Patrick sat down on the blanket that was placed on the sand, looking out at Lake Michigan. The ladies all picked spots close to him as the food was getting put in place by some of the staff of the show. Patrick looked behind him and to his left to see Adam talking to Delaney once again, and he couldn’t help but shake his head at his friend. He knew there was no way Delaney was ever going to fall for Adam, but it was pretty funny watching Adam do all he could to try to woo her.

He turned back around to look out at the lake only to have Juliette sitting right in front of him, taking her tank top off, leaving her in a skimpy bikini top. “Well, hello there,” Patrick said with a smile.

“Do you mind rubbing some sunscreen on me?” she asked with pouted lips, as she held out the bottle of suntan lotion she was holding. “I wouldn’t want to get burned or anything.”

“More like you’re just desperate to get a guy to touch you,” Leah muttered under her breath, just loud enough for Patrick to hear her. He started laughing, only to earn a glare from Juliette. He smiled at Leah, who continued to walk down the beach, as he took the suntan lotion from Juliette, putting some on his hands and rubbing it into her back.

“Lucky bastard,” Adam muttered, watching as Patrick put his hands all over Juliette. Delaney turned around, trying to resist laughing at Adam.

“Are you jealous?” she inquired, a smile playing on her face.

“What?” Adam asked. “Me? Jealous of Kaner? No way. Okay, well, maybe I’m jealous of the situation he’s in, but other than that, no. Besides, he still can’t get the one girl that I want,” Adam said, and Delaney looked at him curiously, wondering who he was talking about. “You,” he answered her unasked question.

“Adam,” Delaney began.

“What?” Adam questioned. “It’s true. If you won’t date me because you’re working with me, then you won’t date Kaner either. Not that you’d ever be interested in him,” he added offhandedly. He looked down at her when she didn’t reply and saw that she was staring at Patrick. “Right?” he asked.

“What?” Delaney asked, not having been paying attention to what Adam was saying.

“You’re not interested in Kaner, are you?” he asked.

“No,” Delaney assured him. “Pat’s five years younger than me and is on a reality show where he’s trying to find his someone special.”

“Right, his someone special,” Adam said sarcastically.

“Okay, let me rephrase that. He’s on a reality show that I’m producing trying to get into some of these girls’ pants,” she corrected herself.

“That’s more like it,” Adam nodded his head.

“And, you’re jealous of him,” Delaney added.

“I am not jealous of him!” Adam argued. “Never will I be jealous of Kaner.”

“You are so jealous of him!” Delaney laughed.

“I am not jealous!” Adam practically yelled, causing Patrick to turn around and look at him, wondering what was going on. “I think we’re distracting the young player over there,” Adam said quietly, leaning over so Delaney could hear him.

Delaney started laughing, and nodded her head. “I do believe we are. I guess we should be quieter so he can concentrate on trying to at least learn the names of the girls.”

“You really think he’s going to try to learn their names?” Adam asked. “Why? There’s no reason to. The only ones he needs to know are the ones at the end. The others are all forgettable.”

“How could he possibly know which ones are going to be here in the end?” Delaney asked. “It’s not like he’s already picked them out based on the way they look.”

“Who knows?” Adam asked, shrugging his shoulders as he turned his attention back towards Patrick.

Patrick continued his date with the girls, eating lunch with them and then getting in the lake and doing some swimming with them. He started getting tired, and he decided to go back onto the sand, leaving half of the girls in the water. He saw Raylene over by herself, looking out at the water, and he wandered over to her. “What are you doing over here by yourself?” he asked her, sitting down next to her. “Or is this all part of your plan. You figured I’d see you all by yourself and come over to you, and then you’d get some one-on-one time with me? You’re a smart girl,” he said with a smile.

“Yeah, this was all some big, elaborate plan. You caught me,” Raylene said with a laugh. “Why are you over here with me when you could be in the middle of all of those girls?” she asked, motioning towards an area where eight of the girls were playing sand volleyball.

“Do you not like me or something?” Patrick asked. “Or do you just not want to be on this reality show?”

“What are you talking about?” Raylene inquired, tilting her head to the left and looking at him.

“It’s just you don’t seem like you want to be here. You don’t really interact with me that much, and I can’t figure out if it’s just that you dislike me from the get go, or if you’re just naturally shy,” Patrick explained. “Let me know if you don’t want to be here. You’re not going to hurt my feelings or anything. I mean, I’ve got nineteen other girls that are completely into me.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you are one hell of a cocky guy?” Raylene questioned with a small laugh.

“I’ve heard that once or twice before,” Patrick nodded his head. “But you never did answer my question,” he pointed out.

“Pat, I don’t know you enough to make a decision as to whether I like you or not,” she began. “As for the reason why I tend to be on my own a lot, and I don’t interact with you that much, well, I’ll admit it, you make me nervous. Whenever I’m around you, I really don’t know what to say,” she explained, shrugging her shoulders. “I want to be here. I’ll be honest with you and tell you that it was some of my coworkers that signed me up for this. I didn’t do it myself. But, I figure I might as well make the best of the experience. I don’t expect you to keep me here very long. I mean, I’m not as…forward as the other girls,” she said, choosing her words carefully. “I don’t put myself out there.”

“You know what, Raylene?” Patrick asked, and Raylene looked up at him, waiting on him to continue. “I like you,” he said with a smile. “You’re right, you’re not like the other girls, but I like that. I like that you don’t only talk about your hair or how you look. It’s not all about you when I’m talking to you, and I like that. I think I’m going to keep you around for a while,” he told her.

“Really?” Raylene asked, not believing him.

“Really,” he assured her as he heard some of the girls calling his name, wanting him to go play volleyball with them. “I guess that’s my cue to leave, but maybe we can talk some more later on tonight. You know, if you’re not too nervous around me,” he joked, remembering what she had just told him.

“Sure,” Raylene said, looking down at the ground in embarrassment, a blush creeping up her neck into her cheeks.

***

Adam walked into the living room with Patrick, waiting for the elimination ceremony that was to take place in an hour. “So, you know who you’re going to kick off yet?”

“What an eloquent way of putting it,” Patrick said sarcastically.

“Oh, I’m sorry. How would you like me to put it? Do you know who you’re going to eliminate yet? It all means the same thing. Kick off, boot off, eliminate. Either way, they’re going to be crying their eyes out because Patrick Kane didn’t pick them to be his next thing and they’re going to be coming to me to make them feel better.”

“Yeah, I know who I’m getting rid of,” Patrick told him.

“You going to let me in on it?” Adam asked curiously.

“Nope,” Patrick said.

“What? Why not?” Adam whined.

“You get to be surprised, just like everyone else,” Patrick said as Delaney walked into the living room, looking at the two men.

“Well, don’t you two clean up nicely?” she asked, looking at the two of them, standing there in their suits that had been picked out for them. Adam was wearing a nice blue shirt with a darker blue tie, while Patrick was dressed in red. Both of them had a black suit jacket over their shirts, and they were looking as handsome as ever. “Those wardrobe people aren’t getting paid the big bucks for nothing,” she added jokingly.

“Thank you, Delaney. You look lovely, as well,” Adam told her.

“I’m not going out with you tonight,” Delaney said before Adam could even ask her. “Or any other night,” she added, knowing what he was thinking.

“Delaney, you keep on breaking my heart,” Adam said, putting a hand on his chest and feigning hurt.

“Whatever, Adam,” Delaney laughed, walking past him to Patrick. “So, Pat, you ready for tonight? The first elimination. I hear it only gets tougher from here,” she told him.

“Well, this one wasn’t too difficult,” Patrick admitted.

“Really?” Delaney inquired.

“Yeah,” Patrick shrugged. “I just had to get rid of the annoying ones,” he said jokingly.

Delaney rolled her eyes at him. “Well, I guess that’s a better answer than ‘I just had to get rid of the ugly ones.’”

“Like I told Adam, I can’t get rid of them based on their looks,” Patrick began.

“Look at you, Pat,” Delaney said, impressed. “I guess you’re not as shallow as I first had thought,” she said with a smile.

“Yeah, they’re all hot. There’s not an ugly one in the bunch,” he continued.

Delaney’s eyes widened a bit at the statement, and Adam stepped forward, hitting Patrick on the back of his head. “Idiot!” he exclaimed. “Have I taught you nothing?”

Patrick stepped back, rubbing the back of his head, shrugging his shoulders. “What? It’s true,” he said. Adam rolled his eyes as Delaney simply turned around and exited the room, leaving Patrick standing there, wondering what he had done.