Page 14 of Hotshot Mogul

“Hey princess,” the second signer said, ignoring me. “If you’re free next Tuesday, I’d like to show you my new speedboat. It’s going into the water on Monday.”

“I can’t. I’m only here for three more days.”

That again. I gritted my teeth so hard, my jaw ached.

He took back the clipboard and wrote speedboat next to his name. “Well, babe, if your plans change…”

She smiled and covered my hand on her shoulder with hers. We walked to a group of middle-aged women sitting under a canopy. They looked past Anneliese and smiled at me.

“Would you sign this petition to save the trees that Clynes Development wants to cut down?” Anneliese asked.

A woman wearing a Detroit Tigers baseball cap looked over the petition. “Isn’t that for a new development? I heard they want to build those new ranch homes with first-floor laundry rooms. Those are hard to get. I’m down with that. I don’t want all those stair steps anymore. I’m trying to find out who to call to say I’m interested.”

“Yeah,” the lady next to her said. “I heard there’s going to be shopping, apartments and restaurants on site. I want in, too.”

Reality check. I had a real opportunity to get new buyers. I had a business to run. And Anneliese kept saying she was only here for three days, so…

“Sorry, dear. I think we’re going to pass,” Tiger baseball cap lady said.

“Okay, thanks.”

As Anneliese headed for a group of older guys partying under the next canopy, I hung back and pulled out my QR business cards. “Here, ladies. There’s a meeting Monday night before the Oakdale City Commission. They open the public hearing and give the community a chance to speak. You could tell them what you just told me.”

“Ha.” The Tiger baseball cap lady grinned. “What are you two, for or against each other, handsome?”

I grinned. “It’s complicated.”

She waggled her eyebrows. “Not from where I’m sitting. Good luck, with, well, everything.”

I followed Anneliese to the guy tent. An older dude wearing a wife beater stretched over his beer gut mansplained to Anneliese how development works. I bristled at the arrogant jerk’s condescending tone. I had to schmooze these types of assholes for a living. They made me ashamed. I wanted to rescue her and I wanted her to give this entitled dumb ass a what-for.

“Let me stop you,” she said. “I appreciate your time. But the concerns of those who already make their home in this place must be considered. Change only for the sake of change is rash.” Her eyes blazed with anger and hurt. “Will any of you sign the petition?” she asked.

My girl went down swinging. I kept thinking she was mine. Is that what she wanted? Or was I just a way for her to pass the time before she had to leave? Would I be her one-and-done? Karma was a bitch. Still, I would take anything she offered.

She had dodged my questions. I wanted answers. I wanted her to stay. And I wanted her.

“No, doll.” A guy with a beer T-shirt ran his slimy gaze over Anneliese’s curves. “Have a drink, why don’t ya?”

She put the clipboard back in her purse. “No, thank you.” I nodded to the jerks and took her hand. We walked back to our spot. I was sticky with nervous sweat. The woman of my dreams was pissed off. Meanwhile, one of the most beautiful lakes in the world was in sight.

“Want to take a swim?” I asked.

“Yes,” she sighed. “But I don’t have appropriate clothes for that.”

“A swimsuit, you mean.”

She grinned. “Yes, a swimsuit.”

“I forgot that you are still learning English. You’re doing so well.”

“What is your slang expression?” She snapped her fingers. “Lying sack of turds.”

I’m done for. This woman. The more I tried to stop my laughter, the harder it came. It broke free from my solar plexus. People stared. But that was okay. She was laughing, too.

When we finally stopped, I offered her a can of lemonade. I took one, too. “That expression packs more punch if you say shit instead of turds.”

She took a long pull of lemonade, then pressed the sweating cold can to her forehead, then her chest. “Packs more punch means it has a greater effect, right?”

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