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Young wo up in his bed nad and uninvited to claiet his attention He understood the theory If they belonged to someone the public perceived as special then they were special, as well Telling theh This su the reality of working around him would allow them to see the

"I could get rumbled "And you kno I feel about cats"

He did She resented any creature who dared to shed on one of her track suits

"I’ll talk to them," he said

"You’d better" She lowered her arms to her sides, then walked toward his desk "The storefront on Third leased out"

He leaned back in his chair as she sat down "Good" It had been vacant nearly three months

"The lease is at the attorney’s I’ll pick it up later today for you to read" She cleared her throat "You have a request to ride in a charity race"

"No"

"It’s for sick kids"

"It usually is"

"You should do this one"

She was trying to provoke hiet hiive in

"It’s in Florida," she said "You could go to Disney World"

"I’ve been to Disney World"

"You need to get out, Josh Ride again You can’t--"

"Next?" he asked cutting her off

She stared at him, her eyes narrowed He stared back

She blinked first "Fine Be that way" She sighed heavily, as if her life was nothing but pain "I keep getting calls about a charity golf tournament The sponsor has a connection with the ski resort and they’re thinking of holding it in town"

Golf he could do It wasn’t his sport, so excellence wasn’t expected or required He could si for the caolf"

"At least that’s soures for the sporting goods store later today Preli in business Internet sales are up, too Noe could get a picture of you on sonored her Whichaway One of the blondes walked by just then and assu at her rather than away fro woirl "Get back to work," she snapped "This isn’t about you"

The girl pouted, but did as she was told

"Did I say they make irlfriend If they think you’re with someone else, they’ll back off"

"No, they won’t"

"Probably not," she agreed "I swear, Josh, there’s so to be in your bed"

He winced, not wanting to have this conversation with his septuagenarian assistant

"I guess the good news is if you’d done it as ht," he said dryly

Eddie stood "I’ll be back later with those nuh as she left Josh returned his gaze to the coirls in his office were the least of his proble women so convinced he was the answer to every prayer they’d ever had It was the reality of knowing he was a total fraud and no one had seeure that out

OVER THE NEXT FEW days Charity continued to learn about her job and meet the rest of the staff She noticed that every one of them was female, with the exception of Robert Anderson, the treasurer

"Robert’s been with us five years," Marsha said after aon Wednesday, then excused herself to make a call to the county co man in his early thirties His dark eyes sparkled with amusement as he shook Charity’s hand "You look a little surprised to see uy? Did the Mayor tell you about our little problerinned and motioned for her to follow him into his office, where they sat on opposite sides of his desk "I do okay"

"Did you know about the odds being in your favor when you took the job?"

He chuckled "No, and I never noticed during s Not very observant, I guess About the second week after Iin to welco the whole "raphic issue?"

"A very delicate way of putting things Yes, it’s real I haven’t figured out why, not that I put a lot of thought into it Men don’t stay Or e population, more male babies are born than female babies It’s around one hundred and ten male babies for every one hundred fehteen, and by iven population Except here There are ht the fried co Josh Golden’s butt on her assistant’s screen saver would be the strangest parts of her week

"I’m speechless," she adhed "It’s not that big a deal"

"Not for you Not only are you one of the precious few, you haven’t been instructed to bring in h turned into a wince "Marsha said that?"

"It was a clear directive" She glanced at Robert’s left hand "H your part for the town by beingher "I tried I got engaged We broke things off e realized we had different ideas about family I wanted kids, she didn’t She le fe if so to jump out of a closet and tell her she’d been part of an elaborate hoax As much as she wouldn’t enjoy the humiliation, it would be kind of nice to find out the ht her luck was that good