Chapter Two
Harlow
She trudged up to the mayor’s office. Though she wasn’t going to actually see the mayor of Barton City, it was his office that had hired her float company, and it was now the mayor’s office that wanted to see her.
Which was understandable. The buffoon that had fallen into the street had somehow managed to destroy not only her best float, but the prized depiction of the city’s founder, Clinton Barton. The rest of her floats had continued on, as had all the other participants in the parade, but there was no doubt that the destruction of her float was the news.
Harlow waited quietly in the reception area until she was called in. To her surprise, the mayor was there, along with several other officials. She’d dealt with a few upon pitching her company to them, and a few she’d never met before.
“Miss Ryder.”
“Harlow, please,” she said. “Nobody calls me Miss Ryder.”
“Very well,” the mayor said. “Harlow. I’ll make it short and sweet.” He grimaced. “You were hired to provide six floats in our Founders Day Parade. We then paid a large sum of money to have a float made to depict Clinton Barton, our founder, as you know.”
She nodded, keeping her mouth shut. Here it comes…
“Yet right near the start of the parade, the entire depiction was destroyed. We are quite upset, as we did not get what we paid for. Therefore, we will be withholding the second part of our payment to you.” He nodded, as if happy with his own words. “I hope you understand.”
Harlow stood, open-mouthed. “No, I do not understand. It was in no way my fault that the float was destroyed. Not to mention that it was my float that was also destroyed. You aren’t the only ones that lost in this. Besides, I was not hired to provide route security. That was your job, wasn’t it? And you didn’t do it.”
One of the mayor’s associates, a reedy-thin man with a long beaked nose and a horrific combover stepped forward, clearing his throat. Harlow raised her eyebrows. Everything about him, from his brightly shined shoes and far-too-tight suit screamed one word to her: Lawyer.
“We suspected you might bring that up. You are correct. However, your contract stipulated that you were to stay in the middle of the road with no more than ten percent deviation, so as to avoid any interruptions like this, while staying under the approved rate of two miles an hour. Our analysis and pictures show that you were far over to the left, and also going nearly three miles an hour at the time of the incident. If you had been in the center of the road and going the prescribed speed, it is our belief that you would have been able to avoid the accident entirely, and thus deliver the entire parade as hired.”
Harlow sat down heavily as the legalese mumbo-jumbo sank in. They weren’t going to pay her. At all. It was obvious now. They’d very clearly spent the past day thinking about it, about how they could get out of giving her the money she desperately needed.
The image of the nearly destroyed float played in her mind, and she wanted to cry. Even with the full payment from the parade, it would have been hard for her to afford to fix the float, if not impossible. And that had been her best one. The others were all in much rougher shape. They were all smaller, unable to bear the load that this newer model could handle. Which meant only smaller displays could be built over them.
“Mr. Mayor, please. You have to give me the money. I need it. I wasn’t intentionally doing any of those things. I was just going with the parade, having fun. If you don’t pay, I can’t afford to get my float fixed. I might go under.”
The mayor shrugged. “I’m sorry, Miss Ryder, our decision is final.”
She wanted to throttle the slimy bastard then and there. Calling her Miss Ryder, after she’d just told him not to, was a calculated insult as well as a dismissal. Her first reaction was to throw a fit and start yelling at them, but a moment’s thought reminded her that that would be a terrible idea. It would just embarrass her further, and do little to get her any of the money she felt she deserved.
“Very well. But don’t expect me to give you a good review when asked,” she said stiffly, standing and walking from the room, doing her best to hold in the tears.
The company was going under. There seemed no way around it. Her footsteps took her aimlessly through City Hall as she lost herself in a depression. The float company had been a dream she’d had, and now it was going up in smoke. All because one asshole had to stumble into her path and then somehow destroy her float, all while walking away unharmed. What the hell had she done to be so unlucky?
Harlow finally found herself in a low-traffic area, where she slumped into a random bench placed in front of a window. The tears started to come, and this time she didn’t fight them. Warm liquid streamed down her cheeks, but thankfully the full-fledged sobs held them back. Instead she just lamented about her own failure, and how painful the loss of her company would be once she was forced to sell it.
Footsteps rang out on the floor, coming nearer. She curled up tighter, pulling her feet up into the chair as she buried her head in her arms, hoping whoever it was would just walk on by. The heavy thuds slowed as they came near. Whoever it was, they were coming for her.
“Excuse me, are you Miss Ryder?”
She shuddered at the formal term, absolutely detesting it.
“I’m Harlow,” she said, not looking up. “Who are you?”
There was a pause, followed by a voice clearing its throat. “Someone who wants to make up for a mistake.”
Her head snapped up as the voice suddenly became familiar. “You,” she hissed, uncoiling to her feet and advancing on the behemoth that stood before her. “This is all your fault!”
“I know,” he said, nodding, not backing away from her venomous approach. “It is.”
Right now he was the last thing she wanted to deal with. As gorgeous as his strong features and thick, shortly-trimmed facial hair was, Harlow did not want to speak to him. Let alone give him the chance to apologize.
“You ruined everything,” she spat.
“I did. Which is why I’m here.” Warm brown eyes met her gaze and held it, the swirling reddish tones within them evoking a desire to speak to him, to listen to what he had to say.
Harlow bit back a sharp retort as she looked him over some more. Thick, luxurious black hair fell down the back of his neck in a mane that would make many women jealous. A broad forehead and defined nose accentuated his deeply set eyes even more. It all screamed power and culture to her, a combination she would have found intoxicating on any other occasion.
“How are you going to fix it?” she growled. “My float is destroyed and the city won’t pay me what they owe me, so I can’t get it fixed. I’m done for.”
The stranger looked at her for a long time, then nodded. “I am sorry for that.”
She rolled her eyes. “I understand that. But unfortunately, without my float I’m screwed, like I just told you.”
“I’ll make you a deal.”
Harlow glared at him. “A deal? I’m not that type of woman, you arrogant prick.”
His jaw dropped open in surprise so instantly it had to be genuine. “I was not going to insinuate that you were, Miss Ryder.”
“Don’t call me that,” she snapped. “My name is Harlow.”
“Of course. My apologies, Harlow. What I was going to say is that if you will do me the honor of accompanying me to dinner, that I will replace your float.”
It was her turn to be speechless.
“Is that acceptable to you?”
She shook her head to clear it of the cobwebs. “Let me get this straight. I come to dinner with you. In return, you’re going to get me a new float?”
“That is correct.”
“Are you insane?”
“I don’t think so? Why do you ask?”
“Because those things aren’t cheap.”
The stranger shrugged. “It matters not.”
Harlow thought it over. He was ultra-hot, polite, and trying to make things up to her. What did she really have to lose besides some of her time? Also, he was taking her out for food. Food she likely couldn’t afford herself. Mind made up, she let her anger fade, though it sullenly refused to go away completely, and probably wouldn’t until she had her new float.
“My mother always taught me never to go anywhere with strangers,” she said at last.
He grinned. “Well it’s a good thing we’ve met once before, isn’t it?” A massive paw was extended her way. “I’m Vanek.”
She extended her own hand, letting it be engulfed in his grip.
“The pleasure is all mine.”
“Yes, yes it is. So far it’s been nothing but misery on my end.”
Vanek stood tall, forcing her to crane her neck to look up at him.
“That, Harlow, is something I intend to start changing as soon as possible.”