Aaron breathed out a sigh of relief. The producers had decided he would only be sent on three home-town dates for the season, which meant he'd had one more week in LA before he had to worry about parents. At the same time, it was parents that happened to be on his brain. He had to seriously think about which women he'd like to go home with. Some of them were easy ones. He'd love to experience Emily's family, to be able to see the background she actually came from. He wanted to meet Haley's family, to see if they were as down home and simple as the blond was. Shaena and Kate, on the other hand, were his unknowns.
Which was why he was tearing himself apart as he stood in front of the four picture frames. He liked so much about both women, he enjoyed the idea of meeting the families of both women and, quite honestly, he'd had a fantastic time on each of his dates that week. He sighed. Usually he was so good with decisions. It was a requirement of his job that he be able to make quick decisions under pressure. More often than not, someone's life depended on it. But this wasn't the same thing. Part of him wanted to send Shaena home because she was still closed off from him. She'd admitted to having strong feelings, but Kate had said she was quite seriously falling in love with him.
"Aaron?"
He bit the inside of his cheek as he turned to Chris. He'd fly by the seat of his pants again. It wasn't the first time he'd done it and he did trust his gut. "I'm ready."
He followed Chris into the Pedestal Room, as he'd taken to calling it, where three roses sat innocently on the platform. He took his place beside it, looking at the four women in turn. Chris said his official lines and Aaron saw Emily roll her eyes. He caught those dark orbs and quirked up his mouth. Finally Chris stepped away and Aaron picked up the first rose. "Emily."
Her mouth quirked up as she made her way towards him and he decorously kept his eyes on her face. She'd made a crack earlier in the evening when he'd definitely taken a look down the neck of her dress. "Will you accept this rose?"
"Yes."
He kissed her quickly, unable to resist before she turned back to the others. He picked up the next rose. "Haley."
The little blond beamed as she made her way towards him. "You're going to love Seattle," she said quietly.
"Will you accept this rose?"
Her grin widened. "Of course I will."
She pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth before he watched her walk back to the others. With a deep breath, he picked up the last rose. His eyes darted back and forth between Shaena and Kate, his gut not being of any assistance to him. Then an image flashed in his head, tossing one of the women into the pool, racing her down a park path... "Shaena."
The stunned redhead came forward. "Are you sure?" she whispered.
"Very sure," he responded with a smile. "Will you accept this rose?"
"Yes."
"You little harpy!"
Every head turned to Kate as she stood, hands fisted at her sides, face screwed up in shock and anger. Her eyes were on Emily and the brunette stood there, eyes wide.
"How dare you!"
"How dare I what?" Emily replied, her voice neutral.
Aaron found himself swelling with pride at how natural she sounded. It only made him want to meet her family more. He wanted to know who had raised her to be that calm.
"You have been spreading rumours about me this entire time!" Kate accused.
Emily's eyes widened further and Aaron could see the hurt in them. "Kate, I haven't-"
But Kate interrupted her, her eyes on Aaron. "I've never broken anyone up. I've never been a homewrecker or a slut. My ex broke up with his girlfriend before we started everything. And I've never led anyone on in my life. You have no right to be spreading rumours like that."
He didn't know what to say or do. He'd never heard those rumours from anyone else. "Kate-"
"Unlike you! You let me come this far without a single indication you were going to let me go."
Tears were in her eyes now and Aaron found himself preparing for her to slap him across the face. When she did, he was surprised to see Emily cross the room in five short steps, and take hold of Kate's wrist as she wound up to do it again.
"You're making a scene on national television, Kate," she said quietly. "You don't want to do this here."
"You have no right to tell me what I can and cannot do."
"You're right," Emily said, her voice still calm. "But I know if I had your pride I wouldn't be stomping around this place with television cameras watching my every move."
"You selfish bitch," Kate hissed even as Emily let go of the other woman's hand.
Right when Aaron thought Kate was going to hit Emily for sure and preparing himself to haul her bodily out of the room. The blond stuck up her nose, turned on her heel and stalked out. Aaron squeezed Emily's shoulder briefly before following Kate. He caught up to her at the door, for the first time thankful that heels often slowed a woman down. "Kate."
"What the hell do you want? You've already humiliated me, what else do you need to do? Kick me while I'm down?"
Relief washed over him as he realized that this was the real Kate. This was the woman he'd eliminated. "You had no right to bite into Emily like that," he said softly. "You had no right to make a scene like you did." He knew no other words were necessary. She'd humiliated herself enough for one night, and in front of millions of viewers.
"You had no right to lead me on," she responded scathingly. "Don't you think you've done enough damage?"
He let her have the last word, knowing it was important to her. He watched her climb into the limo and watched the limo drive off, his hands in his pockets.