Katie froze. Had she really just accepted a job with no idea what it entailed? She would be paid twice as much as the employee who’d quit, but she had no idea how much they had been getting paid in the first place. And to top it all off, her plan to keep a low profile had just got her thrown into the lion’s den. Katie had known that fraternizing with a news anchor would lead to trouble—but fraternizing with the mayor? She might as well call Teddy with her GPS coordinates.
With a quick glance back at Sam, who avoided her gaze, she followed Zoe outside. “I don’t know if this is the best idea,” she said, struggling to keep up with Zoe’s power walk. “Sam—I mean the mayor—has paid for my hotel through tomorrow, and I’ve been thinking this may be a good time for me to get a bus ticket and continue on my way.” She felt a little sick as she said it, the lie rearing its ugly head. She had promised to visit Bev at the park the next day. Not only that, but the town was growing on her, despite its quaint appearance at first glance.
And then there was Sam. Except he wasn’t just Sam anymore. Katie stopped in her tracks.
Zoe was halfway down the block before she realized Katie wasn’t with her anymore.
“What’s going on?” she asked after she backtracked to where Katie stood. “If it’s about the hotel, don’t worry about it. I have a guest bedroom that just sits there. It’s yours to use as long as you need it.”
It was all too much. Everyone was too nice—too accommodating. They helped people without expecting something in return. And that made her feel guiltier than anything, because she knew she couldn’t return the favor, even if she wanted to. Which she did. Every day here, away from her old life, she realized how much she wanted this. For the first time, she felt like happiness was something she could have.
But it wouldn’t last.
How could it, when she was surviving on a fake identity and always looking over her shoulder?
Be bad, but don’t be a liar, a deceiver. Had Leo Tolstoy been living her life when he wrote that line?
“I think I need to go,” Katie said. She turned on her heel and ran in the opposite direction. Her feet pounded on the sidewalk, each step taking her somewhere, and yet nowhere at the same time. Katie didn’t have a destination. She didn’t even know where the bus station was. She got as far as the coffee shop, but someone opened the door as Katie passed and she plowed straight into a man’s hard chest and bounced back onto the sidewalk.
“Are you all right?” the man asked.
Katie managed to push herself into a sitting position, but pain shot through her elbow. “Ouch,” she said, grimacing. She glanced up and was horrified to see Sam standing before her.
“Here, let me help you,” he said. He held out his hand.
Katie looked at it. It was just a hand, and yet she was terrified to touch it.
“Please.” The way Sam said that one word, so gentle, it ignited something within Katie.
She took his hand, and he helped her to her feet. Katie didn’t let go. Sam’s hand was soft, yet strong. The touch sent sparks of longing spiraling through Katie, and she pulled back. “Thank you,” she said, her voice quiet.
Wait, why was she being nice to this guy? He was a liar. He couldn’t be trusted. Longing shifted into anger. Katie was mostly angry with herself for letting herself get caught up in this place. She wouldn’t make that mistake again.
“Why didn’t you tell me who you are?” she demanded. “Have you been having a good laugh with your buddies over it? Is that what I am—a source of entertainment?”
Sam held up his hands. “I’m sorry. I know I should have told you from the beginning. But it wasn’t for the fun of it. Frankly, it was nice spending time with someone who didn’t know who I was. I’ve never had that luxury before.”
His words stopped Katie’s rant. It was nice spending time with someone who didn’t know who I was. She was doing the same exact thing. Except she wasn’t going to come clean about who she was, if she could help it.
Zoe ran up, panting. “Dang girl, did you run track in high school or something?”
Images of running from the cops as a teenager came to mind. “Something like that.”
“I don’t get it,” Zoe said, her breathing still ragged. “We just offered you a job to help you get on your feet. I offered you a place to stay. What more do you want?”
Sam’s brows shot up. “You offered her your guest room?”
Zoe crossed her arms. “So what if I did?”
“I appreciate it, I do. But what I need right now is space,” Katie said, backing up. “Just—give me some time to think.” She limped down the street, but this time she had a destination in mind.
* * * * *
Self-conscious, Katie walked toward Bev, her steps slow. A few other men and women milled around, but when they saw Katie, they disappeared from view.
“That was quick,” Bev said. “I wasn’t expecting you back so soon.”
“Yeah, well, I needed to get away for a little while,” Katie said, grimacing at the memory of running away from Zoe like a schoolgirl having a tantrum. “Do you mind?”
“Not at all.” Bev offered a crooked smile and sat on a log that served as an outdoor seat. “It’s kind of stuffy in there,” she said, gesturing toward the tent, “and it seems like you have a lot on your mind.”
Katie took a seat on an adjacent log. No use dancing around the truth. “Why didn’t you tell me the man watching us this morning was the mayor?”
Bev cocked an eyebrow. “You seemed like you knew him.” She paused. “I need a moment of honesty from you. Did he send you here to talk to me this morning? Are you here to keep tabs on us?”
Katie looked Bev in the eyes. “I’ve never been real good with honesty, but I promise you that I didn’t know that man was the mayor until about ten minutes ago.” Katie sighed. “I’m a bit embarrassed to admit this, but since I’m trying out this honesty thing—I thought he was a news anchor.”
Instead of laughing at her, like Katie had expected, Bev offered a sympathetic squeeze on her arm. “What made you think that?”
“Everywhere Sam went there seemed to be a camera crew,” Katie said. “He was at the garage when CJ’s nephew towed me in. I just thought…” Her voice trailed off. Now that she’d said it out loud, it sounded stupid.
Katie’s face heated with embarrassment. Daniel had been right. From the first time she’d met him in Colorado, he always told Katie she didn’t belong on the streets—she was too naive.
“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Bev said. “From the sound of it, the mayor is at fault, not you.”
Katie hesitated. “He offered me a job.”
Bev stayed silent. After an uncomfortable moment she asked, “What did you say?”
“I said yes.” Katie heaved a long sigh. “And then I ran away.”
Bev laughed. “You must not have lived on the street very long. If someone offers you money, girl, you take it.”
“Even if it’s the mayor?”
“Especially the mayor. Think of all you’ll have access to. The people who have power to change the town work in that office. That could be you.”
“But it would only be for a week,” Katie protested. “Something to do with a holiday event that everyone is stressing about.”
Bev frowned. “Right. I forgot about that blasted event. Guess they’ll be by to move our stuff soon.”
“Why would they do that?”
Bev laughed, but bitterness seeped through. “Can’t have the homeless folk ruining the ambiance, right?” She glanced at Katie and must have seen the horror etched across her features, because she quickly said, “Don’t let that stop you from taking this job.”
“How can I, when I know they are kicking you out of the park for an event I’m supposed to help plan?” Katie’s anger toward Sam rekindled. “Politicians are all the same. They act like they have your interests at heart, but really, they’re all in it for themselves. It’s all about broken promises and re-elections.”
Bev shook her head. “The mayor is a good man and has done what he can for us. I might not like a lot of things that have happened since he’s been in office, but there’s a lot of pressure on him and he’s been doing his best to try to please everyone. That’s not an easy task. It’s not him that needs to be fixed, it’s the system.”
Katie balked at Bev’s words. “How can you stand up for him? He tossed you to the side, shoving you into a desolate park corner in hopes that the town would forget you exist.”
“No, the city council did that. They weren’t going to give us any supplies, but Mayor Freedman convinced them that if they did, we wouldn’t have to be on the streets begging. That changed their minds right quick.”
So, Mr. Mayor wasn’t the bad guy. That didn’t make him a good guy, though. A lot of gray area existed between the two. She would know—she’d invented the gray area.
Which gave her an idea—
Katie grinned. Sam wasn’t going to know what hit him.
“Bev, you’re right. A person can do a lot of good when they’re in the position to make changes. I think I’ll take that job after all.”
Sam sat at his desk, piles of paperwork that needed his attention scattered around the room. He hoped taking the week off to be out in the community was worth all the extra headache.If I hadn’t, I would never have met Katie.Sam forced the thought out as soon as it appeared. Katie had made it clear how she felt about working for the mayor. The way she had run away from the prospect of having to share the same space as him—he couldn’t rid himself of the image. Did she think so poorly of him that she would go so far as to turn down a much-needed paycheck? Sure, he had misrepresented himself, but it wasn’t like he had planned on it. Not correcting a mistake wasn’t the same thing as lying. That was another thing he had learned when he became a politician.“Knock knock.”
Katie’s two black garbage bags lay on the ground next to her feet. She stood in front of Zoe’s pink two-story house, complete with black and pink polka-dotted shutters. Katie knew she should come up with something nice to say about the house, like how bright and cheerful it was, but she couldn’t quite get the words to come out. “Your place has a lot of character,” she finally managed.Zoe laughed. “I know, it’s a little much. But it’s my happy place.”“I can’t thank you enough,” Katie said. “You’re a real lifesaver. This week has been insane, and I don’t know what I would have done without you and the mayor.&rdquo
Sam paced across Zoe’s office. Katie’s scent lingered, though he couldn’t pinpoint what it was, or when he had discovered that she smelled like it. It just was. But it brought comfort knowing that even though she wasn’t there, a part of her had stayed behind.Except it should have been more than just her scent in that room. Katie and Zoe were already forty-five minutes late. With an impatient glance at his watch, Sam compared the time with the clock on the wall. They were the same. He pulled out his phone, just to make sure. As he stared at the large digital numbers that informed him that, yes, they really were that late, his phone vibrated in his hand.“Zoe, where are you guys? I thought you were meeting me almost an hour ago.” Sam tried to keep his
Zoe lived up to her word by ordering more pizza than four people could eat and making dozens of homemade gingerbread cookies. And only half of them burned. Despite Sam’s complaints, Katie savored every one of them. It had been a long time since she’d had anything that wasn’t fast food or didn’t come in a package.“That’s what I get for trying to be nice to you people,” Zoe said through a mouthful of pizza.Katie laughed and picked up another cookie that was only half-burned. “Good thing the mayor’s budget is paying for it.”Sam froze, his pizza halfway to his mouth. “I don’t remember having a place in the budget for bingeing
Sam stood on Zoe’s porch and rubbed his hands together in an attempt to keep the cold at bay. What was taking her so long? The desert was a great place to live during the winter months, but once the sun disappeared, the temperature plummeted. Sam rang the doorbell twice, then rapped on the door. “Are you punishing me for something?” he called.The door swung open, but Zoe didn’t look even close to being ready. Unless she was planning on attending the luminarias in her pajama bottoms, a tank top, and wet hair.Sam checked his watch. It was already a quarter after seven. “Why aren’t you ready? It’s not going to look good when I’m late. I have to give the spiel that officially opens the event.”
Katie slipped on her leather jacket and took small, quiet steps toward the front door. Hopefully she could sneak out before Zoe—“Where are you going so early?” Zoe asked from the kitchen, spatula in hand.With a sigh, Katie said, “Out.”“First, you don’t leave your room for a full day, and now you’re sneaking out early? If I had to guess, I’d say you are avoiding something. Or someone.” Zoe shot her a knowing look.Katie released an exaggerated sigh. “Look, I just need to meet with all the vendors today to finalize the details for Friday. I thought I’d get an early start on it.&r
Sam stared at the document sitting in front of him. The words swam on the page, mocking him. If he’d thought getting work done before Saturday night had been difficult, it had now become impossible. Ever since that kiss that had sent him higher than the moon, and then brought back lower and harder than he’d ever fallen before. How could he have allowed this to happen?And because Sam hadn’t seen Katie since that night, his imagination had been allowed to roam free. He’d dreamed of her, imagined kissing her again, remembered how hungry, yet soft, her lips had been. If he could just see her again, he’d realize that fantasy was always better than reality. He’d realize that the real Katie couldn’t possibly live up to his expectations, and then Sam would be able to move on and refocus on the job at hand.
Sam sauntered up Zoe’s walkway, hands in his pockets and whistling a familiar tune, though he couldn’t remember where he’d heard it. Before he had the chance to knock, the door flew open. Katie stood in the doorway, looking amazing, as usual. Though something looked different.“You’re not wearing your leather jacket,” Sam said. Instead she wore a dark green cardigan that made her emerald eyes seem brighter than ever.“I thought I’d try something new,” she said. “Do you like it?” Katie seemed like she genuinely didn’t know how incredible she looked.“It suits you,” Sam said. He glanced behind her to see if Zoe was nearby, spying.