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“I have a few ideas of what could’ve gotten into her.” Eve swats Liza’s hand away. “I’ll clean it up. Don’t worry.”
Liza’s mother narrows her eyes at her daughter, but she seems to decide against pressing the issue. Instead, she says, “I think everything is in order for the bachelorette auction tomorrow night. The town is abuzz about it.”
“I knew it was a great idea.” Eve dabs at a few coffee spots on her desk. “I’m smart like that.”
“I expect you’ll be bidding on Liza?” she asks me.
“She’s as good as sold.” I pull her to my side so she’ll stop trying to clean up the coffee.
“Good to hear, but I warn you. She’ll fetch a high price. Plenty of men in this town have their eye on her.”
“Mom!” Liza shakes her head. “Stop.”
“What? I’m just telling the truth.” She shrugs.
“Okay, great chat. Time for me to get to the library.”
“Fine. Have a good day, honey.” Her mom waves us out, and Eve gives me a sly look. I think she knows exactly what had Liza spewing coffee all over her desk, and it wasn’t my Christmas lights.
“Like the inquisition in there!” Liza wipes a hand across her brow. “Right?”
“Sure.” I keep her tucked under my arm as we walk down the main corridor.
“Liza, hey.” Carlton, the mayor’s aide, walks past, his arms full of notebooks. “We’ve got all the town square decorations underway, though I do need to go over a few things with you.”
“Okay. I can do it tonight or after the auction.”
“After the auction is fine.” He gives me a smile. “Nice to see you again, Crane.”
“Good to see you, too, Carlton.”
He keeps going. “Catch you two later.”
“Bye,” Liza calls as she hurries me out the town hall. She whirls as soon as we get outside. “Oh my God. I really thought she was talking about you and me!” She covers her face with her hands.
I laugh and pull her to my chest. “How would she have any idea about that?”
“I don’t knoooow.” She groans. “I just panicked.”
“I noticed. It was adorable.”
“Tell that to Eve. She’ll be cleaning my coffee off her desk all day.”
“I think she was happy for the entertainment.” I kiss her crown. “Don’t worry.”
She takes a deep breath and lets it out. “Okay. I just need to move on, right?”
“Right. I’ll walk you to the library.”
“Yes. Good plan.” She looks up, and I drop a kiss on her lips.
“I think there might be an ordinance prohibiting this sort of display, but I’d have to look it up to be sure.” The sheriff stands at the bottom of the steps and looks up at us.
“Oh, hey, Clark. We were just leaving.”
He smiles, but it seems more than a little forced. “I was only messing with you, Liza.”
I take her hand, and we walk down the steps.
