Page 29 of The Deal Maker

He nods. “Okay, no more hard questions.”

I laugh and then settle into a smile. “I think you would explode before you could accomplish that. It’s good for me. I need to stretch, ya know. Get out of my comfort zone occasionally.”

To be honest, since I moved to Willow Cove, I’ve been clinging to anything that resembles comfort. This scavenger hunt is one step to get out of that, but it might take more than this to move me along in my life journey.

We walk along the beach and Duke leans down to pick up a white shell.

He grins and holds it up. "I don't think I've found a whole sand dollar in years."

"I don't think I've ever seen one."

Duke holds it out to me. "Here, you can have it."

I push it back to him. "No, you sound like you’ve been tracking them for a while. I don't want to take it away from you."

He shakes his head. "Don't worry. I've got at least twenty at my house. It was something I used to collect as a kid."

"Then you should add it to your collection."

Duke sighs. "Do you always have to be so stubborn?"

Nodding, I say, "I just don't want to take things from people. I've been on the opposite side enough in my life."

Duke looks like he wants to ask about that, but instead, he scans the horizon. I follow his gaze and see a dog running toward us. When it looks like it won’t stop, I grab Duke’s arm and hide behind him.

“Using me for a human shield?” Duke says with a laugh. “That’s questionable, Dean.”

Okay, so I’ve never been one for sports, so being called by my last name only is a new thing. And the way he says it makes my heart do a little pitter patter.

Duke kneels down and gives the dog a scratch behind the ears. “Hi boy, how are you?”

“Do you know him?” I ask, pointing to the dog. I’ve taken a giant step back, just in case the creature can jump over Duke.

“No, it doesn’t look like he’s got a tag on either. Maybe his owners are down the beach somewhere.” Duke stands and reaches into his pants pocket, pulling out a wrapper from the beef jerky store I love. He tears off a piece and throws it to the dog, who jumps in the air to catch it.

“Good boy,” Duke says in a deeper, more comical voice. He gives the dog a rub on the back and then throws another piece of jerky.

As endearing as this task is, I feel the pull to get back to the shop to help my cousin.

“Should we take a pic with the dog?” I ask, secretly hoping Duke will say no. My dad is allergic to dogs and cats so my brother and I never got the chance to have a furry pet.

Duke turns to look at me and hesitates, as if he’s considering something. “What if we take a picture of this guy and post it to the timeline looking for his owners?”

I nod, edging forward a bit more. Duke frames it so the three of us are in frame and snaps the picture.

“Look! There’s an inflatable T-Rex riding a bike. Should we get a selfie with him?” He points closer to the beach and I see the ridiculous sight.

I'd almost forgotten why we were out here. "I don’t think you can get much more adventurous than that."

"Or is there someone you'd rather take a selfie with?"

Taking into consideration my opinions? This guy must be a unicorn.

Blowing out a breath, I say, "T-Rex it is."

The guy in the costume is ecstatic to take a picture with us. Duke frames it up again and takes the picture.

“Do you want me to send you the pictures as well?” Duke asks as he focuses on uploading the photo to the app.

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