Falling for You by Heather Thurmeier Page A

the extra questioning? What the hell was his problem?
    Relax, Cassidy. There’s no reason to be grouchy.
    She forced herself to uncross her arms and relax her shoulders. Why was she getting so defensive all of a sudden? Evan was simply asking the questions he was given, right?
    “Are you looking forward to the next challenge?”
    “Yes. I think they’ll have something fun for us to do again. Part of the reason I’m here is for the experience — the adventures, whatever they are — so I’m excited to see what will happen next.”
    “Do you have any guesses about what the next challenge will be?”
    “No, not a clue. Do you know what we’re doing?” she asked, a spark of hope filling her. Surely the production crew knew the schedule.
    “No, and even if I did, I couldn’t tell you. Besides, I’m the one asking the questions here.” Evan shuffled the papers on the desk again as though he was trying to prove his point. “Lastly, I have a couple of questions about your housemates. How are you enjoying living with a bunch of women in one house?”
    Cassidy sighed. Would it kill him to give her a little hint since she was at a disadvantage with her ankle already? He’d been so sweet when he’d rescued her the other day, but since the first challenge ended, he’d seemed less sweet and a lot more sour about anything having to do with her and the competitions. So basically everything.
    “It’s okay.” She shifted in her seat. How was she going to answer this tactfully? “It’s nice to have people around to talk to, and some of the girls are really fun and sweet.”
    Paige is really sweet at least.
    “Anyone you’d like to see go home sooner rather than later?”
    “Well, there are definitely some girls I don’t care for as much as some of the others, but everyone’s here for their own reasons. I hope every girl gets what they want out of this experience before they have to leave.”
    Good job, C. You could totally be a pageant queen with answers like that.
    “Are you getting what you hoped for out of this experience?”
    “So far, yes.” Her eyes fluttered across Evan’s chest. If she closed her eyes, she could imagine how sculpted it must be under his shirt. She swallowed hard around the lump in her throat. “Actually, I think I’m getting even more than I expected or hoped for.”
    “Care to elaborate on that?” Evan asked, giving her the hand signal to stretch her response to a more elaborate answer.
    “I think it’s pretty self-explanatory, don’t you? My ex-boyfriend is the bachelor I’m supposed to date.” My cameraman is super-hot. “That’s not exactly something I planned on.”
    “Any girls you’re becoming friends with?”
    “Sure, Paige is a great friend. She’s the one person I feel I can really talk to. I think we’ll stay friends long after this is over.”
    “How will you feel if Paige is chosen as The One?”
    “If Paige and Brad are meant for each other, I’ll be happy for her. I know the person meant for me is out there somewhere. Who knows, maybe I’ve already found him and don’t realize it yet.”
    Cassidy stared at her hands, which were currently twisting the bottom hem of her blouse into a tiny corkscrew. Was Evan that someone?

Chapter Nine
    Cassidy knelt on the floor of her walk-in closet, trying to determine which pair of shoes would be right for today’s competition. Since she still didn’t know what it was, she had to guess and hope for the best.
    “Casual-but-sort-of-dressy boots or plain-old-boring sneakers?” she debated out loud. She seen the house medic again earlier and he’d given her the all clear to compete on the condition she’d refrain from wearing heels to give her ankle time to rest. That was fine with her.
    Why can’t they be easy and tell us what we’re doing so we can dress appropriately? Why does everything have to be a surprise in this place?
    Speaking of surprises, Cassidy had been taken aback by Evan’s apparent concern that