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With blazing red hair and crystal green eyes, Debra looked like a siren. She was also creepily smart, nice, and sweet, but for the purpose of today, Kalista found herself not willing to deal with Debra at all.
What was going on with her? Was she really losing all her brain cells?
Her gaze darted from Debra, who strolled in wearing a bodycon dress that was like skin against her curves and thick platform shoes. Her boobs were practically falling out of her dress, but she made that look like a happy accident, except it wasn’t.
Kalista could see her breath falter when she took in the sight of three men standing in her living room. Her cat eyes turned a shimmering shade of emerald as she realized the judges were not the judges she expected.
She giggled in that flirtatious way of hers and flicked her hair back as she extended her hand to them.
Clenching her fists, Kalista drilled her gaze into each of the men as Debra introduced herself to them.
But their faces remained so enigmatic, they could have been looking at Kalista for all the expression they allowed.
Damn Debra. She was having a supremely hard time containing her excitement.
“Oh, hi, Mayor Kalista—” She made a show of jumping backward as if she were really frightened by Kalista. “Your face,” she said, holding her heart. “Oh my gosh. What happened?”
Great, she had forgotten she looked like an ogre compared to the other four people in the room.
“Nothing,” Kalista said with clipped tones. “Would you mind going out back and seeing if Jennifer needs any help, please, Debra?”
“No problem, Mayor Kalista,” Debra said sweetly, smiled at them even more sweetly, turned, and walked away.
Okay, there was something seriously wrong with her. Like, really, really wrong.
What on earth made her immediately step out in front of them and snag their attention with a stupid question like, “How was the drive?” Okay, she knew what made her do that. She didn’t want them looking at Debra’s butt as she walked away.
She didn’t need a doctor; she needed a psychiatrist.
Chapter Eight
Honestly, what did she expect from her constituents except grand-scale mayhem and chaos, all against a backdrop of food and wine?
And then Doc Paulson arrived, and she had to take him into the kitchen to have a look at her face.
To say she was surprised when all three judges entered the kitchen with her didn’t cover it. She was confused and floored at the same time.
They wouldn’t know it, but usually, it was Doc Paulson who evoked such adoration from the Bloomings Tide community, but the man stayed away from all social activity.
Her heart would not stop beating in her ears as the doctor inspected her face. Was she imagining that they stepped closer when the doctor touched her? Why was their stance so threatening?
Doc Paulson was the sweetest man on earth, and not many people knew it, but he was in a long-distance relationship with the love of his life. He just preferred everything to be private.
“I’m going to give you an antihistamine and topical corticosteroids. You should be fine by tomorrow,” he said, smiling at her. Then, as he packed up his bag, he addressed the three billionaires in her kitchen.
“You know, my fiancé loves your new electric cars. He can’t afford them, but he loves them. He won't stop talking about the technology involved. He lives in Japan. He’ll be coming to the States soon.”
That was the most she had ever heard the doctor say about his life, and in the space of a minute, he divulged everything to the three billionaires.
And just like that, the tight atmosphere in the room dissipated. Even when they shook hands, it was different this time around.
Men were weird, she guessed.
But when they went back into the backyard, she was reminded again that she needed to do some damage control with the residents who had gone overboard.
First, there was stunned silence when they entered the backyard, which, if she had to say, looked okay given the short notice they had. The tables were laden with colorful food dishes, and the aromas that reached them were pleasant enough.
The tree lights gave it a festive atmosphere, and of course, the people added to that vibe. Except when they weren’t.
