Tempted Again by Cathie Linz Page B

coffee. Some of the employees got their daily dose of caffeine from the Cups Cafe but not him. He liked his coffee hot and strong. None of that fancy frappucino shit for him. His family already didn’t approve of him working in a small town. If he started lining up for fancy coffee, they’d be sure to disown him. He wasn’t sure how they’d know, but somehow they would.
    Sort of the way his mom could always tell when Connor and Logan were roughhousing in the living room, using her pillows as footballs to launch across the room, occasionally knocking over lamps and smashing them.
    Growing up, Connor had spent time split between two worlds. The one his mom and grandmother created, and the more dysfunctional one his dad had.
    “The mayor wants to see you ASAP,” Ruby Mae said.
    Connor thumbed through his messages. “Anything going on that I should know about?”
    “Not really. The hottest news is about you and your new neighbor.”
    “What’s hot about that?”
    “I just meant it’s the latest news.” Ruby Mae shuddered as he took a gulp of his coffee. “I don’t know how you can drink that dredge.”
    “My granddad used to tell me that cop coffee put hair on your chest.”
    Ruby Mae’s laugh was as deep as her voice. “A good reason for me to avoid it. How’s your granddad doing?”
    “He’s doing great. In his mid-seventies and as ornery as ever.”
    “I suppose you’re going to say that’s because of the cop coffee.”
    “Nah. It’s because of good genes.”
    “Oh.”
    “And cop coffee.”
    She returned his grin before reminding him, “The mayor is waiting.”
    The village hall municipal offices took up the other half of the building.
    “You wanted to see me?” Connor said.
    “Yes. Thanks for coming.” The mayor indicated Connor should take a seat across from his massive desk. “I spent the morning with the school board and administration regarding your at-risk youth program.”
    “What about it?”
    “They want you to work with another program. You know, sort of join forces.”
    “What other program?”
    “One suggested by Marissa Bennett. Apparently she had a lot of experience with young adults in her previous library job.”
    Connor was really pissed off. This program was special to him. He didn’t need Marissa messing it up for him. “What does she plan on doing? Having them read a bunch of books to turn them around?”
    “She wrote up a proposal for the board.” Mayor Bedford handed it to him. “I suggest you read it and then the two of you should work together to make the new program work.”
    “There was nothing wrong with the old program. With
my
program.”
    “Nothing is so perfect that it can’t use a littleimprovement. Why don’t you go on over to the library now and meet with Marissa?”
    He’d rather poke bamboo shoots beneath his fingernails. “I have a prior engagement.”
    “Oh, right. You’ve got that presentation at the Hopeful Meadows Senior Center today. What’s the topic again?”
    “Avoiding scams and identity theft.”
    “Right. My aunt Gert is a resident there. She’s really looking forward to the presentation. Well, you’ll have to schedule your meeting with Marissa for another time then.”
    “Yeah.”
    “The sooner you two get together, the better.”
    Connor had no intention of getting together with Marissa. He’d done that once back in college and it hadn’t worked out well.
    “I hope you don’t take this as an insult against all the work you’ve been doing in the outreach programs,” the mayor said. “Two heads are better than one.”
    Connor doubted that. Especially when one of those heads belonged to Marissa. He didn’t think clearly when he was around her.
    Connor arrived at the senior center in a bad mood that got worse when the conversation immediately turned to his private life. He started his presentation professionally enough with the line, “I’ll be giving you some tips to help you avoid scams and ID theft