“And second?”
The way he’s looking at me has me suddenly wary.
“Second,” he says, shifting toward me more until his knee touches mine. “I think I know my price.”
My stomach gets tense. I shouldn’t have given him carte blanche. He’s probably going to ask me to publicly declare myself a Palmerite.
“I’ve been thinking about what you said,” he continued, “about needing to prove myself to the city council. And I think you’re right.”
I sit back, folding my arms across my chest and smiling smugly. “Of course I am.”
“I’d like you to help me do that—for more than an hour and a half.”
My smile drops.
“I want you to help me with my own little PR campaign. Not anything formal or orchestrated. Just you capturing me doing what I do.”
I shake my head. “I can’t do that.”
“Why not? It was your idea.”
“I don’t have the resources.”
“I’m not asking for billboards and photoshoots, Gemma.Phone pictures and videos will be just fine.” His smile turns mischievous. “Unless, of course, you don’t have the skills t?—”
“Oh, please. Ihavethe skills. I could blow Sunset Harbor City Council’s minds with those skills.”
“But…?”
I shift in my seat, but I leave my knee up against his. “I don’t have the time.”
“You changed your flight, right?”
“Yeah, changed, not cancelled. I’m only here for another nine days.”
He shrugs. “That’s fine. Just do what you can while you can.”
“So, what, you have a quick conversation with your brother and dad, and I spend hours following you around? Doesn’t seem like a fair trade. Besides, the whole reason I pushed back my flight is to give me time to get Grams’s house ready to put on the market.”
“Fair enough,” he says. “Let me sweeten the deal, then. I’ll help you get the house ready. That way, whatever time you’re losing by helping me is made up for.”
I think on all the other furniture I have to move, all the boxes and unsorted stuff left in the attic. It’d sure be nice to have someone to do all the grunt work. Heaven knows Beau’s got the strength for it.
But what would Grams say if she knew about this little arrangement? If she knew a Palmer would be involved in preparing her beloved house for sale?
To be fair, shedidsay to do whatever it took so she can stay….
Besides, it’s a very temporary arrangement. On the timeline of planet Earth, a week and a half isn’t even a blip. And if it allows Grams to keep her place at Seaside Oasis?
“Fine,” I say, getting to my feet.
Beau gets up and smiles. “Excellent.”
“Does this mean I have to follow you around like a puppy?”
“I’ve got Xena on that.”
“Until she starts followingmearound,” I tease.
