Free Girl Power by Dee Dawning

who used to run national campaigns, but of course, he's a man and a Republican."
    Lindy laughed. "Kelly, I'm looking for help, not purity. Who is he and
    would he be interested in helping?"
    "He might. He's in his sixties, but you'd never know it. He looks younger,
    he's active, and his mind is sharp. Have you ever heard of Lee Casey?"
    "Sounds familiar. Can you sound him out?"
    "No, but Grandpa will."

    ~ * * ~
    Brenda looked up when she heard a knock on the open door of her office.
    When she realized it was Mickey, she exhaled every ounce of breath in her lungs.
    "Hi, beautiful." He winked.
    Mickey was dressed casual for a change, in Levis's and a Nickleback T-shirt.
    She forced herself to breathe, then answered, "Hi handsome." She laughed. "Are you ready to split my egg salad sandwich?"
    "If I have to, but I'd rather buy you a nice lunch at the Burgers & Salads I saw a couple blocks away."
    Burgers & Salads , Brenda loved their salads. All of a sudden, egg salad, which she'd had for the last two days, didn't sound so good. A grilled chicken
    Caesar salad with their special raspberry/passion fruit iced tea sounded much
    better. "All right, let's do it."
    Several emotions crossed the heartthrob's face, two of which she recognized
    as confusion, and indecision. She thought he was going to object, citing the fact that lunch wasn't dinner and Burgers & Salads was not exactly romantic, but he surprised her by grasping her hand and saying, "Bacon cheeseburger with
    onions. Heartburn, here we come."
    Fifteen minutes later, the pair hustled into the popular eatery and settled
    into the last available booth. Mickey, uninvited, sat next to her. Brenda glanced around. No one, save one smiling woman with two young children noticed. She
    nodded and Brenda returned her nod. "Mickey, you're on the wrong side of the booth. People will stare."
    "Let'um."
    Brenda's stomach did it's flip flop thing when Mickey looped an arm
    around her shoulders and whispered in her ear, "I want to be close in case you got some fool notion to kiss me."
    She turned and gazed at the man who starred in the not so wholesome,
    nightly dreams she'd started having. "Well, don't hold your breath."
    Mickey contemplated her for a long moment. From the motion of his sexy,
    thin lips, she thought he might try to kiss her. Instead, he said, "I like your hair like that."
    "Really? You like it natural? I didn't have time to fix it this morning."
    "Ah-huh. I like it."
    Just then, the waitress came up. "Are you lovebirds ready to order?"
    We are not lovebirds Brenda started to reply to the waitress until she looked
    up into the eyes of a light caramel skinned woman. She glanced at her nametag—
    Jayda. "We are not lovebirds. He wants to be and I'm thinking about it."
    "Well, you make a lovely couple. Are you ready to order?"
    After placing their orders, Mickey returned to the discussion about her hair,
    "I like your hair every way you wear it, straight, pulled back, ringlets, and natural. I guess it's because you are beautiful. Every time I see you, you are more stunning than the last time."
    Brenda turned to Mickey. "You are a shameless flatterer. I know I'm not bad looking, but beautiful? I'm certainly not stunning.
    While Brenda gazed at him, Mickey cupped her chin. "Well, I think you are,
    and that is all that matters."
    Mickey stared longingly at her for some seconds, causing her pulse to race
    again. She pulled away. "What do you need to tell me?"
    "Two things. My paper wants me to get an interview with Sally Cummings.
    Do you think she'd mind?"
    "I don't know. It would be better if your paper was a national publication."
    "That's the point. The Herald is part of a large publishing company and they would distribute the interview to some hundred associated newspapers."
    "That would be good. I'm almost sure she'd do that."
    "Great. Here's a list of questions. I don't have to formally interview her. Just give her the list of questions and she can write her answers