Meredith rubbed at her eyes and let out a huge yawn. It had still been dark out and everyone else had still been sleeping except for the maid and her driver. She'd been up much later than usual, trying to convince her dad that she didn't want this particular assignment anymore.

Initially he'd thought she was kidding. He laughed, telling her he appreciated her attempts at what surely had to be a joke. But when he realized she wasn't joking, he'd brooked no further conversation about the matter. “A Fields never backs down from a challenge,” he'd said to her, as he had many times throughout her entire life.

Scowling at the memory, she took a quick mental inventory of what she'd packed. Space on the campaign bus would be limited, and Sosie had instructed her to pack light, limiting her to one suitcase. She'd opted to bring mostly interchangeable separates she could create multiple outfits from, with not a single pantsuit in the bunch.

She looked out the window and watched the sunrise, feeling gloomier than ever. She didn't know why, but she had a bad feeling about this campaign.

It was definitely him. I can’t be wrong, she thought as images of the masked man and Elijah Scott overlapped in her mind.

After being introduced to Elijah, she'd wanted to run out of his office and never look back. Elijah Scott was without a doubt the man she'd given a lap dance to her last night in New York. Even worse, she knew he'd recognize her, since she'd removed her mask. She was sure her father would have a heart attack if he knew about any of that.

Embarrassment had been eating away at her since then.

But for all his insistence, she knew he was just pretending not to know her. Not that she could blame him – after all, he was just doing his best to protect his image. Maybe she could catch him in private and clear the air between them. She was sure she could get him to agree to just forget about it, for both their sakes.

Slowly exhaling, Meredith couldn't deny the fact she was strongly attracted to the handsome bachelor. Just like she couldn't deny she'd wished her father had agreed to pull her off this assignment.

She couldn't believe how complicated her life had become over the past few days. This wasn't part of her summer plans. And it definitely wasn't what she wanted.

When she arrived, Meredith hurried to take her place with the other journalists who were already present, furtively looking around for Elijah Scott's familiar figure.

After looking around twice, she still didn't see him. Maybe he was already on the bus? She wanted to scold herself when she realized she was actually disappointed at not seeing him. She had a job to do, one that didn't involve lusting after Elijah Scott, no matter how hot he was.

She was representing her father's company. He'd made that crystal clear last night.

Get your act together, Meredith! she quietly admonished herself as she stepped onto the bus.

She took a seat near the center of the bus, hoping placing herself in the middle of the action would help distract her from obsessing over Elijah. Everyone already seemed to be working, their heads bent over laptops and notepads, and she followed suit, trying to fit in.

A few moments later Sosie stepped onto the bus, followed by a middle-aged man she introduced as Edward, their driver. Sosie had everyone's full attention as she went over the rules. Meredith listened attentively, not wanting to get on Sosie's bad side.

Sosie reminded everyone the only stops the bus would make would be those planned out ahead of time, listed on the itinerary she'd already emailed to everyone. Loud talking and listening to music without headphones would be prohibited, due to the fact they would be busy working while they were traveling.

“I think that's all I have to say for now,” Sosie said in conclusion. “But I do have a surprise for all of you,” she added, gesturing to the door of the bus.

Elijah Scott entered the bus, and Meredith held her breath as their eyes met. He was wearing a white polo and dark grey slacks, and looked as handsome as ever.

“Eli's going to ride on this bus with you guys for the first leg of the trip. Now's your chance to make a good impression,” she said, looking at all of them in turn, eyes lingering on Meredith for maybe just a split second longer. Or maybe Meredith had just imagined that.

Meredith couldn't stop staring at him despite herself. He was just too hot for his own good.

Damn. Why does he have to be so gorgeous?

A disturbing thought suddenly occurred to her. She belatedly realized Sosie had made eye contact with her much more than any of the other campaign staffers or journalists as she'd been giving out instructions. It had been weird.

Oh my God! Did he tell Sosie about me and that night?

“That's it. Good luck, everyone. See you at the hotel,” Sosie said, then got off the bus.

Meredith wasn't sure what to do. She could practically feel Elijah staring at her from across the bus as he took a seat near the front. Her cheeks grew hot when she realized she wanted him to stare at her, wanted his attention.

As the bus departed, Elijah smiled and began answering questions from the other journalists present. Meredith opened her laptop and started taking notes, hoping to distract herself with work. But her mind kept wandering.

It was stupid.

Biting her bottom lip, she remembered how good it had felt to have his strong arms wrapped around her. She remembered how hard his cock had been as she'd danced on his lap.

She wondered how long and thick he was. Thanks to him, she couldn't stop having thoughts like this.

Snickering from the back of the bus brought her back to reality. “Miss Fields?” she heard Eli say. Judging by the response, he'd been trying to get her attention for some time now.

“Sorry, what?” she asked, perplexed.

Elijah tilted his head, and she felt her stomach twisting into knots as everyone turned to look at her.

“I said, do you have a question for me, Miss Fields? Other than the one you just asked, of course,” he said with a grin, eliciting loud laughter from the other journalists.

Flustered, she racked her brain to come up with something.

“What kind of outfits do you prefer for summer? More casual, or more formal?” she blurted without thinking.

Meredith froze when she realized what she'd just asked. She'd had a chance to ask him anything, and that question had been pure fluff. So much for being a real journalist.

She felt even more pathetic when Elijah actually humored her with a legitimate answer.

“I don't have specific clothing preferences. I wear whatever a particular situation calls for,” he said, already moving on to take the next question.

Feeling thoroughly and utterly humiliated, she directed her attention back to her laptop, pretending to take notes when in reality she was berating herself.

Gritting her teeth, she cursed Elijah under her breath.