Off the Record

Chapter 22 APPEARANCES

Liz felt her anger deflate at his words. She knew it wasn’t enough for them to move forward. It wasn’t enough to change the course of their relationship. But it was something; it was a start.

“I want you too,” she whispered in the silence.

Brady’s lips found hers again, soft and warm. He wasn’t trying to kiss the life out of her; he was just kissing her. The woman he wanted.

He wrapped his arms around her waist, and she tangled her fingers in his hair. Her chest rose and fell in time with his, and she felt all the remaining fire in her body dissolve.

Brady wanted her.

When they broke apart this time, she was wobbly on her feet and had to rest her hand on his chest to hold herself steady.

“Are you all right now?” he asked, tilting her chin up to gaze into her blue eyes.

“Doing better,” she whispered.

“Good. That’s what I wanted to hear.”

“Brady, why did you bring her? Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked softly. She still wasn’t comfortable with the idea, but she wasn’t angry. Not in the same way, at least.

“I had to bring her.”

Liz looked up at him incredulously. “Really?”

“Some things are for appearances. It’s complicated. Heather really insisted on this one. My bachelor appearance only accommodates me so far, but in social situations it doesn’t look good to show up alone. And it’s useful to have someone else there to entertain the people I’m not speaking with directly. As much as I’d prefer to go alone, Amber is the least troublesome of the choices I was given.”

“You didn’t even ask her yourself?” she asked, surprised. How did all of this work?

“No. I’m too busy to date, or at least that’s what I tell my press secretary.”

“Does she want you to date?” Liz asked, concerned.

Brady shook his head solemnly. “She doesn’t want me to date. She wants me to get married.”

Liz let out a peep at that word. Married! He couldn’t get married!

“Don’t worry,” he said, planting a kiss on her lips. “That’s not on my horizon for a long time. She can’t badger me into something that extreme. That’s not like a date at a gala.”

Thank God! Liz thought.

“So…why were you flirting with my brother?” he asked, a storm cloud forming over his features. So that was what he had been holding back when he’d had his campaign face on while talking to Clay.

“I didn’t know he was your brother. Nor did I know I was flirting with him. I was trying to defend you,” she said, pointing her finger into his chest.

“Defend me? Why would you need to?”

Liz bit her lip. Whoops! Maybe she shouldn’t have said that. It was clear that there was something wrong between him and Clay. But she had already put one foot forward; she might as well take the step.

“He was talking about you and the campaign and politics in general. I didn’t know who he was, but they weren’t exactly uplifting words,” she said as tactfully as she could.

“Fucking Clay,” Brady said, shaking his head. “He needs to learn to keep his mouth shut. I promise he was trying to charm you.”

Liz swallowed and didn’t say anything. Charm ran in their family.

“I would stay away from him.”

“I probably won’t see him again anyway, will I?” she asked. “He’s at Yale. He should be going back soon.”

“Not soon enough, unfortunately,” Brady said.

Liz wanted to ask what the problem was between them, but it didn’t really seem like the time. There were other more pressing concerns…like where they were going from here.

“Brady, what are we doing?” she asked, trying to keep from choking out the words. She couldn’t ask too much. She couldn’t push too hard. She couldn’t lose him.

He opened his mouth to say something and was cut off by a sharp rap on the door. Brady hung his head and sighed. “That’s my cue. Can we finish this conversation later?”

“Will I get to see you later?”

Brady smiled that gorgeous smile he seemed to reserve specifically for her and pulled something out of his tux. Liz peered down into his hand and saw a little silver key. She glanced up at him, confused. “What’s this?”

“A key to my house.”

Liz’s throat went dry. A key. To his house.

She had never been to his house. She wasn’t allowed to go there. They had always met somewhere that couldn’t be tracked or traced…somewhere the campaign couldn’t find them.

“What’s that for?” she whispered, not able to tear her eyes away from the key.

“That’s where I was planning to have you stay tonight.”

Liz’s eyes slowly rose to his and her mouth popped open. He bent down and kissed her lightly.

“That is—if you still want to.”

He slid the key into her palm, and she closed her hand over the metal, feeling the light weight in her hand.

“I want to,” she responded.

“I have a driver tonight, and he can take you. I’ll see you tonight, baby.”

He placed one more kiss on her lips and then exited the room. Liz stared down at her hand. She had a key to Brady’s house.

Liz left the bathroom a few minutes later and walked back into the gala ballroom. Her heart beat a soft rhythm in her throat from her time with Brady, and she couldn’t seem to relinquish that feeling. Her emotions were swirling around inside of her like a tempest raging through a storm. She couldn’t believe Brady had given her a key to his place. He was slipping. They were both slipping away from their arrangement. The more he let her in, the more she craved from him. Even though she was still mad about Amber, their conversation had tempered her anger so completely that all she could think about was getting back to Brady’s house as quickly as possible.

Chris smiled at her as she walked toward him. She wondered what he thought had happened back there. He must think they had worked everything out or he wouldn’t look so smug. At least he was a good friend to have arranged a way for them to talk.

He handed her a drink as she approached. “I thought you’d want another,” he said with a wink.

“Yes, I would,” she said, taking it and sipping on the whiskey sour.

The key felt like the business card Brady had given her the first time they had met and he had told her to call him. She couldn’t stop feeling like the tiny thing was weighing her bag down.

The next hour was a blur of Brady, taking pictures, shaking hands, schmoozing all around. She couldn’t drag her eyes away from him, and Chris wouldn’t let her have more than one more drink. Apparently she hadn’t been as sober as she had thought when she had met Chris the first time. He was probably right about it anyway; she shouldn’t trust herself to drink in this environment.

Someone handed Brady a microphone and he gave a short speech thanking everyone for being in attendance. A series of other officials spoke after him. It was the same thing from everyone. They all wanted people to donate money to Brady for his campaign. They wanted to take him from a candidate to a shoo-in.

Liz already thought he was. And she had before she had become completely and totally biased.

After the speeches, music streamed through the speakers and the lights dimmed. Everyone began to mingle around the room and some of the younger crowd started dancing. Chris disappeared for a second to get another beer, and Liz thought about leaving early anyway.

She just needed to suck it up and see the evening for what it was. She had gotten herself into this mess. She hadn’t thought that she would want anything more from Brady Maxwell than what he had offered her that morning in the diner…that she would want a real relationship. And it hadn’t mattered, until it did.

Liz found Brady in the crowd standing with his family, Amber, and some official Liz didn’t know. Savannah was speaking and Brady was laughing at whatever she said. At least he got along with his sister. She wondered if he and Clay were too much alike, or if their animosity ran deeper.

Brady said something to the official as Amber spoke with his wife. She wondered what it would be like to stand there with Brady and entertain the wives of officials while he spoke to the husbands. Would she enjoy doing that? A chill went through her. She was getting way ahead of herself.

His eyes found her across the room and she saw his mask fall when he smiled at her. Their eyes locked and her cheeks flushed. He wanted her. She could see it in that one look.

Liz licked her lips. He nodded once, as if he understood what she was implying and turned his attention back to his sister.

She needed to leave. She couldn’t stand here any longer. She wanted to be in his bed, snuggled up against his chest, enjoying the time she could have with him. She didn’t want to see him parade around a room with someone else. Even if he had no personal feelings toward Amber, it still made Liz feel disgusting. She understood his position, but she didn’t have to like it.

“I think this is the last one for me tonight,” Liz said, setting down her empty glass.

“Are you sure?” Chris asked.

“Yeah. I think it’s time for me to go home.”

“You’re not still upset, are you?” He leaned against the table and surveyed the people surrounding them.

“No. I’m all right, I guess. Just tired. Sorry I haven’t been the best date,” she said with a small apologetic smile.

“Well, you weren’t the worst one I’ve ever had,” he said with a wink.

“Does this also have something to do with being handed off to someone’s son?”

“I swear I’m never telling you anything again. You’ll use it against me for all of eternity,” he said, shaking his head.

Liz pointed at herself and shrugged. “Reporter. I don’t forget much.”

“Great,” he groaned.

“Thanks for bringing me, Chris,” she said, wrapping her arms around his waist and pulling him into a hug. He patted her back twice before releasing her.

“Take it easy. I’m sure I’ll see you around. I always end up at functions for Brady.”

“Definitely. Hopefully I’ll see you soon,” Liz said with a smile.

She took one last look at Brady. He looked up, saw her leaving, and smiled. She tried to hold her smile back, but she wasn’t successful. He knew where she was heading now.

Liz turned away before he could and walked through the double doors and into the fresh evening air. She turned the corner and stared at the line of cars and limos that stretched around the circular drive. Unless his driver happened to recognize her, she wasn’t going to be able to locate Brady’s car without a valet.

She looked around and found the valet station, but it was currently unoccupied. They must have been out collecting a car for someone else.

She craned her neck when she heard voices off to the left, hoping it was the valet, but saw someone talking on their cell phone. The person turned and Liz saw that it was Clay. He nodded his head at her and beckoned her over.

Liz scrunched up her eyebrows and stood her ground. The last thing she wanted to do was upset Brady right now.

“Let me give you a call back,” she heard Clay say before hanging up his phone and sliding it back into his pocket. “Hey, you’re not leaving, are you?”

Clay walked back across the sidewalk to stand in front of her. Fuck! She couldn’t take Brady’s car if Clay was standing here.

“Yeah, I think I’m going to call it a night,” she told him.

“Where’s Chris?” he asked, looking around. “Is he getting his car?”

“Nah, I think I’m going to head home alone.” She sure hoped he didn’t try to read more into that. Chris was technically her date, and now it probably looked bad that she was leaving without him.

“Huh,” he said, seeming to mull that over. “Well, do you need a lift?”

“You would miss your own brother’s party?”

“Hey, it’s not like it’s my party,” he said with that cute dimpled smile.

“You really don’t support him, do you?” she couldn’t help asking.

“Why do you care if this guy wins an election?” Clay asked. “I mean, why do you think he’s running anyway? In a few years, he’s not going to remember anyone in this room who isn’t paying him in the upper hundred thousands. Unless you have a trust fund somewhere lying around, which, forgive me if you do, he’s not going to remember you either. The man has a plan, and he won’t stop for anyone to get there.”

“What? Did he step on your toes to get where he is now?” she demanded. This was not a conversation she wanted to have with him after the one she’d had with Brady in the bathroom.

Clay chuckled and shook his head. “Just wait. You’ll see. The toes will be the least of everyone’s concerns. You don’t know him well enough to understand.”

“Why are you telling me all of this?” she huffed.

“Because I want to take you home,” he told her. “Why don’t you let me?”

“I’m just curious,” Liz said, holding her hand up. “Does this line actually work on women?”

Clay laughed out loud. “Actually, yes. It does.”

“Uh-huh…well, maybe you should try some new material.”

“Apparently, but that doesn’t change the fact that I want to take you home. Nor does it change anything I said about my brother,” he said.

Liz smiled slightly. He didn’t get it. He didn’t get what Brady got about the world. Clay had it written all over him how jaded he was. From the way his hand rested in his pocket, the cockiness in his smile, and the glint in his eyes. She just wanted to…fix him.

“I appreciate the offer, but I’m going to have to pass. And about your brother, maybe you’re not wrong about him. But next time he gives a speech you should listen to what he says and how he says it. You might be surprised.”

“I’ll do that…just for you,” he said with a devious smirk that said he certainly wouldn’t.

“Ms. Carmichael?” a voice called behind her.

Shit!

“Yes?” she asked, turning to face him.

“Your car is on its way,” the valet said.

She hadn’t even gone up to ask the valet for the car. Was this Brady’s doing?

“That’s me,” she said to Clay. “Have a nice night.”

“At least let me get your number,” he volleyed.

“And what are you going to do with it? Don’t you go to Yale?” Liz asked.

“So?” he said with a shrug before pushing his phone into her hands.

Liz rolled her eyes. “I only want to hear from you if you change your mind about your brother,” she told him. She typed her number into his phone.

He took the phone back and nodded. “Sounds like a deal. I think I’ll find some compassion tonight,” he said with a wink before walking away.

Liz blew out softly as he departed. She knew that if she hadn’t done that then she never would have gotten away without him seeing that she was getting into Brady’s car.

Damn! Why hadn’t she thought of using a fake number? Whatever. It wasn’t as if she would ever respond to his messages.

Brady’s driver, Greg, pulled up in front of the valet station a second later. The valet opened the door for her and she slid into the backseat. Greg stared back at her through the rearview mirror with a smile. “Pleasure to have you back, Ms. Carmichael.”

Greg rolled up slowly in front of a brick two-story house in the very back of a gated neighborhood in a Raleigh suburb. It was dark outside, but the front porch light was on, allowing Liz a better view. The house was traditional-looking, with bay windows in the front and a large porch with a porch swing. She knew that Brady had neighbors on either side of his house, but the generous portion of land, curve of the cul-de-sac, and abundance of tall pines obscured the view of any of the surrounding lots.

Liz exited the car after Greg pulled into the driveway and opened the door for her. She thanked him for his time, and he got back into the car and drove away. She couldn’t believe she was actually standing in front of Brady’s house. She took a moment to relish that fact.

As she walked across the sidewalk up to the front door, she took in the smell of freshly cut lawn and pine that permeated the air. His house was far enough off the road that she could hear crickets and cicadas chirping in the woods, and the stars were bright with life overhead. The temperature had dropped some after nightfall, and a breeze blew in. She had an overwhelming feeling of peace, like the first night she had spent with Brady on the lake.

Liz removed the key from her bag, pushed it into the dead bolt, and unlocked the door. She turned the handle and pushed inward. The foyer was lit overhead, revealing a giant staircase leading to the second floor. The entranceway was all hardwood floors leading off in three different directions. She closed the front door and took the opportunity to look around the house.

She could make out the outline of a square wooden dining room table off to the left. The room to the right had sliding double doors that led into a library, with an oversize wooden desk taking up the majority of one wall. The bay window was actually a small nook, with a cushion over the seat and bookshelves underneath. She stared all around at the books and wondered whether he had actually read all of them. Where would he find the time?

She backed out of the office and walked into the living room. Dim lighting cast shadows up into the high vaulted ceilings. The living room was nearly the length of the house, save for the kitchen, which she could just make out in the dark. The room was well furnished, and a giant area rug covered the center of the room. Glass doors led out to a back deck used for grilling, and beyond that were trees as far as she could see in the darkness.

Liz wondered whether she should go upstairs. It felt kind of nosy to snoop around his place. She knew that he had given her the key, but this was different from the lake house. This place had Brady written all over it. The house even smelled like him.

Deciding she couldn’t help herself, she picked her dress up in one hand and wandered up the stairs. She opened up two guest rooms before locating the master suite. The room was so Brady she had to stop and stare all around her. Navy blue and tan accented the dark hardwood furniture. A picture of the lake house was framed on one wall, and an oil painting of a sailboat on stretched canvas was mounted over his bed. Along a waist-high dresser stood a collage of picture frames. She bent down and examined them, finding some as old as pictures of him and Clay as babies, one with Brady holding what must have been a baby Savannah in his arms with Clay pretending to punch him in the ribs, and some as recent as his college graduation and election to the State Senate. It was like a picture catalog of his life, and it made her smile. She hadn’t seen any pictures at the lake house.

Liz tore her eyes away from the pictures and walked over to the tall bed. She ran her hands along the comforter, knowing it was down and likely very expensive, and on the right side of the bed was a note sitting on top of a pillow. She held in her giggle as she took it in her hands, flipped it open, and read the contents.

Baby, it’s good to finally have you here.

—B

Liz bit her lip and smiled. He had planned the whole thing out. He would have had to plant this note before he left for the night, which meant he had been intending to give her a key and bring her back here all along.

It still didn’t make it okay that he had brought someone else to the gala…especially when he hadn’t told her about it. But it sure lessened the blow, knowing this was all for her.

Liz removed her constricting dress, located one of his white button-downs, and pulled it on over her head. She hung the dress in his walk-in closet that was full of expensive suits, dress shirts, and ties. Then she wandered back downstairs to wait for Brady.

The sound of the garage door opening made Liz jump up from the couch. She hadn’t been sleeping; she had been much too alert for that. But she hadn’t known when Brady was going to be back, and waiting had made her antsy.

Liz lounged back on the couch, not wanting to look flustered, and popped one of her knees up. She took a deep breath.

A door off of the foyer opened and closed, and she heard footsteps approach the living room. Brady was shrugging out of his tuxedo jacket when he stepped through the archway. A smile broke out on her face at the sight of him.

His eyes landed on her, and he smirked. “Nice shirt.”

She extended her long, lean legs out on the couch toward him and tugged lightly on the material. “Thanks. I think it’s a little big.”

Brady slung his jacket on the arm of the couch, kicked off his polished shoes, and loosened the bow tie at his neck. “I heard you had another chat with my brother,” Brady said, unbuttoning the top button of his shirt and sliding his hands into his pockets.

Liz shrugged and stretched her arms overhead. Was this really the time to talk about this? “He was outside when I was leaving.”

“And you decided to give him your phone number?” he asked, his eyes staring intently at her.

“Decided is the wrong word,” she told him, propping herself up on her elbows. She had left the top two buttons undone, and cleavage peeked out from her change in position. His eyes dropped to her chest. “I would use coerced. But either way it was only because your driver was about to pull up. I thought it would be better to give him the number and have him leave me alone than have him watch me get into your car. Was I wrong?” She stared up at him through her thick, dark lashes.

“You weren’t wrong,” he said, “but why does he now know you as Liz Carmichael?”

Liz furrowed her brow. Carmichael. Clay shouldn’t know that name. Then it came back to her. “The valet called me Ms. Carmichael,” she told him.

Brady tsked and walked forward to sit next to her on the couch. He ran his hands up her thighs with an urgency that said he had wanted to do it all night. He stopped at the edge of her shirt.

“That’s supposed to be my name for you,” he said, lowering his lips to kiss across her thighs.

“Only for you,” she whispered, her chest rising and falling. Her body was heating from his skilled touch. “Are you still angry with me?” Her voice came out hoarse and strained.

“Very,” he growled, nipping her leg.

She squeaked as her whole body tensed. “Are you going to forgive me?”

“I’ll let you make it up to me.”

Brady lifted her shirt from her thighs, scooted it out from under her butt, and then pulled it over her head. He tossed it to the ground and smiled down at her. She hadn’t been able to wear a bra with her backless dress, so she was bare before him besides her cream lace thong. “I wanted to take you out of your dress all night.”

“You should have,” she told him. She watched as he straightened and made quick work of unbuttoning his shirt. “In the bathroom.”

“If you hadn’t fought me off, baby, I would have had you bent over the sink and taken you right then and there,” he said, removing his remaining clothes.

She stared up at him completely naked before her and swallowed. She could never get enough of that body, and he was always so…ready for her. She wanted him now. Her eyes traveled the length of him, and she flushed as she thought about all the things he had done to her. Her memory was serving her better than her imagination in that instant.

His hands raked her underwear to the ground, leaving both of them bare. He moved on top of her, settling between her thighs.

“And I’m ready to take you now,” he told her before easing forward inside of her. She cried out as he filled her, and tossed her head back onto the pillow. “Just try not to wake the neighbors, baby.”

Brady started a slow, sensual rhythm, gliding in and out of her with enough force to push her toward the edge, but not fast enough to get her there. He held her head in his hands and kissed across her cheek to her lips. Their breathing mingled in heated, intoxicating kisses that only increased the passion growing between them.

Her body grew warmer with each passing minute, and she tugged lightly on his hair. He groaned into her mouth as her walls tightened all around him, and he plunged deeper. She pulled her feet off of the couch and wrapped her legs around his waist, which tilted her hips up to him. He used the added leverage to pump faster into her.

“God you feel good, baby,” he groaned against her lips.

She nibbled across his bottom lip and sucked it into her mouth playfully. He moaned gruffly when she released him and dropped his head down to her ear, where he returned the favor. She felt her breath coming out in spurts as he continued to drive deeper into her.

“Make me come, Brady,” she whispered desperately, feeling the waves of her orgasm tease at the edge of her body. She was getting close, so close, and she wanted him to get there with her. She just wanted to wrap her arms and legs around him and never let the moment fade away. If only they could stay here, like this, forever. Cut through all the misunderstandings and miscommunication, and get to the foundation of it all.

She didn’t ever want to let him go.

And then he pushed her to climax. He grunted and released at the same time, burying himself deep inside of her.

“Fuck,” he muttered. “Whatever you did at the end.” He took a second to breathe. “Amazing, Liz. You’re amazing.”

She kissed his breathless lips and nodded. She wanted to tell him. She wanted to tell him everything she was feeling and more in that moment.

But he just sighed, nuzzled into her shoulder, and let his breathing even out. She heard him whisper one more time, “You’re amazing, Liz,” as he held her close.

She couldn’t break the moment, not for anything, not even something this important…not even to tell him she loved him.