CHAPTER 2
Amelia Monroe-Carrington pasted on a sweet smile and feigned interest in what the senator and her father, the governor, were discussing.
They were deep into campaign season and if she had to attend one more party and pretend she was having a good time, Lia feared she’d lose her mind. Unfortunately, there were many more such parties on their schedule.
“Amelia. How is your mother feeling?”
Lia wrestled her wandering attention back and focused on the senator’s question. “Better, though she wasn’t quite up for tonight. Thank you for asking.”
The explanation tasted bitter on her tongue. Her mother had been deemed fit by the doctors months ago, and yet here Lia was, still playing lady of the family.
Lia had been more than happy to fill in as her father’s date when it was necessary during her mother’s recovery from a bout with a bleeding ulcer, but now she was clearly being taken advantage of.
“Glad to hear she’s on the mend. Please give her my regards.” The senator’s eyes dropped to take in the exposed cleavage of a passing woman and Lia smothered a scowl.
Instead, she pasted on her campaign-picture smile. “I will be sure to do that, Senator.”
She supposed she shouldn’t blame her mother for seeing a way to escape the political society’s merry-go-round and taking it. It had most likely been both her father and his career that had given her mother the ulcer in the first place.
Lia only wished her father hadn’t dumped the full responsibility of publicly supporting him on her shoulders so happily.
She knew exactly why her father had readily jumped on the opportunity to have her be his new social partner and the reason was standing before her now, holding his martini and looking down women’s dresses.
Lia’s father made no secret of his desire to see her married off to the senator’s self-absorbed son. An alliance of two of the greatest southern political families, he’d called it.
The entire concept made her ill.
At least the senator’s son, John Dickson III, wasn’t here with his father tonight. He was as pompous as his name made him sound and she had no interest whatsoever in the man.
Lia wanted to be swept off her feet, fall head over heels in love and marry someone who would give her the happily ever after she’d always dreamed of.
That, however, didn’t seem to matter to her father. He wanted her married not for love, not for compatibility, not because of overwhelming sexual chemistry, but for politics.
She’d seen what her father and mother’s alliance was like. They’d had separate bedrooms for as long as she could remember. She was pretty sure they’d only had sex once and that was the night she was conceived.
However, the all-powerful families of the Monroes and the Carringtons had been united with their marriage, so everyone pretended they were happy. Even Lia.
She stifled the urge to sigh and glanced around the room, actually seeing it for the first time since her arrival.
All these parties were alike. She’d long ago stopped observing them, except maybe to see what horrendous fashions reared their ugly heads on some of the women who dared stray from the campaign semi-formal party circuit uniform of the basic black dress. Lia had an entire closet of black dresses, because heaven forbid you wore the same one twice.
Her gaze swept the room and landed on not one, not two, but half a dozen really buff male members of the wait staff.
Where in the world did the caterer find these guys? Had an all-male strip club gone out of business and all the dancers needed to start waiting tables?
Watching a huge guy trying to balance a tray in one hand while handing the mayor and his wife a cocktail napkin, Lia had to bite the inside of her lip to stop from laughing.
The server was concentrating so hard, the tip of his tongue stuck out between his lips as he frowned.
Lia glanced around some more and saw a cutie behind the bar smiling at the wife of one of the most powerful businessmen in town.
The object of his flirtation was absolutely eating up all the attention. She leaned over the bar, giving the bartender a clear view of her exposed cleavage, which he was shamelessly taking advantage of.
She took closer inventory of the staff. They all displayed varying levels of gorgeousness, incompetence and hilarity.
Her gaze landed on one guy across the room and she realized she was not the only one doing some observing. Bold as anything he was staring right at her, watching her as she watched all of them.
She raised a brow and met his stare head-on. Mirroring her, he lifted a brow back and treated her to a crooked smile.
Then his expression changed. He seemed to stand a little straighter. He broke his gaze from hers and was gone from the room before she could fully appreciate the rear view of his tight black pants pulling across tight butt cheeks.
That was a shame. He’d been a welcome distraction.
Lia snagged another lamb chop from a passing waiter. This one was a bit older than the rest, with silver streaks of grey in his hair, though he was just as built as the others. His arm muscles strained the seams of his jacket.
As she bit into the rosemary encrusted flesh and chewed, she considered how she’d like to nibble on the tall, dark and handsome waiter who’d disappeared. Hopefully he’d return soon.