by Lea Coll
“Great. Did you put together a list for me?” he asked, glancing back at the courtroom.
“You mean people I’ve pissed off?” I asked, chuckling. He just gave me a look, so I didn’t think he thought I was funny. I tried for a more serious look. “I’m working on it today. I’m going through my calendar and writing down the names of anyone who was unhappy with his or her case or outcome,” I said.
“Okay, great. Well, I’d better get back in the courtroom before my case is called. See you later.”
WE LOADED UP THE SIGNS into Ashley’s trunk. Luke handed us a map of the areas where we were to put the signs up. “Thanks for helping out. I really appreciate it,” Luke said.
“Sure, Luke.” Ashley closed the trunk and walked around to her front door to get in.
Luke grabbed my elbow and pulled me closer to him. “Hey, did you want to go out tonight?”
“Go out? Like as in a date?” As soon as it was out of my mouth I could have kicked myself. Of course, he was just asking everyone out who had helped on his campaign today. “Oh, you meant a group thing, all the people helping out on the campaign. Sure, that sounds great.” My face was bright red at this point and I started to turn so I could get in the car.
Luke caught my arm to halt my retreat. “Emma.” His voice was low and husky. He leaned in and whispered in my ear so no one could hear. “Make no mistake, I was asking you out on a date.”
“Oh?” I asked in surprise with my head tilted down as his voice sent shivers through me.
The passenger side door flew open and Ashley called, “Get in, Emma. What’s the hold up?”
I jumped away from Luke’s hold on my arm. “Sorry Ashley, I’m coming.” I turned away from Luke and slid into the passenger seat. I looked up at Luke as he closed the door.
“See you later,” he said. It sounded more like a promise than a goodbye.
“What was that about?” Ashley asked curiously.
“You’re such a cock blocker.” I muttered. I know I was being a little irrational but I was upset Ashley interrupted. Finally all of Luke’s teasing and drawings were leading to something. There was always the possibility I wouldn’t be able to hold his interest, but to have the attention of a hot guy felt good, really good.
“I’m sorry, what? Did you just say what I think you said?” she asked, glancing over at me in shock as she pulled away from the curb. I was usually pretty reserved so saying cock probably threw her for a loop.
I leaned my head back on the headrest and closed my eyes. “He asked me out on a date. I was clarifying things when you interrupted us,” I griped.
“He did? Nice, go Luke,” Ashley said. “I told you he was interested.” I turned my head towards her and opened my eyes. She said, “What do you mean clarifying he was asking you out? It wasn’t clear?”
“I thought maybe he was asking everyone to get together to thank us for helping out. You know, like a group thing.”
“Oh, is that what it was? Did you ask him? Tell me you got an answer before I interrupted,” Ashley demanded, frantic now that she messed up my moment.
“Yes, I asked. I was worried I misinterpreted the whole thing.” I lowered my voice in an impression of Luke. “He said, ‘Make no mistake I was asking you out on a date.’ Of course he sounded way sexier than me.”
“Obviously you have an awful man voice. And swoon!” Ashley answered.
I smiled in response. It felt good, but I couldn’t help the lingering doubt that Luke was completely out of my league.
“So, what’s the deal with Brad’s signs being four times the size of everyone else’s in the election? Does he have penis envy?” I asked, as we pulled over to place the first sign. Brad’s sign was significantly larger than the other ones here and had a large photograph of his face.
“I think he must be in love with himself. Check out the huge close-up of his face,” Ashley chuckled, pulling Luke’s sign from the trunk.
“Didn’t you guys already put up signs too?” I asked, helping her carry the sign over to the grass.
“Yes, but some of the signs were taken down.”
“Taken down? What do you mean?” I asked, surprised.
“We had all of the signs up, but they started disappearing. We have no idea who took them down.”
“You don’t think Brad or anyone on his campaign is that immature, do you?”
“It’s possible. I told you Brad was a jerk. I’m sure he’s going to play dirty during the campaign.”
“Stella wrote a cute piece about it in the paper. She said women who thought Luke was hot were stealing the signs for their bedrooms.”
I laughed. That was really funny. “Does she write a column or something in addition to her regular news?”
“Yes, Emma. It’s hysterical. I think it’s her calling.” Ashley shoved the sign into the ground and then surveyed the results. “It looks good even though it’s not the size of a house.” Then she looked at me in frustration. “I thought you were going to start following the paper more now so you would know what’s going on. I’m tired of being your sole news source around here.”
“Dramatic much? I intend to read it, but then my Kindle distracts me.”
“Well, you need to at least read Stella’s column. She just started doing it. It’s not a Dear Stella thing where she answers letters. Instead, she just makes funny comments on everyday occurrences around town. It’s great.”
“Sounds like it. I will definitely check it out. Any ideas on who took Luke’s signs?”
“No and it’s just his signs that are disappearing, so it eliminates the idea of kids.”
“Luke hasn’t mentioned anything to me about it.”
“That sounds about right. He’s probably trying to figure it out on his own. If he asks you, you’ll just analyze it to death,” she teased.
“I do analyze everything to death. You’re not wrong about that. But he’s all in my business about the vandalism with the car and the text messages. It seems only fair that I get to know what’s going on with him too.”
“Yeah, but he’s one of those take-charge guys. He’s used to handling things on his own.”
I PULLED OPEN THE DOOR to the pub later that night. Someone would probably drag me out of my apartment if I didn’t come, and I couldn’t exactly refuse to go when I lived two doors down. Luke had asked me on a date, but it ended up being a group thing anyway. They made a big table by shoving some of the smaller tables next to each other to accommodate everyone who helped out the campaign. Stella, Samantha, Luke, Sawyer, and Jack were already seated with pitchers of beer on the tables in front of them. I sat down next to Stella.
“Hey, I heard about your new column. Congrats.”
“Hey girl! Thanks! I’m so excited about it. I’ve been bugging the editor for years to let me contribute something more and he finally relented.”
“It’s so funny,” Ashley said. “I loved your column this week. The one where you said single women are stealing Luke’s signs for their bedrooms.”
“Just the single ladies?” Luke asked, teasingly. He was seated across the table from me and one seat to my left. Samantha was across from me and Ashley sat down to my right.
“Aren’t we egotistical?” I asked with a smile. A confident guy was attractive but I didn’t particularly like the cocky player types.
Sawyer leaned in front of Stella so he could be a part of the conversation. “No one ever accused Luke of being humble, that’s for sure.”
I laughed with everyone, but tucked that one away to think about later. I really needed to get to know Luke a little better outside of our very obvious physical attraction. Once the laughter died down, I asked Luke, “Any word on who took the signs?”
“No, not yet,” Luke said, getting a frustrated look on his face.
“It better not be that jerk, Brad,” Ashley said.
“I doubt he would do it personally, but maybe one of his cronies did,” Luke said.
“How’s the election goi
ng? Are there any polls available?” I asked.
“Yes, the early polls have Brad leading by a small margin. The mayor hasn’t thrown his support behind one or the other yet, so some people are still holding out. It’s too early to tell really.”
“So what’s next on the agenda?” Samantha asked.
“There’s a fundraising dinner on Saturday night at the inn. I have a table reserved for everyone here.”
“It’s a pay-for-plate kind of thing for the big guns,” Sawyer explained. “Hope all of the guys with deep pockets are able to make it.”
“Or if not, hope they write a check instead,” Luke said. “This whole campaign thing has me a little out of my element. I want to do a good job as sheriff, but begging for money isn’t usually my style.”
“Well, hopefully you only have to do this once. Then you’ll prove yourself and it will be easier if someone challenges you next time,” Sawyer said.
Everyone nodded in agreement. I took that opportunity to slide my chair back and head to the bathroom. There was a fair amount of people at the pub tonight, so I had to make my way through a crowd standing by the bar. Once I finished, I opened the door to Luke standing on the wall opposite the bathroom. He was looking right at me and the pull of his eyes drew me closer.
I walked over to him and tilted my head up to meet his eyes. “Were you waiting for me?” I asked, even though I already knew the answer.
“Yes, I wanted to ask if you would go as my date to the fundraiser on Saturday. I wanted to ask you earlier but we weren’t alone.” His voice was soft and intimate and he put his arm around my waist, pulling me even closer. I let myself fall into him so that my stomach was now touching him. I placed my hands on his chest.
I blushed at his question. If I arrived on his arm, it would definitely make a statement in this small town. “Okay,” I answered. I was definitely flattered. I was someone who had never been asked to homecoming or prom and this felt similar.
“I’m looking forward to it,” he said, with one hand playing in my hair.
Then someone bumped into us in the busy hallway and we jumped apart.
It was jarring because the whole moment had been so intimate I completely forget we were standing in a bar hallway. I felt like we were in a world by ourselves. As we walked back to the table, I allowed myself to panic about what to wear.
“Ladies,” I said, sitting down. “When are we going shopping for dresses?”
“Friday night? We’ll need to drive somewhere to get something fancy enough for dinner,” Ashley said.
“The outlets?” Samantha asked.
“Fine,” I agreed. I would need something fabulous that would bring Luke to his knees. I did not keep up with current fashion so I would definitely need help.
Sawyer was showing the guys a clip on his phone. “You guys see this yet?”
“No, what is it?” Ashley asked, trying to see past me.
“It’s a brand new commercial that Brad just released. He claims that he has more arrests than Luke over the course of his career.”
“Well, of course he has a higher arrest record, he’s been an officer longer,” I said.
“Let me see,” Ashley demanded, as she held her hand out.
We watched it together. “Ugh, he looks so slimy in this commercial,” Ashley said. “His hair is all greased up and . . . is he wearing eyeliner?”
“I think he is,” Stella said, leaning over me to see it.
“Where’s your commercial, Luke?” Ashley asked.
Luke poured himself another beer. “It’ll be ready in a few days. I’ll let you see it as soon as it’s ready. I’m going to be really busy with this campaign stuff soon. I will be visiting the businesses, churches, and libraries to give speeches. Between the campaign stuff and my actual job, I probably won’t be able to get out much.”
I wondered if he said that for my benefit. A warning I shouldn’t expect to see him much. I guess that’s why he asked me on a date to a fundraising event. It sucked that I was only here for a short amount of time and that during my time here, Luke would be busy with his campaign.
I finally get the attention of a super hot guy and we were too busy to go out. It was just my luck.
“Hey, what’s everyone doing here tonight?” Ben Harris said.
I looked up at the man who I’d met at the initial campaign event at the FishHouse. He was dressed nicely in a gray suit, purple tie, and black slicked hair. He sat in Ashley’s chair since she had just left to go to the bathroom.
“Hey, Ben. I’m just treating some of the people who’ve been helping out with my campaign,” Luke answered.
“Hello,” he said turning his attention to me. He turned his upper body to face me, putting all of his attention on me. “Do you remember me from the other night?”
“Ben Harris, right?” I asked.
“That’s right. I’m the supervisor at Archer Metal Recycling and my dad’s the judge. I’m in talks to build a casino near Ocean City too.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize Judge Harris was your dad. A casino in Ocean City? That’s impressive,” I said. He must have had a lot of money to throw around. It seemed like he was bragging in order to impress me.
I swear he puffed out a little when I said that. He was certainly big on himself. “That’s right.”
“Well, congratulations.” I was trying to be polite. He certainly didn’t need me to feed his ego.
“We’ll see if it goes through. Zoning can be an issue. You’re the new attorney at the public defender’s office, right?” he asked.
“Yes,” I replied.
“You like it so far?” he asked.
“Yeah, it’s fairly similar to the city,” I said, unsure why he cared about my job.
“Do you have any interesting cases?” he asked, as he poured a beer into the empty glass the waitress brought him. “I would imagine you get some doozies representing criminals.” He turned back towards me, raising his glass to his lips.
Something about this conversation seemed off to me. I guessed it could be considered small talk but there was something calculating in his eyes. I had definitely been asked similar questions though, so maybe it was innocent. “Not really. I don’t handle murder cases or anything super serious. I don’t have enough experience for that yet. And honestly, I think I will work somewhere else before I’m handling cases like that,” I said.
Before he could ask any more questions, Ashley’s voice came from behind us. “Excuse me, Ben. You’re in my seat.”
“Sorry Ashley. I didn’t realize you were sitting here.” Ben apologized and got up from the seat.
I glanced over at Luke, who was glowering at Ben. Was he jealous? There was no reason to be. Ben was so far from my type it was ridiculous. I didn’t like smooth types who used money and their dad’s name to get somewhere in life. I relied on myself and worked hard. I expected anyone I was interested in to do the same.
WE PILED INTO STELLA’S BUICK SUV to go to the outlets to shop for our dresses and shoes for the big fundraiser this weekend. Stella was waiting for us in the driver’s seat with rap music on high. She was wearing her signature short dress with loud colors, chunky jewelry, and a bright pink purse on the console.
“You drive a Buick, Stella?” I asked, taking in the creamy plush seats. “Isn’t this like a granny car?”
“And she listens to rap music,” Ashley said, snickering as she climbed into the front passenger seat.
“No! It’s perfectly acceptable for a young woman to be driving a Buick in this day and age. Don’t make fun of my ride or we won’t help you find a dress.” Stella said, as she glared at me in the rearview mirror.
“And I need so much help,” I said.
“Please, Stella, you inherited this car from your grandmother.” Ashley teased from the front passenger seat.
“Hey, these seats are super comfortable. Plus I’m poor, and this was free.”
“You’re right about that,” Samantha said next to me. Samantha w
as wearing a white maxi dress with gold strappy flats, which totally suited her.
Stella checked for traffic and then pulled from the curb. “So did you hear the latest on the election?” she asked.
“Is it good or bad?” Ashley asked.
“It’s definitely bad for Luke. I told the editor not to print it, but I don’t have much pull at the paper. Plus I already got my column so they’re not granting me any more wishes.” She chuckled to herself.
“Well, what is it?” Ashley asked impatiently from the front seat. Stella tended to get distracted when she was talking, which drove Ashley crazy.
“Someone leaked Luke’s personnel file to the paper. I’m assuming it was Brad but we don’t know for sure. He’s the chief deputy so he had access. It makes the most sense,” Stella said.
“I’m assuming there’s something bad in there or he wouldn’t care to leak it?” I asked.
“Yeah, Luke messed up a case when he first started out. He interrogated a teen without the parents present. It was a big deal around here. They couldn’t prosecute the case because the confession was thrown out.”
“Wow, that is a big screw up,” I said. I was sure Luke was upset about it. He liked to be the best at everything he did, so there’s no way he would have been happy with a black mark on his record.
“He apparently questioned him on the scene without the parents present. He looked older than he was. Luke said he was just asking questions to find out what happened. He did not view it as an interrogation. The judge found that it was though, and the parents needed to be there.”
“But if that was early in his career it shouldn’t have any bearing on the election, right?” I asked.
“Hopefully not,” Ashley said. “You never know though. People don’t understand the law and how things work. Sometimes police officers do things without understanding all of the nuances of the law.”
“He was just trying to get some information about what happened, and I think the suspect looked like he was eighteen. I could see how Luke could make a mistake as to the guy’s age. I’m sure now he always gets the person’s identification first before asking what happened. But not everyone will be as understanding,” Stella said.