Shit. What was I doing?
Meg appeared under my arm. I started and bit back a curse.
She laughed. “I think the heat is getting to him,” she said and fanned herself slightly. The domes of her tits were starting to redden.
“Thank you all for coming to this exciting event! We all love trains, and they are a big part of why Harrogate became such a major player in the industrial era of America. Hunter, you can sit down. I think everyone took enough pictures of you.” She patted me on the arm.
I grabbed my notes and took a seat next to Greg, who looked like he was going to strangle me. I barely registered what Meg was saying. I was seated slightly to the left of her, and I just stared at her as she talked. Every so often she would shift her weight on the balls of her feet, sometimes slipping her heel out of her shoe. She had made that same movement the time I had held her up against the wall in her old office and fucked her…
“You are a complete disgrace,” Greg told me after the event was over, and we had all drunk champagne. I drained my glass then poured another. If all these state senators weren’t there, I would have drunk the entire bottle.
“You think you’re going to win the election after that shit show?” Greg demanded, grabbing my arm.
But I didn’t care about the election. The only thing I wanted to win was Meg.
35
Meghan
“My feet hurt, and I’m sunburnt,” I complained when we returned to the office.
“But Hunter was looking at you the entire time!” Kate said excitedly. “It was so epic. He could barely even talk!”
“Maybe it was the heat,” I said, attempting to undo the belt around my waist.
“No way! Your tits looked killer,” Kate said happily while I went into the bathroom to struggle out of the clothes. “You should leave the outfit on!”
“I have a meeting in a little bit with the Rural Trust. I am wearing pants and comfortable boots to a meeting with farmers.”
“I mean, is Hunter going to be there? You don’t want to ruin all your hard work, do you?”
“My boobs are sunburnt and itchy,” I said, walking out and grabbing my work boots from the cupboard. “Besides, Hunter’s probably going to go home and lie down.”
“He’s going to go home and jack off, you mean,” Kate said with a snicker.
“Sure you don’t want to come talk about composting and organic farming?” I asked. “You’re missing out!”
“Er… I’ve got some work to do for Walter,” my friend said, backing away. “I am still technically his assistant.”
I snorted. “City girl.”
Kate waggled her eyebrows. “Walter did say to tell you to call him when you have a free moment!”
* * *
My mind wanderedas my old station wagon trundled down the road. Unlike my other car, which had been repossessed, the station wagon could not go faster than forty-five miles per hour without shaking and vibrating. I was a few miles out from Ernest’s farm when the engine rattled, and a chunk of something fell off onto the asphalt. I peered into the rearview mirror. It didn’t look like anything important. And the car was still running, so I chose to ignore it.
The farmers were all waiting with Remy and Sadie in one of Ernest’s barns.
“Hunter’s not coming?” I asked Remy, adjusting my ponytail. The bun had been giving me a headache.
“He’s coming apart,” Remy told me seriously. “He’s under a lot of stress.”
“As we all are. Let’s get this meeting started, gentlemen.”
Ernest raised his hand. “I heard that you’re putting out goats? I have a number of them here.” He opened a door to a stall, and there were twenty goats staring at me. “I had a friend retire, and no one wanted these guys, but then I heard we were turning them loose in Harrogate, and I told him we’d take them. When is the compost pile going to be ready?”
* * *
