Page 14 of His Curvy Distraction

I straightened my tie as I walked into the kitchen, the coffee just finishing brewing. I grabbed a mug, then retrieved eggs and butter from the fridge and a loaf of sourdough bread from the pantry. It was going to be a good day.

I sipped my coffee while I cooked eggs. The sourdough went into the toaster, coming out a perfectly light golden color at the same time the eggs were done. I sat at the table and read the local newspaper on my phone.

Dirty dishes went into the dishwasher, which I made a mental note to run after dinner, then I headed to the garage.

“Hello, beautiful,” I said to my pride and joy. The electric blue Camaro was new-to-me and still something that made me smile whenever I walked into the garage. I hesitated to drive her to work, but I made sure I walked by her every day. If my day went as planned, I hoped to take her out for a drive since I only had one meeting.

I passed my baby and went to the black SUV I drove every day. It was still a good vehicle, but it was more utility than anything else.

Town hall was still quiet when I arrived, so I was able to go through emails and get my mind organized for the day ahead. It shouldn’t require that, but when Natalie Edwards was going to be in my office again, I needed it. The woman dominated my thoughts, and I could not let her do it again. I had to be clear-headed when she arrived. Rational.

Open-minded.

Just because she walked in last time with a bunch of overpriced ideas that she didn’t have the budget for and then tried to get me to agree just because it’s for the kids didn’t mean she would do it again.

But if she did, she’d get the same answer as last time.

I drew a breath and let it out slowly. The woman either made me angry or made me horny. I couldn’t let her have either emotion.

My morning was uneventful, which was a good thing. When Jane knocked on my door at two minutes to ten, I expected her to bring Natalie and Amelia in, but instead, she was alone.

“I just spoke to Natalie Edwards, and they’re not coming.”

“What do you mean, they’re not coming?” I barked.

Jane flinched.

“I apologize. I did not mean to direct my anger toward you.”

“It’s okay.” Jane twisted her ring around her finger. “I don’t know what happened. Natalie just called and said something came up and Amelia wasn’t available.”

“So where is Ms. Edwards?”

Jane shook her head. “I don’t know.”

I locked my computer and closed the file I was working on. “We agreed to this time, did we not?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And she calls at the last minute to say she can’t be here? What could she be doing that’s more important than this? She’s the one who said this is for the kids. All her big dreams need to happen because of the kids. And now she can’t be bothered to show up? Does she think she’s going to get any money from this office if she doesn’t have a plan for it?”

“I… I don’t know.”

I sighed heavily and shook my head, letting out my breath slowly. “Will you please call Ms. Edwards back?”

“Um, okay. What do you want me to tell her?”

“Tell her I’m on my way to the community center to see her. That I expected an update today, and that if she expects the town to support her cause, she will be there to see me.” I stomped to the door, then paused. “Actually, don’t call her. I’ll just show up.”

I left a fumbling Jane standing in the middle of my office as I stormed out.

What was wrong with this woman? Did she not remember the meeting we had a week ago? Where I told her no when she made all her demands? Now she wanted to cancel our meeting instead of showing up and asking for what she needed.

Not happening. Her budget could be zero, and her job could be gone if she was going to be that disrespectful.

I slammed the door on my SUV and stalked into the community center ten minutes later. The place was quiet, like a school after hours. I was ashamed to admit I had never been inside the building, so I had no idea where anyone was.

“Hello?” I called out, hoping someone would appear and direct me to Ms. Edwards. Preferably in a public setting where we would not be alone.

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