Page 25 of The Dreidl Disaster

“Now that youhave me here,” Artur said with a laugh, as he walked into the Mayor’s house, “what are you going to do with me?”

Liv snickered. “I’m not going to show you my etchings if that’s what you’re asking.”

“As long as you don’t intend to feed me applesauce, we’re okay…” And then he realized what he was saying and to whom before he stopped. “I’m sorry,” he managed. “I…”

“It’s fine,” she said. “I like the way you sound when you don’t censor yourself…”

She didn’t just stop talking; she covered her mouth with her hand.

“Are you okay?”

“I don’t know what’s going on,” she said. “And…”

“And what?”

She sighed, gesturing toward the couch. “My life is complex, and people don’t usually get it. And because of the…goals I have, I’m even more careful about what I do and who I spend time with. And what that might mean.”

Those were words he understood. “I deal with…scandals regularly,” he said, glad his job was what it was, “so I have an idea of the pressure you might be under. Don’t want you to end up covered in tomatoes.”

The expression on her face fascinated him; she clearly didn’t want to laugh but it was obvious she had no choice.

“But at the same time,” he said, walking toward the couch, stopping in front of her, gesturing toward the space between them, “I’m not sure what’s going on, what’s between us. But I’m sure that whatever this is, it doesn’t happen every day. To me…ever, really.”

The silence that lapsed between them was going to choke him. When someone like her even remotely expressed vulnerability? That was it.

Because that kind of behavior from someone so strong led to protective instincts, which had already reared to life within him.

“So,” she asked. “What do you suggest? How do we deal with this?”

“Blame the starlight; heck, blame the sour cream.”

And when she put her head on his shoulder, he reached his arm around her and pulled her close, ran his fingers through her hair.

It was comfortable, more than comfortable; just like his jacket when she eventually gave it back to him, covered in her scent. It would take every single inch of strength he had to actually put the jacket on and not turn it into an air freshener.

Chapter Nine

Liv barely managedto make it out the door and to town hall before her phone rang. “Hello?”

“So you were showing the fixer around town?”

Judith. Of course. Her meddling first cousin. And even though Liv desperately wanted to snap, Judith deserved to be answered. “I was doing my job. Don’t you have a wedding to plan?”

“My wedding is being planned,” Judith replied with a laugh. “But what about the jacket?”

Liv blinked. “What about the jacket?”

“You were wearing a jacket that was significantly larger…”

“It was cold, I didn’t bring one,” she said, annoyed that this conversation was even happening. She’d reluctantly returned the jacket to Artur the night before, and having made the mistake of almost kissing him.

Mistake.

Not to mention, she’d been in public wearing Artur’s Jacket on MONDAY. This was three days later. And not everybody was Jerry McManus. However, the whole McManus incident had exploited the bad side of being a single woman, who was also the mayor of the small town she grew up in. Everywhere she went, there were eyes.

Ugh.

But the worst part of it was the fact that her trustable, dependable cousin was asking these questions. Judith had been a lock box for secrets and advice for years. But since she drank the Kool-Aid about relationships and got deeper into Briarwood circles, her cousin had changed. “Is this middle school?”

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