“You said Sanderson School for the Deaf. Right?” I shout out to confirm. He lifts his right hand and waves before entering the hall where the party is taking place.
His words repeat in my head. I need to work for it. Well, game on. I definitely don’t shy away from a challenge.
Chapter Three
Evie
As I drive down the street, I come to an abrupt stop at a red light. I can’t believe how late I am for school. I’m never running this late. Problem is I couldn’t get to sleep last night after the ball. I sip my coffee and press the gas a little too harshly causing the car to jerk and my coffee to slip over the rim of the cup and onto my white blouse. Of course, my morning just gets better and better. I grab a tissue and dab at my blouse. A big yellow stain has already formed down the front. My father was Grandpa Jack’s son. When I was two years old, he found himself fighting a different battle dying from complications from the flu. I take a quick right turn and head toward school as a long yawn escapes my lips. My grandfather is only visiting me for a short while here in Chicago before he heads back to LA. I like to support his veteran affair commitments basically because he stood up to the plate when there were no other takers. He gave me love the best way he knew how and saved me from ending up in the system.
I feel out of sorts after last night. My nerves strung high. It was by fluke that I made it to protest the destruction of Henderson Place only to have my best friend Jake place a cream pie in my hand. I’m only passionate about certain things in life. I certainly don’t go out of my way to fight battles that aren’t my business like Jake does. Heck, I don’t even know what the governor was saying about Henderson place since he was too far away for me to read his lips. What I did know was that the Governor was there to support its destruction. Just the thought made my stomach turn because it meant he didn’t care about the heritage of our city but more so I was angry that he didn’t even have the decency to meet with Jake and the project manager when he brought the proposal from Habitat for Humanity to his office. It had been rejected the previous week in the Cook County Development Department, and the governor was our last resort before the project would be shut down. I was fueled by the fire of his rejection of the project when I threw that pie at him. It was only a bonus that Jake nailed his chief of staff. I also didn’t expect to nail the governor right in the face. I started freaking the heck out when I did. Throwing a pie must be a felony in the great state of Illinois. I’m sure of it and I’m a teacher for goodness sake. I could lose my license. Hence my lack of sleep last night. I mean who would have thought that not even twenty-four hours after throwing a pie in his face I would find myself face to face with none other than the governor himself. And not only did I come face to face with him but he seemed interested in me in a way that wasn’t friendly, the look in his gorgeous blue eyes spoke of something feral, needy, sexual, and almost devious. To say I wasn’t weak at the knees would be a lie because they were knocking together as we danced and not only out of fear of him recognizing me but more because he was so darn handsome. His smile was kind, his eyes bluer than the bluest of seas, and his masculine scent all had me thrown off kilter. That never happens to me. And so, when my heart rate speed up and my mouth watered at the sight of him I did the only thing that made sense. I put up my defenses. Scolded him for not meeting with Jake about the Habitat project and called him a schmuck to his face. Okay, maybe the whole schmuck thing was a little overboard, but honestly what was a simple girl like me to do when faced with such a handsome powerful man? Besides he had his priorities crossed when it came to politics. I had gone over the long list of reasons why him and me would be a bad idea last night in bed, and the list was too darn long to even contemplate the pros.
Now I was a hot mess this morning with a coffee-stained shirt and the papers I graded for my tenth-grade science class sitting on the floor of my car in a heap completely out of order. My mind was everywhere as I convinced myself that the governor was all wrong for me. I finally parked in my usual reserved spot and reached for the papers I graded on the floor. There was no time to organize, and I would have to do that later. I just picked up the heap and held it close to my chest while some of the pile threatened to slip through my fingers. I grabbed my huge purse, throwing my water bottle inside, then grabbed my cup of coffee and left the car. As I walked in my stilettos and too tight pencil skirt, I worried about spilling more coffee down my shirt. It didn’t help that tonight was parent-teacher conferences and I would have to meet parents with a stained shirt. I finally made it into my morning class remembering the lie I told the governor about working in a clothing store. I’m not even sure how that lie came about other than my nerves were frayed by his good looks and the mixed thoughts about getting arrested for the damn pie incident.
I stopped dead in my tracks as I passed the threshold to my classroom because a man with broad shoulders, wearing a dark suit was looking out the back windows at the courtyard. Fuck me! I didn’t usually swear but fuck me! He was here in my classroom, in my school. I was going to kill Grandpa Jack, that could be the only explanation as to how this man found me. I leaned forward on my desk and plopped down the large heap of papers I was holding. Followed by my cup of coffee and too large purse. He must have sensed my arrival because at that moment he turned his head followed by his body. Those dazzling blue eyes raking over every inch of me before a slow smile formed on his lips.
I didn’t mean for the warmth I felt in my chest to spread throughout my body, but it did. Moving on its own accord before slipping between my thighs and reminding me that the male in front of me was all man. And before I had time to remember that I ended last night by calling him a schmuck and taking off, nervous words were spilling from my mouth. “What are you doing here?”
His brows dipped together before those thick lips of his moved and said. “I’m here to see you.”
I laughed. “You’re a glutton for punishment, I see. If I remember I called you a schmuck yesterday.”
His smile grew, maybe he made a sound of laughter. I’m not sure. It had been so long since I heard a sound that it seemed a part of a different life and time.
“You did. I haven’t forgotten.” He cocked a brow. “I think we got off on the wrong foot and I wanted to rectify that,” he said but he was speaking rapidly. Too fast. I only got half of what he’d said.
“Sorry, can you repeat that?” I asked.
“I want to fix things between us. Take you out for dinner.” He grinned a smile that probably had many women in his past saying yes to his every whim.
I tilted my head to the side and gave him a look that said ‘what’s your angle buddy?’
He muttered something, but I don’t know what he said. Then he looked exasperated. “You threw a cream pie at my face at the Henderson Place ribbon cutting ceremony. You should at least say yes to my dinner proposal. You owe me.”
My eyes turned so wide and round I thought they might bulge out of my head. My heart raced at the thought that he was here to have me arrested.
He lifted a hand. “Relax. I’m not here to get you into any trouble.” He grinned widely then coughed looking around my empty classroom for a brief moment. “Although I can’t believe that teachers throw cream pies at governor’s in their spare time.”
“It was a once in a lifetime occurrence,” I quipped. Then thought better of it. “I’m sorry. I was having a bad day and you were smiling so wide at the ceremony like you loved the idea of ripping poor Henderson Place down, plus you wouldn’t help out with the Habitat project.”
“And for that I’m sorry. I want another chance to make a first impression on you. I hate that Henderson Place is getting demolished,” he stopped talking. “Okay, how about we meet for dinner, and we review your Habitat proposal over dessert?” he offered.
“Great, I’ll ask my friend….” I began but he cut me off with a shake of his head.
“No, you make the proposal. Not your friend.”
“You drive a hard bargain,
Mr. Governor,” I smiled a little too much, unable to control my need to flirt with this man.
“Great, so do I have my driver pick you up from school or are you going to tell me where you live?”
I thought long and hard about his question. My apartment was my personal space. Did I want to share that information? I mean he is the governor so he can’t be the crazy stalker type. And he was very dreamy, too dreamy. There was only one problem. I don’t think that he caught on to the fact that I was deaf. Would he still be interested in me when he found out? Did I even want to go out on a date with a man that was able to hear? I knew from my peers and past relationships that it wouldn’t work in the long run and anyway did the governor truly see me as someone he could be with past a one-night stand? I hated all the questions running through my mind but at the end, my curiosity and the need to get to know the handsome governor won out, “My apartment is fine. Only I can’t meet for dinner tonight. Parent-teacher conferences.” I reached for a notepad on my desk and scribbled my address down. Then I passed him the paper. He was grinning like the darn Cheshire Cat.
“Fine, tomorrow evening then,” he responded. I looked at the clock it was eight fifty-five and the students began trickling into the classroom. We had no bells here. They weren’t needed.
“Yes.” I smiled and he turned and left. I fell back in my chair and blew out a long breath. I had a date with the Governor of Illinois. Holy shit! I let out a loud noise knowing my students wouldn’t hear it anyway then put my straight face on to teach. Still, I was giddy the whole darn day.
Chapter Four
Colton
Susan’s voice came through the speaker. “Is now a good time, Sir?”
“Yes, Susan come on in,” I responded, leaning back in my chair. It was early in the morning. I had finished my usual morning run on my treadmill at the apartment I stayed in here in the city and was now showered and ready for a day of work. The fact that I felt tired wasn’t unusual. It was the reason I felt this way that irked me. I had spent hours into the night thinking of Evie. She was bent over my bed, her round ass up in the air…I had to stop my thoughts. I was obsessing and I sure as hell never obsessed over a woman before. I needed a distraction…
A moment later my secretary entered my office. She had been a loyal employee for the past decade. A middle-aged single mother of two grown boys. Her smile was warm when she saw me. She was holding the newspaper in her hand. Perfect…a distraction.
“I came across a cute little story,” she said, eyeing me in an accusing way over her rimless framed glasses.
“Okay,” I leaned back in my chair and ran a hand over the scruff on my chin unsure where she was going with this little semi interrogation. “I didn’t make the gossip columns again did I?” I huffed out a breath. The gossip columns loved to report on my love life, who was I seeing? How long would it last? Would my current dame be able to tame the infamous bachelor of Chicago? It was a boring old tale.
“Gossip columns, No. May I take a seat?” she eyed the chair opposite my desk. She didn’t need to ask me to take a seat. We were way past that formality in our working relationship yet no matter how many times I scolded her for it she did it anyway.
“Take a seat and tell me what has you smiling like that so early in the morning.” I shook my head but she knew I was just playing with her.
She laughed, took a seat, her posture impeccable as she held up the newspaper in front of her and began to read. “Good Samaritan saves a family from living on the street.” After reading the headline her brown eyes narrow, assessing me. “Should I continue?” There is a hint of sarcasm and admiration in her tone.
“Please,” my lips turn down as I begin to chew the inside of my mouth.
“A good Samaritan had a check made out to cash in the sum of one hundred thousand dollars and had it delivered to the Murphy residence via a personal delivery service. The youngest son who will not be named here because of his age opened his front door to a man in a suit and a dark pair of sunglasses. After his mother scolded him for opening the door to a stranger his mother, Anita Murphy, a single mother of three young children who was living on welfare and was facing eviction found out that the man at the door wasn’t dangerous. In fact, he was more like a modern-day Robin Hood giving money to the poor people living in the government subsidized housing project.” Susan paused and removed her glasses. “I guess that you know how this story ends and I don’t need to read further,” she continued to smile deliriously like a mother would when proud of her son. Most times Susan felt like the mother I didn’t have.
“I don’t know what you mean,” I still feigned innocence.
“Fine, I know you like to play that card. That was a grand gesture and I’m proud of you. That’s all I will ever say on the matter.” I grinned back at her warmly. She knew how to pull my heartstrings. When she came to work for me ten years ago I was just starting out as a lawyer, and she was working in the prosecutor’s office while raising her boys. I’d seen how hard she worked, how tired she sometimes was coming into work in the morning. I’d also seen her dedication to her children. It was something I had craved from my father and never received. Susan would leave work to take one son to basketball practice, the other to piano lessons and then make dinner and sit with them for homework. Her ex-husband had been a real deadbeat and eventually left her to raise the boys on her own with no support. She wasn’t making much at the prosecutor’s office and so when I started my campaigning, I hired her as my assistant which upped her salary big time. She kept changing her job titles as need be as the years went on.
“Thank you, let’s get back to work.” I gave her a nod that said I meant business.
“Such a good man,” her lips thinned and the smile she gave was small, but the warmth that radiated from her brown eyes tugged at something deep inside me. “You have a good day, Sir,” she said and placed the open newspaper on my desk so that the article was facing me. Then she walked out of my office.
I leaned forward on my desk and read the article briefly and all I could think was that I couldn’t save everyone but I could make sure Mathew Murphy had a roof over his head and food on his table. Susan had hired someone to research the Murphys and we’d found out that his mother dropped out of college because she got pregnant. Then had two more kids with the same man. He was hooked on drugs and couldn’t keep a stable job. Anita Murphy hadn’t heard from her husband in over a year and things had gone downhill for her. She just needed a little help. I hoped she would use the money wisely. Maybe head back to school and get a better career for herself. I hoped she would make the right decisions for her and her kids. Sometimes that’s all we had was hope.
***
The following evening my driver came to a halt in front of Evie’s apartment building. I usually went on dates in a suit. I almost always wore a suit in public, but tonight would be different. Evie wasn’t my usual type of hook up and something told me she wouldn’t appreciate one of the upscale restaurants I usually attended in Chicago. She was a teacher. She spent her days working with students, she seemed simple and down to earth, besides the fact that she had a spicy personality and told little white lies when she got nervous. I’m not put off though because I think I affect her or at least I hope I do because I don’t remember the last time a woman had such an effect on me. I’m still envisioning those hot as hell heels she wore yesterday morning which had me thinking all kinds of dirty thoughts. Problem is it’s not only her looks that have me so wound up. I’m also intrigued by what will come out of her unfiltered mouth next. She isn’t afraid to say what’s on her mind and she doesn’t give a shit that I’m governor. I fucking love that she called me a schmuck because hell she was right.
I slowly climbed a few steps to her front door and rang her doorbell. In a pair of blue jeans and a white polo shirt, I was as casual as I could get. She hadn’t given me her phone number, and I realized we never did set a time, so here I was out of nowhere ringing the doorbell of the feistiest redhead
in the state of Illinois. My heart beat rapidly as I waited for her to answer. It took a little longer than I expected for her to open the door. The excitement of seeing her swarmed my chest, the feeling was odd, throwing me off balance.
She finally answered, those blue eyes of hers round and a little shocked as her gaze raked over me. Her red hair was tied messily at the top of her head. She was wearing a pair of grey sweats and a white cut off shirt that revealed a very lean and trim midriff. Her silky white skin entirely on display caused my cock to twitch. Down buddy. Don’t think we’re going there tonight. My thought startled me because until this moment I had only used women for release. Evie was somehow different though and I didn’t know why.
“What are you doing here?” she asked as if she didn’t agree to a date with me yesterday morning.
“Not the welcome I was expecting.” I paused. “We didn’t set a time.” I cleared my throat. “For our dinner. Remember?” I asked allowing myself to take a quick sweep of her apartment hoping to learn something else about her before she boots me out on my ass. Small, neat, modern. “You gonna invite me in?” I pressed, knowing I was making her uncomfortable but for some reason her being uncomfortable had me intrigued. She didn’t answer while she dug her teeth into her bottom lip. “If you’re tired from work we could order in,” I suggested, thinking it was the polite thing to do. I didn’t want to give her an out.
Her silence continued along with her quiet stares. Then she spoke. “You want to come in… here? Like you want to eat here?” she repeated as if I had just spoken in a foreign language she didn’t understand and required confirmation. I wondered what type of accent she had. Still, I didn’t want to ask. First, I needed to gain entry.
I smiled warmly. “I assure you that you’re safe with me,” I answered. I mean I’m the fucking governor, not a complete stranger. Shit! I was out of my element with this woman. In the past when I showed up at a lady’s door it meant my entry was ensured - until now.
Mr. All Wrong Page 4
