A Necessary Lie

by Lucy Farago

  “Can I help you?” he said with a thick, sexy drawl that almost made her headache disappear.

  Of course, it could have been those blue eyes staring back at her. She and her father were transports from Chicago, and no matter how many years she’d lived in Texas, a southern accent on a good-looking guy never ceased to catch her attention.

  “Can you take me to the River Walk?” She gave him the address to her hotel. “I have a meeting I’m going to be late for if I don’t leave now.” She considered going straight to her meeting but she’d dressed in jeans thinking she’d have time to change.

  He appeared to be confused by her request. Then he smiled a Colgate grin and she could have sworn his teeth twinkled. She blinked. He shrugged. “Sure thing.”

  The drivers in front had left enough room for him to maneuver around and before she knew it, they were on their way.

  “Bad flight?” he asked.

  She wasn’t in the mood for small talk but she didn’t want to come off as rude as some of the people she’d flown down with. “Terrible.” Now that she was sitting and on schedule again, she forced the day’s upheaval to the back of her mind. What were lousy travelers compared to whatever Jessie was going through? She rubbed the back of her neck with her hand. Everyone carried their stress somewhere. Hers was here.

  “Sorry about that,” he said, staring at her through the rearview mirror.

  “Flying was the easy part,” she replied honestly. “It was flying with crazies that sucked.”

  “Ah, I see. One of those flights. Too bad you couldn’t fly yourself.”

  She sat back on the plush leather interior, closing her eyes as she rested her head. “That would be very cool. But small planes freak me out.”

  And whether because he believed she’d drifted off or simply understood the stress of the day, he didn’t speak again until a short time later when the car stopped.

  “We’re here.” He got out and opened her car door.

  He waited for her, then reached in and helped with her bag. The man was tall, like really tall. And while she had no business checking out his ass, she couldn’t help herself. Seriously, he had a southern drawl and amazing blue eyes and was wearing jeans, cowboy boots, and a hat. If that didn’t scream check out my ass, nothing did. And shame on her, she was practically salivating waiting to see the full picture. Then realizing she was making a fool of herself, she dropped her head and fished through her purse for her wallet, anything for a few seconds to get a grip. She did not openly drool over men. At least not while they were looking. When he went around and popped open the trunk, Grace snuck a peek. The man didn’t disappoint. He was a young Paul Newman, same soulful eyes, square jaw, kissable and friendly smile, and from beneath that hat peaked dark golden hair.

  A car honked, snapping her out of her trance, and she remembered she had to pay him. She was about to ask how much she owed him when he tossed his keys to the valet and accepted the number he was handed. “Don’t go far,” he told the valet, then turned to her and motioned with his hand.

  “Shall we?”

  Grace stared at the car being driven away, then at the duffel bag in her driver’s hand. Thoroughly mortified, she looked up to see him smiling.

  “Figured it out, did you?”

  Her face heated. “You’re not a driver.” And she was a dumbass.

  “I’ve been driving for a long time, but if you mean I’m not a driver for hire, then nope. Glad to be of service, though.”

  “I am so sorry,” she said, covering her face. She was an idiot. “Why didn’t you say something?”

  “I was heading here anyway. Come on, let’s get checked in.”

  She’d not only made a fool of herself with a perfect stranger, but they were staying in the same hotel. Oh good. Her mortification was the kind that kept on giving.

  “Stop it now.” He took her bag. “It’s no big deal.”

  “I got in your car and made you take me to my hotel. Of course it’s a big deal.” Why was he being nice about this?

  “You didn’t make me do anything. I could have said no.” He began to walk and she had no choice but to keep up.

  “Why didn’t you?”

  “Like I said, we were headed in the same direction. And you looked like you needed quiet time.”

  He’d read her right. “Well, thank you. It was very generous of you.” He could’ve easily tossed her out into that mayhem at the airport.

  “Nothing generous about it. You needed a ride and I had a car. End of story.” At the checkin desk he set her bag down. “You try and have yourself a better day now.” He tipped his hat and moved to another hotel clerk at the counter.

  “Checking in?” a clerk asked.

  “Yes, thank you,” she said and took out her credit card. He’d done her a favor and that was the end of it.

  Five minutes later, keycard in hand, she hurried for the elevator without a look back. She wasn’t here to meet a new man, no matter how sexy the cowboy. And as the elevators doors closed, she realized she hadn’t even asked his name. Maybe it was for the best. She didn’t need any distractions. If she hurried, she’d just make her four o’clock appointment with the senator.

  *

  She ended up twenty minutes late for her meeting thanks to more cab issues. This cab wouldn’t take one passenger, this cab went to the airport, those people had called down before her. She could have sworn the taxi stand attendant had it in for her. She could’ve walked there faster. But she made it.

  “The senator is with someone else,” his secretary, Ms. Katz, was saying. “You hadn’t arrived.”

  “I am truly sorry. I had a hard time getting a cab.” This totally sucked. “Will he have any time to see me today?”

  “I’m afraid not. He has dinner scheduled for six. You were fortunate to get this appointment.”

  No way had she flown out here to be shut down. “How about tomorrow?”

  “I’m sorry, Ms. Irvine, but as I said, he’s a busy man.”

  Grace reminded herself not get upset at the woman. She was only doing her job. “I understand, but he had agreed to see me and given his recent bad press I’d hoped he’d still be open to giving his side of the story. It’s a shame he’s the one being painted as a villain for his wife’s poor choices.”

  “I really wish I could help you.” The woman stood and straightened her navy skirt. “He’s booked solid tomorrow.” She made her computer screen go black, then came around to hand the UPS envelope on her desk to a teenager, fourteen, fifteen years old, tops. “See that it goes out tonight,” she told him, pursing her lips in warning. “Not like the last time, William.”

  “Y-yes ma’am,” he stuttered and scurried off, the secretary shaking her head with the faintest of smiles.

  “Doesn’t Senator Stanton have a grandson named William?” she asked, hoping to keep the conversation friendly and on her side.

  “If you’re asking if that was him, the answer is yes. He’s trying to teach him the value of a dollar,” she said, defending her boss.

  “See, that’s what the public needs to hear. Let them see the good father—grandfather. I promise, I’ll be on time, early even, and I won’t keep him long.”

  Grace held her breath as Ms. Katz appeared to consider her request.

  She circled back to her desk and pulled out a date book, explaining, “The senator insists everything be written on paper as well as digitally in case of a power outage,” she told Grace.

  “Very smart of him.” And it was.

  “All right, Ms. Irvine. I can’t promise a long meeting, but he has an appointment tomorrow at two that I don’t believe will take long. Come back then, and if he’s freed up early, I’ll allow you to see him.”

  She’d take it. “Thank you, thank you very much. I really appreciate it.”

  “See that you’re here on time. He’s heading to his ranch tomorrow night. You won’t get another opportunity this week.”

  “I promise and again, thank you.” Gi
ddy with her success, she spun around and ran straight into someone. Not the lasting impression she wanted to leave Ms. Katz. “I’m sorry,” she said, her nose having slammed into a man’s chest.

  “You really are having one of those days, aren’t you?” he said in a familiar twang.

  Grace looked up a very long and splendid torso and into the sexy eyes of the cowboy who’d saved her at the airport.

  Chapter Three

  Cowboy did his best to look surprised. He’d known she was late for her meeting. He’d paid the attendant at the hotel good money to make sure of it. It also hadn’t been that hard to sweet-talk Ms. Katz into letting him take Grace’s place.

  After she’d jumped into the back of his rental car, it had taken him a few seconds for it to register where he’d seen her before. He’d have driven her wherever she’d wanted to go regardless, but having her fall into his lap could only be a plus. Telling her father she had not listened to his instructions hadn’t been pleasant. Not that Cowboy could blame her for going against orders. If one of his friends had disappeared, no one could stop him from doing his own investigating either.

  But this little gal was going to be a burr under his saddle if he didn’t handle her the right way. “Are you following me?” he asked, trying to make it sound in good humor.

  “No.” But she turned a pretty shade of pink. “Maybe you’re following me,” she countered in a vain attempt to turn the table.

  “I was here first,” he pointed out. Then he put her on the spot and waited. It wasn’t gentlemanly of him, but he liked that her skin took on an even nicer shade of pink, softening the hard lines he’d seen around her eyes back at the airport.

  “I-I had an appointment with the senator.”

  “I believe he said he was done for the day.” He’d kept the senator talking long enough to eat up any time the man could have spared.

  “I couldn’t get a cab from the hotel. I ended up being late,” she explained. “Did you take my appointment?”

  “Nah, but seeing as how his schedule opened up, we chatted longer.” And if anyone had told him yesterday how well he and Stanton would get along, he’d have called bullshit twenty times over. Not only had the man not recognized him, they were on their way to becoming best buds. It was nauseating. He had to keep reminding himself the father was not the son.

  The extra time had been a bonus. It wasn’t like he could come right out and ask about Jessie. But when Lyle Stanton had barged in, the relief on his face had been telling. He’d expected his son to be talking to another reporter and said as much. Why?

  “I’m sorry. If I’d known you were headed here, I’d have given you another ride.” Or not.

  “That’s all right. I managed to get a meeting for tomorrow. Or at least I hope I did. His secretary said she’d try to squeeze me in between appointments.”

  She wasn’t going to like what he was about to tell her, but honestly it was for her own good. She should be listening to her father. “The senator isn’t going to be here tomorrow.”

  “Yes he is. His secretary—”

  “Is on the phone right now clearing his day.” He nodded over to Ms. Katz, busy doing exactly as he’d just said.

  “Nooo. She told me he had a full day.”

  As he’d guessed, she wasn’t happy. Cowboy reached out and snagged her elbow before she could harass the woman. “He did, but his plans changed.”

  “How do you know this?” She regarded him suspiciously. “And who exactly are you?”

  “His granddaughter is flying in earlier than expected. He wants to be at the airport to pick her up.”

  “He could send a car,” she said, not buying the excuse.

  “The girl is fifteen and travelling alone. He promised her mother, who isn’t flying in for a few days, that he’d be there. The senator is very protective of his family.” And perhaps his political career? Time would tell, but time wasn’t something Jessie had.

  “Again,” she said, eyeing him warily, “who are you?”

  “Daniel Bailey.” They shook hands. The years he’d been on the circuit had come in handy today—it’d been a long time since he’d played a role like this. “The senator hired my company to find his granddaughter a thoroughbred for her sixteenth birthday. They’ve planned a big party for her.”

  “Oh, I see.”

  Clearly disappointed, she had yet to let go of his hand. Not that he was complaining. In the picture he’d seen of her she’d been pretty. In person she was a whole lot of pretty.

  She wouldn’t get a chance to talk to Stanton. Not only was he freeing his day to spend it with his granddaughter, Cowboy also knew that for the next two weeks he’d be at his ranch, far away from a snooping reporter.

  “I’m Grace.” To his disappointment, she finally dropped his hand. “Grace Irvine. I’m a reporter trying to do a story on the senator.”

  “Sorry about your bad luck.” He wasn’t. It was better for her that she didn’t take matters into her own hands. Good intentions can’t protect anyone.

  “I have to talk to him. Is he still in his office?”

  It wasn’t uncommon for politicians to have backdoors to their offices but the senator’s headquarters were in an historical building. There was only one entry point. “Yes, unless he snuck out while you and I were talking. But barging in there isn’t going to earn you points.” Maybe he should let her storm in. It would be sure way to have her ass tossed out. The senator was friendly enough, more so with Cowboy as they still hadn’t negotiated the price on that horse, but his father was with him now. And that man made a snake’s nest look homey. If the senator was protective of his family, Lyle Stanton was the mean junkyard dog of his son’s career.

  “No, I wouldn’t do that. He’d see me as unprofessional. Then he’d never talk to me,” she said, surprising Cowboy.

  The woman wasn’t stupid. He could see her wheels turning. “Come on,” he said before she could formulate a plan. “I’ll give you a ride back to the hotel and we can grab a drink. Your day doesn’t seem to be getting any better.” He started walking, hoping she’d follow. He was nearly at the elevator when he realized she hadn’t. He stopped. “Are you planning on jumping him after all?” he asked, triggering a quizzical look from Ms. Katz. But whoever was on the other end of her phone conversation caught her attention and she went back to ignoring Cowboy and Grace.

  “His father is with him,” he told Grace, “and he didn’t appear happy about the senator cancelling his appointments for tomorrow. I’m going to assume they won’t be in the friendliest of moods when they come out. Best not be around.”

  “Look, I appreciate the advice, but it’s in his best interest that he talk to me. The media have been roasting him. He needs one of us on his side.” She crossed her arms and turned to stare at the door to the senator’s office.

  How the hell could he get her out of here? Should he even bother? He hadn’t lied. The tension between father and son had been palpable. Things were not well on the Stanton front.

  “He has his own publicity team and I’m sure more than one or two reporters who support him. Sorry, Grace, but he doesn’t need you.”

  “Then why did he agree to see me?” she asked, stepping closer to him and appearing to think she’d vindicated herself against his comment.

  She had him there. Why had Senator Stanton agreed to see her? If it were his wife who’d landed herself in jail with a DUI, he sure as hell would let his team handle the fallout and not allow an outside voice to fuck it up. “I wouldn’t know. But unless you’re planning on stalking him, I don’t see how you’re going to catch him before he heads home.”

  He glanced over at Ms. Katz, busy rearranging the senator’s schedule and looking almost as displeased about the change in plans as his father was. Just then, the door to the senator’s office opened. Lyle Stanton emerged with a crusty scowl that warned consequence should someone approach him. Grace, smart girl that she was, read him right and kept her distance as he blew through the out
er office, leaving behind the smell of freshly smoked cigar.

  “That man is more of a grouch than I am,” Grace said. “I have never seen him without a scowl. Even when the senator won his seat. He’s a very unhappy man.”

  The grouch comment piqued his interest, and he’d have asked her about it had the senator not chosen that moment to leave his office.

  He set his briefcase down on Ms. Katz’s desk and shrugged on his suit jacket. “Helen, I’m leaving for the day. You know where to reach me should anything come up.”

  And Cowboy would bet from the man’s irritability that he and his father hadn’t had a great father-son heart-to-heart after he’d left them alone. Grace, however, didn’t let his foul mood stop her. She made her move.

  “Senator, may I have a moment of your time?”

  “I’m sorry,” Stanton said having just noticed Grace, “but I have somewhere I need to be. Talk to my secretary and she’ll make you an appointment.”

  “I had an appointment,” she continued, refusing to be dismissed.

  “I’m sorry. You are?” he asked curtly.

  “Grace Irvine. My flight got in late and I missed our meeting.”

  “Oh, yes,” he said, his expression changing from annoyance to shit, better be nice to the press friendly. “You’re the other reporter from Dallas. I was sorry to hear about…your colleague.”

  Yeah, Cowboy figured he’d stutter on that one. Jessie’s name had never been printed in the paper when the news broke about his son all those years ago. She’d been a week shy of sixteen and, as a minor and the victim, her rights needed to be protected. Lyle hadn’t been happy about it. His grandson had died saving a black girl. That must have pissed him off something awful, but then not being able to use it to his advantage in getting his son elected…. Lyle Stanton gave new meaning to coldhearted bastard.

  “Ms. Irvine, if I don’t leave now I’ll be late picking up my granddaughter from the airport. Ms. Katz will be happy to reschedule.” Stanton grabbed his briefcase and again turned to leave.

  “Maybe I can go with you,” she offered. “We can talk on the drive, and I’ll grab a cab on the way back.”