Blind Love (23 page)

How many women had he passed up because they didn’t look as good as the ones he ended up dating? He’d always chosen women for their outward appearance, and many of them were so self-centered he sent them on their way after one date. If he’d found Catherine in a bar, would he have given her a second look?

“I wish I could tell you that you could all stay, so I could get to know you better, but I have to send someone home tonight.” He called Andrea, and she stood there, stunned. Catherine, who stood one step below her, gave her a hug and said a few words to her, and JoJo hugged her on the way down. The other women looked relieved.

Tony took her hands. “I hate to send you away, Andrea, but now that the world has seen how pretty you are and how much you have to offer, I know you’ll find the right man.” He kissed her and hugged her, and she walked away with her head held high, like a lady.

The selections would be harder from now on. He wouldn’t be choosing on personality alone or on looks alone, but on the whole package.

Tony whistled for his dog, and Riley came running. “Goodnight, ladies.”

“Goodnight, Tony,” they said as one, and he and Riley walked down the garden path together.

Now he’d met the six women who were left. He not only knew them from their interviews, he knew what they looked like. They each had something special about them, something to keep him interested, but Catherine was the one he thought about the most. If he hadn’t met her before this show, if they hadn’t made love, she’d still be in the running.

And she wasn’t even blonde.

<>

By the time Catherine went up to her suite with the others, Andrea was already packed and gone. There were only two girls left in the other suite, and she knew they’d be moved tonight, but the others didn’t know they’d all have to share one room. Fawn had a bed to herself and so did Rachel, but that was about to change. DeeNae and JoJo would join Jenny, Fawn, Rachel, and Catherine in the suite tonight.

They were down to six girls. Three blondes, two brunettes, and Catherine.

Each one took a turn talking for the camera, a process Catherine was beginning to hate. “The competition is getting tougher,” she said when it was her turn. “There are only six of us left, and I can’t read Tony’s thoughts. For all I know, I’ll be the next one gone. He and Jenny seemed to have hit it off. I don’t want to wish her out of here, but I don’t want her to win Tony’s heart. I want him to be mine.”

Catherine wasn’t just talking for the camera. She meant every word. For the first time in her life, she was in love, and she didn’t want it to end.

<>

Fawn hated the costume they’d given her. It was not only so tight she could barely breathe, it was an old-fashioned, formal gown with a hoop skirt. She couldn’t even get close to Tony with that damn hoop in the way. She would have been a harem girl, wearing a gauzy outfit that showed off her figure, something that would have caught Tony’s eye and held his interest during the costume ball. Mitzi should have gotten her on early enough to have her own costume made.

Damn little bitch in her stupid Little Bo Peep costume. Catherine had stolen most of Tony’s attention tonight. Her father was rich, so why did she need Tony? He wouldn’t pick her in the end anyway, so why didn’t he get rid of her tonight?

DeeNae’s constant stream of jabber was irritating, but not as much as Rachel acting like she was better than anyone else because she’d won so many beauty contests. Had she taken a good look in the mirror lately? She was so skinny, she had to stuff her bra.

After she talked to the camera in the sitting room, Fawn walked into the other room and yelled, “Someone get me the fuck out of this dress before I rip it off.”

Everyone grew quiet and stared at her, then a maid helped her out of her dress and unfastened her corset. Only then could she take a deep breath. The corset stays had left deep red ridges along her midsection. She was supposed to be Marie Antoinette, but if Marie Antoinette had to wear a corset like that, she was probably relieved when they cut off her head.

Because of her costume, she hadn’t made the best impression on Tony tonight, but from now on, she’d have an advantage over the others. The rest of the clothes looked great on her, and she knew how to get a man’s attention.

She had no doubts about winning the prize at the end of the show.

<>

Tony joined the girls for breakfast the next morning. He wore the red sleeveless shirt and denim shorts that Catherine loved, and the other girls eyed him like cats waiting to pounce on a fat robin.

Rachel had her usual orange juice and two bites of scrambled eggs. No wonder she stayed so slender. Catherine ate one of Cassie’s croissants with her bacon and eggs. Fawn gave her a look that said she disapproved, but then Fawn didn’t approve of anything the other girls did, especially Catherine. She was so smug and sure of herself, Catherine wanted to kill Mitzi for screwing up and putting Fawn on the show.

Tony charmed them all at breakfast, encouraging them to eat more, because they’d run it off on the beach. He piled his plate high and ate every bite. Catherine sat at the other end of the table, and since everyone was looking at Tony, no one noticed her wrap the piece of bacon and slip it in her pocket.

Rachel ate more, as Tony encouraged her to do, but as soon as she got upstairs, she threw up. She was obsessed with her weight. So were Jenny and DeeNae, but not to that extent. This girl had serious problems.

Catherine and DeeNae slathered sunscreen all over each other and dressed for the beach in shorts and tank tops. Jenny wore a bathing suit with a wrap-around skirt. The different shades of blue in the skirt brought out the blue of her eyes. JoJo and Fawn wore halters with their shorts, and Rachel wore a bikini with a gauze cover-up that didn’t cover much of anything. Catherine didn’t intend to swim in the ocean when they’d be swimming in the pool. She’d save her best green bikini for the pool.

If
she made it to another show.

Tony was already on the beach with his dog. There were two round tables with four chairs and a colorful umbrella over each table. As if on cue, three girls went to each table. The fourth chair, no doubt, was for Tony.

Riley ran straight to Catherine, and she slipped him the piece of bacon.

“Are you feeding my dog?” asked Tony.

“I didn’t think you’d mind.”

“I mind,” he said, and Fawn smiled broadly.

Catherine felt stung by Tony’s gentle rebuke. When the others went for a run down the beach, she stayed put. Tony turned around and came back. He squatted beside her chair. “I didn’t mind that much, and Riley loves bacon. Come run with me.”

“In a pack, like a bunch of dogs?”

“We’ll go the other way. By the time they figure out what we’re doing, we’ll be way down the beach.” He stood and tugged on her hand. “Come on, let’s go.”

Riley danced around them, so she went out with him, running as fast as her legs would carry her. He loped along easily by her side. “You’re slow,” he said with a wicked grin.

“That’s because my legs aren’t nine feet long like yours.”

He swung her up and over his shoulder and kept on running while she laughed and Riley barked. She beat on his back and he smacked her behind. “Behave yourself, woman.”

He set her on the ground and kissed her, and they walked back holding hands. “I love your sense of humor, Catherine.”

“Am I supposed to give you a compliment now?” she teased. “Like how hot you look in that outfit? Or how I love the muscles in your arms? Or how about how much I like your dog?”

“That one will do,” he said with a little smirk, and the cameraman stuck his thumb in the air. She laughed. The production crew was getting a kick out of this.

Tony played with the other girls, one at a time and all together. JoJo wouldn’t touch the dog, and Catherine knew she’d be gone next. Tony wasn’t about to get serious about any woman who didn’t like dogs, especially
his
dog. Riley was a great dog, gentle and playful, like Tony.

She and Jenny sat in the shade of the umbrella. Sunscreen or not, Catherine’s sensitive skin couldn’t take much sun. Jenny motioned at the others, who were playing on the beach with Tony. “Who do you think is next?”

“JoJo. I really like her, and I think Tony is attracted to her, but she doesn’t like his dog.”

“I vote for Fawn. She’s acting all happy and nice when she’s with him, but she’s not that way when he’s not around. I can’t believe he’d be fooled by her act.”

Catherine twisted to look at Fawn playing with Tony. “She complains more than all the rest of us put together. She doesn’t like her costume or her clothes.”

“She told me she came in for someone else and had to use the wardrobe they’d picked out. I got to choose my own costume. She had to wear someone else’s.”

“Tough. Tony seems like a reasonably bright guy. He’ll see through her.”

“I hope so,” Jenny said with a sigh. “I like him too much to have him end up with a phony like Fawn.”

Catherine knew they were getting some good footage out of this
private
discussion. “If Tony has to pick someone besides me, I hope it’s you, Jenny.”

Jenny beamed. “I hope so, too. Most handsome guys are hung up on themselves, but Tony’s different. He’s actually a nice guy.”

“Yes, he is,” Catherine replied, and the cameraman moved away.

<>

The crew had some technical problems that evening, so the next session by the fountain was postponed. They’d have to wait another day to find out who Tony would cut next. They were two days ahead of schedule anyway, and Catherine had built in time for technical glitches.

They had an informal dinner together that night, and Tony was charming, as always. Riley sat by his side and begged for food. Tony pointed to the floor, and the dog lay down by his feet. “You know you’re not supposed to beg at the table.”

“What do you do for a living, Tony?” asked DeeNae.

“Mostly carpentry work, and I help my cousin manage his construction company.”

Fawn shared a wide-eyed look with Rachel. Tony was so comfortable in this big, fancy house, they thought he was accustomed to living this way. Catherine knew he was comfortable in any surroundings, but the others didn’t know him as well as she did.

Had he caught those skeptical looks?

JoJo and DeeNae played a game of pool with Tony that evening, and then he went for a walk with Fawn and Riley. Rachel seemed to think he’d save her for last, but when Tony came inside, he said goodnight and took Riley up to his suite.

For the other girls, the evening was a bust, but the bickering upstairs was just beginning. There were six women sharing three beds, six women using a single bathroom. Six women who all wanted to end up with Tony.

And nobody knew what would happen tomorrow.

Back in the suite, Rachel said, “I want to know which one of you knows Tony.”

Nobody spoke, so Catherine said, “It was probably one of the girls who left.”

Jenny picked up the thread. “Maybe that’s why Carina was so pissed.”

“Why would he get rid of someone he knew?” asked Fawn.

Catherine shrugged. “Why not? He may have dated her and rejected her, and she wanted another shot at him.”

Fawn crossed her arms. “I don’t buy it.”

“I don’t either,” said Rachel. “I think it’s one of us.”

That set the tone for the evening, and instead of the normal, friendly banter at bedtime, an uneasy silence settled over the room.

Ah, yes. The competition for Tony’s heart was getting serious.

<>

Tony walked into his suite and saw six pictures on the built-in cabinet in the sitting room. The pictures were of the remaining women in their costumes. Each picture had a signature on it. Catherine had signed hers
Little Bo Peep
, with
(Catherine)
below it.

With the camera watching over his shoulder, he picked up each picture and studied it and then set it down. He hoped this didn’t become a nightly process, like the session in the study.

After the cameraman left, Tony stretched out on the bed, hands under his head, thinking about the girls. If he had to choose between JoJo and his dog, he’d pick Riley. She’d go next. That left Fawn, Jenny, Rachel, DeeNae, and Catherine.

When he saw DeeNae in her belly dancing costume, he thought...he wasn’t sure what he thought, but spending time with her out on the beach, away from the others, the charm of her accent wore thin. The woman never shut her mouth.

Fawn was almost too perfect to be real, but he couldn’t forget her scowling while everyone else laughed at Little Bo Peep.

Seeing Rachel in her bathing suit confirmed what he’d wondered about at mealtime. She didn’t eat enough to keep a kitten alive, and she was much too thin. Women always seemed to think they were too fat, but Rachel’s hip bones poked out, and every rib showed. There was no meat on her.