Page 4 of Make Me Love You

“See, and that makes a difference,” Mayor Whittaker said. “The mayor can’t be otherwise employed by the town, on account of it being a conflict of interest, since the mayor approves the budget and salaries. But Eli isn’t directly employed by Hart’s Ridge. Technically, he’s employed by the county sheriff’s office and assigned to Hart’s Ridge. We don’t even pay his full salary. Thirty grand a year gets us Eli and additional backup as needed.”

Emma frowned. Five years ago Hart’s Ridge had struck the bargain with the county. At the time, the Hart’s Ridge Police Department had cost the town over half a million dollars annually and was by far the biggest line item on the budget. It was a little absurd for a town that averaged three burglaries and zero murders per year. A health clinic and increased spending on education better served the needs of the community than an bloated police force and expanded jail. Emma whole heartedly supported that decision.

“Secondly,” Mayor Whittaker continued, “that requirement is only for mayor. There’s no such mandate for the deputy mayor.”

“That doesn’t make any sense!” Emma protested. “He’s a police officer—”

“Sheriff’s deputy,” Eli corrected again, earning himself an extra glare.

“A sheriff’s deputy can’t be deputy mayor,” she said firmly. “It’s too much power.”

“You are a smart cookie, Emma, I always thought so,” Mayor Whittaker said. “It’s a good point you’re making, but facts are facts. I am bound by the ordinances that govern Hart’s Ridge and it says right here, in Article I, section two, that the only requirement for deputy mayor is he or she must be at least twenty-five. Could be an oversight; who’s to say? Maybe you should look into that, as acting mayor.”

Her shoulders started vibrating, a sure sign that her short fuse had reached its limit. Eli grinned. That hadn’t changed, either.

As though she felt his smile, she whipped her head around to glare at him. It was a mistake on her part. Their gazes locked and held. A jolt of longing hit him in the gut, stealing his breath. He was still trying to take in oxygen when she remembered she was ignoring his existence and turned away again.

It made his insides ache. He hated that. Was he really going to do this, put himself in a position where he had to interact with her daily when she made his insides ache? Hell no.

“Ms. Andrews is right,” he said. “It should be someone else. Not me.”

Ms. Andrews. He had never called her that, not once in her whole life. They had grown up together, for Chrissake. All he knew was that he couldn’t say her name. Much as he liked to pretend he wasn’t scared of anything, he knew that wasn’t true. He was terrified of the spitfire woman sitting right in front of him. Terrified of what would come out of his mouth if he let himself say her name. Terrified of what she would say in response.

“That’s not an option.” Mayor Whittaker frowned, first at Eli, then at Emma. “I’ll be honest here. You weren’t my first choice, either, Eli, for the very reasons Emma gave. It was pure luck that I happened to look up the ordinance and found the loophole. Times are tough right now, and no one’s in a hurry to do free labor. The only thing worse than being an unpaid mayor is being an unpaid deputy mayor. At least the mayor gets to boss people around a bit.”

“Then I’ll ask again, what makes you think anyone will be eager to take these positions off our hands come July?” she demanded. “What’s going to change between now and then?”

“People can’t help themselves. It’s a human condition. Someone is going to want the power and authority this position holds, even if it doesn’t come with a salary. They’re going to see you mucking things up and say they can do better.”

There was a long pause.

“So you’re saying I’m going to muck things up,” she said slowly.

Something in her voice made him ache again, but he stayed quiet. She didn’t want to hear what he had to say.

Mayor Whittaker threw back his head and laughed. “Emma Andrews, I’ve known you since you were nothing but a baby. You can do anything you set your mind to, maybe not extending to geometry. But here’s the truth about being mayor. It doesn’t matter how good you do, someone is going to think you’re not doing it right, and they can do better. You could do a great job, if you wanted to. But mediocre will do just fine, too.”

“Mediocre.” Her mouth twisted. “Well, we all know I can do that. Okay. I’ll be the temporary mayor. But not with him as deputy. Find someone else or I’m out.”

She was on her feet now, ready to leave. She turned toward him, and in a moment of weakness Eli considered standing his ground. He wanted her to run into him, bump his shoulder with her own, force him to get out of her way. At the very least tell him to move.

Something.

Anything.

But she didn’t want to speak to him or touch him. He knew that, and he was a grown-ass man. He wasn’t going to pull her pigtails to get her attention.

He stepped aside.

Then she was gone. And just like before, she didn’t look back.