Kissed by Reality Read Online Free Page A

elegantly.
    "Erin, will you accept this charm?" I held it out to her, waiting for her inevitable yes to hook it onto the new silver bangle hanging from her wrist.
    "Of course." She tilted her head, her face friendly and happy.
    Next came Mackenzie, the marine biologist from Houston who had a great smile and an even better rack. Then came Paige, who might be the slut of the season, but damn was she nice to look at it. And I liked that she was honest, gave it away up front. It beat the hell out of the liar standing cool, calm and collected mere feet away from me.
    She was relaxed because she knew she was getting a charm. Chuck and Mitchell had already told me she was staying until the final six, that I couldn't say no because I'd signed my rights away in the 150 page contract I'd had to sign with my blood.
    But I could make her sweat a little. I rifled through the rest of the 16 women who would make the top 20, signifying that they could move into the house and on with this journey with me. Chuck yelled cut furiously when one of the two drunkards leaned over the side of the steps and puked her guts out. He'd ordered an intern to clean up her barf and then had her quickly escorted off the set.
    In the end, one lonely charm sat on the platter, and one sassy girl smirked ever so slightly as I looked in her direction.
    "Leighton." I said her name quietly, but with confidence. I couldn't let her see that she was getting to me.
    She smiled, feigning surprise and gratitude. I had to hand it to her, those acting skills were as practiced and sharp as ever.
    Except for those tears in the garden. I knew those had been real. Just like the way she'd squeezed my hand and silently begged for me to console her had been real. I couldn't believe Mary, her mother, had cancer. My heart sunk with guilt and sadness as I thought of it now. I hadn't visited Mary in months, and we'd been close. She wouldn't have cared if Leighton and I had broken up or not. Come to think of it, she'd probably yelled at her daughter about what she'd done to me. I could have come around, called her or something.
    But instead of thinking about her own health, she'd sent Leighton here. That said a lot about her character, and that of her daughter’s. Who would come on a silly dating show when their mother was dying? Leighton. That was who.
    She came to stand in front of me, her perfect red lips pursed with amusement. I had the urge to rap those slick black tendrils of hair around my fist, winding them until she was inches from my face and couldn't escape my grasp. The things I used to do to this woman, the things she used to do to me...
    I shook my head to clear it. "Will you accept this charm?"
    "I would be honored." She said it with such genuine sincerity that I actually thought she meant it. Then she leaned in to give me the customary hug and whispered, "Thank you for choosing me last. Because that's what I am, your last. That's what I was meant to be, your last. The last woman to ever have you. And you're my last man."

Chapter Five
Finn
    L eighton's words stay with me even as I go through my morning workout four days later. It was one of the things I’d stipulated in my contract, a private gym, or gym equipment, off of my wing of the castle. If I had to put up with 20 crazy women, the least they could do was give me an outlet to take out my stress and frustration.
    And did I ever need to take it out.
    This week had been filled with group dates, one disastrous one-on-one date, and one girl who’d lied about being engaged and was sent home when production found out.
    I’d heard from three of the girls that Kristen, the first girl who’d come out of Leighton’s limo, was already causing drama by talking shit behind most of their backs.
    And don’t get me started on the tears. God, the fucking tears. Two girls had already cried to me on the two group dates I’d had for not getting enough time with me. Another had cried, telling me she missed her kids that she’d