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“I will,” Snow said, feeling her cheeks heat. She ordinarily didn’t go for men with beards, but she had to admit, Clayton’s well-trimmed beard hugging his jawline gave him definition and a sense of intelligence and maturity that added to his appearance. “I love to travel.”
Tys was waiting behind Clayton, arms folded, and chin tilted down while his eyes continued to inspect Snow from beneath a frame of dark lashes.
“You’ve been patient,” she said. “What about you, Tys?”
“Just waiting here like a waiter waiting tables.”
Snow frowned at this. “Okay. Were you a waiter? I thought you were a gamer.” Maybe waiting tables was how he made money while he played video games on the side.
“Just saying I’m waiting for my tip.” He added a little smile to this.
She blinked. Was he trying to be funny? That almost sounded like an innuendo. Maybe he was referring to the apples in her increasingly lighter basket. So far, she’d handed an apple to each man she’d spoken with. If his dimwitted jokes didn’t lighten up—
She changed that thought. He deserved a chance. Maybe telling bad jokes was his way of coping with his nerves.
“I think you’re supposed to earn it,” she said. “Which one do you want to start with? Truth?”
Tys smirked, and his gaze flicked down her body before returning to her face. “How about dare?”
Snow couldn’t tell if he was willfully trying to divert her or just being obnoxious. He may be one of the most handsome bachelors here, but she quickly became disgusted and irritated with him. “Wrong game. Secret then. What’s your secret? Which one are you starting with?”
“Truth. Winter is the best season, which makes your name perfect because I love snow.”
Snow wasn’t as flattered as she might have been if he hadn’t had such a weird and kind of awful start to the conversation. “Thank you. I love summer, myself. That’s when I like to get out and run.”
He didn’t respond. “Secret—except it’s not really a secret—I love snowboarding.”
“I need a secret in order to give you an apple,” Snow reminded him. For the first time, she was tempted not to.
“I think you’re extremely attractive,” Tys said. “How’s that?”
There was nothing heartfelt in this admission whatsoever. He stated it like she was a piece of meat. Her stomach had fluttered with a few of the others. They had been genuine. Tys, on the other hand, was acting like he’d just walked on the set from the street and had no idea what he was doing here.
“Are you saying that for my benefit?” she asked. “It sounds like you just made it up on the spot.”
“Nah. It’s the truth. Maybe that should be my truth, except it’s no secret that I like winter.”
She was growing more exasperated by him by the minute. The man was, frankly, an idiot. “I’m not sure I want to ask what your wish is.”
“Yeah, might not be worth sharing either. At least not on TV in front of all these people. Maybe when we’re alone.”
Which would never happen. This man was giving her all kinds of wrong vibes. Several of his answers now had teetered on the edge of crassness, which was completely inappropriate under the circumstances. A total turnoff.
Snow cleared her throat. “I feel everyone should be given a chance to try but I have to tell you, you’re not impressing me.”
“No?”
“No.”
Tys cleared his throat. “Okay. No apple, then.”
“I’m afraid not,” Snow said, her decision fixed. From his inappropriate comments, she couldn’t see any reason to give him a chance to make more offhand remarks, which he was sure to do. “I wish you the best, Tys.”
“You just said you’d give me a chance,” he said.
“I said everyoneshouldget one, but…” How could she say he was being a creep? She hoped he wasn’t going to cause more of a scene. What would she do if he insisted she give him the apple?
“Ho ho,” Oswald said jovially, stepping in and smiling at the audience while somehow managing to give Tys a sympathetic glance. “But she’s made her decision, son. That’s the way these things go.”
