“Amber . . .” he said warningly.
“What's the use of having a body like that if you're not going to show it off?” Theo’s expression grew even more flinty. “Fine. Here, I grabbed your swim trunks when I stopped by to let Puddin’ out.” Sadly, she tossed him the navy board shorts.
Theo started to respond, but one of the ladies from the juice crew waved at him and came over.
"Hi, Mr. Mayor. We had such a great time at our juice date,” she said. “I got my whole neighborhood to sign the dog park petition like you suggested.”
Amber held back a smile and stepped back, letting Theo do his mayor thing.
Soon, there was a crowd of people surrounding the dunk tank, more for the view than anything else, but hey, PR was all about how things looked. And her boss was an absolute stud of a man. She made sure to snap a bunch of pictures for his social media account with the hashtag #dunkthehunkmayor. Theo would probably be a sourpuss about it, but if there was one life lesson she had under her belt it was that sex sells.
“Step right up!” she shouted. “Who wants to dunk the mayor?"
“Hi, Aunt Amber,” Sammy said. He grinned at her, wide and infectious in its enthusiasm. Holly and Ben joined him, and she gave them all a hug. Man, she loved these kids.
“Hey, kids. Want to dunk the mayor? He loves it.” She nodded over to Theo who sat on the platform, dripping wet from the last dunk. “Right, Mayor Clairmont?”
“Can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be,” he replied, sounding almost sincere.
“Thanks, but I spent all my money winning Holly a goldfish,” Sammy pointed to the clear bag Holly held protectively and turned bright red. They smiled shyly at each other while Ben made a gagging noise.
"I used all my money on Thor's hammer," Ben said. "Otherwise, I would. Sorry, Mr. Mayor."
“It's on me, kids.” She pulled out a ten-dollar bill from her back pocket and handed it to them. "Go tell your friends there's more where that came from if they have a good arm.”
"Sweet, thanks, Aunt Amber.” Sammy missed all three throws. He shrugged good-naturedly while Theo settled back looking smug. “This is why I play guitar instead of baseball now. Ben, you’re the pitcher. You try.” He stepped back while Ben swung his arm to warm up.
Theo's smug grin was wiped off his face with Ben’s first pitch. He took the dunking like a champ, exaggerating his fall and staying under long enough that she peeked over to make sure he was fine, even though it was only a four-foot tank. He came out of the water like the Loch Ness monster, roaring with his arms up and water splashing everywhere, getting everyone wet around him, making the kids laugh and scream and run away.
"Looks like the mayor has a flair for the dramatic,” Annette said, dabbing water off her Chanel bag from Theo’s theatrics. Despite the heat, Annette was effortlessly chic in a pastel yellow summer dress that didn’t have the audacity to wilt in the sun. Not many people had audacity around Annette. She merely had to look at you with her cool, gray eyes and people stumbled to do her bidding. Amber had spent years trying to master that look with no luck.
Amber grinned at her mom. "Isn't it great?"
"It definitely shows something," Annette nodded, her eyes lit with sharp humor.
Theo joined them, rubbing his chest with a towel, and held out his hand to shake Annette's. “I aim to please, Ms. Hart." Even standing there dripping wet with his broad, sun-kissed chest bare and his hair slicked back by water, Theo’s confidence rivaled Annette’s formidable presence.
Each was the epitome of sophistication and poise—qualities Amber had tried to imitate over the years, yet could never get just right and instead stuck with a more literal, smack-you-in-the-face approach: blatant sex appeal. “But I have to admit, this one was all your daughter’s idea.”
"I have no doubt about that,” Annette said. “My daughter has always had a talent for bringing out the best in people. I’ve noticed your campaign has gained momentum since she joined your team,” she added pointedly.
“Mom,” Amber hissed. How mortifying could she be?
Theo’s smile broadened. “She’s definitely got me stepping outside of my comfort zone. Can't say that I mind as much as I thought I would," he admitted, flashing his own thousand-dollar smile at Annette “Especially in such good company.”
Oh, stop it,Amber told herself.He’s just being charming. But it still kindled something warm and lovely inside her.
Annette seemed to assess the dynamic between them beforenodding. “I can see that,” she said, smiling faintly. “See that you don’t take it for granted.”
Phillip Beckerman sauntered up for his shift at the dunk tank wearing a Hawaiian shirt and red sunglasses. He held her hand a little too long when Theo introduced them, while his smile managed to be overly bright and entirely insincere. He definitely practiced that in front of the mirror.
“Nice work on the socials, Theo.”Har har har. Even his laugh grated on her. Too loud and too long to be for anything other than show. Major tool. “You finally decided to join the twenty-first century.”Har har har.
They left quickly and wandered around the carnival, stopping frequently to chat with people. Theo chatted. Amber ate her way through the carnival.
With a frozen lemonade in one hand and fried dough in another, she looked up at Theo. “Want some?” she asked, her mouth full of cinnamon sugar fried dough going directly into her arteries, and she didn't even care.
He bent down and ate the piece she offered him straight from her hand.
