Read Finding Mr. Right Now Online

Authors: Meg Benjamin

Tags: #Salt Box, #romantic comedy, #reality show, #Colorado, #TV producer, #mountains, #small town

Finding Mr. Right Now (5 page)

“Before. He hadn’t come to the studio at all, so far as I know.”

“Well, it’s not much of a story, then.” She sounded impatient. “If he’d left because he couldn’t stand hooking up with Ronnie, you might have something. They hire anybody else?”

Paul’s chest clenched tight again. No way was he going to tell Cathe about his new job. “They’re working on it.”

“Okay, get me a name when you’ve got it,” she snapped.

Paul’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not your personal assistant, Cathe. This is all the news I’ve got and all I’m passing on. You need to find another source at Fairstein.”

“C’mon Paulie.” Cathe went back to wheedling again. “Just keep me in the loop. Say, you want to try out that new club in Venice Beach tomorrow night? I’m on their list.”

He could think of few things he wanted to do less than spend an evening with Cathe at an over-crowded dance club. In fact, he’d like to peel her off permanently if he could just figure out a way to do it that didn’t leave him feeling like a rat bastard. “Not this week. I’ve got a ton of work.”

“All right, just remember you’re my prize source, baby. Whatever you’ve got, just pass it along.”

Paul’s conscience pinched him slightly as he headed on to the parking lot again. He paused, digging his keys out of his pocket. Hearing from Cathe was the capper to an already sucky day. But he might be able to shake himself loose from her clutches if he ended up spending a few weeks in Colorado. In fact, he should probably work on that, the sooner the better. He owed Cathe for his start, but by now he had more important things to do with his life than to serve as
Celebrity News’
s snitch.

For a moment an image of Monica McKellar floated through his brain. Butterscotch hair, lips like maraschino cherries, skin like cream. An ice cream sundae kind of a girl. Just right for licking.

Just right for licking? You’re losing it, Paulie.

Time to go grab those burgers. Obviously, he needed to eat.

Chapter Four

Three weeks after they’d started filming
Finding Mr. Right
, Monica sat in the Great Hall of Denver International Airport, waiting for Ronnie to come out of the bathroom. During the three weeks the show had been in production, they’d managed to cram in an insane number of dates for Ronnie and her bachelors, both group and single. Ronnie herself had managed to cut four of the original ten guys since Glenn had decided he didn’t want to pay for more than six bachelors to fly to Colorado. Now everyone had arrived in Denver, ready to be transported to the ski resort and the final rounds of
Finding Mr. Right
,
which would hopefully be a lot calmer. Although Monica wouldn’t have bet serious money on that.

During the last week her energy level had been running on empty. Every time she thought she was finished, Glenn or Sid had dropped another chore in her lap that had to be done within the next five minutes.
That’s what an associate producer does. This is what you wanted. Show biz, Monica, your big break.

Right.

Her cell phone chirped and she looked at the screen. Harriet. She’d promised the head writer an update since Harriet had missed seeing the last two shows.

“Okay,” Harriet said when Monica picked up, “who’s left in the running?”

Monica pinched the bridge of her nose. A headache was looming. “We’ve got six, but only three seem interesting. First, there’s Billy Joe Mapes, aspiring actor and full-time lizard.”

“I remember him,” Harriet mused. “He’s the one who looks a little like Colin Farrell after a really rough night, right?”

“Right. He’s a sleaze, but he’ll make a great villain. Number two is Brendan Delaney, who’s our obvious hero—six two, bright blue eyes, smile that warms you right down to your socks. Plus he’s got a Texas accent. Most women in the audience will love him five minutes after he walks into the room.”

“So he’s Ronnie’s choice?”

Monica sighed again. “He could be if he would stop looking at her so worshipfully. Right now he’s just making her nervous. He’s sort of obsessive about her.”

“Okay, so who’s number three?” Harriet sounded like she was taking notes.

Monica tried massaging away the headache. “Paul Dewitt. Who, by all rights, shouldn’t be here. He keeps making a good impression, even when he doesn’t want to.”

“Hell,” Harriet muttered.

“Right. He’s tried to joke with Ronnie about the idea of his being anybody’s first choice as a bachelor. He doesn’t understand—Ronnie doesn’t do irony. She just gets very serious. She keeps telling him he has as much of a chance as anyone else.”

In reality, as far as Monica was concerned, Paul was a lot better than the rest of the bachelors. The sight of him in a tux for the introductory date had made parts of her own body go on full alert. She’d decided to keep a little distance between them after that. The last thing she needed was a crush on one of the bachelors.

“So what about the other three?” Harriet asked. “Any possibilities?”

Monica shrugged. “The other three guys are okay, but there’s nothing to set them apart from the pack. Ronnie could probably find someone in the bunch to designate as her One True Love if she has to.”

“Okay.” Harriet blew out a breath. “Sounds like we need some activities that separate wheat from chaff. I’ll put Darryl on it.”

That sounded faintly ominous, given what Monica had seen of Darryl. Still, if they could eliminate Paul, maybe he could go back to writing the show.

“Talk to you later,” she said as Harriet disconnected.

If only the past two weeks hadn’t been so hectic, she might actually be looking forward to this Colorado vacation. As it was, all she was looking forward to was a queen-sized bed. Not that she’d get to spend too much time in it, given that Glenn would undoubtedly have a new list of chores for her to do as soon as she caught up with him.

Somebody from Fairstein Productions was supposed to meet them when they landed, but there was nobody outside security and no message on her phone. Monica dialed Glenn’s number for the third time and got his voice mail again.

“We’re here at the airport,” she said in an artificially bright voice. “Should we head over to the commuter flight area?” Normally, arranging transportation would have been part of her job, but since she’d been detailed to babysitting Ronnie, the logistics had been turned over to someone back at the Los Angeles office. Still, she’d passed on all the information about flight schedules. They should have gotten everything set up by now.

Ronnie emerged from the bathroom, still looking slightly green. She wasn’t a great flyer and the descent over the mountains had been a little bumpy. “How are we supposed to get to this Elkhorn place?”

“We’ll probably take a commuter flight to one of the towns near the resort and then get a rental car.” At least that’s the way Monica would have set it up if she’d had the chance.

Ronnie chewed on her lower lip. “How long would it take to drive there from here?”

Monica shook her head. “I’m not sure. Two or three hours, I think. The flight’s a lot faster.”

“Would it be a plane like we took from Los Angeles?” Ronnie’s voice shook slightly.

“Smaller than that—it’s a commuter flight. You know, ten or fifteen passengers, that kind of plane.”

Ronnie suddenly looked even more ragged. Her complexion turned pasty. “Can’t we just go on a regular plane?”

“The regional airport isn’t that big. They can’t handle the big jets like they have here at DIA. The small planes fly in and out all the time, though. Even in the ski season.” She tried a reassuring smile.

“But…” Ronnie licked her lips, her jaw firming. “I want to drive.”

Monica frowned. “I don’t know if that’s possible. It depends on what kind of reservations they made in Los Angeles.”

Ronnie had recovered enough to pout. “They can cancel the reservations, can’t they? I don’t want to fly on a little plane.”

Monica took a breath, ready to cite all the reasons they should take the plane to the nearest town, then took a closer look at Ronnie. Her face still had that greenish tinge, and her forehead looked clammy. She struck Monica as either badly hung-over or thoroughly terrified, probably the latter. “All right, I’ll see what I can do. I’ll ask Glenn if we can go in the equipment van.”

“Can’t we get our own car?”

Monica gritted her teeth.
Patience.
“The van won’t be that bad, Ronnie, you’ll see. And it’s probably already loading.”

In reality, the van probably wouldn’t have been that great, but it didn’t matter whether it was or not. It didn’t have room for two more passengers.

“But Glenn said you could give us a ride. We don’t have any other way to get there.” That wasn’t strictly true. But now that she’d had time to think about it, she wasn’t any more eager than Ronnie to climb into a small plane and surf through the updrafts in the Rockies. And Glenn had yet to call her back.

The crew’s driver sounded unimpressed. “Sorry, no room. Just rent yourself something and drive over. You’ll be fine.”

Ronnie had already found a seat on the far side of the car rental booth. Her eyes were closed; with any luck she was asleep. Monica dialed Glenn one more time. At least she had a company credit card in her purse. If he didn’t pick up this time, she’d tell him she was renting a full-size and then turn off her phone.

Fortunately, Sid was the one who picked up.

“We’ve got a problem,” she murmured, turning away from the people standing in line. “Dean says he doesn’t have room for Ronnie and me on the equipment van, and Ronnie’s afraid to fly. I guess I’ll rent a car and drive us over, okay?”

There was a long pause on the other end of the line. “How big a car?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I haven’t talked to them yet.”

“Get the biggest one you can.”

A sliver of unease iced its way down her spine. Sid wouldn’t usually urge her to spend extra money unless there was some kind of crisis. “Why? It’s just the two of us. We don’t have that much luggage.”

He sighed. “Because it’s not just the two of you. Whoever set up the reservations back in L.A. screwed up. The only ones with seats on the plane are Glenn and me. You’ll have to take some of the bachelors with you.”

She frowned. “But I’ve got Ronnie with me. Won’t that give some of the bachelors an unfair advantage?”

“Just a minute. Let me check with Glenn.” She could hear muttered voices in the background, one somewhat louder who she assumed was Donovan. Then Sid was back. “We’re going to send Faisal over with a video camera. Glenn wants him to take some candid shots.” His voice picked up some enthusiasm. “Hey, this could really work. It’d be like the first Colorado group date. I’ll send you a few guys. Then the writers can come up with something for the rest of them to do with Ronnie when we all get to the resort. And Faisal can shoot the tape in the car.”

Monica closed her eyes. Sid and Glenn were improvising. Always a bad idea. Although of the two cameramen who’d come to Colorado, Faisal was the one she’d have chosen herself. “Look, Sid, we’ve already got the activities planned out for when we get to the resort. Why not just let me take Ronnie there and have Faisal drive the bachelors in a different car?”

“Glenn says no. Do it this way.” She could almost picture Glenn snarling. Sid’s voice took on a slightly desperate tone. “This should work, Monica, trust me. And we can charge the car to the budget.”

She sighed. “Okay. Where should I meet everybody, assuming I can actually get a vehicle that’s big enough for seven?”

“I’ll send them over to the rental car checkout.” A faint echo of enthusiasm sneaked into his voice again. “This is going to be great, Moni. Highlight of the show. Trust me.”

Yeah, right.
“Send them over. I’ll see what I can dig up in the way of a car.”

Paul still felt vaguely guilty about not calling his folks when he’d landed in Denver. If they ever found out he’d been within twenty miles of home without trying to get in touch, they’d never let him forget it. But he hadn’t gotten around to telling them about his new role on
Finding Mr. Right
, and he still wasn’t ready to do it.

Of course, there was no chance his folks wouldn’t find out, given that the first few episodes of the show would start airing before they finished the shoot. His folks watched every show he’d ever been associated with, no matter how bad. Still, he’d like to put off that discovery as long as he could. It was embarrassing enough to write for
Finding Miss Right
. Being an actual bachelor really crossed the line.

Now there seemed to be some kind of foul-up with transportation. All six bachelors had been standing in the terminal, waiting to be directed to the charter area, and then suddenly three of them had been hustled off in the other direction. He stood now with Billy Joe, who was dressed incongruously in a white linen suit with a black T-shirt and leather sandals. Paul wondered if he thought they were headed for Miami. A white suit in the Rockies didn’t strike him as a great idea. Brendan was dressed more appropriately in jeans.

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