A wave of feminine power tugged at her pride, as he stood there speechless.
“Hey, Carter,” she said.
“Wow.”
Her cheeks warmed. The others in the room grew silent.
“You approve? The hat isn’t over the top, is it?” Not that she was taking it off. She felt safe under it, which was silly, but she did.
“Perfect. Everything is perfect.”
Behind Carter, someone cleared his throat. He turned and the half a dozen men in the room started to return to whatever it was they were doing. “Ten minutes,” a kid, maybe in his twenties, said waving a phone in the air.
Carter managed two steps in her direction and grasped her hand. He lead her to a second door in the suite where there was a king size bed, perfectly made with a garment bag draped over the frame.
“Sorry I had to send Jay to get you up. Something came up.”
“You’re a busy man.”
His hand rested on her arm after he’d pulled her through the door. He didn’t remove it.
“You look…amazing.”
She expelled a nervous laugh. “Are you trying to make me nervous?”
“No. I’m just… I mean, you’ve always been beautiful, but this…” He waved his hand in the air. “This is perfect. It’s as if you had a political coordinator telling you what to wear.”
He thought she was beautiful? Really? “Gwen,” she said, still stuck on his compliment.
“Gwen what?”
Shaking out of the daze, she gave him a better answer. “I knew Gwen would know what I should wear. If you need a political coordinator, she’s your girl.” Maybe it’s the dress and hat he thinks are beautiful.
Carter squeezed her arm. “Are you nervous?”
“No,” she lied. “Yes…a little. Jay briefed me, in the car. Nod, smile, and say very little.”
“Right. Let me do the talking.”
She chuckled. “Jay called it side stepping.”
A knock from the other side of the door interrupted them. “Time to go, Mr. Billings.”
Carter let his hand drop to hers. “You ready?”
“As much as I can be.”
His hand squeezed hers. He paused. “Eliza, do you trust me? Outside of football plays that is?”
She remembered their conflict at Christmas and laughed. “I think you’re an honest man.” For good measure, she added. “I’ll vote for you.”
“But do you trust me?”
Would she call him in an emergency and expect him to drop everything and be there? “Yeah. I trust you.”
He bobbed his head. “Okay…okay. That’s good.”
He was having a short conversation with himself, she mused.
Someone knocked on the door a second time. “Mr. Billings?”
“We’re coming,” he called and directed them through the door.
****
He felt the moment her palm went damp. Double doors opened and the two of them, surrounded by his manager, one bodyguard Neil insisted on, and three of his staff, escorted them onto a raised platform.
The last thing Carter wanted to do was let go of her hand, but when he reached the podium, he didn’t have a choice.
He gave her a reassuring smile, squeezed her hand, and let go. She held tight to her purse but otherwise appeared unaffected by the constant flashing of lights set off by the photographers in the room.
“Mr. Billings? Carter? Mr. Billings?” Reporters called his name repeatedly. He lifted his hands and waited for all of them to calm.
“Thank you for coming,” he began. “Everyone has been patient. I hope to ease your curiosity today. Thanks to YouTube, many of you witnessed an interesting video last weekend. As many of you know, myself and Miss Havens…” He glanced at Eliza, who smiled and nodded. “Stood up for our very close friends Lord and Lady Harrison, the Duke and Duchess of Albany as they renewed their wedding vows in Texas—”
“Don’t they do that every year?” someone from the mash of reporters called out. A few reporters laughed.
Carter smiled. “Yes. They do. Love makes people do things like that.”
“Give ’em five years. That’ll stop.”
Carter lifted his hands again. Sticking with his speech, Carter told the reporters he was in the bar briefly where he and Blake’s bodyguard noticed a couple of unsavory characters giving unwanted attention to Eliza and Lady Gwen. He purposely used Blake and Gwen’s titles to add a sense of class to the situation. Earlier today, Blake suggested he use their titles as much as he needed if it would help the situation.
What Blake didn’t know was the press conference was only one phase of Carter’s plan.
The reporters would figure out the bar was sleazy and after a couple of interviews it would be discovered that Gwen and Eliza weren’t completely uncomfortable up until the fists started flying.
“It’s unfortunate that my intervention was needed. Let it be understood that I will not stand by and watch a crime unfold in front of me without intervening.” Several reporters dipped their heads and franticly wrote down his well practiced and thought out words.
Carter glanced over his shoulder and reached a hand to Eliza.
On the outside, she looked the picture of composure. But he sensed the frantic rate of her heartbeat when he touched her wrist. He noticed her chest rise and fall a little too fast.
She held his hand almost like a lifeline.
“Miss Havens?” A recognizable network reporter called out. “Can you tell us what happened?”
Carter met her gaze, and she allowed a half smile to reach her lips. “Of course,” she said standing next to him as she leaned into the microphones. “Lady Gwen and I weren’t familiar with the area. We’d been in San Antonio for a few days, preparing for the wedding. We thought it would be nice to hear some country music. It was Texas after all,” she offered.
Carter’s shoulders started to relax as a few of the reporters laughed. Even Eliza seemed more at ease as she spoke.
“Like Carter said, a man led my friend outside, and if it wasn’t for Lord Harrison’s personal bodyguard and Carter, I can’t imagine what might have happened.”
“Who threw the first punch?”
Eliza swallowed. “One of the men from the bar struck Carter first.” She glanced at him. “I for one am proud to know we have the opportunity to vote for such an honorable man.”
More pictures flashed.
A warmth filled Carter’s stomach.
“What’s your relationship?”
“Are the two of you dating?”
Carter stepped up to the podium and covered Eliza’s hand with his. “I think we’ve answered your questions.”
“The public wants to know if they’re voting on a party boy with a bank account and friends in high places, or a serious candidate, Mr. Billings.”
Carter’s jaw tightened.
“Carter and I have known each for a couple of years,” Eliza spoke for him. “Outside of a beer while watching a football game, I’ve never seen him over-drink. I dare anyone here to prove me wrong.”
“You sound defensive, Miss. Havens.”
“I’m offended. He might not call plays well from the sofa, but Carter Billing’s is an honest man.”
The rapid fire of questions and Eliza’s revealing answers stunned Carter silent.
“You’re a football fan, Miss. Havens?”
“Isn’t everybody?”
Carter, along with half the crowd of reporters, laughed. He stepped forward and slid his hand over hers. She flinched, but didn’t pull away. “Thank you all for coming today.”
“Mr. Billings?
“Miss. Havens?”
Reporters pushed forward, cell phone and small recording devices in hand. Each of them begging for one more answer to one more question.
Carter slid a hand to the small of Eliza’s back and guided her off the platform. Only when they were back in his room did he stop touching her.
Jay clapped a hand to Car
ter’s back once the door closed behind them. “Well done.”
Eliza released a sigh and turned toward them. “What now?” she asked.
“We watch how they spin it,” Jay explained as he switched on the TV.
“How they spin it?”
Carter indicated a chair for her to sit. She sat close to the edge as if ready to leave.
“The media has a way of taking what you say, splicing it with what you didn’t say, and making a completely new story.”
“I’m not sure how they could possibly do so with what we said.”
“You’d be surprised,” Jay said, removing his jacket and tossing it on the back of the sofa.
“How long will this take?”
Jay glanced at his watch. “We have twenty minutes before the afternoon news runs.”
“Have you had lunch?” Carter asked. The way she twisted her hands together in her lap gave evidence of her nerves.
“I don’t think I could eat.”
“Which means you haven’t eaten.”
Eliza shook her head.
“How about something light? We’ll have them bring it here.” He lifted the phone and didn’t wait for her to agree. The concierge put him through to room service. After ordering the soup of the day and a pot of coffee, two more of his staff members walked into the room. After a short debate, Carter ordered a few sandwiches to feed everyone in the room.
“I saw Bradley from channel four doing a wrap up outside the lobby,” Justin, one of the staffers told them.
“And?”
“Hard to say.” Justin’s eyes shifted to Eliza. He smiled and shrugged.
Another staffer arrived, tossed his jacket aside. “Well?”
“Nothing yet.”
Eliza glanced from each man in the room to another. Her skin grew pale.
The men spoke to each other, each speculating what the media would say. Carter sat on the arm of the chair Eliza sat in and leaned forward. “Are you okay?”
“Fine.”
Yeah, right!
“We can watch in the other room.”
She glanced at the bedroom door and shook her head. “I’m fine here.”
Yeah, right!
Twenty minutes felt like an hour. As the opening credits for the news rolled over the television screen, room service arrived. Jay rushed the hotel staff in and out. Nobody bothered with the food.
“Shh!”
Carter’s first glimpse of Eliza on the screen filled him with a strange sense of pride. It was unfounded, he knew, but watching her walking beside him on film felt right somehow.
“After last week’s blunder, gubernatorial candidate, Carter Billings is on clean up. He certainly enlisted a mysterious and charismatic partner to help him. It’s hard to determine if Mr. Billings was fighting off an unwanted suitor to his current girlfriend, or if his explanation holds merit. You be the judge.” As the press ran a clip of Carter’s press statement, Carter noticed what little color Eliza had on her face disappear. Her index finger slipped between her lips, her eyes fixed to the screen.
You sound defensive, Miss Havens.
I’m offended.
“Even with Miss. Haven’s obvious edge, she humored the reporters with her crack about Mr. Billings not being able to determine a ref’s call during a football game. Still, this reporter isn’t convinced Mr. Billings will be able to escape the now notorious YouTube video.”
Jay switched to another channel. This one more sympathetic than the last, but still not what Carter was hoping for.
Without a word, Eliza stood and walked past the crowded room and into the bedroom.
Chapter Six
Her stomach churned and she didn’t even bother to keep from biting her nails.
Eliza glanced down at her expensive dress before removing the hat from her head and throwing it on the dresser. “What a waste.”
She collapsed onto the bed and grabbed her purse. She removed her wallet and found a well-worn picture. On the yellowed paper was a once happy family. Her mother, who Eliza resembled so closely they could pass as sisters, and her father, an honest, loving man, and her as a child of only nine.
The picture had been taken six months prior to their deaths. Prior to their murders.
Those memories were buried so deep, at times, Eliza would forget. After seeing her picture on every news channel, she realized how much she and her mother looked alike.
And that could be a problem.
A knock at the door had her scrambling to put the picture away and to close her purse. “Eliza?”
It was Carter. “Come in.”
Closing the door behind him. “You okay?”
“I’m fine. It’s you they’re smearing all over town. I can’t believe how much they’ve twisted everything.”
He leaned a hip against the dresser and tucked his hands into his pants pockets. Even with all the stress, he was sexy as hell. “We didn’t think one press conference would fix everything.”
“I hope you won’t need me. My wardrobe budget is tapped for the year,” she released a nervous laugh.
“I can reimburse you.”
Her jaw tightened. “Please. That’s not what I’m suggesting.” Besides, she couldn’t remember the last time someone paid for her clothes… Well, outside of a stupid yellow bridesmaid dress. “So what’s next? More press conferences?” She needed to know so she could make a graceful exit from this part of Carter’s plan.
“I’m sure those will happen.”
He moved over to the bed and sat beside her. She placed her purse to her side.
“You have a different plan, don’t you?”
He nodded, nervous suddenly in a way she’d not seen him before. “We’ve run studies, and researched past candidates in similar situations. Outside of waiting four more years, I need to do something drastic to get the media’s focus on the race.”
“How are you going to do that?”
“It’s simple. They want a family man in office.”
Eliza shifted on the bed. “You’re going to pull a family out of your butt?”
He laughed and his blue eyes fixed to hers. “No. I’m going to get married.”
Her smile fell. Kathleen? Isn’t he done with her?
“That’s extreme, isn’t it?”
“I don’t think so. Getting married fixes the image of a fight-starting, party boy in a bar. It adds stability to an office that historically has been run by married men. It’s the answer to my problems.”
Maybe it was, but her stomach didn’t like it. She swallowed hard. “I suppose.”
“You agree?”
“You’re the politician, Carter. You have a finger on the pulse of the voting public more than I do. I guess as long as Kathleen agrees—”
“Kathleen?” His confused stare bordered on comical.
“Who else?” He probably had a small lineup of willing women to be Mrs. Billings.
“You!”
Eliza jumped to her feet; her purse fell to the floor. “Me? Are you crazy?”
“Before you say no—”
“No!”
“Hear me out.”
“No!” She needed out of the room. Needed out of the hotel. Eliza grabbed her hat and shoved it on her head.
Carter stood and stopped her from reaching for her purse. He placed a hand on her arm, and she pulled back as if stung. “Listen, Eliza. You’re half the reason I’m in this mess.”
“Hey,” she said poking him in the chest with a cracked nail. “I didn’t invite you to that bar, and I certainly didn’t suggest you get into a fight. So don’t blame me for this.”
“What was all that about me being an honorable man?”
“The truth of that will change the minute you try and blackmail me into marriage.”
“Who said anything about blackmail? I was proposing—”
She tried to step around him only to be blocked again. “Yeah, well don’t. I’m the wrong woman for you for more reasons than you could possibly know
. Now give me my damn purse so I can leave. I do have a life to live.”
“This discussion isn’t over,” he said.
“You’ll be talking to yourself, because I’m done.”
Carter clamped his jaw shut and stared.
She folded her arms over her chest and stared back.
He cracked first, stepped back, and reached for her purse.
Remembering the gun, she moved to intercept him. “I’ll get it…”
Carter reached it first. The purse wasn’t big, and the moment Carter’s hand touched it, his face turned to stone.
She tried to grab the bag he lifted out of her reach.
He undid the clasp.
“Stop.”
And dumped the contents on the bed.
Eliza froze, staring at the weapon she’d carried with her all her adult life. Not even Samantha knew about it. And no one knew why.
“You want to tell me what this is all about?”
Her chest heaved with every rapid breath she took. “You want to know what this is all about? I’ll tell you what it’s all about. None of your damn business. That’s what it’s all about.” As quickly as she could, she shoved the contents into the bag, the gun last, making sure the safety wasn’t tripped, and then stormed out of the room.
She made it as far as the door.
She opened it and found herself faced with two suit-wearing men holding badges.
“Miss. Havens.”
“Sonofabitch!”
The detectives glanced at each other and put their badges away. “We need to speak with you.” They glanced around at the audience of Carter and all his men. “In private.”
****
Not too often in Carter’s life, at least since the age of eighteen, did he ever feel off axis. Apparently, all that was changing today.
His bodyguard stood beside the detectives, and his staffers had turned down the television set and were tuned in like an uplink to the net.
Carter took a chance and placed a hand on Eliza’s shoulder. She didn’t flinch.
Worse, she trembled.
“What can we do for you, detectives?”
“It’s Billings, right?”
“That’s right.”
“We need to speak to Miss. Havens, alone.”
Married by Monday (Weekday Brides) Page 5
