Page 135 of Banter & Blushes

“Not by a long shot.”

“Care to tell me what the call was about?”

Caroline took a deep breath. “I was talking to my college roommate. She works on a national morning show, and they might send a team out here for the gala.”

“That’s great.”

“Don’t get too excited yet. It’s not definite.” She didn’t tell him what it took to get a tentative yes from Faye. If they came through, Beck would see her grovel, anyway.

“What do you have there?” Caroline nodded toward the folder tucked under his arm. “It looks official.”

“Oh, this?” Beck leaned back in the chair and dropped the folder on the desk. “I reorganized the itinerary tab and filled in the missing blanks. Also, your color selections were horrible, so I reworked your color codes.”

Caroline stared at him. “You touched the binder?”

“I wore gloves.”

She reached for it and opened it carefully. Her notes. Her missing itineraries, too. Caroline’s shoulders stiffened. “You didn’t say you were taking this.”

“It was a mess,” he said, feigning innocence. “Thought I’d save you some time.”

“Save me time? Or give me a heart attack?” She closed thefolder and slid it back over to him, irritation lacing her voice. “I was about to tear the office apart looking for it.”

Beck leaned back; his hands raised in a playful surrender. “Guess I’m not as indispensable as you said I was.”

Caroline fixed him with a steady gaze, trying to gauge his sincerity. “You could’ve let me know.”

“And miss the look on your face right now?”

“What look?”

“The one saying you’re ready to kill me.”

She let out an exasperated breath, her annoyance giving way to reluctant amusement. “Can’t believe I let you work on this without supervision.”

“Trust issues, Hollis,” he said with a mock sigh. “It’s a problem.”

Leaning forward, she fished through her tote, coming up with a chewed highlighter and a pack of sticky notes. “Let me guess. You have solutions, too?”

“Delegation, Caroline. Look it up. I heard brilliant marketing specialists know a bit about it.”

Grinning despite herself, she scribbled something and stuck it on the folder. “Find me a sea creature, and everything will be just fine.”

“A sea creature?”

“Long story,” she said, challenged by his curiosity.

“I’ve got time.”

“I don’t, so I better get back to work.” She flipped through the pages as she inserted them into the binder. “What’s this?” she asked, pointing to an elaborately color-coded timeline with his unmistakable scrawl.

“Your binder was missing the most critical part. Free time.”

Caroline laughed, feeling lighter than she had in weeks.

He leaned closer, his voice like a promise. “Am I forgiven, Mayor?”

Caroline searched his eyes, feeling her pulse quicken. “Not yet,” she said, the catch in her voice giving her away. His teasing was more dangerous than she thought. It was like everything he said made her feel he was on the verge of more than a joke. It was addicting and unsettling. “I’m glad you stuck around.” It was the closest she’d come to admitting how much she liked him.

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