“Are you going to give me your name?” I finally ask, breaking the silent stare between us.
She bites her lower lip and tilts her head to the side like she’s assessing me. “I guess I could,” she replies but she doesn’t give me her name while her lip curves in one corner. She continues to smile devilishly as we softly sway to the voices of Nat King Cole and Natalie Cole radiating through the hall making the moment feel surreal.
“And it would be,” I coax her into giving me her name.
“Evie,” she says sweetly looking deeply into my eyes. She has an accent I can’t place.
“Evie, that’s a beautiful name. I’m Colton,” I grin.
“I know, Mr. Governor,” she replies her tone terse. It throws me off a little as I wonder what her deal is. My intrigue wins out.
“So, beautiful Evie. What brings you to the Veteran Affairs ball tonight?”
“My uncle is a vet, World War II. He raised me; I respect him very much. So, I’m here.” She shrugs her shoulders. It felt like she wanted to say more and stopped herself. Her accent has me very curious but I don’t want to be rude and ask. I have to be careful with this woman because my sense tells me one wrong word from my mouth and she’s taking a hike. I’m not used to this, being the one to chase. It gives me an unexpected thrill.
“And you Mr. Governor. Why are you here?” she asks throwing me off my tracks. Isn’t it obvious why I’m here? To support the veterans, of course.
I smirk and bite my lower lip while I contemplate my answer for a moment. “I thought my presence would be obvious.”
The song changes to another slow song. I’m worried my time with her is up, but she doesn’t pull away from my embrace. “You mean to secure your support with the war veterans. I heard you’re about to announce that you’re running for the presidency.” Her words are more of a statement than a comment which causes my chest to tighten and my breath to hitch. I know there’s speculation whether I will run, but I hadn’t realized it was common knowledge.
“Ouch, that isn’t fair. I respect our military. I respect the men that have given up so much of their lives to fight our wars, to protect our freedoms.” The words bleed from me with the utmost conviction.
“You seem passionate about the subject,” she retorts with a hint of surprise in her tone. I can’t help but notice how she watches me so intently when I speak grabbing onto my every word. Watching my mouth, looking into my eyes. This woman is so different. Different, good.
“You sound surprised.” I grin, hoping to win her over with my smile. My smile has always been a sure thing.
Her lips slowly spread and I feel like maybe I’m winning her over.
She shakes her head. “Sorry, I don’t know why but I had a different picture of you in my mind.” I want to say yeah, a picture where my face is covered in cream pie, thanks to yours truly? I keep my mouth shut. For now.
“Really? Do you mind sharing exactly what you mean?” I’m pushing a little but I can’t help myself. She seems to be a critic. I need to sway her.
“I just figured you were this spoiled rich kid who had the governorship handed to him on a silver platter,” she answers, and my jaw drops.
Fucking hell. She has no filter and yet I find her sexy as hell.
“That isn’t fair. I worked damn hard to get top grades at Harvard Law School. I worked a hundred hours a week in the prosecutor’s office before I even ran for state attorney. I may have been raised with money and I may have a topnotch education, but I’ve worked hard all my life. I set goals and I achieved them. I shouldn’t be blasted for hard work,” I scoff. I don’t mean too, but I need to set her straight. Besides I’ve been blasted with such accusations in the past. I have this speech ready at the tip of my tongue. The only difference is I’ve never defended myself to a woman I wanted to bed so badly. And a woman who I seem to repulse.
She squints her eyes, not relenting on that deep stare she seems to give me. It looks like she’s unsure if she should buy my argument. I need to change tactic. “Enough about me and my uninteresting life. Tell me about you. What do you do?” I ask as we move to the music. We’ve been dancing for a while; I hope the DJ continues with the string of slow songs.
“I work in a clothing shop and on my free time, I volunteer with Habitat for Humanity. It’s—” I cut her off.
“I know what it is. Jeez. You must think I’m a real schmuck.”
She eyes me curiously.
Acknowledgments
I started writing this book the day I got back from my friend’s funeral. I know its depressing and her death shook me to my core. I couldn’t stop thinking of the four kids she left behind and how they would grow up without a mother.
I don’t have her name in the dedication but the quote at the beginning of this book is dedicated to her and her sweet children. I hope they soar and follow their dreams knowing their mom is looking down on them from heaven.
I wrote this book fast is the truth only because I lived and breathed these characters.
I have so many people who helped me tell this story. Thank you to my beta readers. Your comments and feedback not only put a smile on my face during my read throughs but helped me take this story to the next level. Karen Isopi, thank you once again for taking the time for this project. Your input is so valuable to me.
To T thank you for going through the developmental edits with me more than once. I appreciate your dedication to detail.
To Max my editor, thank you for your patience with all my grammar faux pas and putting up with my tight timeline on this project. To James, thank you for proofing the MS for me. You saved my sanity from having to read through the story another time.
Thank you to my lovely agent, Stephanie Delamater Phillips thank you for all your sound advice and all your amazing work.
Thank you to Sarah Hansen for another beautiful cover. I never have to tell you what I’m looking for you just go and create the perfect covers.
To all the readers and bloggers that have read this story, you have my heartfelt thanks. I am very aware of all the wonderful books out there and it warms my heart that you have chosen to dedicate your time to this story. I hope it was as meaningful to you as it was to me.
XOXOXO
R.C.
Mr. So Wrong Page 26