Win, Lose...Or Wed!. Melissa Mcclone

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      She took a closer look. “Two holes.”

      Millie inserted her key in the other hole. No luck. Fear pulsed through her veins. If she couldn’t open the box to get a clue, she would be eliminated. Over her dead body.

      Leaving the key in the lock, she examined the clue box. “What am I missing?”

      “This,” a male voice said from behind her.

      She turned. A dangling silver key caught her attention. Millie focused on the man holding it.

      Jace Westfall.

      The air rushed from her lungs. No. He couldn’t be here. With her. Now.

      She felt wobbly, off-kilter as if she were standing on the top of a mountain or a tall tower that, Millie realized, she was. She struggled to breathe, but managed only a few gasps of air.

      Falling.

      That’s all she could think about.

      She was going to fall. Fail. Again.

      Millie thought she had prepared for everything. But not for this. No way could she have prepared for this. For him.

      “What are you doing here?” Her voice sounded ragged. Well, she felt ragged. But losing control would only give the show what they wanted. Drama. Obviously they had arranged for Jace to meet her here.

      He waved the key. “Bet this opens the lock, Freckles.”

      Millie winced at his use of the endearment. She couldn’t answer. She didn’t want anything to do with him. If he were the last man on Earth, she would gladly die a virgin. She gnawed on the inside of her mouth.

      A second cameraman, one she didn’t recognize, moved closer.

      She wrapped her arms around her stomach.

      “You okay?” Jace asked quietly with a quick concerned look.

      Millie wished he’d stop pretending. His compassion was nothing more than an act. He only cared about how he would be portrayed on camera. She wouldn’t be taken in by his good looks and charm again.

      Yes, she might have been heartbroken the night of the Groom finale, but she’d quickly realized everyone had gotten carried away on the show. Nothing, not even her feelings, had been real. “I’m fine.”

      She stared at his jacket and his pants. They matched the ones she wore. Why would he be wearing…?

      The answer hit her like a shot put to the head. The clue had said she would find something to take with her on the race. Jace wasn’t only here to give her the key.

      Millie’s heart dropped to her feet and kept right on going over two hundred feet to the ground below. Splat. “You’re a contestant on Cash Around the Globe?”

      He nodded once, his jaw tight.

      She cringed, feeling duped. Used. Manipulated. Again. Just seeing Jace once made her nauseous. She couldn’t imagine seeing him day after day during the race. “I can’t believe you did this. You set me up.”

      “This wasn’t my idea.” Jace inserted his key and unlocked the clue box. “The producer, Pete, said there would be game twists, but I never expected to see you again.”

      Never wanted to see her again, Jace meant.

      She felt a familiar sting.

      “I didn’t expect you, either.” The words rushed from her mouth. Millie didn’t want him to think she played a part in this. She couldn’t bear him to suspect she might still harbor feelings for him. “I was hoping for a GPS unit.”

      “Maybe we’re jumping to conclusions.”

      Please, oh please, let them both be wrong. “Maybe.”

      He opened the box. “There’s only one clue pouch in there.”

      “So we’re either in last place or…”

      “Or they sent racers to different locations.” He finished the thought for her.

      Once she had taken his ability to complete her sentences as a sign of how close they were, how much in tune. She knew better now.

      “So what does the clue say?” she asked.

      Jace opened the clue pouch and pulled out a card. “Congrats on teaming together to find your second clue. Working together will be the key to your continued success in the race. The two of you are now teammates, one of eight teams competing for the cash. Using public transportation, make your way to the Marina Green to find your next clue. You don’t want to come in last and go home empty-handed!”

      So much for maybe.

      “Teammates,” she said.

      A muscle twitched at his neck. He nodded. “Teammates.”

      Just great. Six months later, and Millie was right back where she started. Standing in front of Jace Westfall for the world to watch and critique. She bit back a sigh. Whining or moping wouldn’t change anything. Unfortunately.

      “So what do we do now?” she asked.

      He consulted the clue. “Find a bus.”

      “No, I meant…” Millie struggled for words, aware of the camera aimed at her face. She had to get over the intrusive cameras, the way she had on The Groom, or she wouldn’t survive long. At least the network hadn’t discovered a way to tap into her mind and broadcast her inner most thoughts. No, they just edited her actions and words so everyone watching assumed they knew everything about her. What she thought, how she felt, who she loved…“What do we do about…us?”

      Jace’s eyes were wary. “What do you want to do?”

      Quit.

      But she couldn’t. So many children needed her to win this race. She thought about Bonnie, the petite little girl with Down syndrome who loved princesses and running the hundred yard dash, and Samuel, the gentle eight-year-old boy with Autism who was also a math wiz and javelin thrower. Each one of Millie’s students was a special, precious gift. She had learned so much from them, more than she’d taught them.

      “I guess—” she straightened her shoulders “—I want to win a million dollars.”

      It was only for thirty days, she told herself, as she climbed down the steps to the elevator. She could survive anything for a month.

      Even Jace Westfall.

      And then she wanted never to see him again.

      What do we do about us?

      Millie’s earnest question sliced through Jace’s pretense of composure. He jabbed his finger at the elevator button. He only wished he knew.

      Competing on Cash Around the Globe was supposed to save his company and his family, but now…

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