Catch Your Breath

Chapter 2-1

2

Moira strode across the room, sure she’d seen Jimmy O’Malley talking to Stan Decker. She’d avoided Decker for the first few hours of the party. The man hit on her relentlessly, and whenever he talked, he spoke directly to her chest. She had no idea how he managed to sell so many properties if that’s how he treated clients.

But right now, her curiosity got the better of her and she had to see if it was Jimmy. She’d barely caught a glimpse, but something about the man made her believe it was him. Like on an instinctual level, her body knew.

Which was just plain silly, and she knew it, but she couldn’t help it. She’d been in love with Jimmy since the age of ten and he’d never given her the time of day. Except to tell her to scram because she annoyed him.

She approached Decker with a friendly smile, not that he’d notice. “Hi, Mr. Decker. How are you this evening?”

“Good, and you?”

She tried not to inhale, forcing her boobs higher and closer to his face. “I’m fine. The man you were just talking to, was that—”

“James Buchanan, new to town. Friends with the mayor.”

“Oh.” Why the news should disappoint her made little sense. Maybe part of her wanted to see a friendly face in the crowd. A real friend, not the phoniness of people who wanted their picture taken. Jimmy might not be a real friend, but being Liam’s friend, he would probably put in the effort to be nice to her. Probably.

Moira made her rounds, talking to donors and visiting with the parents of sick kids. Listening to their stories was both inspiring and heartbreaking. One thing she took away from it, though, was the strength they displayed. Especially the couples. Trying to hold a family together while caring for a sick child had to be devastating. Watching them hold hands and support each other while talking about their families gave her hope.

One day, she’d find the man who would hold her hand and help her meet her dreams and goals. They’d build a life together, have a family, find happiness. She wanted what her family had. Sometimes she thought she was born in the wrong decade. If only she could be like Bogie and Bacall or Tracy and Hepburn.

Life in a black-and-white movie with witty banter and true love.

She wandered through the crowd looking for James Buchanan. Thinking back, she realized her imagination had simply run away from her again. Not every good-looking man was Jimmy. Maybe Mr. Buchanan was actually better looking. Plus, he probably had money. She wanted to introduce herself and definitely include him in her article.

“Mr. Mayor,” she started. Then she realized he might not remember her. “Moira O’Leary.”

He smiled and nodded. “I’m not doing interviews today, Moira.”

“I was wondering if you could point out your friend James Buchanan. I spoke with Mr. Decker who mentioned you and Mr. Buchanan are friends. I’d like to interview him, if possible.”

The mayor shifted as if surprised she would ask about Buchanan. She always asked about new players. Curious.

“I’m not sure if James would want to be interviewed. He’s rather private.” The mayor peered over the top of her head and scanned the crowd. “I’m not seeing him just now.”

Moira pulled a card from her purse. “Well, when you do see him, please pass on my card. I’d love to chat.”

The mayor pocketed the card, but she knew the look. Her card would be dropped in the nearest trash can. Now she had a mission. Something was up with this Buchanan and she planned to find out what his juicy little secrets were. Moira liked to have a mission. It wasn’t like she didn’t enjoy her job. On the contrary, she loved it, but every now and then the boredom bug bit her. Today was one of those days.

Trailing after a sexy, rich man new to Chicago wasn’t a bad way to spend some time. If she happened to get a story out of it too, well, that was just a bonus.

Later that night, face scrubbed clean of makeup and beautiful gown hanging back in her closet, Moira stared at her computer screen. James Buchanan had very little information online. His f*******: page didn’t have any photos. A whopping three blogs mentioned his name, always after the mayor’s name.

Something was definitely up. She tried every directory and search engine she could, but still came up empty. Desperate, she scrambled to think if she knew anyone who would be able to dig deeper.

Griffin would be able to find information. Although he made his name and money as a video game developer, she knew he could hack into anything. The question became whether a possible goose chase was worth breaking the law. She thought about baby Colleen and decided that satisfying her curiosity was not that important. She wouldn’t want Griffin to get into any trouble.

Maybe she’d e-mail Griffin and see if he knew the guy.

As she crawled into bed, she tried to conjure up the image of the man she’d seen. He had a beard-in-progress thing going on and his hair was cropped short. Jimmy never had facial hair, so why would she think it had been him? The look was more sophisticated than any guy she’d known growing up. She fell asleep with images of Jimmy O’Malley floating in her head, dreaming about how she wished he’d give her a chance, just once.