“What if you skipped the pink this time and let your natural color come through? I think that would look beautiful on you.”
Amber looked herself over critically in the mirror. She remembered the day she had Lucy color her hair pink. Mrs. Pearson had just let her know that she was moving, and Amber wouldn’t have a job.
Instead of picking up the classifieds, Amber had gone out looking for something to distract her. She was going to miss that old lady. The sadness welling inside her had needed an outlet bigger than she could come up with, so she ended up in Lucy’s chair with pink highlights.
And she loved them. But she knew them for what they were: a distraction. She was really good at coming up with distractions.
She fingered the curls thoughtfully. “I suppose that's a fair trade,” Amber said. “Lucy, what do you think?”
“Sure. I’ve always wanted to see your hair a little shorter,” Lucy said. “Maybe up to your shoulders. It would show off your pretty face,” Lucy said. “Something a little more sleek. A little more ‘I am woman, hear me roar.’ What do you think?”
Amber looked in the mirror and wondered what Marilyn would do.
She shrugged. “It can’t hurt to try something new.”
Chapter Eight
“Good morning, Diane,”Theo nodded to Diane on the way in the next morning.
Diane looked up from the envelope she was putting postage on and fixed him with her usual stern look, but Theo wasn’t fooled. Diane was one of the few people that couldn’t be charmed, bought, or cajoled out of her opinion of you, and Theo counted himself lucky that she was on his side. He kept her in a steady supply of chocolate croissants and flowers on her birthday to make sure of it.
Theo knew she was an intimidating woman. Hell, she scared him sometimes too, but in all the years he’d known Diane, he had never known her to be cruel. She just didn’t suffer fools.
“Good morning, Mr. Mayor,” Diane said formally. Her wiry hair was pulled back tight in the same bun she had worn since the nineteen eighties when he met her. She wore no makeup, and her idea of office wear was a rotation of utilitarian suits, navy and black for winter, gray and tan for the rest of the year. Come to think of it, Theo hadn’t ever seen Diane in anything else, even at the Christmas parties he hosted every year.
“You’re looking lovely this morning,” Theo said, taking the stack of mail she held out. “Tan is your color.”
“And you’re looking tired,” she said tartly, “or I’d say the same.” She looked at him severely. “Still not sleeping?”
“I’ll sleep when I’m dead,” Theo said with a wink. It had been after two when he finally put his computer away and fell asleep, but that was usual these days. “Is everyone here?” he asked casually, as if he hadn’t already checked for Amber’s car in the parking lot when he pulled in.
Diane pursed her lips tightly. “Your assistant called to say she was going to be late.”
“Was there a reason?”
“She said,” Diane looked down at the phone notes she meticulously kept. “Betty is being a stubborn bitch, and she would be there as soon as she could get her lazy butt moving.”
Theo’s jaw went slack for a second. Inappropriate laughter threatened before he stifled it. “Thank you, Diane,” he said gravely. “Perhaps we can direct her toward the mechanic’s shop when she arrives.”
Theo strode down the hallway, nodding to Todd and Charlotte on his way to his office. Amber’s office door was open, and he took a quick peek inside. She had left her notebook on the desk, and a pen with a fuzzy purple tassel on top.
He shook his head and made his way to his office. He had a mountain of work to catch up on today. After yesterday, he had been so distracted by his assistant that he didn’t accomplish even half of what he usually did, and he wasn’t happy about it. He had spent a sleepless night thinking about all the reasons she wasn’t a good fit for the office. Time management, for one. He checked his watch again. Nine fifteen. Where the hell was she?
When she was in the office yesterday, she didn’t know the first thing about office etiquette. She spent most of the morning talking to Todd. He frowned, remembering her draped overTodd’s desk like some kind of vintage pin-up girl, all softly rounded curves that he had a hard time tearing his eyes away from.
When she’d stopped in the doorway in front of him, he’d caught another glimpse of her pulse beating furiously in her throat. How absurd that with all those luscious curves, it was that little unguarded flutter he couldn’t stop thinking about.
She was a distraction.
One that he didn’t have time for. With the election coming up, he couldn’t afford to take his focus off the goal. That was partially why he had sent her and Charlotte out for the rest of the day. That, and he knew if Amber chose a dress from her own closet for the Finger Lakes dinner, he might have an actual heart attack.
Did the woman ever dress for comfort? The image of her in those black heels with the tiny strap around her ankle made him sweat. As soon as he caught a glimpse, he wanted to feel them digging into his back. On his shoulders. Draped over his desk.
See? Distracting.
“Why are you glaring at a blank screen?” Ford asked, leaning on the doorway.
“I’m thinking,” Theo said shortly. Ford’s law office was next door to the town hall, and they frequently stopped into each other’s offices. Theo was usually glad to catch up with his brother.
