“Cameron Smith,” the agent said. He looked as slick as Mansi in a suit and shiny shoes, but Olivia knew Mansi could eat him for breakfast.
“You brought a lawyer?” Chuck asked, directing his question at Olivia.
“Charles,” Mansi said to him with a curt nod as if they’d just met and they hadn’t taken tequila shots and sung karaoke together on multiple occasions. “You can direct any questions you have for my client to me.”
Olivia bit away the grin trying to bend her lips.
Chuck frowned at her. “Nice to see you too, Manse.”
“Same goes for my client,” Cameron the agent said.
Mansi lifted a brow.
He awkwardly nodded at Olivia. “If she has anything to say to him, I mean.”
Mansi left her perfectly manicured brow arched as if she were not impressed until Cameron cast his eyes down in defeat and headed toward the door. Chuck followed.
“Thank you for coming,” Olivia whispered to Mansi, stifling a laugh as they fell in step behind them.
Mansi gave her a knowing wink.
The studio office was nothing to write home about. A slice of corporate America housed in a standard mirrored building with palms out front and a marble lobby. They followed a receptionist down a hall to a conference room with a glass wall and leatherchairs around a long table. Olivia recognized one of the men sitting at the table as TJ Price, the show’s host. One of the others, a dark-haired man with graying flecks at his temples and glasses, must be Parker Stone, the EP who called her. She couldn’t be sure who the other two people were: one woman, one man, in prim suits. Maybe they brought lawyers too.
A round of introductions was made, and Olivia ended up sitting as far from Chuck as possible, with Mansi and Cameron in between them and on the opposite side from theName Your Priceteam.
“We’ll cut right to it,” Parker the executive producer said. He used a remote to click on the TV mounted at the end of the room.
The video of Olivia and Chuck’s fight played for everyone to see. Even though she knew countless strangers had viewed it, being forced to watch it in a room full of people made her want to hide under the table. It got to the part where she whipped off her shirt, and she noticed Chuck’s hand that was resting on the table slowly close into a tight fist. The sight stirred something inside her. Perhaps he felt defensive that everyone could see her exposed. Perhaps he just felt turned on.
Parker hit pause on the video and turned to their side of the table with a smile. “You can’t buy passion like that. You two are a ratings gold mine. We want to bring you on the show and take it further.”
“It’s been taken plenty far already,” Olivia muttered.
The woman on the other side of the table, who had in fact been introduced as a lawyer, leaned forward. “Ms. Martin, we are prepared to pay for the rights to the video, which will effectively cease its spread online outside our control.”
“The rights to the footage will most certainly be covered inany agreements made today,” Mansi said like it wasn’t even up for discussion.
“Of course,” the other lawyer said.
“So, what exactly are you asking them to do?” Mansi asked.
Parker cleared his throat and nodded toward the lawyer. She produced a stack of papers that she split in two and slid across the table. Mansi and Cameron each grabbed one. “We’re asking them to agree to come on the show together.”
Olivia fought not to scoff or roll her eyes. She wondered what Chuck was thinking down at the end of the table. She watched Mansi’s eyes scan the document. She didn’t make much effort to try to read it, though she was curious, because reviewing the contract was the whole reason that she’d brought her lawyer friend with her.
“This seems a little out of scope for your show, doesn’t it?” Cameron asked. “I mean, you guys usually do dirty jobs and entertaining relocations. You want them to live together? For a month?”
“What?” Olivia blurted. She rocked forward and reached for the contract. Mansi held out a hand to calm her and stop her from tearing it by accident.
Chuck didn’t seem fazed, which made Olivia think he already knew this minor detail.
“No one said anything about living together!” Olivia hissed to Mansi. When she’d decided to come to the meeting and at least hear them out about the offer, she expected maybe a date or two. Certainly notmoving in together.
“Mr. Stone,” Mansi said, “I agree with Mr. Smith that this proposal is beyond the scope of your normal show. What makes you think this will be successful, and what’s in it for my client’s benefit?”
“How about a million bucks?” TJ spoke up for the first time. He casually leaned back in his chair with an ankle on his knee and clicked a pen in one hand. He wore a black blazer over a gray tee shirt and smugly smiled like he owned the room.
Olivia blinked in shock. They were actually offering a million dollars? Mansi hadn’t mentioned that, or perhaps it wasn’t on the front page of the contract, and she hadn’t gotten to it yet. Or perhaps she did know and was protecting her friend from having to regret agreeing to spend a month in the same house with her ex because even a million dollars wasn’t enough to say yes.