"Why are you listening to this buffoon?" he asked her. "Let's get the hell out of here and I'll buy you a beer at Ernie's."
Halley thought about it. She'd love to get out of here, but if she left, the mayor would notice. Everyone in the auditorium would notice. Not only would they notice that she'd left, but they would know who she'd left with. By tomorrow morning, everyone in town would know that she'd left the town council meeting with Mike and she'd never hear the end of it. "We can't. It would be too obvious."
He grunted. "Bout time someone demonstrated to the mayor that his policies are pointless. Who the hell needs azaleas?" he demanded under his breath. "If cows ate them, okay. But someone needs to tell that blowhard that cows eat grass. We have plenty of that."
Halley was once again covering her mouth, her eyes almost watering with the effort to contain her laughter. "Stop!" she wailed, trying to keep her humor under control. She buried her face in his shoulder, still trying to stifle the sound.
He had no mercy. Bending lower, but still allowing her to use his shoulder as her muffler, he said, "You know what they say about politicians, right?" He could see her back shaking as she continued to suppress her amusement.
"Don't tell me. I don't want to know."
He frowned at the mayor as he said, "We hang petty thieves and appoint the great thieves to public office."
She snorted again and pressed harder. He lifted his arm and wrapped it around her shoulders, almost pulling her onto his lap as she tried to hide her hilarity. And still he continued. "Why don't you ever hear of a thief stealing from a politician?"
She shook her head, indicating that she wasn't going to answer. So he just continued on as if she hadn't said anything. "Professional courtesy," he finished off. When she snorted again, he almost groaned out loud as her head dropped lower. If anyone looked, it would appear that Halley was … well, he couldn't even let his mind go there. Yeah, he wanted that too badly to think about. Unfortunately, it was already on his mind. Damn!
She lifted her head and wiped the tears from her eyes, trying to focus on the speaker. Thankfully, the speaker had changed over to Betty who was in charge of the next summer's county fair. A much more relevant topic.
"Come on," Mike grunted, taking her hand and pulling her out of the auditorium. Once they were back out in the sunshine, he continued to his car. "Get in," he commanded and started to lift her into the passenger seat.
She shook her head as soon as his hands landed on her waist. If her own hands accidentally held onto his massive shoulders, that wasn't her fault, was it? "No way. You're a bad influence on me. You just pulled me out of a very important meeting."
He groaned. "Halley, you're going to kill me, woman," he growled even as he pinned her back against the big Escalade.
She pressed her lips together, laughter still shining in her eyes. "Perhaps if you'd shown good manners and a modicum of respect for your elected officials, I would be getting into this truck with you. But," and she shrugged her shoulders smoothly. "You were naughty. My father would never let me be alone with a man who was naughty."
With that, she ducked under his arm and hurried away, feeling very spry since she'd avoided his outstretched arms. "See you later, Mike!" she called out.
He watched her walk away, enjoying her perky stride. "Soon, Halley," he warned her. He caught the slight hesitation in her step a moment before she rounded the corner. "You're not going to get away every time."
She laughed, delighted with herself.
Mike loved to hear her laugh. She was one of the smartest women he'd ever met but she was pretty tense lately, so making her relax, to laugh a bit, was a major accomplishment. He considered tonight a victory. No, she wasn't in his bed. Not even in his house or his truck. Not yet. But he knew that things were getting closer. She'd allowed him to touch her. And she'd even leaned in towards him, tonight. That rated as a success in his mind.
Chapter 5
Halley was breathless as she sat down in the church. The service had already started, the rest of her family was closer to the front. Not the very first row. Oh no, her father would never allow that. It was mostly Halley's mother that got everyone to church each Sunday. Yes, her father was religious. Now. But did he think he needed to spend an hour in church ever week? Nope!
Halley liked church. She loved the songs, she loved the sermons, and she cared for the people who made up the community. It was also an hour every week where she sat and just … was. It was a time when she didn't think about anything else. She didn't worry about her horses, didn't need to calculate feed orders or schedules or when her next rehearsal would be. She could ground herself, mentally prepare herself for the next week.