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Henderson’s eyes narrowed. “But you always talk business at these events.” Then he glanced at Laura. “Even with some trinket on your arm.”
Laura tensed beside me, and my temper flared at his insult. “You’re right. Don’t bother calling tomorrow.”
“What the hell, Crawford?”
I ignored him.
“I know how these things work,” Laura said as we walked away. “If you need to talk business tonight, I understand.”
“I don’t need and definitely don’t want to talk business to anyone so blatantly disrespectful to me and my date. But I appreciate your patience this evening. I may need it.”
I lowered my arm to grab her hand and squeezed. She jerked it back. “Can we get something to drink?”
I searched her face to see if it was the place or the gesture that had made her uncomfortable, but I couldn’t tell. “Sure. Let’s find the bar.”
Usually, these events impressed my dates, but perhaps I’d miscalculated with Laura.
“What can I get you?”
“A negroni,” she said.
It took a bit of maneuvering to get us to the bar through the sizeable crowd of guests. As the bartender fixed our drinks, I followed Laura’s gaze. She watched a man blow fire from his mouth and a court jester juggle. She smiled at him when he dropped all his oranges at the feet of a fine maiden.
Passing her a glass with amber liquid, I watched her eyes light up at the man who spewed fire from his mouth, causing a gasp from the crowd and then applause.
“Have you ever been to a gala before?” I asked, taking a sip of my drink.
Her mouth twisted and quirked up on the side. “Not at all. The closest I’d gotten to a gala was a school play.” She sipped her drink and stared at the fire performer. The man wore only a leather vest over his bare chest with leather pants beneath. He had long, black hair and charisma. He had the entire room’s attention, except mine. I focused on a beauty mark dancing above her lip. I wanted to kiss it. Flick it with my tongue to see if it would taste as sweet as it looked.
“Crawford,” a familiar voice approached us.
“Mr. Mayor,” I drawled, and then smiled at his wife. “A pleasure to see you again, Mrs. Applebee.” She was an attractive woman. I would guess her age was close to sixty.
“I’m glad you could make it tonight,” said the mayor. “It is an important fundraiser. Is it not, Miss?”
“My apologies. This is Laura Stevens. Laura, this is Mayor Applebee and his wife Dora.”
Mrs. Applebee stretched out her hand. “It is nice to meet you, Laura. Thank you for coming.”
“The pleasure is all mine,” she said. “And to answer your question, Mr. Mayor, yes, it is definitely an important cause… one of many.”
The mayor turned to speak to me, but Laura’s last words caught his attention.
“I beg your pardon?” he asked. “What do you mean by one of many?”
“Well, a fundraiser supporting cancer is definitely a worthy event. And while I hope the mayor’s office continues to support the cause, I also hope you can spare some time for pressing problems in your community.”
I took a large gulp of my drink and watched as the mayor’s mouth opened and closed comically.
“What exactly are you implying, Ms. Stevens? That I can’t do my job?”
“No, not at all, Mr. Mayor. Simply that you have the power to implement changes that will better the lives of your constituents.”
“But I chose not to?” he spat.
Laura’s cheeks reddened but I didn’t think it was from embarrassment. Her bright eyes looked angry.
“I won’t be so presumptuous as to say what you choose to do and not do. Perhaps you just haven’t noticed the issues surrounding you.”
