Page 19 of Winner Takes All

She laughs. “You’ve always been smooth with words, Victor. I’m not so easy to win over, though.”

I lean in a little closer. “I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

For a moment it looks like she might say something else, something I really want to hear, but then Dad calls over. “All done. It was a loose belt, nothing major. You’ll be fine now.”

Nikki moves away from me and I give my dad a look. He simply shrugs as if to tell me he can’t possibly draw out changing a belt any longer. I sigh. He’s right. She’d figure that out. It isn’t like she’s a stupid person.

“Wonderful. How much do I owe you?”

Dad waves his hand in the air. “No charge for you. It took no time and I didn’t have to replace anything. You get back to focusing on kicking my son’s butt.”

Nikki laughs. “I can do that,” she says. She gives my dad another hug. “I really appreciate you getting me in and fixing this so fast. I’ll bring you some dinner and show you what a real meal tastes like.” She looks at me and winks.

I laugh. Damn, I think I’m falling in love with her. I seriously love how much she likes my dad. I can’t actually think of anything I don’t love about this woman. It might have always been this way and it’s simply taken me this long to figure it out.

“Bye, Victor. Good luck tomorrow,” she says. She’s smiling with confidence, and I wonder what she has up her sleeve. She jumps in her car and carefully pulls out of the garage. I sadly watch her drive away.

“You could’ve drawn it out a little more,” I grumble. “I was making progress.”

“I dragged out tightening a couple of bolts far longer than I could get away with,” Dad says with a laugh. “You’re doing just fine, son. It won’t be long til I’m holding that grandchild.”

I laugh hard at this. “You have a one-track mind.”

“I’m old and focused. I’ve lived a great life. Now I want grandbabies. You can’t blame me.”

“I’m starting to like the idea of seeing you holding those grandbabies,” I admit.

“That’s what I love to hear,” he tells me, looking prouder than I’ve ever seen him look.

We both move back to the truck and I’m smiling as I stand at my dad’s side. Things are looking up. They’rereallylooking up. It won’t be long now until I have it all.

Chapter Ten

Nikki

The heat has been turned up with only three days left of the competition. The air is humming with anticipation, the sort that gets under your skin, that give you hope, that tells you the end’s in sight. I’ve got this.

The cooking competition has certainly stolen the show of the entire festival, by far drawing in the biggest crowds, and Carol tells Victor and me it’s all because of us. I’m starting to not hate sharing the spotlight with him. I have noticed our booths seem to inch a bit closer together each night. At first I thought I was imagining this, but today it’s more than clear they’re at least a foot closer. I can hear him far too clearly now.

This competition has been neck and neck so far and the entire community of Seaville is here to watch. They’re eating all of this up, both literally and figuratively. I’m feeling the heat this afternoon, and not just from the grills. My time with Victor yesterday at the shop threw me for a loop. I enjoyed it and was very impressed with his restaurant plans. It scares me. I don’t want to develop any feelings for him other than disgust.

I’m prepping my station when I see Eileen, Vivian, and Martha heading toward me. I’m always nervous when the three matchmakers approach looking like they’re up to no good. They stop out of hearing range as they whisper, their gazes going backand forth between Victor and me. Mischief is certainly brewing. What are they up to now?

Before I can figure it out, Carol approaches them and grins. She then moves to the stage in the center of all of the cooking competitors and claps her hands as she leans into the microphone. We all look her way.

“All right ladies and gentlemen, we’ve got a special treat for you today,” she announces, her voice not needing the mic. I don’t like how happy she seems right now. There’s a twinkle in her eyes that tells me this is going to be bad.

“Our very own Nikki Sands and Victor Fortier are going to join forces in a special duo challenge for your viewing entertainment. They haven’t been warned of this and will be given a selected set of ingredients they’ll have to figure out together.”

A ripple of excitement runs through the crowd before they start clapping and cheering. I freeze. “What?” I gasp. I look over at Victor who doesn’t seem thrown by this at all. He looks pretty dang amused actually.

Sia quickly moves to my side, her phone out ready to film. “This is going to be so good,” she says, grinning from ear to ear. “You and Victor finally working together. Vlog gold.”

“You weren’t part of this were you?” I ask with a glare. She holds up her hands.

“Nope, didn’t know a thing about it, but I love it.”

I grumble at her. “This is going to be a nightmare.” I’m still not sure she isn’t in on it.

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