I got into my little used car and drove into town, parking near City Hall. I walked in, feeling like I was about to finally earn the fruits of my labor. I’d gone to school, worked hard, and now I was starting my career.
I stepped in through double doors marking the mayor’s office, entering a large room that served as a lobby and admin area. I wondered if that was where I’d be working. I scanned the room, seeing another door with Mayor Valentine emblazoned in gold and black letters on a door. To the right was a small hallway with two more offices.
“Can I help you?” a woman’s voice asked, coming from behind me.
I turned to find a pretty brunette who was a few years older than me. “Hi, yes, I’m here to see the mayor.”
Her eyes studied me. “I don’t believe he had an appointment.”
“I’m his new assistant.” I thrust out my hand. “Brooke Campbell.”
She took my hand, but her eyes still scrutinized me. “Deputy Mayor Sinclair Jones.”
I smiled. “Oh, I’m so happy to meet you.” She was so young. Could that be me in a few years?
“I didn’t realize we’d hired a new assistant. Let’s go sort this out with the mayor.”
Still smiling, but feeling a little uneasy, I followed her to his office.
She knocked and at his “Come in,” opened the door. She walked in and said, “There’s a Miss Campbell here. She says she’s your new assistant.”
I followed her in, and immediately, my gaze went to Mo. He sat behind his desk in a suit that fit him in a way that had all my hormones going crazy. He looked up at me, his hazel eyes as gorgeous as I’d remembered them. Dang it, that schoolgirl crush was alive and well, still.
He smiled as he stood, but he looked as uncertain as I felt. “Yes. Come in.”
His voice was still a sexy, smoky baritone. My heart rate sped up. God, I was hopeless.
“Trina didn’t hire anyone,” Sinclair said.
Her words effectively shook me from the trance seeing Mo again had put me in.
“I hired her. She’s a friend of the family. She graduated and is back home.” He picked up a paper and handed it to Sinclair. “You’ll find she’s more than qualified. Have a look at this if you feel that I, as the mayor, have made a mistake.”
I looked at Mo and then Sinclair, noting some tension.
Sinclair rolled her eyes. “You’re a stickler for rules, Mo. Hiring outside of normal protocols isn’t part of the rules.”
He shrugged. “We need the help, so I took the initiative.” Then he looked at me. “How are you, Brooke?”
Maybe I wasn’t as smart as I thought I was, because it was only then that I realized my father had gotten me this job. My dad called in a favor, and Mo, being a good friend, obliged. I should have known when my dad asked for a copy of my resume that he was doing something like this. At the time, he’d told me he knew someone with a job opening. Now, I knew he’d gone to Mo and begged him to give me a job. How mortifying.
I looked down. “I…ah…I thought—”
“Everything is fine, Brooke.” He looked at Sinclair. “We need the help, and now we have it.”
Sinclair looked over the paper that I now saw was my resume and cast a glance at me. “You’re Frank Campbell’s daughter.”
I nodded, then remembering I was a grown woman and not a kid in the principal’s office, I found my voice. “Yes.”
“I’m Wyatt Jones’ wife.”
Mo flinched at that, making me wonder if he had feelings about that. A mixture of sadness, jealousy, and feeling like a dumb schoolgirl all mixed in my gut.
“I didn’t know he’d returned to town,” I said, knowing the Jones family more by reputation than directly. My father was friendly with everyone, but especially other cattle ranchers like Mo and the Jones family.
She nodded and then turned to Mo. “I don’t have an issue with her credentials or that we need help, but there are hiring procedures.”
He stood with his hands on his hips. “I appreciate you and Miss Lados’s contribution to this office, but I’m still the mayor, am I not?”