Turning It on (Red Hot Russians) (29 page)

The camera zoomed in on Tammy. Her bottom lip quivered and she blinked back tears. But Vlad wasn’t done. “I don’t want you. Why can’t you accept that?”

Tammy lifted her face, and tossed her hair back, her eyes shiny with tears. “You’ve made me feel like I’m nothing.”

“Get out.”

Then the bedroom door swung open and Chris charged into the room. “Take back what you said, you low-life piece of BEEEP.”

Hannah pressed her hands to her lips, as Chris’s punch sent Vlad sprawling. Though she tried to remember Alison’s warning, to watch this horrible scene here in The Smiling Shark was almost more than she could bear. She looked away from the screen, and her gaze fell upon the empty chair where he’d once left his book. She remembered his words, coaxing and gentle. “
You didn’t want to come on this show, did you?”

She’d poured her heart out to him that night, and to her shock, he listened. He treated her with kindness and love, and showed her how it felt to be with someone who cared as much for her as she cared for him. She loved him, but never told him, and now he was gone. The tears burst forth, and this time, she didn’t try to fight them.

The next shots were reactions from the other members of Team Blue. Heathcliff mostly looked pained. “I’m glad Chris and Tammy got back together. They’re good people. Not Vlad, though. And Hannah almost fell for it.”

Then Robynne. “He hit on me the first day, and even after I told him I wasn’t interested, he never left me alone.”

“That isn’t true,” Hannah said, through gritted teeth.

Behind the camera, Alison mouthed a single word. “Story.”

Then Cody came and sat down, his face a study of compassion and empathy. “Hannah. You were this close to making a terrible mistake that would have ruined your life forever. We’d love to hear your thoughts right now.”

“I’m sure you would, you slimy bastard. But none are appropriate for TV.”

“Cut!” Cynthia threw up her hands. “Damn it, Cody, can’t you ever listen to anyone? I tried to tell you she’d fall apart. We want her looking relieved and happy, and instead, we get this.”

A bearded crew guy pulled off his headphones. “Take it easy, Cyn. We’ll find footage to splice in of Hannah smiling like it’s Christmas morning. It’s all good.”

Cynthia blew out a breath and riffled through her clipboard. “Barb, take Hannah outside and clean her up while we set up for the resolution shoot. Where’s the rest of Team Blue?”

“Here!” Heathcliff waved from a table at the edge of the cabana.

“Jack and Robynne are around someplace,” said one of the PAs.

The vanity woman led Hannah to the rear of the cabana, where a makeup station had been set up. Hannah sat in the chair. Barb draped a vinyl cape over her clothes and began to sponge the ruined makeup from her face. “You’re a mess. We’re better off starting over.”

Hannah wondered why they bothered, when they had spent the entire series making her look hideous.

And Jack had let them.

His apology had glossed over that fact, as well as the way he’d fawned over Robynne. Maybe he was caught up in the glamour of the show, but that didn’t excuse his shabby treatment. He slept with Robynne, too, though it was only once. In the context of the show, he had laid responsibility for that at Hannah’s feet...suggesting her alleged dalliance with Vlad had pushed him into it. While she wanted to give Jack the benefit of doubt, this didn’t feel right. Though maybe it was just the show, and her mood. Once she was home...once she stopped aching for Vlad, she would feel differently. If not? Then she would act.

The woman whipped the cape away. “All finished. Go on up, they’re waiting.”

She glanced toward the stage, where Heath sat on a stool and the crew worked to position lights and the boom. No sign of Jack and Robynne. Hannah needed a little more time to collect herself. “I’ll wait here, thanks.”

“Whatever you want,” said the woman, as she packed up her supplies. “Hey, that’s a gorgeous ring. Your fiancé’s a real prize.”

“That he is,” Hannah said. She took a deep breath and blinked back her tears, twisting the engagement ring on her left hand. The sign she had won. Even if the victory held no pleasure. She rose from her chair and walked around the back wall of The Smiling Shark, standing where she could see Isla Cara. She closed her eyes and took deep breaths of salty sea air. Suddenly, she jerked her head around, as she heard Jack’s laugh coming from a few feet away. “Stop it, Robynne. I mean it.”

Hannah stilled, listening. His voice came from the other side of The Smiling Shark’s back wall. Next was Robynne, speaking in a voice that had none of its usual girlish quality. “I heard you, Jack. But you’re not very convincing. Look at you. You’re not convincing at all.”

Hannah took a quiet step closer to the wall. Was this audio from Team Blue’s fling night or was it...real?

“Robynne, you’ve got to understand. I need to get back to my life. I have to try to make a go of things with Hannah. My family expects it. This thing between us...it has to stop.”

“But it won’t. We both know that. You can’t keep your hands off me. Now that I’ve won the big prize, think how much fun we could have. Cozumel, Jack... Coz-u-mel.”

“Really? Cozumel? Oh God, Robynne...you’re making this so hard.”

“Yes... I see that.” There was a low feminine laugh, the rest of her words were lost amid heavy breathing, and the slurp and smack of mouths engaged in something other than conversation. Heart pounding, Hannah knew this was no recording.

Though Jack had been down on his knees in a desperate plea not three hours before, when it came to resisting Robynne, he was too spineless to do it. Despite all the pretty words and promises, his reasons for reconciling weren’t because of deep, abiding love. He wanted to please his family. Maybe in some way, he did love her. But Hannah knew that wasn’t the way she wanted, or deserved, to be loved. Vlad had helped her see what genuine love looked like, and that she shouldn’t settle for anything less. She had spent her life being the one who loved more, and would no longer. Even being alone was better than loving unequally.

“There you are!” Cody hooked his arm through hers, and cast a quick glance down at her ring. “Got that big ol’ sparkler back where it belongs. Congratulations. I didn’t think you had it in you, but you’ve won. Maybe not the ending we pictured, but even reality TV can’t conquer twooo wuuv.”

“I—before we start—”

Cody waited. “Yes?”

She paused, thinking. If she confronted Jack off camera, he would stammer and deny, deny, deny. And she didn’t want that. Not because Jack deserved better, but because she did. “Nothing. I’m ready.”

Cody brushed an air kiss across her cheek. “Make it good, please.”

“You can count on it.” Ten weeks on a reality show had left her with a taste for the dramatic. And though the final episode might not show any of it, Hannah no longer gave a damn. Like Vlad, she would always know she did the right thing.

Cody escorted her to the small stage and motioned for her to stand beside Jack. He looked over and grinned. She grinned back. Heathcliff and Robynne were already there, seated on stools. The hygienist beamed sweetly. The set flooded with light, and a production assistant snapped a clapboard.

Cody smiled into the camera. “We’ve seen highlights from the fabulous...and not so fabulous...fantasy flings. We watched Chris and Tammy reaffirm their love, and walk confidently into the future. What about Jack and Hannah? We’re about to find out.” Cody walked over to Jack. “I believe you have news for us, is that right?”

Jack smiled and took Hannah’s hand, as they stepped forward. “That’s right, Cody. As everyone knows, I wanted to come on this show and I convinced my fiancée to join me in this adventure. Being the generous, loving, supportive woman that she is, Hannah agreed.” He chuckled. “As you’ve all seen, it’s been a crazy ten weeks.”

Cody nodded. “You and Robynne seemed to have real chemistry. I think a lot of us hoped that maybe something was brewing between you two.”

“Robynne is a beautiful woman, inside and out. I know somewhere, there’s a very lucky man who will fall in love with her. But it won’t be me.”

“Jack, tell us what changed your mind. Was it seeing Hannah in the arms of Vlad the Bad?”

“That was part of it. However, this experience taught me a lot about myself, and what’s important. I’m excited about the future, and I know Hannah is, too.”

“Look! She’s wearing Jack’s ring again, folks.” Cody lifted her hand for the camera. “And Hannah, what would you like to say to Jack?”

“Just one thing, Cody.” Hannah smiled and looked him squarely in the eye. “Cozumel.”

“Is that where you hope to go on your honeymoon?”

“No. It’s where Robynne just offered to take Jack, now that she’s won the big prize. Guess her folks don’t need it for hospital bills, after all. And Jack? Despite everything you said to me about how things would be different, you haven’t changed. It’s still all about pleasing your family, and I’m simply a way to do that. If you truly loved me, Robynne wouldn’t make things nearly so...hard.”

Jack stared, and his jaw fell. “Hannah, I swear it’s not what you think. It was a weak moment. She played on my doubts. I’m trying to change. I swear.”

“Save it, Jack. You don’t need to explain yourself.”

His shoulders relaxed. “Thank God. I knew you’d understand.”

“I do understand. I understand that I deserve better than marriage to a man whose love isn’t real.” She tugged at the ring on her finger and it came free. She tossed it into his cupped hands. “So long, Jack.”

Hannah walked out of The Smiling Shark with her head held high.

* * *

Vlad ran through his new routine in front of the mirror as Jared watched from beside his locker. When he finished, the younger guy nodded approval as he buttoned his cop shirt. “You’re gonna make history tonight, dude,” Jared said.

“Why do you say that?”

Jared rolled his eyes. “What? Did you forget? It’s the finale of your show!”

“I didn’t forget.” He just hadn’t wanted to watch. Last week’s episode showed the resolution of Team Red. Tonight was Team Blue’s turn. Hannah and Jack would either reunite, or Jack would choose Robynne, and serve Hannah the final humiliation the producers had been setting her up for since the first episode. Either outcome would be gut-wrenching.

When he arrived home from Puerto Rico, Vlad watched the recorded series again from the start, and caught subtleties he missed the first time. His rare smiles were spliced in at inappropriate moments, such as after Robynne’s alleged attack. Anytime a cast member mentioned him, it was to reinforce what a lowlife he was. Worse was how they showed Hannah. They filmed her from odd angles, which distorted her body like a carnival mirror. In every episode, she cried. Jack and Robynne were always in flattering shots, gazing tenderly at one another.

Vlad’s chest felt heavy as he realized he’d encouraged Hannah to reconcile with a man who likely didn’t love her and never would.

Jared gave a low whistle. “Every woman in the place will be lining up to put out for you, man. Damn, I wish I could get some of that. Maybe I can be on one of those shows. Any chance they’re gonna shoot another one?”

Stella came into the dressing room. “Vlad, on deck. I want you out on the floor the minute the show ends!”

His boss loved having a reality star on her stage and was determined to milk his fame as long as it lasted. It had brought a few perks, that was for sure. No one around here cared that he was a villain, and he was making more money than ever. But the constant attention wore on him, and
The Flesh Zone
remained untouched. True, he needed to capitalize on his fame while he could, but every day he didn’t write made it easier to stay away. He couldn’t deny that he was slipping back into familiar patterns, and it wasn’t hard to imagine a time when it would be as though
Last Fling
had never happened.

His boss smiled. “When you’re done, I’ll send back a double shot of whatever you want. Hell, I’ll send back a bottle of the best vodka in the house.”

Might as well share a bit of his good luck with Jared and the others. Getting a little drunk would take the edge off, too. “Thanks, Stella, that sounds great.”

They stood in the stage left wing, which offered a good view of the giant screen Stella had rented for the run of the show. Tonight, it would serve as the backdrop to his dance. The Male Room audience shrieked as it showed Jack and Robynne walking into a bedroom.

Stella shook her head. “Looks like he ends up with Robynne. I know we’re all supposed to love her, but I kinda liked the other girl. The one you got caught with.”

“I liked her, too,” Vlad said, as Jack and Robynne groped and tore at each other’s clothes. “She’s nothing like how they portrayed her.”

Stella dragged on her cigarette and blew smoke out through her nose. “That doesn’t surprise me. You’re not either. You ask me, both of you deserve better.”

Deserve. Stella had used the present tense. Not
deserved
, as in the case of a TV show that was over and forgotten after tonight, but
deserve
as in the here and now.

And still to come.

In his mind, something clicked into place. He couldn’t grasp it enough to put it into words, but it was there, nonetheless. The feeling was similar to when he had a sudden insight about a plot or character, but this time, the insight had to do with him. Though he and Hannah might be over, the hope she gave him wasn’t. She believed in him. Prize money or not, the future he wanted was within his grasp. Not all of the steps were clear yet, but the first ones were. Finish
The Flesh Zone
starting tonight. Tomorrow, call the counselor whose business card was still in his wallet.

Stella touched his arm, as she turned to go. “I’ll have that bottle waiting for you after you’re done.”

“Actually, Stell... I changed my mind. I don’t want it, after all.”

She cocked her head. “You sure? I can send back something else.”

Vlad nodded. “I’ll take some coffee, instead.”

She gaped in dismay. “Coffee?”

He nodded. “Yeah, coffee. It’s going to be a late night.”