Politically Incorrect (21 page)

Aaron gave a hushed laugh. “Oh, he’s going to have a field day with this one.”

“Where does Liam find those things?”

“You’ll have to ask him that.”

Off in the distance, I heard my name. I turned my head to see who was calling me. It was one of Liam’s recent contributors. A rich, old Texas oil man Harper had put in touch with me.

“Go,” Aaron pushed. “I’ll keep an eye on our boy.”

I nodded and trotted off to make nice with big money. All for the win, I told myself.

All for Liam.

An hour later the rally ended, but that didn’t mean my job was over. In fact, mine was only beginning. I was fielding calls, talking to constituents, and pretty much selling the shit out of my client. After this, he had secured himself as a major contender for the Senate seat.

Once the rally ended, I congratulated him, and walked away. That single handshake was more than my heart or mind could bear.

I didn’t have time to deal with muddled emotions. So I compartmentalized.

Those feelings for Liam were put on the backburner, which meant avoiding him like a plague.

And that’s what I did.

But it wasn’t easy. I fluttered about the university auditorium, mingling with people but all the while I felt those intense, molten chocolate eyes on me. I’d catch a glimpse of his plump, smooth lips, or the way his dark hair fell across his forehead and my heart would tighten. His delicious skin, those long fingers, sculpted arms ─ everything about him beckoned me. But I wouldn’t give into the temptation. Our little scuffle today proved my point. The professional boundary was imperative, no matter how much I wanted to throw caution to the wind.

Outside the auditorium, surrounded by college classrooms with their doors closed and locked, I shook hands with a straggler who was now on board with Team Baxter. Farewells and smiles bade, I watched as they exited the building. In need of numbers, I pivoted around to begin my search for Aaron or Scout.

There, at the end of the hall, standing outside the auditorium, stood Liam. I froze, locked under his spell. My heart jetted into overdrive. My breath hitched at the simple way his tongue darted over his lips.

The hall was empty. Not a single soul in sight.

Dammit!

That wasn’t good. It left me vulnerable.

I had one of two choices. I could woman up, which meant ignoring his intense stare and acting as if this were any other day with any other client.

Easy enough, right?

Wrong.

That look in his eyes was lethal. At least to my ovaries.

Or I could make a run for it and pray no one noticed me being a chicken-shit.

My ovaries chose the latter.

I tucked my hands in my pockets, and as casual as possible, I turned my back on him and dashed around the corner. With no one in the halls, the clacking of my shoes seemed louder than normal, reverberating off the walls. I cringed with each step. It seemed the lighter I attempted to walk, the louder my steps got, but I kept moving.

I glanced over my shoulder to make sure I wasn’t followed. When I was certain the coast was clear, I slammed my back against the lockers and covered my face with my hands. I fought back the burning ache in my chest. I was being silly, sure, I knew that, but I was allowed a moment of temporary insanity. And it was justified by my desire to save our careers from total annihilation.

I flattened my hands against the cool metal of the lockers. With my eyes closed, I breathed in deep through my nose.

Control. That’s what I needed. Liam had been in control since the night of our kiss, and I hated him for it. I hated that I’d allowed myself to get caught up in the rush of the moment and given up a piece of myself in the process. Order. Precision. Power. Control. These were the things I understood. I must have them back.

Determined to regain my level footing in this relationship, I shook my hands at my side, and bounced a little at the knees. Calmed, I shoved off the lockers and tiptoed to the corner. A quick glance confirmed he wasn’t there.

All clear.

Relief, and a little agony, panged inside me at his absence, but it was for the best.

“Looking for someone?” His deep voice rumbled from behind me.

I tried hard not to show any reaction, but he’d startled me. The man had stealth moves. He came out of nowhere!

Grr. All that military training of his was biting me in the ass.

I didn’t even have to turn around to know he was in my personal space. The smell of his cologne enveloped me. I twisted around and just as I expected, he towered over me.

I lifted my face, faking poise. “Liam,” I managed, sickened by the whimper in my tone. That wasn’t my voice! Where was the fight? I pushed myself up, squaring my shoulders. So what if he caught me. I could handle this.

At least, that’s what I thought until I felt the sweet caress of his breath on my face and basked in the aroma of peppermint and eucalyptus.

“Yes?” he rumbled, deep and throaty, causing me to tremble all over.

I pushed air out of my nose, forcing the girlish whims back. I would not fall prey to his charms, no matter how those eyes of his burned into my soul.

I tried to position myself so I seemed unfazed by his sudden appearance. He reached up and tucked my hair behind my ear. His touch was slow, deliberate, and lingering. I jutted my chin, fighting the desire to lean into his gentle caress.

“You wouldn’t happen to be looking for me, would you?” he murmured.

“I, ah, um…” My jaw juddered with each grunt of my incoherent assembly of words. I dropped my gaze from his, shaking my head. “Ah, no. No.” I tried to sound confident.

I failed.

“Look at me, Elizabeth.” The command dominated me, and like the fool I was, I obeyed. I tilted my head, lifting my eyes to his. I opened my mouth to say something, anything, but nothing came out. I couldn’t speak. I could barely breathe. All I could do was stare into the eyes of the man lofting over me.

“So I guess that means you’re avoiding me then? After all, you’re the one ducking around corners.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I sounded off, but at least I held my wit.

He took another step toward me. “You’ve been avoiding me all night, Elizabeth.”

My brain was on overload. His close proximity was killing my resolve. I pushed back against the very thing I wanted the most – to simply give into my desires. The pragmatic side of me took over, scratching and clawing to regain control.

“Congressman, if you haven’t noticed, I’ve been busy doing what you hired me to do.”

“I did hire you for a job. And I’ve been satisfied with you, until today.”

“I beg your pardon?” I gasped. “I’ve just spent the last several hours selling you like you’re God himself. Not to mention all the hours I’ve invested in this campaign.”

“All of that’s true, and I thank you, but at this moment I don’t really care about the campaign. I want to know what happened today.”

“I’m not sure I follow.”

“You know exactly what I mean,” he growled, his face dropping another inch closer to mine.

I did, but if he had to explain it to me, I took control of the situation. “I’m afraid I don’t.”

He chuckled, taking a step forward, forcing my back against the lockers.

I hit the metal with an oomph. My hands flattened against the cold steel. My eyes darted to the left and then to the right. This was bad. So bad. I began to freak over what our little standoff might look like to the media.

“Liam, we can’t do this here. What about the media?” I tried to push him back, but his large form wouldn’t budge.

“I don’t care,” he stated intensely.

“But I do. After tonight’s rally...”

The corner of Liam’s mouth quirked upward. “Forget the rally or the media. I want to know what happened.”

An escape plan whirled inside my head. I had to get out of the cage he created around me. If not for me, then for him. He might not think about it now, but he would later when this was posted on every blog and television station across the nation.

“You were jealous of Kristin this morning,” he thrummed deep in his chest.

I cocked my head to the side. “And what makes you think that?” I spouted off.

He dipped his head, his lips brushing the shell of my ear. “Because it’s exactly why I reacted to Harper the way I did. Tell me that asshole didn’t touch you in
my
room.”

I withered at the feel of his tongue flicking my earlobe. All control was gone now. Kaput. Vanished. I was falling apart in his arms, which was the complete opposite of how he appeared to be. He seemed calm. Collected. Confident. Even while admitting he was vulnerable.

“You...you were jealous of Harper?”

“Yes,” he breathed. “Insanely jealous.”

I struggled with that concept. There was no reason to be jealous of Harper, then again there was no reason for me to be jealous of Kristin, and I was. “But why?”

Slow kisses trailed down my jaw. “Because of how you came out of my room all disheveled.”

Teeth grazed along my neck, a flick of his tongue followed. A small squeak and a heavy gasp expelled from me. My hands reached around his back, digging into the fabric of his jacket.

“Nothing...nothing happened.”

“Good,” he growled. “Now, tell me why you’re avoiding me.”

“Because I can’t resist you anymore.”

Damn him for being able to pull the truth out of me.

“Then don’t.”

“But I must…” I mumbled as his mouth captured mine in a kiss that could ignite heaven and hell into a flame of glory. Earth would bow to such a kiss. The angels would sing.

His tongue slipped inside my mouth, exploring every inch, taking what was his. If my mind was working right, this kiss would’ve resulted in high alert, panic mode. Had someone from the media or a voter with a phone rounded the corner we’d be exposed. But I couldn’t think. All I wanted was to taste him, to touch him, to claim him.

Drunk on his kiss, I felt lightheaded when he pulled back, his forehead pressed against mine. “This game stops now, Elizabeth. No more pushing me away. No more avoiding me. No more keeping score. Do you understand?” His hands slid up my sides, pinning my hips to the lockers. “Tell me you understand.”

“Yes,” I whimpered.

His brown eyes bore into mine with such intensity that any coherent thought escaped me. A playfulness in his devious grin tickled my insides. He reminded me of a cat that caught the mouse. Liam hooked his arm around my waist, pulling me flush to his body. His mouth once again captured mine.

My mind whirled with the feeling of his warm tongue exploring my mouth. My hands slipped into his hair, tangling into his soft locks. Liam’s hand pressed into the small of my back, forcing my body to conform to his. Engulfed in his embrace, surrounded by all things Liam, I was lost to logic and reality.

Until he pulled back for a breath. That’s when it hit me. “Wait? What do you mean no more taking score?”

Liam didn’t move. He held steady with my gaze, his nose wrinkled and his eyes danced. “You have a file on me.”

I clasped my hand over my mouth. “You invaded my privacy?” I shrieked. “How dare you?”

Liam shrugged a shoulder. “You vetted me. I was curious what you’d found. The tablet was there and I saw a file with my name on it. I wasn’t expecting to find what I did, though. You’re going to have to tell me how the scoring works.”

“Damn you!” I tried to shove my way out of his arms, fury burning through me.

His grip tightened around me. “No. Don’t you dare try to push me away again. I didn’t know what I was looking at until it was too late. Had I known it was your personal stuff I wouldn’t have looked.”

“But you did!”

“And I loved what I saw!”

“What?”

Liam raked his fingers through his hair, streaming a long breath. “I loved that folder, Elizabeth. It means I get under your skin as much as you do mine.”

Embarrassed, I dropped my gaze. “That’s private.”

“And I’m sorry for invading your privacy, but with the whole Harper thing and how you were acting this morning,” ─ he touched his fingertips to the side of my face and let out a sigh ─ “I’m sorry. My jealousy got the better of me. Forgive me? Please.”