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27
Viv lookedaround the event and had to admit things seemed to be going well. Sue Ann Perkins just informed her that they were on track to raise ten percent more money than they had last year. She’d wanted to hit twenty percent more, but ten was better than nothing.
When Viv saw Mayor Henry Walker coming her way, she couldn’t help but smile. Tonight’s event was black tie, and technically he was wearing a black tie, but it wasn’t a bow tie, or even a necktie, it was a bolo tie or string tie, with a turquoise clasp. It hung on top of a crisp white button-down formal shirt that was tucked into black jeans adorned with a large belt buckle featuring a horse rearing up. The ensemble was topped off with his cowboy boots and hat.
Viv had always appreciated Mayor Walker’s eccentricities. To look at him you would think he’d been raised as a rancher in Texas. Go Longhorns! But in reality, he’d lived in Hope Falls his entire life and before becoming the town’s mayor, he’d been a lawyer.
“Well, young lady, I have to say that you have done an outstanding job with this shindig.”
“Thanks, Mayor Walker.” Viv felt pride swell through her.
As proud as she was about the success of Brewed Awakenings, that had always been Audrey’s baby. But Broken Nail Event and PR was her baby.
And she was kicking some serious ass.
“Now, I saw one of your cards and I have to ask, where did you get the name Broken Nail?”
She smiled. “The first few events I organized I broke a nail and I realized that I must love doing this if I would break my nails for it. So I called the business Broken Nail.”
He nodded and she could tell he wasn’t quite sold on her business’s chosen moniker, but that was okay. She was. “Well, you’re makin’ quite a name for yourself. You keep up the good work.” He added with a tip of his cowboy hat before heading over to the buffet table.
That was one of the changes that Viv had made. Historically, there was a plated dinner at the fundraiser, but to cut costs, Viv had changed it to a buffet, that way more of the proceeds could go to the town where they belonged. She’d also been able to negotiate better prices for the food, lighting, and the DJ.
She’d reached out to vendors outside of Hope Falls to volunteer items for bid in exchange for linking to their business and products on the town website. The website now had over a hundred thousand visitors each month, thanks to the SEO specialists Viv had hired for the Single’s Week event and she could use that traffic to barter for things. Things like items to put in the silent auction. She’d also opened up bidding to people who were not residents of Hope Falls. She’d started an email capture of tourists and visitors and had sent out the link to the auction.
And she’d done all of that with only about six weeks to plan. She was going to try and secure the bid for next year by the end of the week. Next year she wanted to raise twenty-five percent more than this year.
Even though it didn’t look like she was going to meet her fundraising goal, as she looked around the room, her heart felt full. This was what she was meant to do. Everything was exactly how it should be.
So why did it feel like something was missing? She knew the answer, she just didn’t want to admit it. But her denial was short-lived when her why walked through the doors.
Glenn was wearing a black suit that had to have been tailored specifically for his body. There was no way that was off the rack. He wore a crisp white button-down shirt with a charcoal gray necktie. He’d shaven for the occasion and although she did prefer a little stubble, there was something about a clean-shaven man with a square jaw in a tux that had her lady parts quivering.
Nope.
She didn’t need Glenn “The Gladiator” Maguire.
She didn’t need her father to be proud of her.
She didn’t need any man.
Pining wasn’t a good look on Viv. She was not a piner. All pining ended tonight.
“You look…stunning.”
Viv lifted her head and saw that the comment came from Arturo Cruz, who happened to be the fighter that her why had been training.
Arturo was eight years younger than Viv. Had a body that didn’t stop and a babyface. He was the textbook definition of tall, dark and handsome. Successful. No kids. And he was British, so that package was complete with a toe-curling, panty-melting hot accent. Also, if she had to guess, he would be down to have a no strings, no commitment, casual situationship.
He was exactly the sort of man that Old Viv would have hooked up with.
Maybe this past year had just been her mid-life crisis come early. But instead of buying a sports car she couldn’t afford; she’d tried to find a man to spend the rest of her life with. It was past time she came to her senses and started feeling like herself again.
“Thanks.” She lifted her lips in a flirty smile. “You look very handsome yourself.”
The man’s grin told her he didn’t need a compliment to know that he was fine AF.
He extended his hand. “Fancy a dance?”
