my book aside and opened the door. Charlie stood on the other side, offering me a bright, fake smile. "Matt! Good to see you again." It seemed she was going to pretend nothing had happened.

That wouldn't do. I couldn't let her get away with it. "Charlie." I gave her a terse nod. "I can't say the same, I'm afraid."

"Listen." She stepped inside, Heidi close behind with the camera hanging low at her side. "Let's put that past us. You and I have worked well together so far. Let's not let one little bump ruin it."

"You seemed to quite enjoy trying to break us up. It's hard to call that little."

She placed a hand on my shoulder and I shook it off. "Here's the thing. I'm just working from what Doug gives me. I don't make the decisions. Let's not take it personally."

I opened my mouth to say something, but instead, Jared stepped into the room and cleared his throat. "How about we just get this over with?"

Charlie's gaze darted back and forth between Jared and me before she fixed the smile on her face and nodded. "Sounds excellent." She paused a moment before continuing. "For today, I have us trying on tuxes, cake tasting, and taking a dancing lesson. Busy afternoon, so we need to get to it."

"That's a lot in one day," Jared said pointedly.

Charlie shrugged. "We have less than two months. We've got a lot to do. Buckle up, sweethearts."

By the time we'd made it through tuxes and cake tastings, I was exhausted and overwhelmed and truthfully wishing for some alone time with Jared. Charlie directed us to the final appointment of the day, an evening dance lesson at Radiant Rhythms Dance Academy. The instructor, who met us at the front desk, was a woman with deep red hair in curls down to her shoulders, green eyes, and a smile for days. She also seemed as patient as humanly possible, considering I had two left feet, and Jared probably had four.

"Hi, I'm Mariah. So excited to work with the two of you." She turned to Charlie. "What do you need from me?"

"We'll do our best to stay out of your way. We'll probably ask you to do several takes at times, so bear with us. Otherwise, just… act natural."

Mariah nodded and smiled again. "Of course. Right this way, gentlemen." She led us into a small studio, Charlie and Heidi close behind. As soon as Charlie had figured out the best place to put Heidi and they had settled, Mariah turned back to us. "Do you have a first dance song picked out?" I hadn't even thought about that. Instead of saying anything, I looked to Jared, who looked just as wide-eyed and panicked as I felt as he shook his head. She offered us a gentle smile. "It's okay. I think I've got just the thing. We'll listen to it once or twice, and then start choreographing it, if that sounds good." She went to the corner, where a sound system was set up, and selected a song.

I wasn't familiar with the song, but Jared seemed to know it, nodding along as it played. "That's a good one," he murmured, and turned to me with open arms. "Dance?"

I looked at Mariah, my eyes wide, and she gave me a little nod. I stepped into his embrace, heat creeping up my throat self-consciously as he pulled me in close against his body, warmth radiating off him, his scent making me swoon a little. One of Jared's strong hands pressed into the space just below my shoulder blades and held me tight, his other hand taking mine. After a moment, he began swaying me to the music, taking small steps and gently guiding me around the room.

I took a deep breath, my chest pressing into Jared's, and let him lead. After another moment, I rested my face against his and sighed, eyes fluttering closed. With Jared holding me, deep down I knew I was safe, cared for, that I had nothing to worry about. The touch didn't turn sexual, but instead was something sweet and pure and right. My heart soared as he held me, and when the song ended, I didn't want to open my eyes, didn't want to acknowledge anyone else in the room. I wanted the moment to last forever. Unfortunately, that wasn't what had to happen. I forced my eyes open and sought Jared's gaze immediately. His smile was sweet and loving. He turned to Mariah.

"How was that?"

Even Mariah looked touched. She was beaming, and her voice was thick with emotion. "You guys are perfect together. You're going to make my job easy."

The lesson lasted around two hours, with the multiple takes and angles that Charlie wanted. Eventually, Charlie dismissed Mariah and gave us a curt nod. "I think that will be enough for tonight."

"What's the plan next?" Jared asked cautiously.

"Now we just have to get it scheduled. I'll be in touch."

"Thanks," Jared said, and with that, he took my hand and led me to the car. The moment the door closed behind us he turned to me, dark brown eyes blazing. "Are you okay? That was a lot today."

I nodded. "Ja. Thank you." I squeezed his hand. "Really. It was a lot but… being with you helped." Wordlessly, he leaned in and kissed me tenderly. I raised my eyebrows. "What was that for?"

"It's just… I really fucking love you and knowing that Charlie wants to cause trouble with us, it makes the feral, protective part of me come out. I want to take care of you and keep you safe. I spent all afternoon worried she'd pull some other fucking stunt."

I gave him a tiny smile and nodded. "Jeg elsker deg ogs?. Now, let's go home?"

"Yeah. Let's go home."