She sat at her small table across from him at a loss for where to go from here.
He swallowed a bite of sandwich and then asked, “Are we okay?”
Nodding, she said, “Yeah. I’m just—” She waved her hand, still not finding the words.
“Yeah,” he said quietly. “Surprised me too.”
Looking into his eyes, she saw that he understood. Whatever they shared in bed was intense, even with the joking and games. “Do you regret it?” she asked.
“Hell no. However, if you ever repeat my confession to anyone, we might have issues, but telling you? I’m all good.” He picked up the quickly shrinking sandwich. “Lying naked in bed after amazing sex, you could probably get me to confess anything.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. File it away for future use.”
She’d only taken a few bites of her lunch when he crumpled his empty wrapper. He threw away his trash and came to her. “I hate to eat and run, but I have to get back to the office. I have a boss to impress, you know.”
“Taking a long lunch to have sex with your girlfriend probably isn’t the best way to make that impression.”
“No job is worth giving up this kind of lunch. Maybe we should make it a regular thing.”
Laughter bubbled up, but he was serious. “Really?”
“Why not? Our schedules are a little nuts. If we can sneak away for lunch and other festivities, we should.”
The thought made her feel a little naughty, but in a totally good way. “It’s doable. I’m the boss, after all.”
“Excellent. I don’t know when I’ll be off tonight, but I’ll give you a call. Maybe we can hang out.”
“Sounds good.” She rose to walk him to the door.
Before leaving, he kissed her breathless and murmured against her lips, “I won’t be able to think about anything but you this afternoon.”
She grinned, knowing her day would feel much the same. He left and she returned to her lunch, feeling out of sorts because she rarely took a leisurely lunch. But like she’d told Kevin, she was the boss. This was something she should’ve been doing all along.
* * *
Kevin strode into the office and his phone immediately bleeped with a text. The mayor wanted to see him. Crap. He eyed the work still waiting on his desk, work that he’d ignored to run around and do whatever Mayor Park wanted in an effort to outshine anyone else being considered for the position Kevin wanted. He sighed.
Time to go see what Park wanted now.
In the elevator, Kevin adjusted his tie and finger-combed his hair, hoping no one would be able to tell he’d just gotten laid. When he arrived at the mayor’s office, he was ushered in immediately, as if he’d somehow kept Park waiting.
“Kevin,” Park announced, his voice booming a little too much for Kevin’s comfort. No one else was in the office, so he had no one to impress.
“Yes, sir. You wanted to see me?”
“Stop calling me sir. You sound just like your brother when you do that.”
Kevin swallowed a groan. He could go his whole life without sounding like Jimmy and that would do him just fine.
Park pointed to the chair in front of his desk. “Have a seat.” Then, instead of taking his usual seat behind the desk, he sat across from Kevin.
“I wanted to talk about the work you’ve put in on the tourism initiative. I really appreciate everything you’ve done.”
This sounded like he was sending Kevin on his way, so Kevin did what he could to keep calm. He straightened his shoulders. “I’ve done my job, Mayor.”
“No. You’ve gone above and beyond. Way above and beyond. I don’t want you to think that goes unnoticed.”
“Thank you.” It wasn’t a job offer, but at least the man recognized that Kevin had been working his ass off.
“I want to offer you the position of official tourism liaison to the mayor’s office.”
Kevin froze. He couldn’t have heard that right. Park offered him the job?
“I hope you’re interested because you already know everything we’ve done, everything I’ve been looking for.”
“I am. Definitely.” He inched forward on his chair.
“I can’t offer you a pay increase. At least not until we get the new budget approved. But I can give you your own office.”
“Okay.”
“You don’t need time to think about it?”
“With all due respect, sir, we all have to start somewhere, and if my pay doesn’t decrease with this move, what else do I have to lose?”
“I like the way you think.” He stood and extended his hand. “Welcome aboard.”
They shook hands and then the mayor handed him a bottle of champagne. “This is for you to celebrate with your girlfriend. Sheila will show you to your new office so you can get settled. Then take the rest of the day with Kathy.”
Impressed that Park remembered Kathy’s name, Kevin glanced at the bottle. “Thank you again.”
“Don’t get too used to short days, though.”
Kevin chuckled. “I think I already know that.”
“Let that girlfriend of yours know that there will be plenty more social engagements to attend in the near future.” Park went back behind his desk. Before sitting, he added, “Tomorrow, nine o’clock. Be here ready to figure out how to coordinate with our new partners to take the bulk of this mess away from my office. After tomorrow, you should be the only person I have to deal with when it comes to tourism.”
“Yes, sir.”
Park glared at him. “Call me Bill when we’re alone. Mayor Park in front of other people. Fair enough?”
“Absolutely. Bill.” He lifted the bottle in his hand. “Thank you again. What about my current job and the work there?”
“Pass the work on. We’ll see if we need to hire someone else or if the workload can be scattered.”
Kevin nodded and left the office. He wanted to do nothing but run straight back to Kathy and tell her the good news, but he knew she’d be at work. Plus, he needed to get settled in his new office. He stopped at Sheila’s
