Page 41 of The Christmas Fix
“You try managing the annual budget for a town that thinks installing a six-figure ice skating rink in the middle of town for six weeks of use would be a great investment,” Noah argued. It was tough being the voice of reason, but that’s what they’d hired him for. It was his job to protect his town whether they liked his methods or not.
Drake held up his palms. “I’m not saying you are Mr. No. I’m saying that’s how you’re perceived, and perceptions can be wrong. Including your own.”
“She plays for the camera.”
“That doesn’t mean she’s pandering. It means she’s a smart businesswoman. Cat’s doing what works. She’s done her research. She’s put in the time. She knows this business inside and out. That’s why she’s producing now. She knows more than any of the last five producers I’ve worked with. And don’t even get me started on how tireless she is in front of the camera. Do you have any idea how exhausting it is to be ‘on’ all the time?”
Noah did not.
The bartender dropped drink tokens in front of each of them.
“Who are these from?” Noah asked, frowning at his.
The bartender shrugged. “Take your pick.”
Drake grinned. Henry straightened his tie. “I quite like this town.”
“Consider yourself a good-looking novelty. We don’t get a lot of people like you here,” Noah quipped.
“What? Black?”
Noah spit out his sip of beer in cartoon fashion. “Jesus, no! I meant style.” He pointed at the man’s orange and purple checkered shirt that, on anyone else, would have looked like Skittles vomit.
Drake guffawed, drawing even more appreciative glances and a handful of longing sighs.The women of Merry were going to combust before Christmas Eve.
“I’m just messing with you. Let me ask you this, Noah,” Henry said, steering the conversation back on track. “In your job, do you ever find yourself saying or doing something that you wouldn’t in other circumstances?”
Noah had a feeling he knew where this was going. “Maybe.”
“Because if you said or did what you wanted to, things wouldn’t go the way you needed them to?”
Noah thought back to the reindeer street lights. “Also, maybe.”
“So, you assess the situation, determine what needs to happen, and then make adjustments, correct?”
Noah nodded. “Yeah, but I’m a human being. She’s some perfect blonde robot from the future designed to sell us something.”
“We’re all selling something, man,” Drake cut in. “Even you.”
“Okay, fine. She’s a smart businesswoman. What about the fact that she emotionally blackmailed me into saying yes to the show?”
Henry’s lips quirked in the closest expression to a smile the stoic Brit seemed to have. “She gets shit done with single-minded focus. You were standing in your own way, and she simply removed your head from your arse.”
“I didn’t want a bunch of TV cameras coming in here and painting Merry as a town of pathetic victims who can’t help themselves. The last time she was here, the whole town was in an uproar over her and her brother. Kids were cutting school to watch filming, grown men were begging to volunteer so they could stand next to her on camera. Oh,andshe got into a bar fight in this very establishment.”
“She wouldn’t start a fight without a good reason,” Drake said firmly.
“That was before my time. What did she say happened?” Henry asked, leaning in, his glass nearly empty.
“That’s the thing. I don’t know. I came straight home from a vacation I shouldn’t have taken with a TV show coming to town. They wouldn’t even let me talk to her. I went down to the set after news spread to straighten it out. And they said she was ‘busy.’ But she was sleeping off a hangover in her trailer.”
Henry and Drake shrugged at each other. “That part sounds like her,” Drake admitted affably.
“She works hard and plays just as hard,” Henry agreed. “Not often, but every once in a while, she lets loose. In those instances, I keep my phone on in case bail is required.”
“How is that responsible?” Noah demanded, frustrated.
“Who says anyone has to be responsible one-hundred percent of the time?” Henry argued. “I’d like to see anyone work as hard as she does, deal with as much shit as she does, and not cut loose every once in a while. You forget how to have fun, and you’re forgetting how to live.”
