When they’d finally headed off the dance floor because the party was coming to an end, they’d both been soaked in sweat. Krista smiled to herself as she remembered what he’d said to her as they’d made their way to the parking lot with about twenty other party-goers, over half of whom were family members. After she’d thanked him for the dances and told him that she’d had fun, he’d leaned down and whispered in her ear, “It’s not my favorite way to get you this sweaty, but it was fun.” Then he’d kissed her on her forehead and disappeared in a cab with Chip and another guy, who she had seen Nina dancing with all night. Damn him. He’d given her the female equivalent of blue balls.
Her body was not happy with the fact that she had gone from very little (if any!) physical exertion to running five miles and dancing the night away in heels that had been made for fashion’s sake, not dancing. She’d actually worn her slippers to this meeting today because the thought of putting anything on besides the cushiony softness of her slippers had made her want to cry.
“Okay, let’s get started. For today’s agenda, we’ll be covering who will be working which timeslots at the booth after the parade. Also, status updates on the benefit.” Betty, who was the director of the Harper’s Crossing Women’s Shelter, stood behind the wooden podium. Just as she was welcoming everyone, the side door of the gym opened and Amber slipped in before slinking into the empty chair beside Krista.
Leaning over, she whispered, “Did I miss anything?”
Krista shook her head. “Just started.”
Amber nodded and pulled out her phone, Krista assumed, to take notes. They were both on the committee for the annual black-tie fundraiser for the shelter. This was Krista’s fourth year on the committee and Amber’s second. Although Krista would be willing to admit that the dark-haired beauty beside her was much better at this than Krista was. Amber was a marketing genius. Last year, thanks to her, they’d raised twenty percent more than they had the year before.
As Krista tried desperately not to think about her sore, achy muscles that were demanding she take them directly home and fill up a hot bath to soak in, she felt a sharp elbow in her side. Snapping her head towards Amber, she saw her tilting her head down towards her camera. Krista lowered her eyes, and when she did, she saw a photo of her and Chase out on the dance floor. His thumb was on her chin as he tilted her head up to look at him.
Chills spread out all over her body. The people in that picture didn’t just look in love—they looked head-over-heels, truly-deeply-madly in looove. Krista looked back up at Amber, who placed her hand over her chest and mouthed, “Oh. My. God.”
Krista smiled and tried to return her attention back to Betty. If there was one thing she didn’t want, it was Betty catching them not paying attention. The woman had a heart of gold and would give you the clothes off her back, but she was a stickler for rules and respect. Which was great as far as the shelter was concerned. She was exactly the kind of person this place needed to run it, the kind of person a lot of the women who came here desperately needed. Not, however, the kind of person who would appreciate two of her board members acting like school girls during an important planning meeting.
“Where are we on location?” Betty asked.
Crap.
This was Krista’s department, and usually when you reported, you stood up to address everyone so that you could be heard. As gingerly as possible, Krista raised her hand and tried not to wince as she slowly stood. It took longer than she’d hoped to come to an upright position, so she began speaking halfway up.
“I spoke to Mr. Jones, who, some of you might know, owns the property along Riverwalk East. He has a space available that can accommodate five hundred and he is willing to donate it.”
“Lovely! Well done!” Betty said as she clapped her pudgy hands together happily. Then, without any follow-up questions Betty, went on. “Next up—food.”
Great.
Krista had just made it all the way up and she was going to have to go back down again. Reaching out, she braced herself on the back of the seat in front of her and slowly lowered herself into the chair. When she was seated once again, she could feel Amber staring at her.
Darting her eyes to the side, she saw Amber’s expression, which looked like it was somewhere between worry and concern and amusement and laughter.
“Are you okay?” she whispered.
Krista would have nodded but it would have hurt her neck muscles. “Just sore,” she said as quietly as possible.
“From dancing?” Amber asked.
Clearly Amber had not been on the receiving end of an infamous Betty Milestone lecture. If she had, there was no way she would be chatting like they were at lunch instead of behaving like anyone who had been the recipient of one such lecture and treating this meeting with the same reverence you would a church service.