“It’s an appropriate amount,” Parker butted in. “That moment between the two of you was really beautiful.” He gave them a warm, sincere smile that caught Olivia off guard.
TJ scoffed and stomped off, clearly indicating that they were at odds on the fact and had argued about it.
“Thanks, Parker,” Chuck said, sounding as pleasantly surprised as Olivia.
“You bet,” he said, and then took a breath to reset himself.“Well, we’ll be doing another sit-down interview in the backyard today, so hair and makeup is ready when you are.”
“Sure,” Olivia said.
“Got it,” Chuck echoed.
Parker gave them a nod and then shuffled off with the crew.
Olivia and Chuck were suddenly alone in the entryway without any cameras in their faces.
“You were right about the fifteen grand,” Chuck said, and nodded at the letter she was still holding. “I’ll pay you back for it, like I said.”
“You don’t have to do that, Chuck,” she said with a shake of her head. “I—” Her words lodged in her throat at the memory of the feel of his arms around her, his heart beating so close. “I, um…needed that last night, so it’s fine.”
He looked at her with a soft warmth that nearly melted her into a puddle. “Okay.”
Suddenly drawn to him like a magnet, she leaned in and lowered her voice. “And thank you for the letter. I’m really glad we’re not being punished for theotherthing that happened yesterday.”
The corners of his mouth twitched up. He leaned in close enough that his lips brushed her ear and his breath spilled over her like a warm bath. “I told you, there’s a blind spot leading into the pantry. I didn’t only mean there were no camerasinsideit. They have no idea what we did.”
His neck was an inch from her lips. She could nearly feel his pulse leaping under his skin. She wanted to kiss it. To bite it. To run her tongue against the vein keeping time with her own heartbeat.
“Are you guystryingto lose more money?” Parker calledfrom the back doors with a clap of his hands. “Come on! Hair and makeup, now!”
They snapped apart like rubber bands, fiercely blushing and flustered.
But Parker was smiling. He walked back inside and squeezed Chuck’s shoulder. “I can only do so much here, kids. Stop self-sabotaging.” He pulled Chuck away toward the guest bathroom and winked at Olivia over his shoulder.
“Are you rooting for us now?” she heard Chuck ask as their voices faded.
“What can I say. I’m a hopeless romantic…”
Olivia softly smiled and turned in the other direction for her own makeover.
Apparently on a tight schedule, the styling crew all but pounced on her. As they dressed her in a canary yellow jumpsuit, painted her lips flaming red, and twirled her hair into a classy low bun, she couldn’t spare a minute to answer Mansi calling her not once but twice. She only managed to glance at a text that saidCall me backas the crew guided her into the backyard. What all the rush was, Olivia didn’t know, but she found the usual mini studio set up and Chuck looking less like he’d just rolled out of bed and more like he was ready for a date with a button-down and artfully tousled hair.
They sat next to each other, across from TJ, and let the mic tech wire them up.
“Is there a fire somewhere this morning?” Chuck asked with an awkward laugh as the tech shoved his hand up his shirt.
Olivia glanced at him and surmised he’d been sped through the same frenzied rush of preparation as she had.
“Just a lot to get to today,” TJ said, and straightened his blazer. “Ready?”
Whether they were ready or not, they started rolling.
“Chuck. Olivia. We meet again,” TJ said once Olivia was wired and the cameras were up. “So you’ve made it through your first weekend in the house. Congrats. There have only been a few…hiccups, let’s call them, so far, and it seems like things are going better than anyone expected.” He left a loaded energy lingering in the wake of his statement. Olivia wondered if they were going to pull agotchaon them and announce they’d known about the pantry all along, but he didn’t go there. Instead, he dove right into the topic Olivia was still recovering from. “Chuck, a surprise visit from your parents last night. Tell us how that went.”
“You know how it went, TJ. You’ve seen the footage,” Chuck said with a frown.
“Well, sure, but I’d like your take on it. Olivia, yours too, especially the reason you ran out on dinner.”
“She didn’trun out,” Chuck said, defending her before Olivia could say anything. “That was an emotionally charged situation that you sprang on us out of nowhere.”