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“Oh, my. It does smile,” she said, clutching her heart and feigning surprise.
“Ha. Ha,” he said, the smile fading into his signature grimace.
“You should do that more often.” He was handsome with a frown on his face, but when he smiled? Watch out. She blushed at the thought. “Let’s go.”
They walked the short distance to the garage, but only got bad news once they arrived.
“My tow driver left early. Can’t get it till tomorrow now.” The burly, gray-haired man spit onto the ground. Daisy backed up a step and ignored Noah’s chuckle.
“Oh, shoot. There’s no way to get it repaired today?” she asked with a pout.
“Sorry, ma’am. First thing tomorrow, I’ll send him out there to pick it up, and we’ll get ‘er fixed up as soon as we can.”
“Okay, well, thank you.”
“First time your little act didn’t work on a man?” Noah asked once they were back on the street.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said indignantly. Sure, maybe sometimes she turned up the charm a smidgen to get what she wanted, but the men never seemed to mind.
“Uh-huh,” Noah said, fighting a grin.
They stood on the sidewalk, sun beating down on them. “All the camping gear’s in the car,” she said. “Figures. We’ll have to stay at the motel, I guess.”
“Food first,” Noah said.
“Yes, even I’m getting hungry. And while I can’t imagine you any grumpier, I suppose it’s possible.”
There was a diner in one direction and a honky-tonk bar in the other. Without discussion, they headed toward the diner. They walked past a barber shop with a red and white striped pole out front, and she couldn’t resist a picture.
Over dinner, Noah asked to see her phone again. He jotted some notes on a napkin before handing it back. Then he pulled out his own phone, typed for a minute, and put it away.
“Can you figure out who’s leaving the threats from their username?” she asked.
“Honestly, probably not. But it’s worth a shot. I’ve been meaning to ask you. You said some other contestants were blackmailed. Have you received any messages like that?”
“No,” she said. “I don’t have anything worthy of dropping out of the race over. Some embarrassing moments, sure, but nothing that would ruin my career.”
“That could be good or bad,” Noah said, sipping his iced tea.
She raised an eyebrow.
“Well, if he could just blackmail you, he would. But if he can’t, he may feel like his only option to get rid of you is threats. And if threats don’t work, violence…”
“Oh, yeah. I see what you mean. How do you know it’s not a woman?”
“I don’t. It could be. Especially since all of your competition is women. Statistically, though, men are the killers when there’s no good motive. Women usually kill over feelings—love and/or hate—stuff like that. Men kill just to kill.”
“You must be a real blast at parties,” she said, and he laughed again. Watching his eyes light up had her vowing to try to make him smile more often.
They walked back to the motel, and she let Noah make the arrangements for a couple of rooms while she snapped pictures of the quaint little town. They were on Main Street, which appeared to be the only street with any businesses.
Noah returned with two keys and handed her one. “This might be a little rougher than you’re used to,” he said. “No spa or room service.”
“Pft. Is that what you think I’m used to?”
“You scream high class.”
“I’m not sure whether to take that as a compliment or an insult,” she said, following him to their rooms. “If you only knew.”
