Free Accept This Dandelion by Brooke Williams

the offer by sending her plenty of commercials to write.
    The first script was for a heating and cooling company. They wanted to advertise special deals to listeners who regularly got their HVAC equipment checked out. An incentive for loyal customers. Renee thought for a minute. Heating…cooling. She began to type.
    House on ice in the winter and on fire in the summer? Renee paused. As soon as she typed the word ‘fire’ her mind immediately flew back to Ben’s burning eyes boring a hole right through her own. From there, she began to think about his warm skin next to hers and then she moved on to the night they first met when she actually set herself on fire.
    Renee pushed back from her computer abruptly. She needed to stay away from anything related to fire…even the simple word. She cranked her air conditioning down a few degrees and decided she would put her writing off until she could think straight. Maybe once the eliminations were over her head would work better. Ben would probably cut her out, and she could resume her everyday normal life. If by some miracle he kept her, seeing him again would send any romantic thoughts fleeing quickly.
    Renee admitted she found him attractive. And what was wrong with that? His handsome features included eyes that could drill through wood, much less into a woman’s heart. His hair appeared light and soft. Any woman had to find it nearly impossible not to run her fingers through it. But exterior attraction was one thing. Renee needed a whole lot more in a man. She wanted inner beauty as well. Something Ben certainly lacked.
    Renee smiled, she was putting her thoughts of Ben behind her for the moment. He was gorgeous, but his appeal began and ended there. The women he was taking out that evening could have him. Renee wouldn’t give him another thought until he stood before her with dandelions in his hands.
    * * *
     
    Ben ran his hand through his hair. His second group date promised to be as intense as the first. The producer wanted to be fair. Every woman would have a chance to flaunt herself in a bikini. How shallow did the TV staff think he was? They must believe he needed to see nearly every inch of a woman before deciding whether or not she was right for him.
    The second date would take place on the beach. Not by the ocean since they weren’t anywhere near one, but rather, beside a local lake. Ben arrived well before the women. They had to report to the studio and get dressed first. He wondered if they would be offered the same skimpy bikinis from the day before.
    Ben gazed out over the lake and watched children play on a playground nearby. He thought about Renee. She was the only woman who hadn’t taken advantage of the chance to show off her body. They’d been close a few times. He knew she had a nice figure. But even though she was in shape and could have stood up next to any of the other women on the date, she stayed fully covered.
    He smiled as he thought about her in her shirt and shorts, a sore thumb among the beauties swarming around him. But Ben knew what it was like to have a sore thumb. Such an injury caused him to baby that digit…favor it, even. He had to wonder if that was why he seemed to favor Renee. Was he sorry for her? Was she the underdog he couldn’t help but root for? He wasn’t sure, but she had something different.
    The nearby children continued to play as Ben made a decision no one would believe. It was obvious he was being treated a certain way because of how people perceived him. This show might help him find love, but it was also a great way to get in front of the public eye. This was his chance to show the city his true character.
    * * *
     
    Renee’s nerves coursed through her body. Her dress that evening fit in better with the other contestants. For once, she didn’t want to stand out. She wanted to blend in, hear Ben’s decision, and head home. Then she could spend the rest of the evening trying to think up witty things to say on the