by K. A. Linde
She sighed and a smile touched her lips.
“I’ll never know how I spent so long without you,” Liz said.
He unhooked her bra and pulled her nipple into his mouth. She groaned at the feel of him sucking and gently biting it until it was erect.
“I want to be able to get my hands on this beautiful body whenever I can.”
After spending equal attention on the other nipple, he dragged her underwear to the floor and placed a kiss on the sensitive skin.
“I want to be able to listen to your beautiful voice and have you tell me all of your genius thoughts.” He kissed her once more. “I want you. Just you. All of you.”
“Brady,” she murmured. “Come here.”
So he obeyed. His pants dropped to the floor and in an instant his body was covering hers. He pushed her legs open to accommodate him. Then he was inside of her and they were one.
All coherent thought left her mind. She was just with Brady and nothing else mattered. This was the way it was supposed to be. They were working through their problems, working for what they wanted, proving that they could be together despite all the obstacles in their path. The sex was amazing, incredible, unbelievable, but it wasn’t all that encompassed their relationship. It had brought them together, but it wasn’t what was going to keep them that way.
What held them together was the love they both felt to their very core, the knowledge that being apart had been soul crushing, and the willingness to push for what they wanted. And Liz had never wanted anything quite as she wanted Brady Maxwell.
Chapter 6
THE NEXT LEVEL
Let me take you to dinner,” Brady said a few hours later.
Liz and Brady had been tangled up in his sheets all afternoon. While the thought of going out to dinner with him in public sounded wonderful, since their relationship had always been hidden, she didn’t exactly want to give up their alone time either.
“Right now?” she murmured, trailing her fingers down his bare chest.
He seized her hand in his and drew her closer to him. “Yes. I’d like to take you somewhere where everyone can see how lucky I am.”
Liz flushed at his comment. “I believe you’re the catch. Aren’t you North Carolina’s most eligible bachelor?”
“Not anymore.” He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it softly.
And really, how could she deny him anything after that?
She changed back into the skinny jeans and button-down that she’d had on earlier. There wasn’t a ton that she could do for her hair at this point. She finger-combed the knots out of the back and spritzed some water through it to help the natural wave. After sliding into her heels, she found Brady waiting in the foyer.
“Oh, casual Tuesday,” Liz said with a giggle. “How did I get a sport coat out of this deal?”
“Must be your lucky day.”
Liz wasn’t so sure about that, but Brady looked damn good: khaki pants, a light blue shirt with a navy blue-and-white diagonal-striped tie, under a dark blue blazer. She didn’t think she would ever get over how attractive he was, in and out of a suit. He took her breath away literally and figuratively.
Brady just shook his head at her stare and urged her into his Lexus. Almost as soon as they were out of the driveway she was fidgeting. He didn’t say anything about it until they were almost into the city.
“All right, what are you nervous about?”
“How are you not?” she asked, looking out the window and avoiding his gaze.
“You do not need to be nervous to be seen with me.” He reached for her hand and laced their fingers together.
“I know!” She bit down on her lip and tried to grope for what she really meant. “I’m not nervous about being seen with you. It’s just new for me. I feel like there’s an etiquette or protocol that I don’t know.”
Brady laughed lightly. “It shouldn’t be any different with me than it was dating . . . anyone else.”
The way he hesitated over that made Liz wince. She knew he was talking about Hayden, but that was the last person she wanted to think about right now. That relationship had gone up in a cloud of smoke because of what had happened with her and Brady. It wasn’t exactly guilt that slammed into her, because she was still furious that Hayden had outed their relationship to the press. It just felt like a weight . . . a sadness that things had ended the way they had. She swallowed back the memories and returned to the matter at hand.
“And . . . it is kind of our first date,” she said, peeking up at him.
“I believe I took you out for breakfast once and to a number of galas.”
Liz rolled her eyes. “That breakfast was just us planning out our affair. We talked terms. You could hardly call it a date. And you didn’t take me to either of the galas I attended. The first was for work.”
“You did a lot of work,” he said with a smirk. Both of them were clearly remembering the first time they’d had sex after the Jefferson-Jackson gala in Charlotte.
“The second gala, you took someone else.”
“But I was with you,” he reminded her. “And I flew you out to Hilton Head.”
“Are you really going to bring up Hilton Head? Where you left me alone in a suite nearly the entire weekend?” she asked.
“Fine. This is our first date?” he asked cheerily.
“Yes.”
The smile that crossed his face made her suspicious. He pulled out his phone a second later and jotted out a quick message before replacing it into his pocket.
“What was that?” she asked.
“Hmm?” he asked coyly. “Oh, nothing, baby. Just changing reservations.”
“You made reservations?” She wanted him to take her to the nice places she had always envisioned herself being with him, but reservations meant fancy places, and she was hardly dressed for that.
“I always make reservations,” he said. “Don’t stress about it. I have it all covered.”
“This is where communication comes in.”
He winked at her. “Surprises are surprises. I’m allowed to keep secrets when it comes to that.”
She couldn’t even argue. She just needed to relax. Her day had been so hectic, between the reporters and the newspaper. But she had still gotten time with Brady, and that was what mattered. They would figure everything else out together. Right now she should let her boyfriend surprise her on their first date.
God, she was really going to have to get used to calling him her boyfriend. It sent a thrill through her every time she even thought it.
A short while later, Brady pulled his car up in front of a quaint restaurant with an impressive covered outdoor patio. She had never heard of the place before.
She took Brady’s hand when he offered to help her out of the car. Brady handed the keys to a waiting valet and then escorted her into the room. She kept a soft smile on her face and her head held up.
The restaurant was small, with tables placed close together and lit only by candlelight. It seemed cozy, if a bit cluttered, but the food must have been great, because nearly every table was taken.
Their appearance garnered a few stares from the people seated nearby, and Liz followed Brady’s lead. A waitress seated them at the only open table, in the far corner. Two gentlemen came up to them once they were seated and shook Brady’s hand.
“I’m Jake Smith. Pleasure to meet you, Congressman,” the first guy said. “I was really pulling for you in that race last year.”
“Good to meet you too, Jake. I always appreciate meeting hardworking people out there who voted for me,” Brady said. Brady turned to the second guy. “What’s your name?”
“I’m Curt, Congressman. It’s going to be a tough race this year,” Curt said. His gaze shifted to Liz, and then back to Brady.
“Tough race every year,” Brady said. “This is my gir
lfriend, Liz. I’m fortunate to have such a wonderful woman who will be there along the way.”
They shook hands with Liz, who smiled, but said little. “Always good to have a strong woman behind you,” Jake said.
“Only the best,” Brady agreed.
“Well, we won’t keep you,” Curt said. “We just wanted to thank you for all that hard work you’re doing. We knew your father when he was working for the Triangle area. Great man.”
“I’ll be sure to let him know you said that.”
They all shook hands again and then were gone.
For the first time, Liz realized that maybe Brady’s entire life really was one big campaign. He hadn’t known those two men, but she was sure they would vote for him for life. She had wondered what it would be like to be on Brady’s arm, and she knew this was only just the beginning, but that thought encouraged her.
“You seem . . . different,” Brady said after water was brought to their table and he ordered a bottle of wine.
“Different good or different bad?”
“Neither. You seem more relaxed.”
“It was kind of nice to see your interactions with everyday people. Do people always just come up to you like that?”
“It depends. I’m not always front-page news, so I get more privacy when I’m not. But I do run into a lot of people who want to talk to me. It’s part of the job,” he confirmed.
The waitress returned with their wine, and they ordered dinner. It was a tapas place and so they got a variety of items to share. The food was spectacular and the conversation was light. They knew so much about each other from when they had last been together, but it was a new experience dating without any of the red tape. Plus, so much time had passed since the last time they had been together that even though it seemed like they could pick up where they left off, there was much to talk about to return to that level of personal intimacy.
They ordered dessert and sat around talking about the most romantic things they had ever done.
Brady paid and then wrapped his arm around her waist as they walked toward the exit. “Stargazing in an open field?” he asked.
“Have you ever done it?”
“I’ve looked at the stars, but come on—Paris by candlelight, strolling an untouched beach at dusk, breakfast on a foggy morning in the mountains,” he suggested.
“Those do sound very romantic,” she conceded, smiling up at him. “I still like stargazing in an open field. I mean you’re so in touch with the world. Just you and the person you’re with in the quiet, in touch with your soul. It’s indescribable.”
They broke apart as Brady’s Lexus showed up at the valet station. Just as they moved toward the car, a small woman appeared from around the corner. “Excuse me, Congressman Maxwell, do you have a minute?”
Brady turned and smiled at her. Liz noticed that the woman had a rather nice-looking camera around her neck, and without a second thought she looked for the recorder she found bulging the woman’s pocket. Reporter.
“How can I help you?” Brady asked amicably.
“Could you comment on the state of your affair with Ms. Liz Dougherty?” she asked.
Liz’s instinct was to snub the woman, tell her no comment, and walk away. But Brady just held his campaign mask in place. “Ms. Dougherty is my girlfriend,” he said simply. “No affair. As you can tell we’re out for dinner together before I return to D.C.”
“Do you have any comment for the people who are saying that your relationship with Ms. Dougherty is a campaign ploy for more attention?”
Liz gritted her teeth even through her smile. She wanted to tell this woman where to shove it with her personal questions. The other part of her tried to tell her that she would have done the exact same thing if she were reporting on this case, but damn, it was hard when it was her own life.
“I can assure you that Ms. Dougherty is far from a campaign ploy.”
“Ms. Dougherty, do you have any comment on the state of your relationship with Congressman Maxwell? It must be overwhelming dating such a high-ranking official after just ending your previous relationship,” she said, staring Liz down.
Liz shot Brady a questioning look. She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to say in this situation. No comment seemed best, but Brady was answering her. Maybe as long as she followed his lead and mimicked the way he handled the press it would be okay. He nodded softly and she took that to mean go ahead.
“The Congressman and I are very happy together. We’re pleased to be able to share our relationship with the public,” Liz said, holding her head high. It was strange to speak to a reporter the way people had always spoken to her.
The woman opened her mouth to ask something else, but Brady held up his hand. “We’re running on a bit of a tight schedule for tonight. We really appreciate your questions, but we must be going.”
“Just one photo?” the woman insisted.
Well, normally reporters just snapped photos whenever they could, so her actually asking for a picture was a real treat. He placed his hand back around her waist and they smiled for the camera. A flash went off once, twice, three times. The woman thanked them even though it was clear she wanted to ask more questions.
Liz sank into the passenger seat of Brady’s Lexus and sighed. “Well, that wasn’t so bad,” she said after a moment.
“Baby, you’re a natural.” He found her hand again and squeezed it.
“It’s easier when you’re there.”
“It’ll get easier with time. Reporters, as I’m sure you’re shocked to hear, are always going to be around.”
“I know,” she whispered. And she did. She knew how the job worked. She just had to get used to it from the other side.
Chapter 7
AVOIDING
Brady flew out of Raleigh late that night and he had a car drive Liz back to her house. She was relieved to see that reporters weren’t waiting for her. She had let Victoria know earlier that she would be with Brady, and Victoria had responded that she was staying with Duke Fan in Durham. It did Liz some good to be alone. For now, her main priority needed to be catching back up in her schoolwork.
Already she was two days down this week. She couldn’t risk endangering her scholarship in her last semester. Now that she didn’t have the newspaper she would have plenty of time to make up the work. Thinking about the paper like that sent a pang through her chest.
In fact, without the newspaper, Liz found that she had a surprising amount of time to herself. She spent the next two weeks playing catch-up. Reporters still showed up on campus, but their numbers soon dwindled.
Brady had given her his weekends, but like her, he was playing catch-up with his responsibilities in D.C. She completely understood that he needed to make everything right and show his continued dedication to his career. This couldn’t be a hiccup in the campaign.
Come Monday morning, she was feeling more put together and considerably caught up with her work. She had been avoiding talking to Professor Mires about what had happened since the news had spread. She wasn’t sure if she would find disappointment on her mentor’s face, and she preferred to see nothing at all.
Victoria had Duke Fan drop them off on campus right before their first class. It was still strange not to have to come in early or stay after for the paper, but Liz was trying to adjust. Victoria had tried to get her to go party with her this past weekend, but Liz had decided against it. While she had reporters still tailing her she thought it would be better to show herself as studious rather than a party animal. And anyway, she didn’t really feel up to celebrating.
Victoria looked at Liz over the top of her Ray-Bans. “I think Daniel can pick us up after class if you want to meet here again. His class is canceled.”
The girl was gorgeous and voluptuous in uber-tight, whitewashed polka dot jeans, an insanely low-cut hot-pink sweater, and six-inch spiked b
rown boots. Liz didn’t know how she managed in those clothes. She felt ordinary in a light black blouse with gold buttons, tucked into a burgundy high-waist skirt. She had on black tights and, surprisingly, gold flats instead of heels.
Victoria gave her the expression she had been giving her for nearly two weeks—a mix of concern and curiosity. Between Liz’s losing the paper, having reporters follow her, and Brady being away in D.C., Victoria seemed to think there was a real risk that Liz would crack under the pressure.
“Stop looking at me like that,” Liz said, bumping into her shoulder. “I’m fine.”
“That’s what people say when they’re not fine.”
“I have the man of my dreams. Why would I not be fine?”
“Don’t give me that shit,” Victoria said with an exaggerated eye roll. “For a girl who loves to be stuffed full, I know how hard it is to be happy with everything in a relationship.”
“Oh my God, you did not just say that! Vickie, I can’t unhear these things,” Liz said, making a show of covering her ears.
“I’m just saying . . . I’m giving up threesomes in London and foursomes in Australia to be with Daniel.”
“La la la,” Liz singsonged.
“You’re giving up the paper, which is kind of as hard.”
“Did you just say that me getting kicked off of the paper is almost as bad as you giving up having sex with multiple men at once?” Liz asked in disbelief.
“Yeah?”
“Okay, just making sure I heard your crazy ass correctly.”
Victoria rolled her eyes again. “It’s not crazy. Once you’ve had . . .”
“No, stop right there.”
“God, Liz, you wouldn’t think you were fucking a congressman right now.”
“I love you, but you’re ridiculous.” Liz shook her head. “Anyway I have to get to class. I’ll meet you after!”
She watched Victoria traipse off across the quad and Liz could do nothing but just stare after her. She really was a force to be reckoned with.
Liz made it through her classes without an incident. She didn’t see a single reporter. People had gone back to ignoring her.