by K. A. Linde
“Thank you. I had a great team behind me. They really believed in me and my vision,” he said, each word stabbing her like a knife wound.
“That’s very . . . fortunate,” she said, not knowing what else to say.
Savannah smiled, oblivious to the underlying conversation going on between them. “I’m glad I could reintroduce you,” she said brightly. “I know Liz voted for you in the election and spent a lot of time ensuring students on campus voted.”
“Is that right?” Brady asked, his gaze shifting to Savannah.
“I know how you like to talk to your constituents,” Savannah said with a pat on his arm, as if he weren’t some big politician. To Savannah he was just her brother. “I’m going to go find Dad. Find me after, Liz, okay?”
Savannah traipsed away to find her father before Liz could say anything. And then she was left alone with Brady.
They stood there together awkwardly. How many times had she envisioned what she would say when she finally saw him? How many times had she thought that she would beg his forgiveness, yell at him for never coming after her, throw herself at him? But none of those things happened. They just stared at each other.
Liz knew that she should say something. She even opened her mouth. But what could she say? They were so far removed from where they had been last August. She just wanted to apologize, to explain, but she couldn’t. Not here. Not like this.
“There you are,” Liz heard from behind her. Her stomach sank. Shit.
She broke Brady’s gaze and turned to see Hayden walking toward her. He was in a navy sport jacket and khakis with a striped shirt underneath. His hair was perfectly tousled and his hazel eyes were almost green as he smiled at her.
He walked right up to her and kissed her softly on the lips. She didn’t think she even responded.
“Hey, Lizzie,” he said when he pulled back.
Liz stepped away from him, feeling terrible at the realization that Brady was watching. Fuck.
“Um, hey,” she said awkwardly.
Hayden noticed who she was standing by and straightened up immediately. “Oh, you must be Brady Maxwell,” Hayden said, having the sense to look slightly embarrassed. Though she wondered if he had kissed her on purpose. No. This was Hayden. He didn’t have a bone in his body that wasn’t good and decent.
“That’s right,” Brady said.
Hayden thrust his hand out. “Hayden Lane. I’m the editor at the college newspaper.”
Brady took it, keeping his campaign mask firmly in place, but Liz could see the fire brimming in his eyes as he stared at Hayden. His gaze shifted to Liz and she could see precisely what he was thinking in that moment. You’re with this guy now?
Brady knew exactly who Hayden was. She had kissed Hayden in D.C. while she had been seeing Brady. Their picture had shown up in the newspaper when school started.
“Nice to meet you,” Brady responded. “If you’ll excuse me, I have a meeting to get to.”
And without another second’s pause, Brady turned and walked in the opposite direction. She was left alone with Hayden, but she might as well have been all by herself all over again . . . because her heart had been ripped out of her chest with Brady’s departure.
Chapter 10
BIN 54
The rest of the day passed in a blur of Brady Maxwell. It was like the seven months that she had gone without him had just been a haze and those precious moments with him were her clarity. She remembered all too clearly what it felt like to walk through the world feeling as if she had walked out of Technicolor into black and white. That was life with and without Brady.
By the time she was supposed to meet with Savannah for dinner, Liz was just happy to have an excuse not to have to be around Hayden. He knew she was off. Her focus was shot, and half of the time it felt as if she were listening to him underwater. She told him that she was having dinner with Savannah, which got her raised eyebrows from Hayden.
“Where are you going?” Hayden asked curiously.
Liz shrugged. “I don’t know. She just asked if I wanted to go.”
“Strange.”
“Is it?” Liz asked, wrapping her arms around her middle. She couldn’t seem to get herself straight.
“I mean, I know y’all are friends, but I didn’t think you guys really hung out like that.”
Liz shrugged again. She didn’t know what else to do. “She asked me. I said I’d go.”
“Are y’all meeting anyone else?” he asked. He seemed to be trying for casual, but they had been together too long for her not to get what he was asking.
“I don’t think so.” She really had no idea.
“Not her brother?”
Liz’s eyes bulged. There was no fucking way that was happening. “No. Why would you think that?” she sputtered.
“He was just . . . looking at you is all.”
“People tend to do that when they’re introduced,” Liz said, trying to brush it off.
“I don’t know,” Hayden said, taking her nonchalance for it not meaning anything. But of course it meant everything. “I’m probably crazy and way off base, but I didn’t really like the way our politician was looking at my girlfriend.” He pulled her into him and kissed the tip of her nose.
She laughed lightly, hoping that she sounded disbelieving. She was sure she failed, but he couldn’t see her face, so maybe she pulled it off. “We’re talking about a congressman. A man who works for the House of Representatives. I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t look twice at a college reporter. You, Hayden Lane, are just imagining things.”
There. It was her first direct lie. How had she managed it so flawlessly?
“Well, you do look pretty gorgeous today.”
“Thank you,” she said, nuzzling into his chest to hide her face.
She felt like a total shit. She didn’t deserve him.
Liz ended the conversation as quickly as she could and hurried back to her house. She had no idea what to wear to dinner tonight. It felt weird obsessing over clothing options just to hang out with Savannah, but she had a pretty kickass style and it made Liz want to dress nice. She decided on a high-waist navy-and-white striped skirt with a navy tank top tucked into it. She paired it with a pair of brown sling-back platforms that made her calves look killer.
For a second she thought about pulling out Brady’s necklace and wearing it, but it felt too strange. She had put it away for a reason. One afternoon in his presence wasn’t going to change that reason.
Savannah showed up just after eight o’clock in her shiny BMW. Liz was out the door before her friend even got out of her car. Victoria was on a date with Duke Fan and she wouldn’t be home until later, so Liz locked the house up tight. She teetered to the car in her heels and then sat down in the passenger seat.
Liz felt better about her choices after assessing Savannah’s outfit. She was in a knee-length black dress with several strands of pearls and oversize Ray-Bans. Her long dark hair was pulled off of her face into a loose bun at the base of her neck.
“Are you sure you’re not going into politics?” Liz joked in greeting.
“Don’t even get me started,” Savannah said, pulling away from the house and off onto Rosemary Street.
“Where are we going anyway?”
“Have you ever been to Bin 54?”
Liz shook her head. “No.”
“It’s a steakhouse just off of Raleigh Road before Meadowmont.” Meadowmont was a community where groceries, shopping, and fine dining were walkable from the apartments. It was too far away from campus for Liz’s taste, but it was still a nice concept.
“All right,” Liz said. She wondered what the pricing was going to be on a place like that.
They drove the ten minutes to the restaurant and Savannah pulled into the parking lot. She took a spot and cut the engine.
“Okay. So, before we go inside I thought I’d just fill you in on why I’m being so weird and secretive.” Liz arched an eyebrow. “You know I don’t really talk about my family.”
<
br /> “Yeah . . .”
“Well, I love them. They’re pretty awesome. But I don’t get to share them with many people because they’re in the spotlight. Since you and I kind of . . . I don’t know . . . bonded over that fact, I feel like I can trust you.”
Oh, no.
“So, don’t take this weird, because my fam is cool, but we’re having dinner with them,” Savannah said quickly.
Dinner with the Maxwells? Liz was pretty sure that was the worst idea she had ever heard. If it had been awkward to have those few minutes with Brady . . . what would a whole dinner be like? And with his parents!
“You can’t report about it or anything, obviously,” Savannah went on, oblivious. “I just thought it might be cool to have someone else get to know the real me. I kind of feel like you’re the only one who is even close.”
Liz didn’t know what to say. On one hand she was happy that Savannah trusted her enough to do something like this. On the other hand . . . she was freaking the fuck out.
Did that mean Brady was here? Would she have to sit through dinner with him? Could she pretend not to know him?
Shit! What if Clay was there? That might be even worse. Not to mention the fact that he knew her as Liz Carmichael. How exactly would she begin to explain that?
Not good.
“Liz,” Savannah said, twisting at her ring as she did when she was concerned. “I didn’t mean to freak you out. I can take you back if you want. I just thought . . .”
“It’s okay. Sorry, just had to wrap my mind around meeting someone’s parents,” she said with a laugh that sounded more like a cough. She didn’t want Savannah not to trust her. But she wasn’t sure how to keep that acceptance and still get through the evening.
“They’re totally chill. I promise,” Savannah said, popping open the driver’s-side door as if that were all settled.
Well . . . great.
Not seeing another alternative, Liz got out of the car. She smoothed out her skirt and adjusted the shirt she had tucked into the waistband. At least she knew that she looked pretty hot. There was that. She would have probably died if she had shown up wearing jeans to meet Brady’s parents . . . to see Brady.
At least she knew that there was no way in hell that she was going to break Savannah’s confidence, because she most certainly was not going to tell Hayden about this. Especially not after he had sounded kind of jealous about the way Brady had looked at her at the colloquium. She hoped it wasn’t as obvious to everyone else tonight.
They walked in through the front entrance of Bin 54. The entire restaurant was gorgeous, with elegant circular tables, low lighting with candles, and mood-setting red walls. Savannah gave her name to the hostess and she directed them down to a private dining room in the wine cellar. The walls were lined with bottles and bottles of expensive wine, and in the heart of the room was a long rustic wooden table set for ten with large black chairs. Candles littered the cellar, casting a soft glow around the room.
Everyone else was already seated when Liz and Savannah entered. Liz braced herself for the look that Brady was about to send her way, but he didn’t glance at her when she walked into the room. He was deeply engrossed in conversation with the person sitting next to him, and Liz was glad that he didn’t see her when she got a glimpse of the people in attendance.
Despite the fact that she knew that it wasn’t just some big publicity stunt and Heather had all but confirmed that Brady was in fact dating the girl he kept popping up in pictures with, she hadn’t truly believed it until the moment that she saw Brady sitting next to her, chatting with her, laughing with his parents.
Liz felt her already fragile heart drop out of her chest and watched as Brady stomped on it. She knew it was ridiculous to feel like that, but she couldn’t help it. She had walked out. She was the one who had let him go. But she truthfully hadn’t believed their relationship would go anywhere past that summer. She hadn’t wanted him to have to choose between her and the campaign. He couldn’t give up his career for her, and she couldn’t let him be the one to choose his career instead.
But she hadn’t ever wanted to be in this position. To meet the new girlfriend.
Her throat was dry. Her fingers felt tingly. She wasn’t going to cry. No, this wasn’t that kind of moment. This moment wasn’t one to be mad or sad or pitch a fit. She couldn’t even muster those emotions. The only thing she felt was the one thing that she had never wanted to feel: regret.
“Hey, y’all,” Savannah called, drawing everyone’s attention to her with a wave.
Here goes nothing.
“This is my friend Liz Dougherty. She works with me at the paper,” Savannah said as an introduction.
Brady turned around so slowly that if she didn’t know better she would have thought he was uninterested. But instead she could just tell he was struggling for control. His eyes met hers across the room and she managed a smile without thinking about it. He looked so fucking gorgeous. It seriously was heart-stopping . . . if she’d still had a heart.
He didn’t smile back. He looked at her as if he was asking, What the fuck are you doing here?
“Come on; you can sit by me,” Savannah said, taking a seat.
Liz followed behind her and sat down in the last open spot . . . directly across from Brady. The only positive to this entire thing was that Clay wasn’t here. Only good thing she could think of at the moment.
Besides the Maxwells and Erin, there were four people she didn’t recognize at all. Family friends, or maybe another politician or something if she had to guess.
“Liz, these are my parents,” Savannah said, pointing them out. “And I already introduced you to Brady earlier.” Liz didn’t even glance over at him. She couldn’t. “This is his girlfriend, Erin.”
She did assess his girlfriend, though. Judged her was more like it. Liz couldn’t tell how tall she was, but she guessed a bit taller than her by the pictures she had seen. She looked classy in a red dress with gold buttons up the front and a gold belt at her waist. Her hair looked like a freaking Disney princess—long, dark, curling at the ends, shiny, silky smooth, with all sorts of luscious body. She had almond-shaped dark brown eyes lined in onyx, and perfectly curled black eyelashes. Her lips were on the thin side, but whatever dark pink lipstick she was wearing didn’t make them stand out as much. Her skin was tan as if she lived at the beach, but Liz knew that she didn’t . . . so it must be fake. Unless Brady was taking her to the lake house . . . or the beach.
Whoa. She needed to stop that train of thought right now.
Liz tore her eyes away from Erin.
“These are the Atwoods. Close family friends,” Savannah explained, gesturing to the couple seated at the opposite end of the table. Liz couldn’t figure out why Atwood sounded familiar. “Matthew and Lisa.” Savannah pointed out the parents, then gestured at the brother and sister. “Lucas and Alice.”
Lucas was seated next to Savannah and looked about Savannah’s age. He was handsome in an unconventional way: tall with a kind of lanky frame and overgrown hair. He looked as if he would be more comfortable in athletic gear than the sport coat he was wearing. His sister, Alice, looked as if she was in middle school or at the oldest a freshman in high school. She seemed lost in her own world and twirled her honey-blond curls around her finger the whole time.
“I thought Chris was coming,” Savannah said, addressing Matthew and Lisa.
But Brady answered. “He’s still in New York. Couldn’t get away from work for the weekend.”
Click. Chris was Brady’s best friend. He was the only other person who knew that Liz and Brady had been together last summer. She had gone with him to one of Brady’s galas and he had engineered for her and Brady to be alone together afterward. These were Chris’s parents, his brother and sister. It made sense why they were best friends—the two men had grown up together.
“That sucks,” Savannah said sullenly. She really looked like the baby of the family in that moment. As if with her family she c
ould ease into the person she always had been instead of the person she pretended to be in public. She clearly did trust Liz to see the real her if she had half as many of the precautions built up around herself that Brady had.
Personally, Liz was glad that Chris wasn’t there. She didn’t want to deal with his knowing looks any more than Clay’s.
The waitress appeared shortly after introductions. Liz ordered a glass of water. There was no way she was going to drink in front of Brady’s parents. She was sitting directly across from him and she couldn’t even look at him. She didn’t trust herself to drink.
Brady’s father ordered red wine for the table anyway. Liz almost groaned, but instead she just smiled like a gracious guest. One glass. No more than one glass.
“So, Liz,” Brady’s father addressed her, “Savannah says you work with her on the paper. How did you get into that?”
Now she wished that she had the wine in front of her so that she had something for her hands to do. Instead she put on an easy smile and tried to remain casual. “Well, I decided a long time ago I wanted to be a reporter. My mom works for the state of Florida and my father is a professor at South Florida, and they always had an interest in politics. So I guess I got that from them,” she said. She knew she was rambling about a simple question, but she didn’t know where to stop. “I joined the paper when I got to school.”
“Are you a senior?” Brady’s mother asked.
“Junior. I graduate next year,” she said softly. Her eyes drifted up to Brady’s for the first time since she started talking. Separated by another year of school.
“Don’t let Liz fool you into thinking she’s just someone at the paper. She ran the campaign division and is going to be editor next year,” Savannah explained. “She organized the colloquium y’all were at this afternoon.”
“Really?” Brady asked. Neither of them had pulled their eyes from each other, and Liz knew it was dangerous to address him directly.
“Yeah . . . I did.”
“That’s a major accomplishment,” Erin said cheerfully. Liz glanced over at her to see if there was any malice on her face, but of course there wasn’t. Erin didn’t know who she was.
