The tension in the air could have been cut with a knife. As much as he tried to ignore her, Jett couldn’t help but wonder why in the world Anna had followed him into the living room after she’d practically chased him out of the kitchen. She seemed even more uncomfortable than he was. Part of him was tempted to get up and move somewhere else so they’d have more time to cool down apart from each other, but he didn’t want to make a scene. Judging by how eagerly Nina was carrying on with the conversation, she hadn’t noticed that there was anything funny going on—and the rest of the group hadn’t either. So, for the sake of keeping the peace, he remained where he was, awkwardly avoiding the engineer’s gaze as he chewed on a strip of bacon.

He was just getting into the conversation again when Nina suddenly brought up the one other incident on the show that made him want to crawl under a rock. It just so happened that he was halfway through a sip of his drink when she said it too. The unexpectedness of the mention nearly made him choke, and he covered the impulse by clearing his throat as he set his glass back down on the coffee table. It wasn’t that he embarrassed easily—although that could sometimes be true as well—he was just worried about what his drunken fooling around might have led to. It had just been mindless fun last night, but he didn’t know if Nina had seen it that way. He [i]really[/i] didn’t want to have [i]‘that talk’[/i] with someone on his second day on the show.

It was hard to tell exactly what she had been trying to gain when they’d made out at the party. Maybe she had just been drunk and, like him, thought it would be fun… or maybe she was a rabid fan who wanted the bragging right of being able to say that she’d kissed the famous Jett Olliston.

God, he hoped it wasn’t the latter.

When Anna answered Nina’s question, Jett looked up to listen to her response, momentarily letting go of his negative feelings toward her in favor of forgetting about his potentially awkward situation with the bubbly writer girl. He’d heard the spiel before. It was the same thing she’d told him yesterday when they’d talked at the party. However, now he was starting to think her claim wasn’t entirely true. She definitely wasn’t [i]forcing[/i] anything to happen, but she certainly wasn’t giving anyone any chances either.

Jett wasn’t the type to go around calling himself a “nice guy,” but, well… he knew he was a nice guy. Aside from a few clipped remarks here and there, he’d been nothing but respectful to Anna. Look where that had gotten him. He sank back into the couch, resting his nearly finished plate of breakfast on his lap. Of course, he hadn’t been trying to score with her or anything like that. The girl was hot, but he barely knew her. However, if there was ever a chance of something happening between them, it was gone now—quenched by the fire that was Anna’s unpredictable temper. He wouldn’t call that the ‘whatever happens, happens’ camp.

“I have no specific ideas,” he pitched when there was a break in the conversation. “But I’ve seen shows like this before, so my guess is anything could happen.”

“Really? Anything?” Nina seemed interested in that.

“Within reason,” Jett clarified with a shrug as he finished off the rest of his food. “I mean, I’d hope they aren’t planning to make us do anything too crazy, like, I don’t know… fear factor stuff.”

“What do you have to be afraid of?” Nina asked with an intrigued grin.

“[i]That,[/i]” Jett pointed his fork at her. “Is something I’m going to keep to myself. Wouldn’t want the crew to find out and use it against me.”

“Oh, please,” another voice spoke up from the other end of the sectional. He looked up to see Madison Taylor eyeing him with a smirk. She was leaning forward with her arms crossed over her knees in a posture that offered a direct view down the front of her shirt. It was hard to tell if she was doing it on purpose but, knowing her reputation to show off, he wouldn’t have been surprised in the least if she was.

The actress went on, “You gave up your right to privacy a long time ago, just like the rest of us.” She tilted her chin up arrogantly, making it clear that she ranked the celebrities on the show above the rest of the cast. “If they really want to know, all it’ll take is one Google search.”

“Doesn’t mean I have to make it easy on them,” Jett muttered, setting his empty plate back down on the coffee table.

“I guess that’s one perk for us ‘normal people,’” Nina laughed, flashing a grin at Anna. “It’s going to be harder for them to dig up dirt on us.”