So he left the package in the trunk of his car, unwilling to bare his heart just to have her reject it. And he stayed in the office most of the day, working on the last-minute details before they moved the operation to Washington for filming.
At the end of the day, after the rehearsals and meetings had ended, the T.A. guys were all in the office finishing up when the door burst open and Marnie Banks, Eli’s girlfriend, came barreling through. Her arms were full of wet gear, which she dumped on the floor between them before putting her hands to her hips and glaring at Eli. “Is that it? Because this gopher has a wedding to work this weekend and no time to be running all over town doing T.A.’s bidding.”
Eli grinned, got up from his chair, sauntered over to Marnie, planted a big kiss on her lips, and said, “Thanks, baby.”
Marnie instantly softened. “You’re welcome,” she said with a pretty smile, and cozied up to Eli, returning his kiss with one that prompted Cooper to tell them to get a room.
Marnie stepped back and surveyed the office. “This place is a pigsty,” she announced cheerfully. “And who needs the wet suits, anyway? It’s the hottest summer on record.”
“Tamara,” Jack said with a weary sigh. “That chick carries more aggravation in one hundred pounds than all the women I’ve ever dated rolled up together.”
“All the women you ever dated? Who’s that, your prom date and this new girl Lindsey?”
Jack glared at Eli. “Thanks. Thanks a lot, Eli. Why don’t you just borrow a bullhorn from the director and announce it to the entire cast?”
“What makes you think I haven’t?” Eli asked stoically.
“Everyone knows it anyway, Jack,” Marnie said with an airy flick of her wrist. “But what’s this about Tamara? I thought Eli said the women were really working together as a team.”
“They are,” Eli confirmed. “They’ve really come around, and I think we’ve got a group of women that could really kick some ass. I’ll be the first to admit I didn’t think that was possible when we started this gig.”
“You and me both,” Jack snorted. “I’ve never had a worse crew to train in my life. Remember? There was all the talking and the phones and whining. Jesus, it was torture.”
“Yep,” Cooper said, leaning back and putting his hands behind his head, “we’ve definitely whipped this group into shape. Those women have probably never been in better shape in their lives.”
“And they owe it all to you guys, huh?” Marnie asked, hands on hips. “TA has once again improved the lives of dozens just by showing up to work.”
“Hey. We did get them in shape,” Jack protested.
“They’re professional actresses, Hercules. They are trained to adopt the persona of the roles they are going to play.”
Before anyone could argue, Marnie whirled around to Michael, who immediately tried to look busy to avoid her gaze. There was one thing a person quickly learned about Marnie—if you got on her radar screen, it was hard to get off.
As if to prove his point, Marnie marched the two steps she needed to reach his side. “So, Romeo,” she said, tapping his shoulder. “How’s it going?”
“Great, Marnie. Great,” he said, and tried to turn around to his computer, but Marnie plunked herself down on the desk, blocking his view of the screen.
“Really? You don’t look so great. You look sort of grumpy.”
Somewhere behind him, someone snickered.
“Okay,” he said, smiling up at Marnie. “Someone around here has a big mouth. Based on what transpired earlier, I’m going to guess Eli,” he said, slanting the cowboy a look. “But you don’t need to worry about me, sweetheart. I’ve got it all under control,” he said, and gave her a wink.
“Oh really? Well, then, I’ll leave you alone. I won’t tell you that she just stomped past the window here and didn’t even look to see if you were inside.”
Much to the delight of his partners, Michael instantly jerked around and craned his neck to see out the window.
“Well hell, I never thought I’d see the day the Extreme Bachelor would be the guy wondering what to do next,” Eli drawled.
“Oh, honey, don’t be so hard on him. Everyone needs a helping hand now and again,” Marnie said, casually studying her cuticle.
Michael stood up, grabbed his bag, and slung it over his shoulder. “I’d love to stay and chat about how badly I’ve screwed this up, but I’ve got something I need to do.”
“Wait!” Marnie cried, reaching up and brushing the hair from his eyes. “Oh wow,” she sighed. “You are a handsome man.”
Michael chucked her playfully on the chin and walked out as Eli protested that he didn’t appreciate Marnie fawning all over Mike, while Marnie laughed and assured him that she loved only him.
Michael didn’t hear the rest—he had to run a little to catch up to Leah, who was indeed stomping along at a clip. But he caught her, just before she went out the gate to the parking lot.
“Oh, hi, Michael,” she said, and pushed a hand through her hair, but the blond locks just fell back again. “I didn’t know you were here today.”