On The Record Part 7

"I . . . I don't know," she said.

"Come on. You're perfect. And I trust you," he said earnestly.

"Justin, I appreciate you considering me for this, but I'm swamped at school. There's no way I could dedicate the amount of time you would need for this kind of project."

"It wouldn't be that much to begin with."

"Next year I'll be editor." The words thrilled her when they left her mouth. She hadn't said that out loud yet, and it felt right. "I'll have my interns.h.i.+p for the Morehead scholars.h.i.+p. It's too much . . ."

"Just think about it. There's plenty of time."

"All right, but I don't think it's going to happen." She didn't like turning him down when he seemed so set on the course of action, but she didn't think she could make it work.

The topic s.h.i.+fted away from Justin's new projects as they finished their meal, but her mind was running a thousand miles a minute. She wished she had more time.

Justin picked up the tab even when she insisted that they split it. He just laughed and paid with a business credit card. They walked out together and he offered to drop her off at the paper, which she declined. It was a short distance, and he had to prepare for his meeting with the university.

She reached the newspaper without remembering anything about the walk. Ma.s.sey had already left for the day, but Savannah was still milling around the office. Liz waved as she plopped down into the seat across from her.

"Lost in thought?" Savannah mused, typing away at her computer.

"Yeah. Just thinking about something I was talking to a friend about," Liz told her. "Did Ma.s.sey get through the reports for Monday?"

Savannah laughed. "Hardly. I don't even want to look at the in-box."

"Great," Liz said, as she began working.

People filtered in and out of the office throughout the remainder of the afternoon, but Savannah was a constant presence, sneaking downstairs to get coffee and commiserating about the amount of work left over. Someone turned the television on at some point, but Liz didn't even bother to pay attention to it. She dissected news venues daily in her cla.s.ses.

But Brady Maxwell's voice snapped her straight to attention. G.o.d, how long had it been since she had heard his voice? It had been blissfully quiet up until his induction into Congress at the end of January, and she had managed to avoid him entirely by keeping her TV turned off.

Her eyes followed his chiseled features, those dark brown eyes, the curve of his smile, and the a.s.surance in his black suit, crisp b.u.t.ton-down, and blue tie. He was without a doubt the most attractive man she had ever laid eyes on, and she couldn't stop staring. She swam in a mist of emotion that clouded her brain, keeping her rooted to the present, but still trapped in his penetrating stare . . . as if he could see her right now.

Then he was gone, his speech over, and the news outlet flashed a series of pictures of him with the same girl over and over and over. The same skinny brunette she had seen in the green gown on New Year's Eve. He wasn't pictured with anyone else.

Her heart stopped beating. Who was this girl?

Brady's press secretary, Heather, appeared next, standing on a stage, answering questions to a press room in D.C. The clip only showed one question, though.

"Ms. Ferrington, can you comment on Representative Maxwell's bachelor status? He has appeared several times with the same woman, and as we all know, it's not common for the Congressman to stick to just one."

The crowd laughed lightly, but Liz just cringed.

Heather smiled. She had been prepped for the question, no doubt. "Representative Maxwell has no comment but to say that whatever relations.h.i.+p he has with Miss Erin Edwards is business of his own, and he would prefer to keep his personal life personal, ladies and gentlemen."

Liz felt as if her eyes might pop out of their sockets. That was perfectly planned-a stunt by the campaign to spotlight his new relations.h.i.+p. Was it just a ploy, though? It didn't sound like Brady, but Christ, what did she know about Brady Maxwell?

All she knew was the name that was going to be on everyone's lips from here on out: Erin Edwards.

Chapter 7.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST.

Earth to Liz. Earth to Liz," Savannah said a moment later, waving her hand in front of Liz's face. "Are you alive in there?"

"What? Oh, yeah, sorry. Zoned out, I guess," Liz muttered.

"Happens. I was just about to get out of here. Are you finished?" Savannah walked back to her desk and grabbed her purse.

Liz stared at her computer blankly. Well, she wasn't going to get any work done now. "Yeah, I suppose I am."

She started packing her bag up while her mind worked overtime. Who the h.e.l.l was Erin Edwards? The girl could be a stunt, but Brady had said that he wouldn't ever let Heather go that far. She couldn't pick someone for him to date . . . for him to marry. He agreed to be set up for events out of convenience, but that was where he drew the line. How had they met? Did he still think about Liz?

No, it clearly didn't matter.

"Is he dating that girl?" Liz blurted out before she could stop herself.

Savannah turned back to face her. Her face was a mask in indifference, and if Liz hadn't worked with her every day for the past seven months, she wouldn't have known the other girl was uncomfortable with the question. Liz knew Savannah didn't like to talk about her family, but she needed someone to tell her whether what they were showing on the news was a false trail . . . or if Brady really had moved on.

"Liz . . . you know I can't talk about it. It's a conflict of interest if I tell you and then you write about it. Sorry."

"No, I know," Liz said. She sighed and looked away, hoping Savannah didn't notice the heat rising in her face. "I wasn't planning to write about it. I mean, no offense, but right now he's old news, with the campaign being over and him a freshman congressman. I was merely curious."

d.a.m.n. How had she kept her tone neutral? Brady Maxwell was never old news. He was so hot that she could put him in any paper and make people read about him, but she didn't, because most of the time it just hurt too much. And really, he had just gotten into office, so there wasn't much to cover. Either way, she just hoped she could convince Savannah.

"None taken," Savannah said with a laugh that told Liz she was relaxing. "I will tell you, though, it's so weird having my dad and Brady in D.C. now. I always knew Brady would get there, but I'm not used to him being gone."

"Yeah, I bet that's hard," Liz said. Savannah's father was a sitting Senator in the U.S. Congress, and Brady had followed in his footsteps right into the House of Representatives. She knew they were all close.

"It is sometimes. I know you've heard some of his speeches about not wanting to leave North Carolina, and that's not him spitting bulls.h.i.+t. He really did want to stick close. He made sure to still spend time with me, especially after Clay left," Savannah told her.

"That's sweet of him," Liz managed. She and Savannah had never talked directly about Brady since that first conversation, when Savannah had made it clear that she knew Liz did not agree with Brady's politics. She hadn't wanted to be judged on her brother or by Liz's political beliefs.

Little did she know.

Savannah shrugged and then nodded. "That's Brady."

Yes, it most certainly was.

They both turned to exit the newspaper together, but just before they reached the double doors of the mostly empty office, Liz stopped Savannah short. "Savannah, I don't want you to think that I was digging for material back there or anything. It was just my own curiosity."

Oh man, she was going to go all out, wasn't she?

"And I know what my articles said about him last summer," Liz said. She couldn't believe she was about to do this. "But I changed my mind."

"What do you mean?"

"I was wrong about him and his behavior, and I ended up voting for him in the election."

"You did?" Savannah asked, surprised. "I didn't know that."

"I didn't really talk about it with anyone. It's kind of a personal thing."

"Wow. That's . . . unexpected." She broke into a big smile. "I don't know why, but I feel like a huge weight just lifted off my shoulders. Is that weird?"

Liz laughed and shook her head. "No."

"It feels weird."

"Well, I'm still glad I told you."

"Me too."

"Just don't tell anyone. I'd hate to ruin my reputation as a hard-a.s.s," Liz joked.

"My lips are sealed," Savannah told her, pus.h.i.+ng through the double doors.

They walked down the stairs and out to the main lobby. The building looked like a ghost town. Liz rarely saw the Union look so deserted. She knew there was an away basketball game just a town over today, and it was a Friday, but it seemed exceptionally quiet. She walked outside with Savannah and realized why.

It was snowing.

Walking back from her meeting with Justin, she certainly hadn't thought it was cold enough for snow. It only snowed in Chapel Hill once or twice a year, and it was never anything dramatic. But for someone who grew up in Tampa and never saw snow, it looked like a blizzard.

Savannah giggled next to her and held her hand out, catching a few flakes on her palm. They immediately dissolved into water droplets and her smile just grew.

"Come on. Let's go catch some!" she said, pulling Liz toward the Pit, where a cl.u.s.ter of other students were milling around and staring up at the sky.

"Um . . . snow and I do not get along," Liz told her. She was already s.h.i.+vering with the cold sinking into her clothes. She hadn't even brought a waterproof jacket and she was in heels, as usual. This was not going to be a fun walk home.

"Why would you wear heels today?" Savannah asked.

"I don't know. I didn't look at the weather."

"Well, we're supposed to get six inches by tonight, and then it's supposed to ice over. Of course, this only ever happens on the weekend."

Liz shuddered. Last winter there had been less than six inches of snow in Chapel Hill and they had closed school for three days, because the roads were impa.s.sable. It was a huge problem when the town only had a handful of snowplows.

"Of course, and now I have to walk home in this," Liz groaned.

"Do you want me to give you a ride?" Savannah offered. "I have a parking spot on campus, and the roads won't be bad for a couple hours."

"Oh my G.o.d, I would love you forever!"

"It's kind of a walk, but I was just happy I got one," Savannah said, setting off across campus.

Then the thought caught up with her. "Wait, you're a freshman. How did you get a parking spot?"

She wasn't sure why she even asked. It was pretty obvious. Savannah had an influential family, so she probably got whatever she wanted. Just like Brady. Ugh! Liz didn't even want to think about him or Erin Edwards right now.

"Um . . . the chancellor and my father are old friends."

"Ah . . ."

Liz wasn't going to argue with their favoritism today. Today she was just glad that she didn't have to walk home.

They reached the parking deck and Savannah located her small black BMW. Liz tried not to sigh. She wasn't surprised that Savannah had one. Brady had a brand-new Lexus. She a.s.sumed Clay drove a sports car; it just felt like Clay.

G.o.d, why could she not escape Brady? She was surrounded by his family and he was constantly on the news. Just when she was moving past what had happened, he cropped right back up. And she just f.u.c.king wanted to know if he was dating that girl. She didn't even care how stupid it was. It made her want to dial his number and demand to know . . . even though she knew she never could.

Liz didn't live too far away. It would have been a bad walk, but it was an easy drive. The snow was coming down harder when Savannah pulled up in front of Liz's house.

"Thanks a lot," Liz told her.

"Anytime. Hopefully this sticks and we don't have school next week, but otherwise I'll see you on Monday."

Liz popped the door open and turned to go, but thought better of it. "I hope you don't think that I'd actually publish anything you tell me, Savannah. I take my job seriously, and unless you're telling me something because you want it in the paper, it would never end up there."

"Yeah. I know. I guess I just clam up when people ask me about my family. I've done it my whole life. It's hard to rewire," Savannah told her. "And it's stupid, really, I mean, why should it matter who Brady is dating?"

Liz could have hugged Savannah Maxwell, if she weren't so p.i.s.sed at Brady at the mention of the word dating. She just tried to keep that feeling under wraps. "He's in the public eye. I think a lot of people feel like they have the right to know his business."

"Yeah, I think a lot more people want to know than really should know. It'll all come out eventually. It always does, but it's not even an interesting story. I mean, Brady was in the North Carolina legislature with her father. They met up at Christmas and started dating. Kind of boring, really."

Liz froze in place. She didn't care that the car door was still open and her right side was freezing cold from the snow. And she didn't care that she was staring at Savannah. She knew that she shouldn't care that Brady was dating someone, or that Erin was from a political family and she would make Brady look good, or anything about it at all.

She was happy with Hayden. Things were going well with their relations.h.i.+p. Brady shouldn't have even been a thought.

Liz took a deep breath, trying to recover. "I'm sure journalists will find a way to make it interesting."

Savannah laughed. "Yeah, that's kind of our job, right?"

"Yeah, it is," Liz said.

"I just feel a little bad for him. All the girls that the media claimed he was dating during the election being held over his head, and then starting his new job in Congress all at the same time as he starts a new relations.h.i.+p."

Relations.h.i.+p. That word felt like a knife wound.

"That must be tough," Liz said, not able to keep the bite out of her voice.

Yes. It must be soooo difficult to have a new dream job and a new dream girlfriend. Liz couldn't imagine how he would ever survive.