Too Hot for TV Page 11

  “Imani might be special enough,” he said without thinking.

  Tres folded her hands underneath her chin and grinned like a Cheshire cat. “Thank you, Raymond,” she said as she shut the camera off.

  He walked out of the room knowing that he’d said too much, but the hell with it. It was time for him to stake his claim on Imani. He wanted her and he would not be denied.

  Imani stood on the beach for about an hour after Raymond left, wondering if she should just find someone that she didn’t have feelings for to show off her acting skills with. This wasn’t supposed to happen. She was not supposed to develop a genuine attraction to anyone on the show and here she was feeling her heart strings being tugged by Raymond Thomas.

  She was supposed to use this show as a stepping stone, but why did Raymond have to be everything that she could ever want in a man? Considerate, sexy, and a damned good kisser? She took a step toward the raging waves of the ocean, allowing the salt water to splash over her. When he finds out that you’re a virgin, he’s going to cool what’s going on between you two, her nagging conscience said. He’ll run off into Lucy’s arms and bury his desire right between her thighs. How many men have left you because you wouldn’t sleep with them? Do you honestly think Raymond is going to stick around?

  Imani pressed her hands over her ears as if she was trying to silence the voice of doubt. Raymond wasn’t like any other man she’d ever dealt with and she had to trust that he wanted more than just a quick romp. If that were the case, he could’ve hopped into bed or on the sand with Lucy’s scandalous ass. She had everything on disgusting display and . . .

  “Wait,” Imani muttered. “Why am I acting as if I’m jealous? He’s not my man and if he ever touches that warmed-over tramp he won’t even be my friend.” She wished Dana was close by so that they could get together, eat hot dogs, and she could lament about Raymond and how she thought he could be the one that she would give her virginity to. He did things to her that she’d never felt before, and she was so ready to explore those feelings—but not with a TV audience watching. No matter how much she wanted to be a star, Imani was not going to use her sexuality to become one. That wasn’t the kind of fame that she wanted.

  Truth be told, had she traded in her morals the first time she was propositioned on a director’s casting couch, she might not be on reality TV. “And you wouldn’t have any self-respect, either,” she said to the wind as she headed back to the hotel. As she walked, she noticed Lucy standing at the door of the hotel with her arms wrapped around another contestant’s waist.

  “That didn’t take long,” Imani muttered as she passed them.

  Lucy rolled her eyes and whispered something to the man she’d been cozied up with. The man looked at Imani and smiled, drawing a quick elbow to the gut from Lucy.

  Imani couldn’t help but put a little extra twist in her hips as she passed them. Laughing as she approached the elevator, when the doors opened she saw Raymond exiting the car. She stopped and locked eyes with him.

  “I was looking for you,” he said as he stepped back into the elevator and beckoned her inside. “We need to talk.”

  “We do,” she said as she entered the elevator. “I know what I said—”

  “Your career is important to you and I can’t get upset about you wanting to use this opportunity.”

  “Right, but there is something else,” she said.

  “No,” Raymond said, bringing his finger to Imani’s lips. “I’ve given up a lot in the name of my career, but I’m not a prop.”

  “I don’t think you are, Raymond. This is really scary to me,” she said as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her against his chest. “This isn’t what I expected would happen when I came here and you . . .”

  Raymond cut her off with a slow kiss that caused an eruption inside Imani. Heat radiated from the pit of her stomach and exploded throughout her entire body. As his hands gently stroked her back, Imani melted against him, losing herself in passion as his tongue slowly danced with hers. Feelings that were as foreign to her as Chinese arithmetic had her confused and filled with want, need, and longing. How was this even possible? He awakened a desire in her that she hadn’t even known rested inside her. Raymond was cupping her bottom to bring her closer as the elevator came to a stop on the roof of the resort. They reluctantly broke their passionate kiss as the doors slid open.

  “Where are we?” she asked him as he reached for her hand.

  “Some place where we won’t be interrupted,” Raymond said. “We were having a discussion on the beach that I think we should finish.”

  “Raymond,” she said as they stepped out on the roof, “you know, I—”

  “I want you, Imani. And no isn’t an option. You can stand there and try to hide behind your career, but that’s not going to stop me.” He stroked her forearm and Imani closed her eyes, then sighed.

  “What if I’m not what you want?” she asked, staring into his bejeweled eyes.

  “How can you tell me what I want?” he replied, cocking his head to the side and giving her a quizzical look.

  “Raymond,” she whispered.

  He cupped her chin and fought the urge to kiss her. “Don’t tell me you don’t feel this energy between us. Don’t tell me you don’t want to see where it leads as much as I do,” he said.

  “I didn’t say that,” she replied. “But I know there is something that will—”

  “Tonight, I want you to stay with me. I want to greet the morning with you in my arms.”

  Imani shook her head and took a step back from Raymond. “I can’t do that.”

  He raised his eyebrow. “What’s stopping you?”

  “I—I have to go. Raymond, I can’t do this. You’re confusing me and I don’t need this right now.” She turned toward the elevator and pressed the button. Raymond grabbed her arm.

  “Okay, so what is this—a game to you? Did I get you in the middle of a scene?” he asked as she pulled away.

  “You know what?” she spat. “If you think I’m performing or that I’m always acting, then just leave me alone.” The doors of the elevator opened and Imani dashed inside. Raymond shook his head as the doors closed. Just what in the hell was going on with this woman?

  Turning his back to the elevator, he looked at the sun beating down on the island and decided that he wasn’t going to force his way into her life anymore. Imani made her choice and he was going to accept it.

  “This will never do!” Tres exclaimed as she watched the argument between Raymond and Imani. “Elliot.”

  “Yes?” her overworked assistant producer asked with an exasperated sigh. What could she possibly want now? More cameras on the doctor and the actress?

  “Make sure we team Imani and Raymond up for the couples’ tasks and let’s get all the contestants on the beach in an hour to get started on those tasks.”

  “That’s not scheduled until tomorrow morning,” he replied as he looked at a production schedule.

  “What did I say?”

  He sighed again. “All right. I’ll get it done.”

  “Thank you.”

  Imani flung herself across her bed the moment she entered her room. Why couldn’t she have just told Raymond the truth? I’m a virgin and I don’t want to become famous for losing my virginity on a reality show.

  “He doesn’t need to know I’m a virgin,” she muttered. “Especially since he made it clear that he wanted sex. He wants me in his arms after a long night of sex.” She pounded her pillow and rolled over on her back. There was no way Imani could stay on this show. Forget the money, forget the acting, she had to protect her heart and get away from Raymond Thomas. Just as she was about to reach for her cell phone, there was a knock at her room door. Thinking that it was Raymond, she decided to ignore it, but the knocking persisted.

  Damn it, she thought as she padded to the door. Looking out the peephole, she saw that it was one of the show’s producers.

  “What now?” she asked when she op
ened the door.

  “You need to be on the beach in an hour for the first couples’ task,” he said as he handed her a production note. Before Imani could tell him that she didn’t want to do the show anymore, he was on to the next door.

  Suck it up, Imani, her inner voice chided. You want to be a star, here is your chance. Raymond is a distraction that you brought on yourself. Just do what you came here to do.

  Imani read the note, which stated that she needed to wear the wet suit that the show had provided for the activity on the beach. She grabbed her cell phone and started to call her agent, but when she dialed the number, a recording from her wireless company played in her ear.

  “Your account has been suspended. Please call customer service to make a payment.”

  Imani tossed her phone across the room. “Damn,” she muttered as she rose from the bed. She pulled the wet suit out of the closet and tossed the pink gear on the bed. She couldn’t help but wonder what foolishness she and the other contestants were in store for. As she peeled her bathing suit off, she heard another knock on the door. She grabbed her robe and snatched the door open, thinking it was another representative from the show.

  “What now?” she demanded, then looked into Raymond’s eyes.

  “Am I disturbing you?” he asked.

  Imani clinched her robe tighter as he eyed her frame. “No, but I have to get ready and you do too.”

  “Ready for what?”

  Imani motioned for Raymond to come in and then she handed him the production note she’d been given moments before. He read it over and laughed. “Wet suits?”

  She nodded and chuckled. “I have to say, I’m surprised to see you at my door.”

  “There was something said on the roof that I wanted to clear up,” he said.

  “What’s that? You made your intentions pretty clear and I’m not going to give you what you want. It’s better that what was said on the roof is the end of it all.” She knew the words were just lies, but she thought they sounded good.

  Raymond folded his arms across his chest and cast his bejeweled stare upon her. “That almost sounded as if you meant it,” he said, slowly walking toward her. Imani shivered with the anticipation of feeling Raymond’s breath on her face, his hands on her body, knowing that she was naked underneath her robe. She imagined having him take her robe off and kissing every inch of her body until she couldn’t take anymore and gave in to the desire of having sex. Would he be a gentle lover? A slow and tender teacher?

  “Imani?” he asked, breaking into her intimate thoughts. “Are you listening to me?”

  “What? What did you say?”

  He placed his hands on her shoulders and she felt more fire building inside her. “I didn’t catch what you said,” she replied, then looked at his hands on her shoulders. “Raymond, maybe in another time and place we would’ve been perfect together and we would’ve been able to . . .”

  “But we’re here right now and I’m sorry if I came off judgmental about your career,” he said. “Being an actress is important to you and I can’t hold it against you because you want to get ahead. I just wish you felt as if you could be open with me and let me in more.”

  “Let you in where? In my bed?” she asked, nervously trembling because if he kissed her right now they would probably head right there—cameras be damned.

  “Why do you keep bringing that up? You know I’m attracted to you and would like nothing more than to pull that robe off and take you right here. But I know you’re scared. Maybe you’re used to men using you, but I don’t get down like that. When you want to join me in bed, you’ll know where to find me.”

  “Huh?” she asked, taken aback by his statement.

  “I don’t know who he is or what he did to you, but I’m not him and I’m not going to do what he did to make Imani the way she is now.” Raymond stroked her cheek and smiled. “I’d better go and get ready. See you on the beach.”

  She blinked as he walked out of the room. Was he serious? If Imani had her way she’d drop her robe and head across the hall. And do what? Lay there and give him the worst experience of his life? You wouldn’t know what to do with that man and you’re not doing this on TV. Stop letting this man pull at your heart strings when you know that nothing good is going to come from this.

  “But how can I keep ignoring what I really want? Maybe having someone like Raymond in my life is more important than being famous,” she muttered as she dropped her robe and put the wet suit on.

  Raymond pulled his production note off his hotel room door. He knew what it said and wasn’t sure he wanted to play these games, especially when he thought that he was finally getting somewhere with Imani. The way she kept bringing up sex, the bed, and trying to discern his intentions with her let him know that someone had hurt her and she was hiding that pain.

  Maybe he’s an ex who didn’t believe in her talent and that’s why she was so hell-bent on becoming a superstar. Nothing motivates a woman like revenge or heartbreak. I think Imani’s been heartbroken, he thought as he pulled on his wet suit. “She needs to get to know a good man, and here I am,” he muttered as he reread the production note.

  Chapter 11

  The beach was filled with cameras, contestants dressed in pink and blue wet suits and curious tourists trying to figure out what was going on or get a look at the women in their supertight outfits. Tres glanced at her watch and then out at the assembled group and smiled. But her smile quickly turned into a scowl when she noticed her stars, Raymond and Imani, were nowhere to be found.

  She grabbed Elliot as he walked by. “Where are they?”

  “Who?” he asked.

  “Raymond and Imani,” she replied with a smack on his arm. “I know damned well they didn’t leave the show.”

  Elliot rubbed his arm and pointed toward the hotel. “Here they come. We have fifteen minutes before we start filming. Will you calm down?”

  “Calm down? Calm down? You do realize that after this we’re going live? America is going to watch the drama between my favorite couple every night as it happens. Elize gave me the news after I sent her what we’d already recorded and the network has already canceled that police drama. This is my chance to shine, Elliot. My chance to get a real show. Where I go, you go. So you make sure my stars are always front and center.”

  “What happens if the viewers like another couple?” Elliot asked. “I thought the purpose of the show was to allow America to vote for the couples.”

  “That was until I saw the magic these two have on camera,” Tres said as she watched Imani and Raymond join the others. Elliot looked at the couple and shrugged. He didn’t understand what was so special about them. All she did was whine about not wanting him and wanting to be a movie star. How were they supposed to be the stars of the show? And if Tres thought that Elize was going to give her a scripted show to produce, she was out of her mind.

  “All right,” Tres said as she walked over to the contestants. “Thank you all for doing the show. I have a few production notes before I turn the controls over to our host, Galen Edwards. People, we’re going live, and today’s taping will air next week. So, have fun and let’s see who’s going to get married.”

  The contestants cheered, everyone except Imani and Raymond. Galen Edwards walked over to the contestants with a camera crew in tow. Edwards, a once-upon-a-time teen idol with thinning sandy brown hair and a slight beer belly, smiled at the twenty-four players. Imani leaned over and whispered to Raymond, “He must think this is 1986.”

  “Play nice,” he replied.

  “Who wants to get married?” Edwards called out. “The secret to any good marriage is being able to work together and that’s what we’re going to do out here today. We’re looking for diamonds. There are four diamonds hidden on the beach and you and your partner have to find them. But first, you’re going to need a partner.”

  Edwards waved over a bikini-clad woman carrying a box. “In here are the names of the couples. Of course, if you stay tog
ether, that is up to America.”

  Imani shook her head, then looked for the camera so that she could offer America a sparkling smile. Channel your inner Gabrielle Union, she thought as she spotted the camera. She smiled, then ran her fingers through her hair. Raymond glanced over at her as the host pulled the first name out of the box.

  “Couple number one, Lucy and Murray,” Edwards called out. Imani couldn’t help but giggle when she saw Lucy was paired up with Murray, a short and slightly stocky man who didn’t need to ever take his shirt off. The look of disgust on Lucy’s face elicited a genuine smile from Imani. As Edwards continued reading off the names of the couples, Imani felt a hitch in her stomach. They were not going to team her up with Raymond, were they?

  “And our final couple, Raymond and Imani,” Edwards said. They stepped forward and took a shovel from the host.

  Imani and Raymond exchanged heated glances, but didn’t say anything as Edwards began going over the rules of the search.

  “We’re going to handcuff each pair together, give you a map, and you’re going to have to navigate your course until you find the hidden treasure. Again, there are only four diamonds. Couples who find fool’s gold will be up for elimination,” Edwards said. “If you see another couple with a diamond, you have the option of getting it away from them. No violence, however. Are we ready to see who’s going to be on the road to matrimony and who’s just going to be on the road home?”

  “Yes,” everyone called out. The production assistants walked up to the couples and placed the handcuffs on their wrists.

  “Good luck,” Elliot said to Imani and Raymond as he locked them together.

  “Thanks,” Imani said, then rolled her eyes.

  “It could be worse,” Raymond said. “I’m left handed.” He held his arm up. “So, if we have to dig, you’re going to be in control, TV wife.”