by Jayne Blue
“Come on,” I said, shaking myself out of my own head. “Let’s get this shit over with. If you’re lucky, maybe they’ll have chocolate chip.” My face split into a grin and King threw a punch at me. I dodged it and grabbed him by the shoulders. We crossed the street and headed up the steps into the building. One of the mayor’s staff held the door open and handed out fliers. The old lady’s face fell when she looked up and caught my eye.
“You’re not …”
“Here to see the mayor, ma’am,” I said, reaching out to shake her hand. She plastered on a smile and took my hand. She looked behind her and let out a loud cough, trying to catch the attention of a younger dude standing in the main lobby.
“Chris!” she whisper-shouted. She turned and slapped a flier into my hand and then gave one to King. It held a list of dates and topics for upcoming city council meetings. I crumpled the thing and slid it into my back pocket. King handed his back to her.
“Chris!” she said again, dropping all pretense of trying to whisper or remain friendly. She turned to us. “You boys should come back at a different time if you have business in this building.”
“We’re tax-paying citizens … uh … Lorraine.” King leaned forward to read her nametag.
Chris finally came over to back Lorraine up. He was a pencil-necked kid probably working a summer internship for free. He wore a red tie, cheap loafers, and gray dress pants that were about a size too small for him. He held a similar stack of fliers and pasted a smile on his face as he put a hand on Lorraine’s back.
“May we help you, gentlemen?” Chris said that last word like it burned in his mouth. I saw King’s fist curl and I put a hand on him to get him to chill his shit.
“I read the sign,” I said. “We’ve got some concerns we’d like to share with the mayor.”
“Perhaps you should call the office and set up an appointment. As you can see, we’ve had quite a turnout today. There probably won’t be much time for anything other than a quick handshake.”
“You got chocolate chip?” King said. I slapped him again.
“That might just be good enough for starters,” I said. “Plus, I see about eight people over there. This thing goes for an hour. You really think those eight people have a lot to say? Hell, half of them look like they just came in for the free food.”
“Be that as it may, I’d hate for you to have come all this way and be disappointed.”
I put my arm around Chris’s shoulders and leaned in close. His face went white and Lorraine made a run for it. “Now, the only thing that could disappoint me today is if I see my taxpayer dollars being wasted. You’re holding an open event and you invited members of the public. Last time I checked, I qualify. And see, Chris … I tried to call and make an appointment with the mayor, but for some reason I couldn’t get through. That seems like a shame. So, here I am. I’m happy to wait my turn. I’m a reasonable man. But I’m also a busy one, just like the mayor. If he can’t find the time to see me on my dime, well, then I’ll just have to do this on his. I brushed my teeth and everything. Now, I’m going to go over there and wait by that Channel 3 reporter with the cameraman. I see you’ve even got somebody from the Emerald Point Sentinel over there. I’m very photogenic.”
“Fuck.” Chris’s face dropped.
I took my arm from his shoulder and jerked my chin at King. He stood leaning against the wall with his arms crossed in front of him. He glowered at Chris but I could see the corners of his mouth twitch as he tried to hold in his laughter.
“Just wait here, okay?” Chris said. “I can maybe get you five minutes before the event starts if you promise not to take up any more time than that.”
I shrugged and held up my palms. “I’m a reasonable man, Chris. I’m sure the mayor is too.”
Chris nodded, slammed his stack of fliers on a nearby table and scurried off into the crowd. King gave him the double bird behind his back. Chris’s hasty exit drew the attention of the TV reporter and he turned toward us. I recognized the guy as Tim Keegan. He did the political beat such as it was in Emerald Point. He tapped his cameraman on the chest and started walking toward us.
“You weren’t serious about the fucking photo op, were you?” King said, pushing himself off the wall.
I shook my head. “Nope. I trust those guys even less than the mayor. Let’s hope our man Chris gets his shit together fast.”
He did. I heard a little squeal as Chris came back out and saw Keegan heading our way. Chris slid across the marble floor on his loafers and gestured wildly toward King and me. I feigned confusion for a beat. It was too damn delicious watching the kid squirm.
“Mr. Tillman!” Keegan shouted across the lobby. “Mr. Tillman, would you mind talking to me for a minute?”
“Yeah, Mr. Tillman,” King said. “You might even get your picture in the paper.”
“Please, uh … Mr. Tillman,” Chris said. His hand hovered near my sleeve as he worked through whether I’d beat his ass for touching me. “Head back this way with me. Quickly.”
I had half a mind to make his life even more miserable by loudly announcing we were headed in for our one-on-one with the mayor. Let Keegan and the newspaper guys hear that and make what they wanted out of it. But King and I had already accomplished half of our mission so I decided not to press my luck.
Chris led us into an empty conference room and beckoned toward the chairs around a long mahogany table. I waved him off.
“Deputy Mayor Malone will be right in to speak with you,” Chris said.
I grabbed Chris by the lapels. “I’m not here for Deputy Mayor Malone. You get Dodge in here like you promised or I’m going to go back out there and smile pretty for the cameras.”
Chris nodded. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“You do that,” King snapped.
Chris stumbled out of my grip and out the door. I heard a commotion outside and the walls shook as someone slammed a door. I leaned back against the table and crossed one booted foot in front of the other. King sat down at the head of the conference table and rapped his knuckles against it.
After another minute, the door flew open and Mayor Dodge came in, face flushed and all smiles. The guy had a bald head and scrunched-up face like dried apple. I couldn’t even tell you what color the man’s eyes were, they were squeezed so tight, as he extended one hand and ran the other down his navy blue necktie.
“Thanks for coming,” Mayor Dennis Dodge said. I shook his hand but didn’t change my posture as I leaned against the table.
“I’ll make this quick,” I said. “I don’t doubt you’re busy. I also don’t envy the time you get to spend with the great unwashed public this morning. I have a lot of respect for your office. It’s the kind of thing I’d never be able to do. I’m not terrific with diplomacy.”
Dodge straightened and cleared his throat. “Okay then. Tell me why you’re here.”
“The Wolf Den,” I said. “My guys have been trying to work with your office for months about getting the permits for our expansion. You either don’t return calls or your office gives us the runaround.”
“Oh. Well. I’m afraid that’s not something I handle directly. You’ll have to go to the zoning board about something like that.”
“Cut the shit,” I said, pushing myself off the table. At six foot four, I towered over the man by a good six inches. “This is your call and you know it. Zoning gave us a variance. I’m told you personally deep-sixed it. Now, you tell me what it is you need and I’ll tell you if it’s something I’m prepared to part with.”
“You came to my fucking office in broad daylight for this?” Dodge hissed and I got the impression the man might be slightly unstable.
“Well, if you’d take my fucking calls, I wouldn’t have to. Now, I know you don’t like me crossing your threshold. So don’t make me have to.”
“I can’t help you,” Dodge said.
“The hell you can’t. All you gotta do is sign the paperwork. We get our expansion. You get to cl
aim job creation stats in your next election. You also get to broaden your tax base. There’s no lose for you on this one.”
Dodge bit his bottom lip and shook his head. “Over my dead body. You hear me? You think I’m going to put my name on something that’ll help a bunch of biker thugs?”
“Whoa!” King rose from the table and circled Dodge. Dodge at least had the decency to look worried. King could be one scary motherfucker when he was keyed up like this. Though I didn’t think he’d actually clock the asshole right here in City Hall. A part of me kind of wanted to see him do it though.
“Get out,” Dodge said. “You don’t like my answer? Take me to court. You think there’s a judge in this district who will side with you? You can pretend you’ve cleaned up your act for the papers. I know better. I’m not corruptible like Mayor Hansen was.”
“We’ll see about that,” King said. He had a point. Dodge definitely wanted something. Every man has a price. I was hoping we could do this clean. Maybe we still could. As far as I knew, Dodge didn’t have a legal leg to stand on in denying us our expansion. But he was right that public opinion wasn’t always on our side. For now at least, he’d laid his cards on the table.
“Well, I surely do thank you for your time, Mayor Dodge,” I said, laying on my heavy Southern drawl. “I don’t want to keep you away from your muffins another second longer. But I’m afraid we’re going to have to take this up again.”
“My girl will show you out a back way, if you don’t mind.” Dodge was all smiles again. He opened the door and stuck his head out. Putting two fingers in his mouth, he let out a shrill whistle. Jesus. The fucker was calling his “girl” like a damn dog. Classy guy all the way around.
Dodge didn’t turn to say goodbye. He just stormed out of the room. King shook his head.
“I told you this was a bad idea,” he said.
“Well, at least I saw it for myself. Lemme make some calls when we get back to The Den. We’re just going to have to work this little problem from more than one angle. That’s all. I’m sure we can dig up some dirt on the guy. If we can’t, we’ll make it.”
King shook his head. “The guys aren’t going to be happy. No matter what, you can’t promise we’re going to get the expansion through before the end of the year. We’re gonna have to step up our game in other ways, Nash. We gotta earn or we’re sunk.”
I put a hand up and nodded. “I know. I know. Patience, my brother. You think I plan on letting one rotten-apple-looking motherfucker get in the way of good business? The man’s forgetting himself. That’s all. Trust me.”
“I fucking hate when you say that.”
The door to the conference room swung open and my heart stopped. She didn’t see us at first. She had her nose in her phone, punching the screen. “You can follow me out, if you don’t mind.”
Then Harper looked up. She had her jet-black hair pulled back into that tight, perfect ponytail again. Her dark eyes flashed and a deep blush worked its way into her cheeks, starting at her throat.
“N-Nash?” She gripped the doorknob so tight I thought she might smash it into powder.
“Hello, again, Miss Mays,” I said. “Didn’t know you took a job in the mayor’s office.”
Harper locked eyes with me again. “I d-didn’t realize you had business with my boss.”
Chris appeared at Harper’s shoulder looking just as scared as he had when he led us back here.
“Do you know Mr. Tillman?” Chris asked her. “Harper? Do you know this man?”
She licked her bottom lip. Her eyes darted from me to King and back again. King leaned against the table and crossed his arms. I knew I’d catch hell from him the minute Harper was out of earshot. I wanted to tell him this wasn’t what he thought. Except it was exactly what he fucking thought.
Chapter Five
Harper
* * *
“Do I what?” I looked from Nash to Chris and back again. I wanted to wring Chris’s neck. He should have told me what I was walking into. Except, how could he know?
But there Nash was, standing two feet away from me. Last night, I saw him in shadow. Now he seemed so vivid. So real. I had to keep my wits about me. I plastered a smile on my face and looked back at Chris. “Not really,” I answered. “You just need me to show these gentlemen out? Was that all of it?”
Chris scratched his chin. “Please. With the mayor’s regrets.”
“I’ll just bet,” King said under his breath.
God, I’d give anything for a trap door to open up and swallow me. My hands trembled where I gripped the door. Chris hesitated another beat, then he finally disappeared down the other hallway. I wanted him gone, but now I was alone with Nash and King. A look passed between them. King looked pissed.
“I’ll show myself out,” he said, brushing by me. I staggered backward but kept my death grip on that doorknob.
Nash crossed his arms in front of his chest and shot me a wicked smile with one blond brow arched to the sky. “You know, Harper, a guy could think you were trying to stalk him.”
“I what? This is … I work here.”
“I can see that. There’s a story I’d like to hear.”
I backed up, opening the door wider. “I’ll show you out. I’m sorry to be rude, but I really do need to get back to work.”
“Uh huh.” Nash stepped around me. He got close enough to brush his arm against my shoulder sending goosebumps down my spine. I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and gestured to the left. King was already out the back door.
“Just follow him,” I said, hoping to make a getaway.
“Well now, Harper, what if I get lost? I’m liable to take a wrong turn and walk straight into the mayor’s office again.”
“Oh, for Pete’s sake, come on!”
Nash let out a low chuckle that set my nerves on fire. He was casual, joking. I was melting from the inside out. I strode ahead of him, squeezing my eyes shut. If I could just get through the next minute. His boots thumped against the plush carpet. I got a few sideways glances from the accounting department as I led Nash through it. It felt like the entire world could see right through me. Damn him. What was he doing here anyway?
I stopped short of the exit and made a sweeping gesture with my hand. “There you go. All safe and sound. Now I really need to get back to work.”
“And I really need to know what the hell you’re doing back in Emerald Point.”
“Nash, don’t.”
“Hey, you came into my bar last night. You obviously wanted me to see you. Well, I did. Now I want to see more of you. How about you let me take you out for a drink after work. No pressure. We can catch up.”
Catch up. I had no words. Just then, my phone vibrated, startling me enough to drop it. It landed face down. When I moved to pick it up, Nash beat me to it. My heart dropped into my pumps. My phone played the alphabet song, Wyatt’s ringtone. He was the only one who called me from the landline at the condo so I made it special just for him. Oh God. If Nash turned it over he’d see Wyatt’s picture and his sweet smiling face with the dimple in his cheek, that shock of blond hair and emerald green eyes.
I snatched the phone out of Nash’s hand just before he turned it over. My fingers brushed against his and made me shudder. I silenced the ringer and made a mental apology to Wyatt. I’d call him just as soon as Nash left.
“I can’t,” I said, my words tumbling out in a breathless gasp. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come to the bar last night. I had no business there. I just need to get back to work.”
“Darlin’, you gotta eat sometime too. Come on. One drink, for old time’s sake. We didn’t exactly part ways under the greatest circumstances last time. Let me make it up to you.”
“Make it up to me?” Heads turned when I raised my voice. I cleared my throat and pushed the exit door open. The bright sunlight hit my face and I shielded my eyes as Nash walked out behind me. He slid his sunglasses on cool as ice and turned to me.
“Nash, the last time I
saw you, you were bleeding from a stab wound, as I recall.” The image of his blood-soaked t-shirt and the pain etched across his face kept me up some nights. It had happened right outside The Wolf Den. Even half bleeding to death, he’d tried to joke about it, making me want to stab him myself.
He smiled and leaned against the door. “Well, darlin’, it does my heart good to know you still care.”
I wanted to slap the smirk off his face. I wanted to grab him by the jacket and make him kiss me the way he did all those years ago. I wanted to run and hide.
“I can’t do this.”
“You keep saying that.”
“No. I mean it. I just wanted to see that you were okay. It’s something I’ve wondered about over the years. Well, obviously you’re fine. I’m glad. Now I need to go back to work.”
“Yeah. About that. You know, I gotta make an observation. Denny Dodge? Honey, you’ve got a knack for finding employment with sleazebags. Now, Mayor Dodge is no Pirate Louis, but it’s not much of a step up.”
I gritted my teeth. A flash at the window drew my attention. I caught a glimpse of Chris’s red tie as he backed away from the blinds. This was bad. Catastrophic.
“Well, the medical and dental is a damn sight better here than with Pirate Louis. Goodbye, Nash. I meant what I said. I’m glad you seem to have gotten through whatever trouble you were in all those years ago. You’ve made something special out of The Wolf Den. Congratulations on all of it.”
I turned toward the door. Nash caught me by the arm and turned me back. Heat speared through me and I saw my own reflection in his mirrored sunglasses. My face was flushed, my eyes wide. I was doing a terrible job of hiding the turmoil churning inside of me. Nash wasn’t stupid. I’d known him all of three days almost six years ago. He saw straight into my soul back then and he seemed to be doing it now. He cocked his head to the side and gave me that sexy half-smile.