Accidentally Engaged(8)

“Yes…but Shayne, I’m not actually a blogger anymore. I—”

“Ah!” He put his hand out to stop her. “Just listen and trust, Reena. So, it’s called the FoodTV Home Cooking Showdown. It’s not a search for a new network host, per se, but the winners get a one-off special. The buzz is they don’t want to commit to promising a show, but are using the contest as an unofficial open call for new talent.”

Shayne frowned and poked the still-blank paper in Reena’s hand. “You’re not writing!”

She rolled her eyes, but wrote FoodTV Home Cooking Showdown on the sheet.

“How do you apply?” Marley asked.

“You do an audition video to get in. They pick, like, eight contestants or something out of the auditions. Then the contestants make two more videos by themselves from home. And I think they get to go to the FoodTV studios? I kinda zoned out then because I was imagining Anderson wearing one of those headset things on set…I want to play director and innocent ingenue with him…”

“Shayne,” Marley said, laughing.

“Right. So, it’s public voting, not expert judges. Because really, it’s about the personality and what the food looks like, not the taste, or anything.”

“This sounds like a reality show, Shayne.” Reena had no interest in that. None.

He nodded enthusiastically. “Yes!”

“I don’t—”

Shayne grinned. “Here’s the inside scoop that only someone who is intimately acquainted with someone on the production team would know—they are really hoping for a bit of diversity in the contestants. They want to showcase all the different food cultures in Canada. They are not going to pick any run-of-the-mill Mike and Michelle McBasic. I think you’d be a shoo-in.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Because I’m brown?”

Shayne nodded. “Yeah, and because you’re the best cook I know. And you’re cute as shit, too. Marley can fluff up your hair a bit and put you in something sexy. And believe me, you want the grand prize.”

The more he said, the more Reena was sure that she didn’t want to do this, but Shayne’s expression was so annoyingly smug, she wanted to wipe it off his face. “Okay, fine. I’ll bite. What’s the grand prize?”

He smiled broadly. “Get your pen ready…the Home Cooking Showdown is in conjunction with the Asler Institute of Culinary Arts. The winner gets a ten thousand-dollar scholarship.”

Damn.

Reena stilled. That changed everything. The artisan bread course was at the Asler Institute. With that scholarship, she could finally enroll. Hell, she could take the whole baking and pastry arts program.

She bit her lip. Soooo tempting.

“You have to do it, Reena,” Marley said. “Seriously. We’ll help. Shayne can film it, and I’ll help with your hair and clothes. You don’t need help with the cooking part. We’ll make sure you get this. No one deserves—”

“Cool your jets, Marl,” Shayne interrupted with one hand up. “There is one glitch. There is something Reena doesn’t have that she would need as a contestant.”

“Oh? And what’s that?” Reena asked.

Shayne smiled his knowing, mischievous grin, which Reena knew not to trust. She wasn’t going to like whatever he had to say, and he relished it.

“What you need, my dear friend, is a husband.”





CHAPTER FOUR



For the love of god, why did everyone want Reena to have a husband? This was getting absurd. She stared blankly at Shayne.

“A husband?” Marley asked. “What kind of puritanical drivel are they producing?”

Shayne’s lips curled into a tiny smile. “Not puritanical. Culturally diverse, remember? But this contest is about home cooking. Family cooking. It’s okay if you don’t have kids, but they want the contestants to work in couples. Same-sex couples are okay. But since you only like dudes, you’ll need a husband. A fiancé would also work.”

Reena exhaled. Goddamn Shayne. He could have started with that. For all of two minutes, she’d been convinced this could make her longtime dream come true. She could practically smell the country loaves baking.

But once again, life kicked her when she was already down. She’d lost a dream only two minutes old, but Reena felt almost as disappointed as when she’d lost her cookbook deal.

“Well, that bites.” She slumped, tossing the paper and pen on the couch.

Marley sat up straight. “This doesn’t mean you can’t audition. Just find a husband! Or a boyfriend. Or a wife! Pretend! Nothing on TV is real anyway.”

“I’m a terrible liar,” Reena said. “And who the hell would pretend to be my boyfriend or girlfriend on TV?”

“Well, on a website at least. I’d do it for you,” Shayne said. “But I think my dalliance with Anderson will get in the way. Or at least I hope it will. Actually, no…I’m using guided visualization. I will be with Anderson then, so I cannot be your fiancé.”

“Seriously, guys, I am not doing this. I can’t. Even if by some miracle I can manage to find someone who would pretend to be my fiancé for this thing, what will happen when my parents see it?”

And there was another reason that she didn’t say aloud. At this point in her life Reena didn’t think she could face pretending to be in a happy relationship. She knew her limits. That was way, way beyond what she could handle.