Page 43 of Hottie on Her Shelf
Fitz roared with laughter. “Of course not. I’m an elected official. I may not wear a tie to work every single day, but I’ve still got a sense of propriety.”
“You were pulling my leg.” More careful wording this time. Not an accusation of laughing at her like before. Hallie was deliberately being less accusatory. More…congenial.
Maybe it was the wine. Maybe it was the memory of how good his ass looked when he’d had his back to her, dishing up dinner…
“Just to see how easy it still was. And secondly, my volunteer shifts are on a suicide hotline. Mostly listening, letting someone know they matter.”
Wow. Wow. Not only did it take up time, but it had to be an enormous drain on energy and emotions. Talk about something that could guarantee him reelection. Proof of just how much Fitz Montgomery cared about people—even total strangers.
Why wasn’t his campaign manager shouting this from a bullhorn up and down the street? “Why haven’t I read about this in the Gazette?”
Fitz winced, rubbed at the back of his neck. “Ah. It’s a secret. You can’t say anything. Nobody knows, except Everett. And my sister, who I finagled into writing me a character reference. Figured her PhD would make her come off as believable and honest.”
“You just entrusted a secret that big…to your opponent?” She was flabbergasted.
“No. I entrusted a secret to Hallie, my dinner companion. But, if you’re ready, I’ve got my first piece of campaigning advice ready to dole out.”
Huh. He’d revealed this huge, selfless thing to her. A hugely personal thing. And now Fitz clearly wanted to skate right past any further discussion of it. Was he too modest to want her to compliment him? Well, if he was in the mood to share, Hallie had a question that had been burning in her throat all night.
She circled a fingertip around the rim of her glass, not looking at him. “As long as you’re talking about things not covered in the local paper, I’ve been having trouble finding much information on the proposed expansion.”
“It’s not ready for public consumption.”
That pat, full-politician response snapped her head up. If a Secret Service guy appeared behind him and a flag pin popped onto his lapel, he couldn’t be any more of a politician. “Really? Because a member of the public—not your campaign team—brought it up at the kickoff breakfast. So, you’re basically trying to drag on a condom right after I waved a positive pregnancy test at you.”
All the color blanched out of his cheeks. “That’s…that’s some powerful imagery.”
True. Hallie was even a little terrified at the thought. “Whatever it takes to drag a real answer out of you.”
“Sorry. That was an autopilot excuse. One I regretted the minute the words left my mouth.”
“Why?” The why mattered. It needed to be for the right reason. Hallie really, really wanted him to have a good one.
“Because we’re past that surface-level bullshit. I owe you more honesty than that, now that we’re friends.”
That was the perfect reason. “Great. Hit me with the facts.”
“It was floated at a chamber meeting to gauge reaction. There’s been no official movement.” Fitz held up his hand to keep her from jumping down his throat again. “Unofficially, though? I’m aware plans have already been drawn up for a hotel and marina complex at the south end of town. Doesn’t mean they’ll be approved. Just means that the people pushing it are either optimistic or stubborn—or both.”
Hallie drew a line with her finger along the border of a gray and blue stripe on the placemat. Not fidgeting. Mapping out the boundaries to the town. “The south end? That’s where the marina access is for the fishermen from Crow Harbor. Would it impact them?”
“Yes.”
She made the logical leap to the thing that took all the shine off the expansion idea. “Would it mean wiping out the fishermen’s marina entirely?”
“Yes. They’d have to find a spot and build a new one.”
Wow. Fitz really was bringing the honesty. “Would Swan Cove finance that, after shoving them out of the way?”
“Doubtful to hell no.”
What a non-surprise. The town with all the money was going to spend it to make more, while negatively impacting the blue-collar workers in the neighboring town with no money.
“People will lose their livelihoods, at least for the short-term. Some forever. My father would likely be one of those affected.”
“I’m sorry, Hallie.” His tone was deep and sincere. “There are a lot of angles to this proposal. There’s no clear-cut solution that’d make everyone happy. Or one that’s obviously right, but I don’t represent everyone. As mayor, my duty is to my electorate.”
Truly, she wasn’t trying to be antagonistic. Merely calmly interpreting his statements. “Funny how that sounds a lot like you’re willing to screw over Crow Harbor.”
