Finn sighed. “Do you have to be so rational? Could you pretend you’re not the heir apparent and drop the official party line for one night? And just get mad? Consider it my birthday present.”
Brady nodded. “Since I hadn’t bought you anything anyway, that works out fine. He’s a bastard.”
Ethan laughed, and his phone vibrated at the same time. He read the message. “Lily’s here and on her way up.”
Brady’s phone chimed a second later. “Good,” Brady said, as he checked his. “The limos are here, too.”
“Then it’s party time,” Finn said. “Finally.”
Lily was having a very hard time acting nonchalant. She’d thought the fundraiser was difficult to pull off without looking like the hick she was, but this was somehow worse. The fundraiser had had a different feel to it: everyone at that party had been there to see and be seen, or to network, or curry favor. It had been superficial and very political. Completely false.
This was different. This was actually how the upper class lived.
She’d left everything she’d ever known behind the moment Ethan helped her into the limo, and though they’d only gone to DuPont Circle, it could just as well be another planet. The Planet of the Perfect People.
Some places might consider themselves exclusive, with their bouncers and velvet ropes, but those clubs were havens for the unwashed masses compared to this club. She’d never felt so out of place and obvious in her entire life.
Diem catered to the young elite of D.C.: it was trendy, yet classy, with a private entrance to frustrate the paparazzi and a closely monitored guestlist to ensure those partying were surrounded by only those of equal social and financial rank. Lily had fully expected to be turned away at the door for her lack of pedigree, but their entire party had been greeted pleasantly and escorted to a table to the left of the stage and the dance floor. While she felt like her low-class roots were as obvious as a bad bottle blond’s, no one looked at her with scorn or disdain.
If anything, arriving as part of Finn Marshall’s birth day party on Ethan Marshall’s arm garnered her looks of envy from people who were far more used to being the envied.
Ethan leaned close as the first round of champagne was poured. “Have I told you how amazing you look tonight?”
He had, but the little shivers that ran over her skin had as much to do with the compliment as the feel of his breath on her neck and the husky tone of his voice. She turned sideways and adjusted the lapels of his jacket. “You look pretty amazing yourself.” And he did. Yummy, in fact.
More importantly, Ethan’s entire attitude was different from last week’s fundraiser. There, he’d been on edge, withdrawn and tense. Tonight that was all gone, and it was easy to see he was enjoying himself. It made it easier for her to enjoy herself.
They were a relatively small party: the three Marshall siblings, a couple of cousins and her. But their numbers fluctuated as the club’s other denizens made their way over to wish Finn a happy birthday, and Lily found herself surrounded by enough wealth and power to rival some small countries. Some were the children of senators and business moguls, but she also met lobbyists, Supreme Court clerks, congressional staffers… Everyone was a piece of the elite D.C. hierarchy. And it was just normal to them.
When the President’s daughter arrived, and greeted all the Marshalls by name, Lily knew she’d moved into an entirely different solar system.
But her position as Ethan’s date—clearly defined by the way his hand stayed either on her knee or around her shoulder—gifted her with automatic acceptance from the people who normally wouldn’t have noticed her existence.
“You okay?” Ethan leaned close during a break in the music.
“Just a little overwhelmed,” she confessed. At Ethan’s confused look, she added, “All the people, the music…”
Confusion turned to concern. “Do we need to leave?”
“No. Not at all. I’m having a great time.” In fact, Lily wanted to pinch herself.
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
“Good.” He grinned as he refilled her champagne flute. “I intend to get you tipsy and take advantage of you tonight.”
Like she needed any alcohol for that. “Promises, promises…”
Ethan waggled his eyebrows and dropped a kiss on her bare shoulder. “I can promise you one thing…” His voice turned husky as he whispered several very delightful promises into her ear, causing her blood to heat and her nipples to tighten against the bodice of her dress.
Finn interrupted by dropping to the couch on her other side. “I’d tell you two to get a room, but you might actually do it, and it’s far too early for anyone to leave.”
Finn had the same good genes as his brothers—making him irresistible to most of the women in the club—but he was definitely the West Coast version of the Marshalls. Sun-bleached streaks highlighted his hair, and there was a casualness to his attitude that belied his blueblood background. Lily had worried that Finn might object to her tagging along to his celebration, but if he had any problem with her Finn hid it well behind that Hollywood-honed charm. It was impossible not to like him.
“Go away, Finn,” Ethan growled good-naturedly. “This is a private conversation.”
Finn leaned closer. “You’re a very nice person, but you have deplorable taste in men. Ethan’s almost as bad as Brady.”
Brady was just a few feet away, chatting with one of his cousins, but turned when Finn said his name. “What about me?” Brady asked.
“Finn’s hitting on my date and about to get hit in the mouth, birthday boy or not.”
“But she’s so pretty.” Finn flashed a lady-killer smile at her. “Wanna dance, Lily?”
“You’re an idiot,” Ethan and Brady chorused.
Caught in the middle of the brotherly banter, all Lily could do was smile and sip at her drink.
She was in heaven.
Lily was a bit unstable on her feet as Ethan led her out of the club to the waiting limo. Her cheeks were flushed, but she wore an ear-to-ear grin. Her grip on his bicep tightened as she wobbled slightly on the skyscraper heels that made her legs look a mile long and emphasized the definition of her calf muscles.
As he helped her in, a worried crease formed on her brow. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay with the others?”
“Positive,” he assured her for the tenth time.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have had that last glass of champagne.”
“Feeling no pain, huh?”
“No pain. Just bliss.” She slid closer on the seat as the driver pulled away from the club. “Tonight was so much fun. Thank you.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed yourself.” Lily’s head dropped against his shoulder and she sighed. “Uh-oh, someone’s done for the night.”
“Nope, not at all. Just enjoying the floaty feeling.”
He was enjoying the feeling of Lily pressed against his side, and the lazy slide of her fingers over his chest as she toyed with the buttons on his shirt.
“I like your family.”
It wasn’t the first time she’d said that. He dropped a kiss on the top of her head. “And they like you.”
Her hand paused, and he felt her frown against his chest. “I don’t think Brady does.”
“Oh, he does. But, sadly, Brady’s social skills are often hindered by the stick up his—”
“Stop it. I know you don’t mean that.” But the reassurance must have helped, because her fingers went back to playing with his buttons.
“Oh, I mean it. It’s his job.”
“And Finn?”
“Finn’s just Finn. You can’t take anything he says seriously.”
Lily looked up from the button she’d undone. “So he doesn’t think I’m pretty?” She stuck her bottom lip out in an overdramatic pout.
He ran a finger over her lip. “Oh, he has excellent taste in women. It’s the other ninety percent of the words that come out of his mouth that are garbage.”
The pout morphed into a flirtatious grin. “So you think I’m pretty?”
“Someone’s fishing for compliments.”
Lily had opened three more buttons, and now slid her hand inside his shirt. Her thumb brushed across his nipple, sending a jolt of desire through him, then her hand splayed open over his stomach. “I know it’s a cliché, but you know what I’ve always wanted to do?”
Whatever it was, he was very interested. “What’s that?”
He was briefly disappointed when Lily removed her hand and moved to the opposite seat. His mood quickly changed when, with a siren’s smile, Lily reached one hand behind her back. The silky fabric of the dress loosened, and his blood rushed to his lap as Lily slid it slowly off her arms and down to her waist, unwrapping herself like a present.
A lift of her hips and small shimmy caused the dress to puddle around her ankles. A moment later, the dress landed in his lap, and Lily reclined across the leather seat wearing nothing but two scraps of black lace and those sexy shoes.
He barely had enough blood still circulating freely to think, but what few thoughts he could form only made the pressure against his zipper intensify. He couldn’t decide whether to bury himself in her or prolong the luscious view.
It was a side to Lily he hadn’t seen before, but her wicked smile told him how much she was enjoying this. He forced himself to stay put. Lily ran a finger over the top of her cleavage, and Ethan dug his fingers into his thighs to keep from snatching her into his lap.
“How long does it take to get back to your place?” The purr in her voice moved over him like a caress.
Ethan slammed a hand on to the speaker button.
“Yes, Mr. Marshall?”
“Circle the city for a while. We’re in the mood to do a little sightseeing.”
“Of course, Mr. Marshall.”
Lily’s lips twitched. “Which sights are you wanting to see?”
“Just one. The look on your face right before I make you scream.”
He saw her bravado falter a little at his bluntness, but her lips parted and her breath kicked up a notch. He moved to her seat and draped her legs across his lap. She shivered as he slid a hand from ankle to hip. Goosebumps rose on her skin as he traced his tongue along the lacy edge of her bra. “How long do you think it will take me to get there?”
Lily’s eyes widened, then closed in pleasure as he captured her nipple in his mouth.
It didn’t take very long at all.
“You know, I didn’t miss you at all while you were gone,” Joyce grumbled as she eyeballed the latest stack of paperwork Ethan handed her. She was more than just an assistant, and she knew well how valuable she was to Ethan, which gave her a freedom of speech most other employees wouldn’t dare exercise.
“You know you did.”
She laid a stack of papers in front of him. “Sign here. Yes, for about five whole minutes—and then I discovered this amazing thing called A Life. I found it very intriguing. Here, too.”
He scribbled his name. “Hey, I pay you good money not to have a life.”
Joyce sighed. “You so need a hobby. And here.”
“What did I just sign?” He scanned the pages.
“Your soul away.”
“Oh, good. I was afraid it might be your raise.”
“You’re hysterical.” Joyce restacked the papers neatly and slid them into a folder. “I do need you to look over the contract for the property in Chicago—and don’t forget you have a conference call at two o’clock. And… Oh.” She paused. “And it seems Senator Marshall is here to see you.”
Ethan looked up to see his father standing in the doorway to his office. He had a smile on his face, which meant Ethan wasn’t going to like the purpose of the visit.
At Ethan’s nod, Joyce excused herself and shut the door on her way out. “We’ll need to keep this brief. It’s a busy day.”
“Oh, this won’t take long.” Douglas made himself comfortable in one of the chairs across the desk from Ethan, and tapped a rolled-up sheaf of papers against his leg. “It’s about your girlfriend.”
“Just let it go. Lily isn’t your business, and she’s certainly not detrimental to the campaign, so—”
“She could be once the press finds everything out.”
“Finds what out? That she works for Granddad? Big deal.”
His father chuckled, which was never a good sign. “So you don’t actually know? When I thought you’d started dating that woman just to spite me, I at least respected you for trying to score a point or two. The fact you don’t actually know… Well, that’s just pathetic. I’m rather disappointed in you.”
“Well, it’s not the first time, is it?” Ethan tossed the pen he was fiddling with onto the blotter and leaned back in his chair. “Let’s just make this quick and easy. You’re a lousy human being, and I’m a great disappointment to you because I refuse to think you’re God. We’ve had this conversation before. Now, is there something else that brought you by, or are we done now?”
“You definitely inherited your brains from your mother.” Douglas shook his head as he pushed to his feet. “I was going to go through this point by point, but I’ll deny myself the pleasure.” He tossed the papers he held onto Ethan’s desk. “You’ve appeared in public with her twice. You can hope there are no pictures already heading to the press, but before there’s a third time you should have a look at this.”
On that cryptic note his father was gone, raising the question of what could be interesting enough to make the Senator take time out of his day to come to Ethan’s office, and then not actually talk about it.
Not that Ethan minded the brevity. Any meeting—however brief—with his father was guaranteed to raise his blood pressure, and whatever was in this stack of papers was not going to help. Had their conversation been about anything other than Lily, he’d toss them in the trash unread. But he couldn’t shake the strange feeling that had hold of him long enough to do so.
The top page was a memo, written by his father’s chief of staff, referencing the investigation made into the background of Lily Ann Black.
The SOB had investigated Lily. The outrage that immediately rose was damped a bit by the fact his father wouldn’t be crowing so much unless he’d found something. Something damning.
Did he really want to know?
Ethan flipped ahead, past Lily’s employment application, her driving record, and the basic check they’d run on her before she was hired. The next page, though, took a moment to fully register, and once it did…
It was Lily’s mugshot. Oh, she was much younger, probably still in her teens, and her hair was blond with bright red streaks. She wore way too much make-up, and it only accented the sullen look on her face. He barely recognized her.
She was just a kid. She could have been arrested for anything.
But as he flipped to the next page he realized it was far more accurate to say she’d been arrested for everything. And it wasn’t just kid stuff, either, regardless of her juvenile offender status.
Hacking, conspiracy to defraud, forgery, petty larceny, fraud… Sweet Jesus. No wonder Lily had left Mississippi. The local judge probably wanted to throw her under the jail.
And Lily had never bothered to mention any of it.
The notation that her official records were sealed explained how Lily had passed the pre-employment background check at Hill Chase. It also showed that his father had pulled some major senatorial strings to get this information. Ethan’s disgust at his father’s misuse of power was quickly swamped by a far greater anger.
She’d been lying to him the whole damn time.
No wonder she kept to herself and didn’t talk much. She wasn’t shy or quiet. He’d been right that Lily just didn’t want to talk.
And now he knew why.
Making it worse was the knowledge that her record—as extensive as it was—only showed what she’d been caught doing. The list of crimes she hadn’t been arrested for was probably much lo
nger.
God only knew what else she was hiding.
His next thought chilled him: what did she hope to gain by keeping all this hidden? People kept secrets for a reason, and it rarely ended up well or harmless. Brady’s caution the night of the fundraiser weighed heavy. He came from a rich and powerful family; the background check that would have denied Lily a job was for their protection, and Lily had managed to circumvent that. Was he supposed to believe Lily had ended up working for them just by accident?
Lily certainly had a hell of an act going, and he’d swallowed it whole. Everything he knew about her was false.
And he’d fallen for it. Fallen for her.
Lily was nothing but a liar.
CHAPTER EIGHT
THE stable was busier today than usual; one of the “little kids,” as Ethan called them, was hosting a slumber party this evening, and the draw of the horses was too strong for twelve ten-year-old girls to resist. Just keeping curious girls out from under the feet of the horses and the staff had Lily running.
This was on top of her usual workload—plus Duke had been cribbing again, this time even managing to find a loose fan wire and chew it to bits. The horse was lucky he hadn’t electrocuted himself. The farrier was due back today, to shoe some more of the horses, and they were running a hand short. She ducked into the office to refill her water bottle and catch her breath.
She was busy, busy, busy, but she loved each and every item on her to-do list. She loved her job, her shiny new life and Ethan Marshall.
That was a new feeling—scary, yet exciting at the same time. It had been hard to admit it to herself, but once she did…
If she thought about it too much, though, she got either moony-eyed or slightly overwhelmed, so she was trying very hard to just be in the moment. She couldn’t allow herself to think about the past or the future, so just focusing on the moment was the best idea anyway.
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