Politically Incorrect (10 page)

Aaron crossed his arms over his broad chest. “Nebraska? She’s not a Texas native?”

“No, is that a problem?”

Liam shook his head. “None at all. Right, Aaron?”

Aaron smirked, nodding. “Nope. Not a problem at all.”

“With that, I think I’ll bid my leave and go get ready for the evening.” I nodded to Aaron. “It’s nice to meet you and I promise we’ll go over everything I have planned for your brother’s campaign and then some. Maybe we can talk tonight after the party so you can get a feel for what Scout has in mind as well.”

Aaron nodded. “I’d appreciate that.”

Liam reached for my arm, his long fingers slinking around my wrist. “Am I allowed to be a part of this little impromptu meeting?”

I had to fight the feeling of excitement at his touch. This had to stop. I had to get myself under control. “Of course, Congressman. Although, you might be bored. I’ll only be recapping what you and I have discussed today.”

Liam lightly trailed his fingers down the inside of my palm as he released me. “I could never be bored.”

“Well,” Harper reached for my arm, “I’ll make sure everything is arranged in the den where you’ll have more room to spread out.” He tucked my hand into the crook of his elbow. “I’ll escort you upstairs, Liz.”

“I think I know where I’m going,” I slipped my hand from his arm, “but thanks.”

Liam smirked, appearing almost pleased by my interactions with Harper.

How odd.

I shuffled the thought to the back of my mind and nodded to each man. “Gentlemen, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to take a shower and prepare for the evening.”

As I started out of the room, Liam called out, “Be careful. The door on the guest bathroom upstairs has a faulty lock. I’d hate for someone to walk in on you while showering.”

I stopped for a moment, feeling heat rise up my neck.

Dammit! He made me blush again.

“Thank you, Congressman,” I managed. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

I rushed out of the room without so much as a glance over the shoulder. He’d won that round, and he knew it.

Liam 1 - Elizabeth zip.

You picked on the wrong girl, buddy. Just wait. I’ll own your ass.

I trampled up the stairs, chuckling to myself at the thought. One way or another, I’d get him back. All I had to do was wait for the perfect moment. And I was patient. I could wait.

Excitement, the thrill of the hunt, purred inside my chest. My hand brushed along the smooth bannister as I sashayed downstairs. In the distance, I could hear soft music playing and the warm chatter of voices mingling. Lone Star Ranch was alive with wealth and intrigue.

Over the years, I’d become the master of working a crowd. In my younger years, I was intimidated by mingling with the rich. My old boss and mentor, John Beckman, use to tell me that private donors were like puppies. They would piddle all over your floor, but as long as you showed them the right amount of love, you could train them to eat from the palm of your hand. He was right, of course, which was why he was the best in the business until the day he retired and passed that torch on to me.

The house was fragrant with the aroma of barbeque and of course, money. Bright lights glistened throughout the room adding elegance to an already exquisite decor. The women were beautiful in their evening best laced with diamonds, and the men were dashing in their five thousand dollar suits and elegant ties. As for me, I wore a black tea length cocktail dress I’d ordered from my favorite Dallas boutique. To finish my classic look, I pulled my hair back in a loose ponytail at the nape of my neck and finished my ensemble with the pumps I’d worn on my date the night before.

I flattened my hands over my stomach, glancing around the room for my first target. Okay, more like my first victim. Hell, they should’ve smelled me coming a mile away, and if they didn’t it was because they were rookies and I was about to pop their political cherries. Not to mention their oversized pocketbooks.

“You look beautiful.” Harper stepped up behind me, resting his hands on my satin covered shoulders.

I turned around and gave him the once over. “You look pretty sharp yourself.”

He tugged on the hem of his jacket. He hated suits but understood this world as well as I did and wore them when necessary. That didn’t mean he was going to wear a tie, however. Instead he finished his outfit with a gold bolo tie bearing the Lone Star of Texas. Very typical of Harper. “Well, what do you think of our little turn out?”

I shifted back around to view the room. It was packed with the who’s who of Democratic Texans and some of DC’s finest. “Not too shabby, but I have to know, how on earth did you get Gerald Samford here?”

Gerald Samford was a money man from way back. We’re talking, he was around when Plato wrote the Republic, kind of way back. While he might’ve been the oldest son-of-a-bitch alive, every Democratic candidate would give up their first born child to garner Samford’s support. His name spun gold in Washington. To have him in attendance was an honor, more so because his feeble body didn’t usually allow for travel. Hell, a good strong Texas wind would topple the poor bastard over. Probably a good thing we weren’t in Lubbock. He wouldn’t have made it out of the limo.

“He called me,” Harper admitted.

I glanced up at my friend. “Really?”

“Yeah. Apparently the word’s out that Liam’s preparing to announce his candidacy.”

I huffed, blowing my bangs from my eyes. “Dammit. I was hoping it’d stay quiet until tomorrow, but oh well.” I jerked my shoulder in a jagged shrug. “I should’ve known once the paperwork was filed there’d be no secrets.”

“Meh. You’ll still have your epic announcement.”

I laughed, patting Harper on the back. “We both know I always get what I want. No one’s taking that away from me. So, where’s our golden boy anyway? I expected him to be down here by now.”

Harper grabbed two glasses of champagne from a passing waiter’s tray. He handed one to me. I took a sip of the bubbly liquid, but nothing more. I needed to be clear, sharp, and on point tonight. My job was to get Liam in front of the right people at the right time. These folks were ready with checkbooks in hand. They simply needed me to supply them a pen.

“He said something about a call to his office regarding a bill or something. He and Aaron were going on about it. I kinda zoned out.”

I glanced up at Harper, swirling the rim of my glass with my fingertip. “For someone who puts as much money into politics as you do, you really are clueless about the on goings.”

Harper shrugged, downing his drink. “That’s what I have you for.”

“My, oh, my,” I chortled, handing him my glass. “We better get out there.”

Harper sucked down what remained in my glass in one gulp and grinned. “I’m already out there, my dear. They’re in my house. That’s all I need to do.”

I rolled my eyes. “Suit yourself. I have some fundraising to do.” With a wink, I left Harper shaking his head and laughing.

I made my way around the room, hobnobbing with the best of them. At one point, Gerald Samford latched onto my arm. I didn’t complain, because the more I could talk up Liam to him, the better chance we had of gaining his support.

Amidst all of the hustling, because let’s face it, that was my job, I caught sight of Liam near the staircase with Aaron. My eyes grazed over him, stopping at his neck. Yet another hideous tie dangled there like an electric blue beacon.

Was there an ugly tie store I was unaware of?

I forced my gaze to move downward, assessing the rest of the attire. He’d matched his terrible tie with a slim-fit, double-breasted blue-grey suit. Had it not been for that God-awful tie, he would’ve been quite dashing.

A deep breath in and a hard exhale out, I plastered a smile to my face and started toward the young Congressman and his taller, more appropriately dressed, older brother with the good ol’ Samford still dangling on my arm.

At the sight of me glaring at his distracting tie, Liam’s face exploded in a smile. He slipped his fingers around it, slowly running down the length. Annoyance simmered under my skin. Again he was taunting me. I clenched my fist into a ball, digging my nails deep into my skin to maintain a semblance of control.

“Congressman Baxter.” I tried to force my voice to sound pleasant. It wasn’t. To make things worse, Liam’s dark eyes danced with amusement. Oh how I ached to slap that smirk right off his face.

I extended a hand out to Liam in introduction. “I’d like to introduce you to Mr. Gerald Samford of Samford Innovations.” Tilting my head slightly, I gave Samford my most polished grin. “Mr. Samford, this is Congressman William Baxter and his chief of staff, Aaron Baxter.”

Liam accepted Samford’s outstretched hand for an awkward handshake. Like a true politician, Liam’s smile never faltered, but his attention never left me either. The way he looked at me was almost a dare for me to say something, anything that he could taunt me with.

“Mr. Samford, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Liam quipped.

The old man released me, latching on to Liam. “Congressman,” he gruffed, “the pleasure’s all mine.” He returned to my arm before I could give him the slip. Such was my luck. “This pretty lady’s been telling me all about you.”

Liam raised a brow and his teeth grazed over his bottom lip. “All good I hope.”

There he went with that single eyebrow bit. Aggravation pulsed through me from his silent taunts, but no matter what, he would never get the better of me. This was my domain and I would rule supreme.

“Representative Baxter, I’m shocked you’d think otherwise. As I told Mr. Samford–“

“Gerald,” the old man interjected.

I gave him my grin and continued, “Ah, yes, Gerald. As I was saying, Texas needs strong, young Democrats, like yourself, in office.”

“She’s right. And, son, it’s impolite to question the integrity of a beautiful woman,” Samford scolded.

Liam laughed, good and hard. He patted Samford on the shoulder, his gaze locked on mine. “You’re absolutely right. I wouldn’t dream of it, sir.”

I fluttered my eyelashes. “Why, thank you, Gerald, but I can assure you, Congressman Baxter is the epitome of honesty and serenity,” I drawled.

By the look on Liam’s face, he had a million rebuttals, but none could be said in the presence of Samford.

Take that, Baxter!

As the three men chatted, I checked out of the conversation and perused the crowd for Harper. I located him, trapped by a group of people to whom I knew he couldn’t stand in the least, but like me, he’d mastered the art of the rueful grin. A slight nod and wink told me he was ecstatic to see Samford and Liam talking. If Samford approved of the young Congressman, we had a fighting chance against the Republicans.

Off in the corner, another sight captured my attention. In the back, where he thought no one could see him, stood Victor Knolls. Standing at least a foot shorter than me, he almost succeeded in his desire to be masked by the crowd. Gray, thinning hair puffed around his head in a sort of halo effect. Even from a distance, dark age marks were visible on his forehead. In his heyday, he was a handsome man, but time had not been kind to him. Drink in hand, he stared at me in the most menacing of ways.

It occurred to me then why Aaron asked about Scout’s origins. Victor was a native Texan. It seemed that the Congressman had enjoyed employing Texans in his office.

Nice plug, kid, but diversity is the name of the game.

Samford patted the top of my hand, giving it a shake. I dropped my gaze to the hunched man and smiled. In turn, his wide, toothy grin lifted up to Liam as he said, “I like you. You can count on my support. It’s nice to see young men with a sense of chivalry today. So many forget the practices of a true gentleman.”

What the hell did I just miss?

I made a note to ask Liam later. For now, I was more interested in why a former employee was shooting daggers at me from across the room. Not that he frightened me. Victor was more of a nuisance than anything. My biggest concern was his presence and how it might cause trouble for Liam’s campaign.

Liam rested his hand on Samford’s shoulder. “I appreciate your support, Mr. Samford.”