The Reluctant Bachelor by Syndi Powell Page B

did.”
    Already? Elizabeth raised one eyebrow. He certainly hadn’t wasted any time. “The nurse?”
    “Missy.”
    She nodded. “She’s cute. Sweet. Obviously good at her job.” Elizabeth peered at him. “So I’m guessing she’ll get the first immunity charm?”
    “What can I say? I’m a sucker for a woman who can bring men back to life.” He shrugged and leaned back on the sofa. “I’m only sorry we missed the first elimination tonight. Seemed kind of anticlimactic after the medical drama.”
    “We’ll film it tomorrow and air it on our episode next week.” She glanced over at the discarded clipboard. “Of course, it makes chaos out of my schedule, but...”
    “You going to be okay now?”
    She nodded slowly. “Mr. Jackson will be okay. You’ve found a possible wife already. And my job just got more interesting. What more could I want?”
    * * *
    A FTER THE PREVIOUS night’s excitement, the dinner preceding the elimination ceremony seemed tame. Rick mingled among the women, looking into each one’s eyes and asking himself if they should stay or go.
    The cameras were everywhere, but he tried to ignore them. Better that he concentrate on other things. Like what the petite brunette was saying. “You were really great the last time you were on the show, right? And so I told my mom, ‘I gotta meet this hunk.’ And here I am.”
    Rick raised his eyebrows at that. “Hunk?”
    The woman blushed and looked down at her hands. “Well, how else would you describe yourself?”
    “You’re very kind. Thanks.” Give her a point for flattery. “So what is it you do in the real world, Becky?”
    “I was a teacher before the layoffs.”
    Rick listened to her talk about how hard it had been. He’d seen enough of that in his town. He’d been fortunate to be born into a family that had become the largest employer in the county. Blessed enough to have inherited his job even after losing his baseball dreams. “It’s hard out there.”
    “Things happen for a reason, though.” She shrugged. “Maybe I had to lose my job so I could be free to come here.”
    Rick felt a shiver of unease. Blame the economy. Or loss of education funding. But don’t use him as an excuse. Too much pressure.
    A second woman joined them, followed by a third. Soon he found himself surrounded by a group of beautiful women, only half of whose names he could remember. He glanced across the room and saw Missy watching them. He winked at her and smiled as she blushed. Maybe being the bachelor in charge of this game wasn’t so bad.
    * * *
    “B EING THE BACHELOR is hard.” Rick frowned at Elizabeth, who scratched another name off her clipboard. “I don’t want to hurt any of these women. They’re beautiful. Smart. Funny. But they’re going to think something is wrong with them if I send them home.”
    “You’re doing fine.” She consulted the list. “You’ve got two more to reject.”
    Rick groaned and winced. “Exactly. They’ll think I’m rejecting them. Think of what I’m doing to their psyches.”
    “You need to dial back on some of this melodrama, Mr. Allyn. They just met you.” She glanced at the crew gathered in the garage of the home where they filmed. She’d spent days converting it into a production room but had failed to consider it wasn’t insulated. She shivered and drew her parka tighter around her. “You click with some people and not others. That’s how it goes.”
    “I hate to disappoint them.” He peered at the board with the women’s pictures and names while she wondered what he was thinking.
    “They’ll get over it.” She tapped her clipboard. “Two more.”
    He turned back to Elizabeth, his eyes bright. Uh-oh. She knew that look. “Couldn’t we do a game and send the losers home?”
    She shook her head. “And here I thought you wanted more control.”
    “I know.” He read the names over and pointed to two of them. “I don’t think I said two words to either of them.” He sighed as if a