When she got back to the desk, he mouthed, “I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. Is there a vending machine where I can get us some drinks?”
“Can you hold on one minute, Mayor?”
Kathy’s eyes popped wide. Who told the mayor to hang on? That seemed kind of ballsy. Then Kevin set the phone on the desk and pulled her close. “You’re the best girlfriend ever.” He planted a quick kiss on her lips and handed her a wad of cash. “The vending machines are in the staff lounge down the hall on the right.”
Then he picked up the phone again and began talking. By the time she got a couple cans of pop from the machine, the elevator dinged again and their dinner arrived.
Kathy paid the delivery guy and carried the food and drinks to the conference room. Once she had everything spread out, she hoped Kevin might really be done.
“Kathy?” he called.
“In your fancy conference room.”
A minute later, he stood at the door. “What’s this?”
“You were working so hard, I ordered food. It seemed like your quick fix wasn’t happening.”
He sighed and hung his head. “I’m almost done. The mayor really likes to talk.” He came into the room and sat at the table. “I think I can take a break for dinner.”
They spent time eating and laughing. Kevin told her about what the mayor had him working on. Their evening hit a smooth stride again, and she enjoyed their time together. After they finished eating, she told him to go back to work and she’d clean up.
Taking care of the mess, she thought about their odd dates. So far, she and Kevin had attended a wedding together because they were both part of the wedding party, enjoyed breakfast at her shop, and had dinner in his office. She laughed. When she thought about being won over by a man, this wasn’t what came to mind.
But it worked. If nothing else, she’d get one hell of a kiss good night.
Chapter Ten
A week later, Kevin questioned his sanity in trying to land the new liaison position with the mayor. He’d been scrambling to do anything the mayor needed, including offering to handle the lackluster city events calendar. And he had no fucking clue what he was doing. Against his better judgment, he went to Moira. If anyone understood a social calendar, it was her.
When the door opened, she stood in her shorts and tank top, staring at him. “Jimmy’s at work.”
“Okay. I’m here to see you.”
Her pink forehead wrinkled. “Why?”
Holding up the paper file in his arms, he said, “Can I come in and explain it?”
She opened the door wider and walked barefoot into the living room. Their house was a little smaller than his dad’s but not by much. He knew Jimmy was looking forward to starting a family of his own. Papers spilled across the top of the dining room table all around her laptop. “Looks like you got some sun while on the honeymoon.”
She and Jimmy had gone to Disney World.
“Go figure. Florida in the summer,” she answered.
“I didn’t think Jimmy would let you leave the bedroom.”
“I’m not discussing my sex life with you.” Gathering some papers into a pile, she said, “Have a seat.”
He pulled out his own laptop and set the file on the table.
“What do you have going on that you think I can help with?” she asked as she sat in a chair, pulling her feet up on the edge.
“You know I work in the mayor’s office, right?”
She nodded.
“He’s heading up a new initiative to outsource the tourism board. We’ve got the field of companies to work with narrowed down, and he’s going to announce soon.”
“What does this have to do with you? Or me?”
“He’s going to need to appoint a liaison for this. I want it. So to prove how much I want it and how good I’ll be at the job, I’ve been bending over backward to do anything he asks. This is the latest task.” He shoved the file folder closer to her.
She flipped the folder open. “What the hell is this?”
“Stupid-ass notes from the woman who was in charge of the city calendar. Can you believe this was what she worked from? For years. I don’t know where to begin.”
“Dump the paper first.” She scanned through the stack, much as he’d done when it was delivered to his desk. “You need to automate.”
“How the fuck do I do that?”
She sighed. “Talk to whoever is in charge of the city website. Have them add a plug-in or whatever so there’s a form to fill in. Items can just be plopped onto the calendar automatically. Well, maybe you want to have to approve things first. Otherwise who knows what you’ll get.”
“Just like that? Create a form for a shared calendar?”
“Why not?”
“How will people know to use it?”
She shrugged. “Use your big mouth to spread the word.”
He shook his head. Her idea was perfect, but he needed people to use it.
“How did people used to get in touch with this woman?”
“Phone. E-mail. Carrier pigeon?” He inhaled and tried to calm down. Even if he failed at this, he’d already done so much to prove to Park what he could do. No. Failure was not an option. He didn’t want the mayor to have any reason to look elsewhere.
Moira was suspiciously quiet. He looked over to see her reading through the pages of notes. “You have access to an intern?”
“Maybe. There’s usually a couple floating around.”
“Hand it off. Get one of them to make the calls to event coordinators to notify them of the new system. Well, obviously get the new calendar in place first. Nothing will piss people off faster than another broken city idea.” She closed the folder and slid it back. “Why come
