Page 31 of Race to the Beach

Maxi tilted her chin upward until their gazes met, and then she straightened her shoulders.“You’ve got a deal.”

He held his hand out to her.She looked at it, then gazed back at his blue-gray eyes.“Go ahead.We need to shake hands to make it official.”

She placed her hand in his.Her hand easily fit in his.His grasp was firm but not painful.She could definitely imagine feeling safe in his arms.

The skin-to-skin contact sent a wave of awareness pulsing up her arm.It settled in her chest, causing her heart to skip a beat.She’d never felt something like that before.She abruptly yanked her hand away.

When she saw the unspoken questions in his eyes, she glanced away.She hoped he wouldn’t question her about the way she’d pulled away from his touch.

“Hey, Owen.”A young woman with long brown hair, a flawless complexion, and dark sunglasses that hid her eyes flashed him a sunny smile.“Looking forward to Friday.”

“Hi, Tracy.This is my girlfriend, Maxi.”He reached over and took Maxi’s hand in his.“Maxi, this is Tracy Johnson.”

“Hi.”Maxi pasted a smile onto her face.

The smile fell from the woman’s face when she took in the sight of them holding hands.“Uh, hello.”She looked back at Owen and smiled.“I’ll be seeing you around.”

The woman walked off.Maxi could only imagine how quickly word would spread about her being with Owen.And then she thought of her aunt hearing the news and gasped.

“What’s wrong?”Owen sent her a concerned look.

“It’s my aunt.I don’t want her to know about us.”She lowered her voice.“About this fake relationship.”

“Relax.She’ll be fine with it.”

Maxi sent him a frown.“I know.She made that obvious back at the house.But I can’t mislead her.It’s not right.”

“But you can’t tell her the truth.She’ll tell one of her friends, and then everyone will know that you and me…that this is all for show.”

“But…”

“Maxi, you can’t tell her.After all, it’s only for a week.And most of the week, we’ll be working on the car.So, how bad can it be?”

He did have a good point, but she still had an uneasy feeling in her gut.This was going to be the longest week of her life.She looked down at their clasped hands.What exactly had she agreed to?

Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.

Owen held Maxi’s hand as they walked back to the Lighthouse Café where he’d left his cart.The skin of her hand was smooth and soft.It was all he could do not to stroke the back of her hand with his thumb.

It’d been almost a year since he’d held a woman’s hand.Only last summer, his relationship had been kept totally private.At the time, he’d thought it was romantic.It wasn’t until the end of summer that he’d learned the real reason his ex didn’t want to be seen in public with him.

He pushed away those unwelcome thoughts.It was all in the past, and it needed to stay there.And this relationship was completely different because this was just for show, and both of them knew the relationship wasn’t real.

On the way to his cart, not one passerby mentioned the bachelor auction.A smile played at the corners of his lips.His plan was already working.There were a few—okay, more than few—raised eyebrows.He was okay with that.

However, when his family heard about this, he was certain they’d pounce on him with a million questions—questions he wasn’t ready to answer.But this arrangement would only last a week at most.The bulk of the time they’d be in the garage, working on the car.It shouldn’t be that bad.He hoped.

When they reached the cart, he said, “Would you mind if we make a quick detour?I have something to pick up.”

“Uh… Sure.That’s fine.”

“It won’t take long.”

She nodded in understanding.

Luckily, Bluestar was a small town, so it didn’t take long to get anywhere.However, the large crowd of summer tourists could cause congested roadways.As was the situation on that sunny day.

At last, he reached his destination: Seaside Bookshop.“We’re here.”

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