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Pretending I hadn’t heard, I let the door shut behind me.

*

Saturday, December 6—Single Bells—Date 2—Local Businesses

Pairings:

Bella and Michael

Diane and Nate

Nicole and Tripp

Mabel and Brian

Jane and Jim

“Are the cameraguys clear on where they’re supposed to be?” I shouted out to Sean. He was sitting at my kitchen table while I got ready for my “date.” Because all of the couples would be functioning independently tonight instead of just wandering around the Christmas Village, we’d needed to be stricter on filming assignments.

“Yeah.” Sean frowned at his laptop screen. “Every couple is going to meet at a different business, and their assigned camera guy will be there earlier to capture their greeting.”

“Did you send them my feedback on their filming?” I called. To say that editing the footage of the first date was challenging was like calling a Mount Everest climb “a hike.” There were literal hours of footage of the ground. Half of Bella and Michael’sdate had been completely out of focus. One guy moved his camera so quickly from side to side that I got motion sickness. Something had been wrong with the audio on Mabel and Tripp’s date; their footage had been completely silent. Not that I’d minded missing Tripp’s loving soliloquy about the benefits of intermittent fasting.

“I reworded some of your comments,” Sean said carefully, a politician in the making. “But yes.”

He looked up at me as I sauntered into the room in another black ensemble, this time leggings with an off-the-shoulder cotton top. “Do you own any clothes with color?”

“Shut up.” I went to my coffee table and retrieved a pair of earrings. “Who are you assigned to tonight?”

“Diane and Nate,” he said. I stifled a grin. Nicole’s friends had apparently not been thrilled at him for asking Bella to dance after his date with Nicole, so they’d voted for him to be paired with the matron of the group. Diane had also called Nate asnackin her confessional, which made me cringe and want to claw out my own eardrums. Perfect for reality TV. That woman knew what she was doing.

“Diane’s being sort of weird, though,” Sean said as an afterthought. “I’d thought I’d meet them at her bakery, but she said she’d text me an address right before the date is supposed to start.”

I shrugged. “She probably needed more time to decide which local restaurant would look the best on camera.” Diane and Nate wouldn’t be one of our more interesting couples tonight anyway. Our big stories for this episode were Bella and Michael again (blech) and Nicole paired with the hot idiot.

I was really hoping that Tripp would make the moves on Nicole. Jim would punch him into next week and oh, the drama. Fingers crossed.

Mabel and Brian did not seem like the most dynamic duo for filming, but who knew? Maybe they’d have some quiet chemistry. Jim and I had a bickering brother-sister vibe, so we weren’t great for TV either, which was fine with me. After our camera guy filmed our greeting at Diane’s thrift shop, I’d dismiss him to go focus on the others.

Since it didn’t take hours to buy a bottle of wine or baked goods, it was likely that a few of the couples would wander back to the Christmas Village for the remainder of their date. Earlier today, I’d noticed something new throughout the Village—several random arbors with mistletoe. Carol had probably arranged for somebody to bodily shove Bella and Michael under one. A kiss from the sweethearts would be great for the show, I mused before catching myself. Hey—no! I didn’t want Michael and Bella kissing.

I pulled on my leather jacket and threw Sean his puffer coat. “I’ll see you tonight for another editing party,” I said.

He yawned and nodded, squinting at his buzzing phone, presumably at Diane’s text. “See ya.”

Followed by my cameraman, I stalked into the thrift store, my high ponytail swinging behind me. “Hey, Jane,” Jim mumbled, not even bothering to look up from his phone.

“Hey.” I made my voice artificially bright. “I’ve always loved this place. They have such cool stuff,” I lied. I hadn’t bought anything here in years. But we were plugging local businesses tonight, and Diane had earned the right to properly highlight her business. I waved my arm expansively for the camera to follow and film the store’s racks of clothing.

“Diane left something for you on the counter,” Jim said. He followed my lead and began browsing the racks, giving the cameraman something to film.

“Oh,” I said, face falling. I’d thought to dismiss the cameraman and we’d just sit in here and talk for an hour or so.Relax. But if Diane had left something she expected to be filmed, I couldn’t ignore it. I eyed the box with trepidation. If she’d set out some sort of pink dress, I was going to be livid.

But, to my genuine shock, I pulled something very intriguing out of carefully wrapped tissue paper. The note that accompanied it read:“This just came in two days ago, and I set it aside for you. It’s perfect for your new look.”

I whipped the item of clothing out of the box with a vivid snap, and my mouth dropped into a smiling circle. They were leather pants.Designerleather pants. Barely worn and just my size.

Oooh. I stroked them, almost against my will. Thrift store or no, I had no business splurging on such a ridiculous item of clothing at a time like this. Where the hell would I wear leather pants anyway?