Convincing the Rancher by Claire McEwen

grimly. He didn’t appreciate feeling like a schoolboy around her, and he was getting schooled.
    “The grid wasn’t designed to receive energy from all over,” Tess went on, “which is what will happen if you have solar panels all over town. The grid wasn’t built to be bidirectional. No one knows if, at some point, the power from all the solar panels on peoples’ homes will crash the grid by sending so much energy back out into it.”
    He didn’t know what to say. She was right. He hadn’t done his homework, and evidently she had. He watched bemusedly as she turned away to hand out a few slick packets of information and encourage people to visit the various booths and exhibits. She’d kicked his butt today, and he didn’t know if he should be humiliated or awestruck. He felt a little of both. “You know this band is illegal. You have no permits. And I’m pretty sure they have their amps turned way past the decibel level allowed by city noise ordinances.”
    “Are you going to shut it down, Mr. Mayor?” Her slow smile went straight through him, leaving heat behind. “I don’t know politics well, but I do know that people are having a great time. It seems to me that shutting it down might not be the best political maneuver.”
    She was right, and it pissed him off. Her upper hand in this conversation was so solid, he couldn’t pry it away. He tried again.
    “Speaking of maneuvers, what’s up with taking over our Fall Harvest Festival and turning it into a wind-energy fair? This is a community event. It’s tradition. And now, instead of sack races and pumpkin carving, people are over here drinking and dancing.”
    “People seem pretty happy. Maybe the Fall Harvest Festival wasn’t really as fun as you thought?”
    “It was fun. It was tradition...what we’ve always done.”
    “Looks as if people are ready for something new.” Another cheer rose from the crowd as Danny Click finished an especially complicated guitar solo. “It sure seems as though they’re enjoying the change.”
    “It’s good music. Of course they like it. Even I like it. But it doesn’t mean you can just show up here and mess with our traditions.”
    Tess stepped closer, tilting her chin so she was looking right up into his eyes. For a split second, all he could think was how easy it would be to lean down and kiss her. How much he wanted to. And then she reached behind him and briskly plucked one of his flyers from his back pocket. “Can I take one of these?” she murmured. And then she stepped back.
    “Sure,” he croaked, trying to recover from her proximity, and her absence. He tried not to show any of the embarrassment he felt for his flimsy flyer while she examined it.
    She opened it, glancing briefly at the contents before looking up and smiling, a teasing light in her eyes. “How cute!” she said. “It’s so...um...rustic.”
    “Tess, be kind. This isn’t what I do. And I don’t have the infinite dollars of Renewable Reliance stacked behind me.”
    “You’re right, Slaid. I didn’t mean to be rude, but I guess I’m pointing out that times are changing. People don’t want a photocopied flyer. They want flash, color and pizzazz. Maybe they’re ready for the opportunities that Renewable Reliance can bring to this town.”
    “No, Tess, they just like the band and the free food that Renewable Reliance brought to the town.”
    She took a long, deliberate look at the growing crowd around the stage. “I guess we’ll just have to see.”
    “I guess we will.” It was his turn to step closer, using his height to tower over her. Two could play her flirty game, and since she’d started it, he wouldn’t feel guilty about finishing it. “You’re pretty proud of yourself, aren’t you?”
    She laughed softly, and despite his frustration he wanted to taste the mirth of her laughing mouth. “I’m good at what I do, remember?”
    Victory suited her. If one good thing came out of today it was that he got to see Tess