Can't Stop the Feeling (Whispering Bay Romance 6)

Apologize to Larry? Again? No way. She couldn’t be like Mimi who treated Larry like he was another one of her children. If it worked for Mimi, then fine. Jenna tried to be tactful and always remain professional. Catering to career politicians was a part of her job, but she wasn’t kissing up to anyone.

Pilar leaned forward in her chair. “We’re not trying to be nosy, but we have to know. Is Ben the one who gave you the hickey?”

There was no use denying it, so she nodded.

“As mayor,” Mimi said, “I need to ask, is there a conflict of interest here?”

“You mean, because of Ben? And the vote?” Jenna was stunned. She’d been so consumed with trying to prove Doug Wentworth guilty of something, that she’d lost sight of the fact that sleeping with Ben could be seen as compromising her upcoming vote.

“My entire agenda as city manager is to support the best interests of Whispering Bay. I would never do anything to hurt this city.”

“I never meant to suggest otherwise,” Mimi said kindly. “But as someone who’s been accused of letting her personal life interfere with her job as mayor, I can assure you, it’s not pretty when that happens. Some people always like to think the worst, you know?”

“I admit, Ben and I have seen each other a few times, but if you remember, I voted no on the offer, so he’s not benefitting at all from…whatever relationship we might have.”

“If you say there’s no conflict of interest, then we believe you,” Pilar said. “We’re all on the honor system here.”

Maybe this was a good time to tell them that somewhere floating out in the universe was a tape that showed her trespassing on restricted city property. Oh, and by the way, if you look real close, you’ll see me having wild crazy sex with the very same man you’re worried might be influencing me in the upcoming city council vote.

Oh my God.

Why hadn’t she seen this before? Why hadn’t he seen this?

I did hear some gossip in the legal circles about him and Tiffany hooking up. After he won her case, because it would be totally unethical of him to be boinking her while he was her attorney.

It seemed like ages ago when Pilar had said those words. Jenna wasn’t Ben’s client. She was worse than his client. She was someone with the power to sway a lucrative offer in his favor.

If she voted yes it could be seen that she’d been influenced by their relationship. And if she continued to vote no, then she could be accused of deliberately going the other way to avoid what looked like a breach of ethics.

Either way, she was screwed. There was no way she could vote objectively anymore. Which meant, she had to end her relationship with Ben. At least, for now. Maybe later, once this was all over…

Who was she kidding? He lived in Miami. She lived in Whispering Bay. It was never going to work between them.

Pilar studied her a moment. “What’s wrong? You look like you’re going to be sick.”

“I’m okay,” Jenna said, forcing a smile. “I’m just a little overwhelmed by all the work on my desk.”

“No,” Mimi said, sounding concerned, “your face is red. I think something is wrong with the air conditioning in here. Is it too hot?” she asked Pilar.

“I’m perfectly fine,” Pilar said.

Mimi got up and adjusted the thermostat. “There. I just turned it down a notch.”

“On a cheerier note,” Pilar said, “how did it go with your visit to Whispering Bay’s poster boy for bad behavior?”

“He’s creepily normal. He never once blinked when I brought up the forensics audit, so unfortunately I was way off base there.”

“Too bad,” Mimi said. “Zeke is dying to toss more charges at him. So, this is a little off topic, but you want to hear something weird? Remember how just the other day you were asking me about the video surveillance that We Gotcha does for the city? Looks like they’re about to earn their money.”

Jenna snapped to attention. “Why? What happened?”

“Zeke got a tip from someone who said they saw a couple of cars parked out by the new rec center Saturday night. He went to see Steve Pappas, but Steve says no one from the company had authorization to be out there so he’s demanding that Zeke get the video footage.”

Pilar moaned. “It’s probably some teenagers looking for a place to drink beer and smoke pot. I hope Zeke throws the book at them.”

“Oh, he plans to. Steve is adamant that everyone in town know that his construction sites are completely off limits. Apparently their insurance company is pretty anal about the whole thing. Even I wouldn’t dare step a toe on that site and it’s city property.”

Jenna felt like throwing up. She tried to slow down her breathing.