Off Court Fix by Cathryn Carter

Author:Cathryn Carter [Carter, Cathryn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-08-13T16:00:00+00:00

“Knock knock.”

I look up from my desk. “Now who’s breaking and entering? The clubhouse closes at nine,” I tell Maxine who slips into my office before shutting the door. I lean back in my chair.

Maxine shrugs and smirks. “Arrest me.”

My eyes scan her bare legs beneath the cutoff shorts she wears. “If I had handcuffs, I would’ve used them on you already.” I push back from my desk, giving her space to slide into my lap.

“Why are you still here? I called you.”

I look at my phone sitting by the window, charging. “Shit.” Rubbing a hand over my face, I pull off my glasses, pinching the bridge of my nose, and apologize. “Sorry. It’s on silent.”

Maxine’s eyes scan my desk as I slip a hand beneath her sweater, rubbing the warm skin of her back. “What’s all this? For the gala?”

“I don’t know why this is hosted by the board of directors when the club manager is the one doing all the work.”

“You should be a party planner. Did you decide on linens yet?”

“Funny,” I reply unenthusiastically. “Going with cream. Complements the gold-rimmed dinnerware. My biggest problem is the seating plan.”

She raises an eyebrow at me.

“Certain members can’t sit next to or near other members.”

It’s evident she’s trying to fight a giggle. “Country club problems?”

I nod. “The Pattersons and the Coles are still going at it over who scratched Mrs. Patterson’s car . . . eleven years ago.”

She laughs, and her stomach growls. “Are you hungry?”

“Is that a genuine question, or are you asking me because you are?”

“A little bit of both.”

“And I take it you have no food at home.”

She rolls her eyes. “I do have food.”

“Granola bars and protein shakes aren’t food.” I pull her closer, dropping my tired face into her neck and inhaling.

Technically, Maxine isn’t food either, but I’m inclined to take a bite. She yelps when my teeth nip at her skin.

I sigh when she pulls back.

“How much longer do you need?”

My lips blubber in thought as I let the air puff out of them. “Another twenty minutes, maybe a half hour.”

“How about I run into town and pick up a pizza?” she asks.

“Yeah. Yeah, that would be great. I’ll let you know when I head to your place.”

She smiles against my lips and hops off my lap. At the door, she unlocks it and waits for the continued silence.

“You’re good,” I tell her. I sent my last employees home hours ago. “I’ll see you in a bit.”

Maxine flashes me a smile and steps out of my office door into the hall. I listen to her feet pad down the stairs before the noise disappears into nothingness. Looking back at the mess on my desk, I groan. I turn to my computer and hit print on the tentative seating chart, cursing under my breath when an error message shows up on the printer below my desk. I send it to the membership office instead, then rise from my desk and head down the hall to retrieve the document when I hear the machine spit it out.

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