Off the Record

“I didn’t want to sleep with you.”

“Right,” he said, ignoring her statement. “Are you here for that thing Brady’s hosting tonight?”

“No, I wasn’t aware Senator Maxwell had an event on Hilton Head this weekend,” she lied fluidly. Liz knew that it sounded odd that she would be here and not know about the event, but she couldn’t tell him she had flown down to be here for it. That would be even more suspicious. “I’m staying with some friends at a resort for the weekend. Good timing, I guess.”

“Well, you should crash the party. Brady has a hot date. You could be mine,” Clay said with a shrug.

All of the wind rushed out of her lungs at once. Brady had a hot date. She knew he had dinner and drinks tonight, but he hadn’t mentioned a date. Had he flown her all this way just to go out with someone else again? She felt hypocritical getting worked up over this after Hayden had kissed her, but she hadn’t gone into that situation thinking anything would happen. Could Brady be thinking the same thing?

She tried to compose herself, but it was not without difficulty.

“You’re not bringing your girlfriend?” Liz asked, her voice tight with emotion.

“She’ll be there.”

“I think I’m going to have to pass,” she said, realizing how close she was to accepting the invitation just to see whom Brady would show up with.

His blond hair blew across his forehead in the breeze, and his blue eyes looked down into hers as if he were trying to persuade her with one look.

Liz shook her head, her heart beating fiercely in her chest. Brady had a date and his brother was trying to seduce her. Why wasn’t Brady the one after her? Where the hell was he anyway? And why had he stood her up last night?

“I appreciate the offer, but you have explicit instructions from your girlfriend not to sleep with me. I think that’s probably a good idea. Good-bye, Clay,” Liz said, moving to the right to walk around him.

His hand reached out and touched her wrist. “You know, I did listen to Brady’s speech after we talked.” He stared at her very intently, all of the humor and joking leaving his eyes. “And I still think you’re wrong. He only cares about the campaign and he only cares about winning. I know that he’ll do whatever it takes to get there, and I’m sorry he’s convinced you so thoroughly otherwise…”

Chapter 28

WHETHER OR NOT

Liz hurried back to the Sonesta Resort, eager to be away from her eventful afternoon. Brady had said the last thing he wanted was for her to be seen, and she’d ended up running into his brother. She didn’t know whether Clay would divulge that he had seen her after she had turned him down again, but she wouldn’t put it past him.

And now all she had left to do was sit and stew over the fact that Clay had told her that Brady had a date for the dinner tonight. He had a date, and he had invited Liz all the way out here. She knew that she couldn’t go to the event with him, not after the blowup with Heather, but still it hurt.

Would there always be someone else whom they could be more public with than each other? Would there always be another person putting a wedge between them because they couldn’t be together…and couldn’t even tell anyone that they were seeing each other?

Her hands were shaking when she slid the keycard into the lock. The door swung open and she stumbled forward into the room.

She wished that these emotions weren’t roiling through her body. She wished that she could turn it all off and forget how much he meant to her. But she couldn’t.

Her actions may have been reckless in D.C., but it was hardly different from him bringing woman after woman to these events. She wasn’t accusing him of doing anything with them, but she couldn’t keep having people stand in her place. It felt wrong.

They needed to figure this out. And having Clay’s words echoing in her ears wasn’t helping matters. I’m sorry he’s convinced you so thoroughly otherwise. Had Brady just convinced her to do what he wanted?

Clay sure seemed to think so. She had changed so much this summer. She hardly even remembered what she had written in her article that was so vile. She didn’t remember how it felt not to like Brady or understand his reasoning for running for office. Had he warped her viewpoint so much?

Liz reached for her laptop and pulled up the first article she had written about Brady. Her head pounded as she read her rather cruel recount of Brady’s announcement for Congress. She understood why Professor Mires had given Liz the grade she did. The paper had been popular for Brady’s picture. Her article was less than stellar, and actually rather mean. She couldn’t believe that she had written that Brady was power hungry, with money as his only interest.

She shook her head and flipped to the next article about Brady just as her phone blasted loudly through the room. Liz jumped and hurtled toward her purse.

Please be Brady!

Liz flipped on her phone and answered. “Hello?”

“Hey, Liz,” Hayden said.

She bit her lip and all the adrenaline released from her body. Not Brady.

“Hayden, how are you?” she asked.

“Good. Though I’ve been missing you.”

“Oh,” she said, biting back a smile. “How do you have the time at that busy job of yours?”

“I always seem to find time.”

Liz laughed lightly despite herself. She didn’t know when Brady was going to come by, and he hadn’t called. She was feeling pretty down on herself and the whole stupid trip, and here Hayden was calling when she needed someone to boost her the most.

“Well, mostly I was calling with good news.”

“Yeah? What happened?” Liz asked, wandering into the bedroom, pulling back the sheets, and snuggling into the comforter.

“Jamie was exhibiting this weekend. She told you about that, right?”

“Yeah, she did.”

“Well, a curator from a museum picked up her work for a slot in their rising stars showcase. Her paintings will be up in the museum starting in August.”

“Oh my God, that’s so exciting for her! She must be freaking out.”

Hayden chuckled. “You have no idea what I’m going through over here. I wish you were here to diffuse the insanity. She likes you.”

“Are you calling me to escape Jamie?” Liz asked accusingly.

“That doesn’t sound like me at all. Seriously, though, drive back up to D.C. and save me from her constant frolicking around the apartment.”

Liz snickered and covered her mouth. “Frolicking?”

“I’m not kidding. She is skipping around and singing Céline Dion at the top of her lungs. I think she might have legitimately lost it this time,” he said with an undertone of humor.

“Sorry, no can do. Sounds like you will just have to stick this one out on your own. What would you do if you landed your dream job? I bet you would frolic around the living room,” Liz teased.

“I don’t frolic,” he told her.

“You’re no fun.”

“Oh please, I can think of much better ways to celebrate.”

Liz knew she should have responded with something snarky right away, but the way he said that made her stop her normal retort. He was teasing her. She couldn’t grasp that.

He had kissed her in D.C., and still she had a hard time believing that he was interested in her. Maybe she just didn’t want to believe it; if she did, then she would have to face too many other complications.

But then he went and said things like that…like finding other ways to celebrate. Maybe she just had a dirty mind…

He coughed, clearing his throat. “I mean, you know, other than frolicking in the living room.”

By the way he said that last part she was pretty sure she wasn’t the only one with her mind in the gutter.

“Right,” she said, searching for a way to change the subject. This was dangerous territory. “Um…when do you come back to Chapel Hill?”

“The Friday before school starts. I have to move into my new place and I’m not looking forward to it. You don’t happen to like manual labor, do you?”

“Are you asking me to help you move?” Liz asked.

“Nah, just seeing if you wanted to watch a bunch of runners with their shirts off moving heavy objects,” he said sarcastically.

“Well, in that case, sign me up.”

“Cool. I’ll send you the address.”

They continued talking on through the night, until Liz felt herself falling asleep on the line. She’d had a stressful day even though she was supposed to be on vacation, and it was nice to unwind. Her conversation with Hayden remained tame as they discussed the paper and his job. She told him the good news from Professor Mires, and he was happy for her, albeit a bit jealous of the awesome opportunity. It kept her mind off of the fact that Brady still hadn’t called, and she had spent the majority of her trip to Hilton Head alone.

“I think I need to get some sleep,” she whispered drowsily.

“Yeah. I didn’t mean to keep you up so late.”

“It’s okay. Just tired,” she managed through a yawn.

“I’ll see you in a couple weeks. Talk to you soon.”

Liz got off the phone with Hayden, and she found herself falling into an easy slumber. Her anger from earlier had dissipated. She just wanted to sleep away the rest of the night and forget that once again she had waited up for Brady to no avail.

A crash in the living room awoke Liz from her light slumber. Her eyes darted open and she sat straight up in bed. She was still wearing a T-shirt and shorts from earlier that evening, but she didn’t want some random stranger to come into her bedroom.

Liz hopped out of bed and scurried to the open doorway. She pressed herself against the wall, let out of a low soft breath to calm herself, and then she peered around the corner.

Her heart stopped when she saw Brady standing in the doorway. He was in a pair of khaki shorts and an untucked button-down as he all but stumbled forward in the living room area. Was he drunk?

“Brady Maxwell,” Liz said sharply, unable to believe that after everything that had happened he would show up at the hotel like this. He hadn’t called or messaged her all weekend, and then he had the audacity to walk in drunk in the middle of the night?

Brady stopped walking and turned to face her silhouetted in the bedroom door. “Hey, baby,” he said with an easygoing smile.

“What the hell happened to you?” Liz demanded, crossing her arms. She hated acting the part of the bitch, but she couldn’t pretend to be okay with this. If he wanted to treat her as if she was a mistress he could toss to the side when he felt like it, then he shouldn’t have fallen in love with her.

“It’s a long story,” he said, collapsing onto the couch. “Why don’t you come sit by me?” Brady leaned back and stretched his arms over his head. He sent her the most adorable smile, and she just sighed.

“I think I’d rather hear your story first. I mean, you fly me all the way here, put me up in a hotel, get me the spa treatment, and then don’t even bother to come see me. Do you know how long I waited up for you last night? How hard is it to make one little phone call, let alone send one text message?”

She shook her head, feeling all the pent-up anger wash over her.

“Look, I get that we’re not together, because it’s impossible.” She had to fight not to roll her eyes. “But if I’m going to sacrifice my time to come see you, couldn’t you at least have the decency to follow through?”

“Liz, stop pacing and come sit down,” he said, patting the seat next to him. “You’re angry and I want to get my hands on you.”

She stopped pacing, not realizing she had been doing it to begin with. “I hate this,” she said, shaking her head. “I hate that I’m angry with you. I hate that you’re drunk and not taking me seriously. Why didn’t you call, Brady?” Her voice was thick with emotion.