by Vivian Wood
Eli's relief was short-lived, however. Before he knew it, Sosie was back on the phone, and Meredith was in his office once more. She shot him a questioning look, folding her arms across her chest. He decided to try and take control of the situation. “Is there something I can help you with, Miss Fields?” he asked coolly.
“It was you,” she said in a hushed whisper, eyebrow raised. She sounded completely certain.
Yep, it was me. What's it to you? said the devil in his mind.
Aloud he asked, “What do you mean?” hoping his face didn't betray his nerves. Usually around journalists he was able to lie with impunity like any good politician, but this woman was different.
Meredith narrowed her eyes and shot him a suspicious glare.
“You were the man I met at the masquerade party in New York, weren't you?” she pressed on, demanding an answer. This time she planted her hands on her hips, making him groan mentally.
Seeing Meredith in tight leggings that hugged her curves in all the right places, Eli couldn't help but check out her body. And fuck, just from looking at her he was already growing hard.
“I don't know what you're talking about, Miss Fields,” he said, trying to disarm her with a boyish smile. He was doing his best to keep his face straight until her curiosity subsided.
She opened her mouth to reply, but just then Sosie came back into the room, whisking Meredith away again. Eli couldn't help staring at her ass as she walked away. He shook his head. What was he thinking? She needed to go.
If the public were to find out he'd attended what was essentially an anonymous sex party, that would be the end of his career. It wasn't like he could tell Benedict Fields or Sosie the truth either. He'd just have to come up with an excuse to have Meredith removed from the campaign.
He didn't want to kick her off the campaign, but that was the best plan he could come up with in order to save face and keep his career intact from possible scandal.
Eli's thoughts were a jumbled mess when he heard a knock at the door. It was Henry, carrying a couple of boxes containing flyers.
“What’s up?” he asked, putting the boxes on the floor.
Taking a deep sigh, Eli slumped against the couch, earning a frown from his friend.
“Meredith Fields, daughter of Benedict Fields of the New York Tribune, will be working on the campaign,” he murmured helplessly.
Henry crumpled up his face in confusion. “So? Why the long face?”
Shooting up from his seat, Eli strode across the room and shut the door to his office. He didn't want to take any chances that anyone would overhear what he was about to say.
“She was the girl who was with me in the private booth that night at the party. She gave me a fucking lap dance,” he explained in exasperation, looking more frustrated than ever.
Henry fell silent, baffled.
“The blonde? Her? Here?”
“Yeah. Un-fucking-believable, right?” he said, shaking his head.
“What are you going to do?” Henry asked.
“I knew I shouldn't have gone to that party. I just...” Eli trailed off as images of a drunk yet incredibly sexy Meredith Fields flooded his mind. “I have to find a way to get her reassigned or something. I can't trust a journalist to stay quiet about a scoop like this, right?”
Instead of agreeing, Henry just gave him a thoughtful look..
“What?” Eli asked, annoyed.
“Nothing. It’s just… you know, if you like her…”
Eli scoffed. He couldn't believe Henry would even say that. Besides, he knew next to nothing about her. He'd have to get to know her to know if he liked her or not. But at the same time, he couldn't deny he was physically attracted to Meredith Fields. Very much so.
“It's not a matter of liking her or not. I can't afford to get involved with a journalist. You know the other parties are already running oppo on me,” he explained patiently, reminding himself that unlike him, Henry was not a career politician. “I can't give them any reasons to pry into my private life further.”
“Okay, okay, I get it, geez,” Henry said, shaking his head. “Anyway, I'll see you later. I've got an appointment.”
“What appointment?” Eli asked curiously.
“Psych.”
“A psych appointment?” he repeated, earning a scowl from Henry.
“Hey. Stop being so loud. That’s just between us, you know."
“Alright, go on. But there’s nothing to be embarrassed of,” Eli stated.
Henry just grunted and left, leaving the office door open behind him. Elijah hovered in the doorway, watching Sosie and Meredith interacting with other staffers.
When Sosie turned to look at him, Eli found himself averting his gaze. She approached him with a curious look on her face.
“What's on your mind?” Sosie asked.
“Miss Fields is very young. She's too inexperienced,” he replied, fighting the urge to take back what he'd just said.
Sosie snorted.
“Her father is Benedict Fields. She may be young, yes, but I don't think she's inexperienced. It would be stupid to replace her,” she stated confidently.
And as much as he wanted to argue with her, he couldn't. She was right, of course.
“But we need to,” he said, not sure how to explain things to Sosie and hoping she wouldn't pry the truth out of him.
“Why?” she said, giving him a suspicious glare.
“She knows something about me that could mean the end of my campaign,” he mumbled, hoping that was enough for Sosie to go on. “And I'm not sure she'll stay quiet about it.”
Sosie looked confused, but remained silent. When she'd recovered her composure, she went through a list of things she thought might mean the end of the campaign. Thankfully none of them were close to the truth, but he didn't appreciate her digging either.
“No! Stop guessing,” he said, feeling irritable.
Having Meredith Fields around would mean battling constant temptation. He was starting to wonder if he would be able to focus on the campaign, knowing she would be in the same building with him.
Fuck.
“Is this something I need to know about?” Sosie asked abruptly, narrowing her eyes at him. “I can't protect your campaign if you don't tell me the truth, Eli.”
He sighed and shook his head.
“No. But get rid of her,” he said.
It was Sosie's turn to sigh heavily and shake her head.
“I can't, Elijah. I can't tell the biggest publishing magnate in the country that his daughter isn't good enough. No matter what excuse I use, you know as well as I do that's how he's going to take it. Benedict Fields is a very powerful man. Whatever your secret is, do you think it's worth having the New York Tribune go after you?”
Eli fell silent.
She was right.
Pissing off Meredith's father would also mean the death of his political career, just in a different way. By all accounts Benedict Fields was an intensely private man, but two things were certain. He loved his wife and daughters above all else in the world, and he was certainly no pushover.
Eli's hands balled into fists. He felt like he'd been back into a corner with no way out. There was absolutely nothing he could do about Meredith. He'd have to settle for denying everything about that night.
If only he could deny his attraction to her as well.
“No,” he responded to Sosie grudgingly.
Turning on her heels, his campaign manager gave him a pointed look before walking back to the other trainees. Eli gave Sosie a curt nod before scowling at Meredith, who was still staring at him and frowning. Cursing under his breath, he retreated within his office and shut the door.
Chapter Six
Meredith rubbed at her eyes and let out a huge yawn. It had still been dark out and everyone else had still been sleeping except for the maid and her driver. She'd been up much later than usual, trying to convince her dad that she didn't want this particular assignment anymore.
&nb
sp; Initially he'd thought she was kidding. He laughed, telling her he appreciated her attempts at what surely had to be a joke. But when he realized she wasn't joking, he'd brooked no further conversation about the matter. “A Fields never backs down from a challenge,” he'd said to her, as he had many times throughout her entire life.
Scowling at the memory, she took a quick mental inventory of what she'd packed. Space on the campaign bus would be limited, and Sosie had instructed her to pack light, limiting her to one suitcase. She'd opted to bring mostly interchangeable separates she could create multiple outfits from, with not a single pantsuit in the bunch.
She looked out the window and watched the sunrise, feeling gloomier than ever. She didn't know why, but she had a bad feeling about this campaign.
It was definitely him. I can’t be wrong, she thought as images of the masked man and Elijah Scott overlapped in her mind.
After being introduced to Elijah, she'd wanted to run out of his office and never look back. Elijah Scott was without a doubt the man she'd given a lap dance to her last night in New York. Even worse, she knew he'd recognize her, since she'd removed her mask. She was sure her father would have a heart attack if he knew about any of that.
Embarrassment had been eating away at her since then.
But for all his insistence, she knew he was just pretending not to know her. Not that she could blame him – after all, he was just doing his best to protect his image. Maybe she could catch him in private and clear the air between them. She was sure she could get him to agree to just forget about it, for both their sakes.
Slowly exhaling, Meredith couldn't deny the fact she was strongly attracted to the handsome bachelor. Just like she couldn't deny she'd wished her father had agreed to pull her off this assignment.
She couldn't believe how complicated her life had become over the past few days. This wasn't part of her summer plans. And it definitely wasn't what she wanted.
When she arrived, Meredith hurried to take her place with the other journalists who were already present, furtively looking around for Elijah Scott's familiar figure.
After looking around twice, she still didn't see him. Maybe he was already on the bus? She wanted to scold herself when she realized she was actually disappointed at not seeing him. She had a job to do, one that didn't involve lusting after Elijah Scott, no matter how hot he was.
She was representing her father's company. He'd made that crystal clear last night.
Get your act together, Meredith! she quietly admonished herself as she stepped onto the bus.
She took a seat near the center of the bus, hoping placing herself in the middle of the action would help distract her from obsessing over Elijah. Everyone already seemed to be working, their heads bent over laptops and notepads, and she followed suit, trying to fit in.
A few moments later Sosie stepped onto the bus, followed by a middle-aged man she introduced as Edward, their driver. Sosie had everyone's full attention as she went over the rules. Meredith listened attentively, not wanting to get on Sosie's bad side.
Sosie reminded everyone the only stops the bus would make would be those planned out ahead of time, listed on the itinerary she'd already emailed to everyone. Loud talking and listening to music without headphones would be prohibited, due to the fact they would be busy working while they were traveling.
“I think that's all I have to say for now,” Sosie said in conclusion. “But I do have a surprise for all of you,” she added, gesturing to the door of the bus.
Elijah Scott entered the bus, and Meredith held her breath as their eyes met. He was wearing a white polo and dark grey slacks, and looked as handsome as ever.
“Eli's going to ride on this bus with you guys for the first leg of the trip. Now's your chance to make a good impression,” she said, looking at all of them in turn, eyes lingering on Meredith for maybe just a split second longer. Or maybe Meredith had just imagined that.
Meredith couldn't stop staring at him despite herself. He was just too hot for his own good.
Damn. Why does he have to be so gorgeous?
A disturbing thought suddenly occurred to her. She belatedly realized Sosie had made eye contact with her much more than any of the other campaign staffers or journalists as she'd been giving out instructions. It had been weird.
Oh my God! Did he tell Sosie about me and that night?
“That's it. Good luck, everyone. See you at the hotel,” Sosie said, then got off the bus.
Meredith wasn't sure what to do. She could practically feel Elijah staring at her from across the bus as he took a seat near the front. Her cheeks grew hot when she realized she wanted him to stare at her, wanted his attention.
As the bus departed, Elijah smiled and began answering questions from the other journalists present. Meredith opened her laptop and started taking notes, hoping to distract herself with work. But her mind kept wandering.
It was stupid.
Biting her bottom lip, she remembered how good it had felt to have his strong arms wrapped around her. She remembered how hard his cock had been as she'd danced on his lap.
She wondered how long and thick he was. Thanks to him, she couldn't stop having thoughts like this.
Snickering from the back of the bus brought her back to reality. “Miss Fields?” she heard Eli say. Judging by the response, he'd been trying to get her attention for some time now.
“Sorry, what?” she asked, perplexed.
Elijah tilted his head, and she felt her stomach twisting into knots as everyone turned to look at her.
“I said, do you have a question for me, Miss Fields? Other than the one you just asked, of course,” he said with a grin, eliciting loud laughter from the other journalists.
Flustered, she racked her brain to come up with something.
“What kind of outfits do you prefer for summer? More casual, or more formal?” she blurted without thinking.
Meredith froze when she realized what she'd just asked. She'd had a chance to ask him anything, and that question had been pure fluff. So much for being a real journalist.
She felt even more pathetic when Elijah actually humored her with a legitimate answer.
“I don't have specific clothing preferences. I wear whatever a particular situation calls for,” he said, already moving on to take the next question.
Feeling thoroughly and utterly humiliated, she directed her attention back to her laptop, pretending to take notes when in reality she was berating herself.
Gritting her teeth, she cursed Elijah under her breath.
Chapter Seven
Elijah drummed his fingers against his thigh as he looked out the window of the limo. There was still so much that needed to be done today, but he was feeling exceptionally lazy, which was rare for him.
He had to make some revisions on the speech he'd be giving at the next campaign rally, and he needed to have his suits dry cleaned. Maybe if he hit the gym he wouldn't feel quite so lethargic. Working out sounded way more appealing than being cooped up working in his hotel suite.
When the limo came to a stop in front of the hotel where he and his campaign team were staying, he got down immediately.
“I'd like to be alone,” he instructed his security team, who immediately complied. Of course they weren't actually leaving him by himself, but they could give him the illusion of privacy.
Upon reaching his suite, Elijah
changed into his gym clothes. Maybe working out would take his mind off of Meredith, at least for a little while. He hoped, anyway. He wanted to groan at what he saw when he entered the gym.
Meredith was on an elliptical, chatting away with another journalist named Ava next to her. They were pleasantly chatting away. It sounded like Meredith was telling a story about someone named Lily.
Eli found himself amused as he listened to her story, but she stopped talking abruptly when she saw him.
He smiled, feeling slightly embarrassed after being caught eavesdropping.
“D
on't mind me,” he said with a smile, pointing at a treadmill before putting in his headphones. He hoped they'd continue on like he wasn't even there.
But they went silent.
Ava was first to leave, shooting him a look on her way out.
Was that supposed to be seductive? he thought.
Without saying anything, Meredith moved to a treadmill and began jogging. She looked like she was taking her workout seriously, but he couldn't stop admiring her body in her gym clothes.
Feeling like now was as good a time as any to broach the subject about that night at the party since they were the only two people in the gym, Eli slowed his pace. He had to make sure she wouldn't write a tell-all on him.
“So, have you forgotten about the masquerade?” he asked, breaking the silence.
Meredith paused in surprise, completely forgetting she was on a treadmill. She tripped and went down hard, yelling out in shock and pain.
Instantly, he stopped his treadmill to check on her. He carefully scooped her up and laid her on a flat weight bench.
Eli started to feel his pulse racing when their eyes locked. The more he looked at her, the more he found her beautiful.
Nobody had ever made him feel like this before.
Yes, she was hot as fuck, but there was something special about her, something more to this than just his lust...
Something he couldn't explain every time their eyes met.
I must be out of my mind, he thought, looking away when she slipped from his grasp.
“What?” she asked awkwardly. “Do I have something on my face?”
He knew she wasn't immune to his presence either. It was crystal clear she was attracted to him just as much as he was to her.
“I was wondering why you haven’t mentioned that night again,” he answered, moving on as if nothing had happened. He was starting to think his acting skills had gotten better.
“I— I— I haven’t forgotten,” she answered stammering, looking away to conceal the redness of her cheeks.