Page 27 of The Deal Maker

The other part of me feels a sort of exhilaration at doing something even though it wasn’t done well. My organized and perfectionist tendencies couldn’t save me from what just happened, and it turns out, I haven’t keeled over from humiliation.

Duke took it in stride and we actually had a good time. In a strange way, I can’t imagine another partner for this task. What if I’d gotten paired up with Barnabee? The guy has been directing the town choir for years, at least that’s what he told me several times when I was getting a business permit a few months ago.

A war is beginning inside me, one where I must decide whether to trust Duke or hold onto the grudge I’ve been carrying since I found out he sells timeshares.

I’m almost off the stage when I hear Duke’s voice. “We have to take a picture and post it to our timeline.”

I take a few steps back up and wait next to him. I’m usually so thorough about learning and reading rules, but apparently, I haven’t done that yet. Duke hands the phone to someone on the front row to take the picture.

“Get a little closer, you two,” the woman says with a mischievous grin.

I shift an inch, hoping she’ll just take the picture and let us get on with our day. Nope, there she goes waving her fingers at me to move closer. We’re practically cuddling at this point, lady.

There’s something about Duke. It’s like every nerve in my body is reacting to how close he is. And what is that delicious smell? Like fresh linens and sea salt air. But maybe that’s just because we live in a coastal beach town? Then again, I’ve never smelled like that.

Once we’re off the stage, Duke is staring at the picture and then tapping at the screen.

“What are you doing?” I ask, curiosity creeping in.

“Posting the picture and then adding what song we sang underneath. Someone already posted a pic of us from further out and we’re already getting comments on it.”

I frown, unsure what he means. “You mean you had to send that into the app or something?” I know I’ve been busy, but I’vemissed the to-do list. I open my app and see the instructions on the opening screen.

“We post things on our timeline of the scavenger hunt and then other people can see it. The good thing is that we can also see what we’ll have to do in the future because several people have put in their current missions.”

“Wait, not everyone is doing karaoke this morning?” Why do I feel like my brain is full of cobwebs?

Duke shakes his head. “I guess not. I could imagine the line for the stage would get crazy if everyone was part of it.”

For some reason, I like the idea of knowing what’s about to come. That’ll help ease my worries about how much time I’ll have to spend with Duke. Because as much as I want to dislike him for what his career means to my family, he keeps worming his way into my brain, making me think he might actually be a decent guy.

There’s another ding on the phones and I look to see that we’re supposed to go take a selfie with a stranger.

“Okay, most of the people here are strangers to me. So this one should be easy.”

Duke shakes his head. “It can’t just be any stranger. We should find someone with a unique story to tell.”

“What do you mean? Why can’t we just take the picture and be done with it?”

“The key is to separate ourselves from the pack if we want to win. We’ve got to find something sensational to share.”

I breathe out a sigh and say, “Why can’t we just be happy with how things are going and cut our losses today?”

How did I get stuck with the weirdo? All those bubbly feelings I had toward Duke have now popped. I'm wishing I had decided to just suck it up and survive my extended family rather than put up with this guy and his antics. Then again, I’ve never been good at walking up to people and introducing myself. Itend to wait until someone helps me out with that. A little social anxiety, probably.

"Who do you suggest?" Again, I'm at a disadvantage here because of my newness to the area. "Is there an Elvis impersonator or someone we can take a pic with?"

"Prince Harry would be a fun choice, but I have a feeling other people are going to use him for the spotlight."

"An animal? You want to take a selfie with an animal who’s probably the picture in the dictionary under ‘menace?’" I'm not sure I'm seeing the logic here.

"Well, we can try a few different options. Maybe someone with a crazy animal?" Duke looks hopeful and I'm not coming up with any for-sure ideas about who to take a selfie with. Leave it to him to make things more difficult.

"Where do you suggest we start?" I ask, trying to be chill, trying to make sure I don't lose my mind on day one of this shindig. I hope we only have a total of three days or something because we are going to drive each other crazy.

We shared a small moment up there on the karaoke stage. But I shouldn’t dwell on that because a small moment destroyed my wedding. And a small moment can’t make up for a lifetime of disappointment.

"Maybe let's walk down on the sand, by the beach. I'm sure there's someone we don't know there."

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