Cecilia
One year later...
I stood in the restroom of the posh D.C. hotel staring into the mirror. I’d hardly recognized myself in the designer dress Kirsten had lent me. Carla’s niece, a professional stylist, had meticulously piled my hair into curls and gathered them in a loose bun. She was also responsible for my smokey eyes and full red lips. And then there was my date.
He was running for a seat in the senate and needed an appropriate companion for tonight’s benefit. I had been reluctant to escort him, but Carla and Kirsten had convinced me that I needed a night out. I was lucky to have such fantastic women in my life. Without them, this past year would have been more difficult than it was.
Back to my date. I’d met him at a political function I’d attended for work a few weeks ago. He seemed nice enough but there was no real spark between us. We exchanged numbers and I didn’t hear from him until the other day when he called and asked me if I’d attend this benefit with him. My initial thought was to say no. Carla and Kirsten persuaded me to say yes, borrow the dress, and get my hair and make-up done. Now that I was staring in the mirror, I was glad I’d taken their advice. Too bad I still had no chemistry with the guy I came with. I knew what the problem was but I refused to go there. In the last twelve months no one had measured up to the one man I had sworn off that night in the cafe. No one appealed to me the way Jameson had. What did that say about me?
As I headed back to the ballroom, I heard a voice call after me. “There you are.”
Conrad Hayes, my date, and possible senator of Massachusetts waited by the bar for me.
“You were busy so I slipped away for a few minutes.” I joined him. “You’re popular tonight.”
“That was the idea.” He leaned against the bar. “My political consultant, the best in D.C., suggested I be here this evening and I bring a suitable date.” He winked at me. “I need to win the primary so I can take this all the way next November.”
“I’m sure you will.” I gazed around the room, taking in all the anybody-who-was-somebody-in-this-town people. “I analyzed your platform. You’re proposing some great changes in your area.”
“Beauty and brains.” He trailed his finger down my arm, but it didn’t make me shiver. My skin didn’t heat the way it had for... “That’s a rare combination these days.”
“Isn’t that why you asked me to accompany you tonight?”
“Among other reasons.” He smirked. “Oh, look, there’s Senator Thomas.” He pointed across the bar. “I need to speak with him. Order a drink and I’ll be back to join you.”
“Okay.” I didn’t mind that he had been so busy all evening. I still got to get dressed up, eat a great dinner and chit chat with some interesting people. “I’ll wait here.”
“Perfect.” He kissed my cheek. “Don’t talk to strangers.”
The more I got to know him the less I wanted to know. He was a good looking guy but we weren’t compatible in the least. Taking a seat at the bar, I wondered how much longer I’d have to stay. My feet were rejecting the new shoes I’d bought for tonight. I knew they would hurt but they were awesome.
“Hello, gorgeous,” a deep, familiar voice said from behind me. The shiver that I’d been searching for a few moments ago made an appearance and my flesh prickled with anticipation. There was only one man who could elicit that reaction from me. The one man who had starred in my dreams more times than I could count.
“Jameson.” I wanted to turn around, but I’d imagined this moment so many times. I wasn’t sure how I should react. Play it cool, play it cool.
“It’s been a while.” He moved closer to me, resting against the bar.
Turning my head, I took in his impeccable appearance. He was just as hot as I’d remembered him. Maybe even hotter. I’d never seen him in a tux before. Those guys in GQ had nothing on him. I quickly closed my mouth when I realized I was gawking. So much for playing it cool.
“How are you, Cecilia?”
“I’m well.” That was true enough.
“You look amazing.” His gaze traveled along my body but not in an offensive way. I thought he might have been taken by me. “Absolutely stunning.”
“Thank you.” I ran my fingers along the cool, granite bar. “I’m in a much better frame of mind since the last time we saw one another.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” He motioned toward Conrad and the Senator. “I didn’t realize you knew Conrad.”
“I don’t really know him that well. We met at a fundraiser and exchanged numbers.” Why was I explaining this to him? “He asked me to escort him tonight. We’re just friends.” God, can you shut up? A little intrigue never hurt anyone.
“I’m glad he took my advice.”
“Your advice?”
“I told him he needed to take someone with him that people would never forget.” He glanced around the room. “Judging from the way everyone in this room is buzzing about you, I’d say he took my task at hand.”
“You’re the political consultant?” What were the chances?
“I am.”
“He speaks so highly of you. I heard him tell someone over dinner about you and Governor Ralston. It sounded as if you’d done something really big.”
“I just helped the governor of New Jersey make a crucial move in his career.”
“He’ll get reelected?”
“Yes, but I have something bigger in mind. He’s going to the White House.”
“How do you know that?”
“It’s my job to know that. It’s also my job to get him there. What I do requires longevity. I invest in someone and I stick with them until we’ve accomplished it all.”
Except me. You didn’t stick with me. “Sounds impressive. I guess we’ll see how far you can take him.”
“It’s really good to see you.” He inched closer. Close enough for me to remember how hard I fell for him when I gazed into his emerald eyes. He was far too dangerous. I wasn’t falling into that trap again. “We didn’t part on the best terms. It was my–”
“Jameson.” Conrad slapped him on the back. “I was wondering when you’d make an appearance.”
“Conrad.” Jameson shook his hand. “I told you I’d check in and make the rounds.”
“Are you hearing good stuff?”
“You’re doing a bang up job.”
“I see you’ve met my date.” Conrad came to stand beside me, much closer than I wanted and took my hand.
Jameson gazed down at my hand in Conrad’s. “I already know Cecilia.”
How was he going to explain this?
“Really?” Conrad looked at me. “How?”
“I used to eat lunch at this quaint cafe where we met one another.” Jameson smiled at me. “I haven’t been there in a while. I miss the food.”
“I don’t work there anymore.” After my mom died I didn’t have the energy to hold two jobs and with the extra money I’d earned doing the nasty with Jameson, I was able to manage.
“Small world.” Conrad glanced between Jameson and myself.
This whole thing was awkward.
“I was speaking with Mac Mason.” Jameson nodded toward a tall, older man on the other side of the bar. “He’s interested in your proposal to assist the mayor in Boston. Why don’t you grab his ear for a few moments? Make sure he hears you.”
“That’s a good idea. I guess that’s why I pay you all that money.” Conrad kissed my hand. “I’ll be back in a few.” Was he staking some sort of claim? I didn’t find it sexy at all.
When Conrad was out of earshot, Jameson said, “He doesn’t seem your type.”
“He’s not,” I said that way too fast. “I don’t know him that well. He asked me to come with him and I agreed.” He didn’t start getting all touchy until Jameson showed up.
“I’m glad you did.”
“Why? So your client will win?”
“You’ll increase his chances but you’d have to be seen in public together a lot more over the next few months and I don’t see that happening.”
“You don’t?”
“To answer your first question about why I’m glad you’re here,” he continued. “You’ve been on my mind since the last night I saw you. I apologize for the way we left things but it couldn’t be helped at the time.”
“Why is that?”
“It’s complicated. We shouldn’t get into it here.” He took out his cell. “Is your number still the same?”
“Yes.”
“Can I call you?”
Wasn’t this what I had wanted? Dreamed about for twelve months? Didn’t I wish he would be there to comfort me during the lowest time in my life? If I said yes, I’d be taking a huge chance. How could we build anything after the way we started? Oh, what if he thought we would pick up where we left off? Did he want to pay me for sex again? I was never doing anything like that again.
“I’m not the same person I was a year ago.” I wanted that to be clear. I didn’t want him to think what happened between us before would happen again.
“I wouldn’t expect you to be the same person. We all evolve.”
“Have you evolved?”
Jameson
That was a good question. Could I answer it honestly? Had I evolved? Of course I knew she’d be here tonight. I’d seen her name on the guest list. I’d wanted to reach out to her over the last year, but I had decided she was better off without me. That was a decision I had regretted. It was time for me to rectify my mistakes. All of them.
“I’d like to think I have.” I wasn’t using anymore. I hadn’t had a drink in almost three years. I didn’t proposition anyone for sex in a year. Not that I wanted anyone else. Yes, I suppose I had evolved but was I worthy of such an extraordinary woman? “I’d like to take you to dinner.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to get to know you this time. I want things to be different between us. What I did...” I shook my head, still disgusted that I had paid her for sex. “It was wrong. I’ve struggled with that for a long time.”
“It wasn’t just you.” She looked down at her hands. “I agreed to your terms. I took the money.”
Not that I ever thought that she was wrong for accepting what I offered, but knowing her circumstances made me feel even more ashamed of myself. I put her in a position where she had no choice but to say yes.
“I’m sure you had your reasons.”
“Are you?” She looked into my eyes. “How do you know I didn’t do it because I wanted expensive things? Designer clothes and shoes? A new car?”
“Whatever your reasons were they’re yours.” The same way my reasons for propositioning her were mine. We all have something and I was in no position to judge.
“You don’t know me,” she said.
“I’d like to.”
“It’s too late for that.”
Ouch.
“We’ve both moved passed what we did.” She picked up her bag off the bar. “It’s best if we just leave it at that.”
“What if I don’t want to?” Do you really want me to leave you alone? “Just give me one dinner and if we’re not compatible I’ll leave you alone.”
She debated for a moment. Was she faltering?
“It was good seeing you.” She tried to walk past me but I took her wrist in my hand.
No way was I screwing this up again.
“Don’t.” She glanced in Conrad’s direction but he was too busy with his conversation to notice what we were up to.
“Please give me a chance to make things right.” I was never the type to beg. “One dinner. That’s all.” I wanted more but I was going to have to let her lead this time. “One chance.”
“There isn’t anything you have to make right.”
“That’s not true.” I knew enough about my road to recovery to know Step Nine really well. Make amends to those I’d harmed. “Tomorrow night.”
“Jameson, I don’t....” She took a breath when I rubbed her inner wrist with my thumb. “One dinner.” The skin between her brow crinkled. Was she that conflicted over me?
“Thank you.” I fought the urge to kiss her. Why had I never kissed her? “I can pick you up around seven.”
“No.” She removed her arm from my hold. “I’ll meet you.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s not a date,” she reminded me.
Let her lead, let her lead. I balled my fist by my side as I repeated those words. Maybe if I said them enough I might believe I would let her be in charge. “Nothing wrong with being cautious, gorgeous. It’s probably not a bad idea when it comes to me.”
“I’ve already learned that the hard way.”
Sassy girl. “Meet me at the marina tomorrow night.”
“Which restaurant?”
“No restaurant. Dock 28. Around 7?”
“What’s at dock 28?”
“You’ll see.”
She seemed skeptical but she nodded. “I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
As she walked away, I studied her slender neck and toned back displayed beautifully in that classy but revealing dress of hers. Turning back toward the bar, I noticed Conrad staring at her too. Shit! Now I had to get my eager senator-to-be to find another suitable date for his cause. Cecilia was off-limits.