But that was the beauty of a crush. She could look and dream all she wanted, for free. And if the man in question happened to be coming in for a meeting that very morning, then she was simply going to have more to sigh about later. Which made today a very good day.
* * *
AS KENNY SCOTTS friend Jack had once admitted, going to see Mayor Marsha was a bit like visiting the great and powerful Wizard of Oz. But without the flying monkeys or the man manipulating things behind the curtain. Unfortunately for Kenny, Mayor Marsha came by her power the old-fashioned way, and not through smoke and mirrors. If it were the latter, she would be so much easier to refuse.
It wasnt that he was afraid of the woman, he told himself as he walked toward city hall. It was that he didnt like situations where he couldnt say no. And with Mayor Marsha, no wasnt a word people generally uttered.
He knew he could tell himself to be strong. That she was merely an old woman. But the truth was far more complex than that. Mayor Marsha knew things she shouldnt, and no one could figure out how. Kenny assumed she had a network of accomplices who fed her tidbits of information. She put them all into some retired NSA computer program that predicted behavior or something. He shook his head as he climbed the steps to the main entrance. Maybe he should simply accept the prevailing wisdom that the mayor wasnt of this earth. Or had precognition. Regardless, she had summoned him and here he was.
He took a flight of stairs to the second floor and walked down the wide hallway. A sign directed him to the mayors office.
He walked through the open doorway only to get hit by a three-hundred-pound cornerback. Okay, not really, but that was what it felt like. He came to a stop, unnoticed by the single occupant of the office foyer, and told himself that he was imagining the body blow. And the attraction.
He knew the curvy redhead sitting guard outside the mayors inner sanctum. Hed seen her dozens of times in town, had talked to her. He even knew her kid. But while seven-year-old Chloe was adorable and only a little dangerous, the same couldnt be said for her mom. Bailey Voss was a walking, breathing temptation. She should come with a permanent warning sign and a quarantine zone. Because when he was within ten feet of her, his brain shut down and he became an idiot.
He couldnt figure out what it was about her that got to him. She was tall and he liked tall, but it wasnt like that was so unusual in and of itself. The long, wavy red hair was sexy, but survivable. He wanted to say it was her big green eyes. There was an innocence there, a trust, and that appealed to him.
Okay, fine. He would admit it. He was just as mentally simple as every other man on the planet. Sex was important and when he saw Bailey Voss all he could think about was getting her naked and having his way with her. He was pretty sure that three or four hundred times would do the trick.
Under any other circumstances, he would ask her out, wow her with his charm, get her into bed and get over her. Or fall crazy in love with her. He was open to either. Only that wasnt going to happen. Not ever. She was a single mom and he didnt date single moms. Not now, not in the future. Because single moms came with kids and while a guy could get over falling for a woman, kids ripped out your heart and took it with them when they left. There was no recovering from that.
He braced himself for the inevitable feeling of being all feet and no brain, then cleared his throat. Bailey looked up and smiled.
That was all it took. One sweet smile and he was a goner. Hed played in the NFLshouldnt he be better than this?
Hi, Kenny, she said. Youre right on time.
I figured if I wasnt, shed unleash the dragons.
Baileys smile turned into a little laugh. One of those soft, sweet sounds that made a man think about how he should have matching towels and maybe get something monogrammed. Hed read once that men might have conquered the West, but women had civilized it. Truer words, he thought glumly.
The mayor said to bring you right in, Bailey told him.
She rose and stepped out from behind the desk.
She was wearing a dress. Some gray tweedy fabric that probably had a name or was the latest style. He didnt care about the color or the style. What he liked was how the dress followed the generous lines of her body. The style emphasized her breasts and her hips. She wore boots with sensible flat heels and still came up past his shoulder.
She moved closer and suddenly he could smell some girlie shampoo or soap. It made him think of Bailey in the shower, which was dangerous and fun at the same time.
She moved toward the closed double doors and he followed. She came to an unexpected stop and he nearly plowed into her. Before he could move back, she turned to face him.
Her green eyes were big and her lashes were long. Her full lips had some kind of gloss on them and he briefly wondered if it had a flavor. Because every now and then when he kissed a woman he got a twofer. A sweet, sexy mouth and a hint of piña colada. It was nice. Women were nice and Bailey was the nicest of them