Liz sat ramrod straight as she watched Brady turn to look at Erin and smile. Liz didn’t know how to deal with all of this. She was just ready to leave. Her wine couldn’t have come at a better time. She took a long gulp to avoid speaking further.
Erin seemed to want to tell the story anyway. “Brady worked with my father in the North Carolina state legislature, which is how I got the contact to interview him over Christmas on my morning talk show.” Erin’s smile brightened as she talked. Liz’s diminished.
“Didn’t I tell you it wasn’t a newsworthy story?” Savannah said, nudging Liz. Liz hadn’t even realized that Savannah had been paying attention. She had been talking to Lucas nonstop.
Brady arched an eyebrow, and Liz just opened and closed her mouth like a fish flopping around out of the water.
“Definitely a story we don’t want in the news!” Erin said with a giggle. “It seems everything is in the news. I feel like relationships should kind of be off-limits. I don’t see why it matters that Brady and I are together. But I don’t think it’s been too bad. Do you?”
“No,” Brady said. His voice came out easy and confident. Another mask. “I don’t think it’s been too bad being out in the open like this. I’d never want to hide a relationship anyway.”
Liz’s blood boiled at the blatant lie. She wanted to stab him with her fork. He was the one who had wanted to hide their fucking relationship in the first place.
He could probably see her seething at the comment, because he sent her the first fucking gorgeous smirk since they had seen each other this afternoon. It only made her want to lunge across the table more. She would throttle him before the end of the night. She was sure of it.
“Erin handles the spotlight like a pro. Don’t you, baby?”
Oh, fuck, no! Was he using the name that he used for Liz on purpose? Two could play at this game.
“I love the spotlight,” Erin said again with a smile. “I think I always wanted to be an anchor, just like you always wanted to be a reporter, Liz.”
“That’s wonderful,” Liz said, finishing off her first glass of wine. “Did you two fly here?”
“Oh, yeah. Into Raleigh,” Erin confirmed.
“How was the flight? I know there’s been some nasty weather lately. I sometimes get freaked out flying into that,” Liz said boldly.
Savannah giggled. “Brady has the worst time flying. So I hope that there weren’t any storms.”
“You have a hard time flying?” Erin asked. Her eyebrows crinkled together in confusion. “I didn’t know that.”
“I used to have trouble,” Brady corrected quickly. “I don’t have trouble with airplanes anymore. That time in my life has passed.”
That time in his life had passed. Meaning Liz was out of his life. She understood. She wished it were all that easy. It had taken her forever just to feel as if she could move on to dating . . . let alone to anything else with Hayden. God, she hadn’t thought of Hayden since she had walked into the building.
As frustrated as she was with Brady for goading her, she didn’t want to continue to have painful conversations with him. She would rather pretend he didn’t exist again than to have this pain rush through her body.
Liz let Savannah and Erin guide the conversation from there. Both she and Brady were relatively quiet, answering questions only when they were asked them. He seemed to have the same idea as Liz. They always had been in tune.
As much as Liz wanted to hate Erin, the other woman did seem genuinely nice. Besides her work as a morning anchor, she also helped run a charity that benefited inner-city schools in the Baltimore and D.C. area. She had claimed to be a philanthropist at heart, something she said she had cultivated at her time at Brown.
For all intents and purposes, Erin was exactly the kind of person a young up-and-coming politician should be dating. She was smart, outgoing, successful, charitable, beautiful.
Dinner was expensive and rather extravagant for a small location in Chapel Hill, but the Maxwells insisted on picking up the entire tab. They ordered another round of wine for the table before finishing up, but Liz declined the drink. She had promised herself only one. Brady still had a glass sitting in front of him untouched, and Erin was on her third or fourth.
“Savannah,” Liz said, tapping her friend on the shoulder. She was talking to Lucas again feverishly.
“Yeah?”
“I have to get home.”
“Oh, damn, really?” she asked, glancing back at Lucas and biting her lip.
Shit. How hadn’t Liz noticed before? Savannah liked Chris’s brother. That was what that look meant. Of course, Liz had been a little hung up on Brady, so she hadn’t been paying all that much attention.
“Yeah. Sorry.”
“Do you think you could call Hayden to get you?” Savannah asked. “Oh, wait—damn, he’s not supposed to know you’re here.”
Liz’s eyes found Brady at Savannah’s comment. She could see his ears had perked up at the comment, but he just stared forward as if it didn’t matter to him.
“I guess we could call a cab or something. I’m not ready to go just yet,” Savannah said, her eyes pleading for understanding.
“No problem. I’ll just take a cab.”
“Maybe Brady could take you,” Savannah said, sending her brown eyes over to Brady’s direction.
Liz’s head snapped to the side. Brady could not drive her home. This was a terrible idea. She couldn’t be alone with him.
Brady raised his eyebrows at his sister. “Me?”
“Well, you’re the only one who hasn’t been drinking, and I feel bad making her take a cab,” Savannah said, adding a pouty lip for good measure.
Brady cleared his throat and turned his attention to Liz. “How far do you live from here?” He already knew the answer.
Liz bit her lip. What the hell was he thinking? Why would he even act as if he was going to agree? The worst part was she couldn’t even object to him driving her without looking suspicious. “Ten minutes. But really, it’s not necessary. I don’t mind taking a cab.”
Brady shrugged nonchalantly. “It’s not a problem. I could take you home if you want and then swing back by the restaurant.”
“Yes!” Savannah rushed out. “That would be perfect. You’re the best older brother ever!”
Liz opened her mouth to say something and then closed it. Alone with Brady. This could be interesting.
“Um . . . thank you,” she said.
Brady kissed Erin on the top of her head, and then walked right out of the restaurant with Liz. In public. Together.
But not together.
Liz should have picked out his Lexus in the parking lot on the way in, but she hadn’t been paying attention. She walked over to it without his directing her. Her heart was thudding in her chest, and she wasn’t sure what the fuck she was supposed to do. Today was the first day in seven months that she had seen Brady and now she was going to be completely alone with him. Her hands shook as she reached for the door handle. She needed to get herself together if she wanted to get through this car ride.
After they piled into the car, Brady peeled out of the parking lot. He sat ramrod straight as he turned back toward campus. He didn’t glance in her direction once, but it was clear that there was something on his mind. He hadn’t agreed to drive her home for no reason. She was terrified to know where this was going.
Liz shifted her gaze to Brady’s face, trying to read him. He was completely stoic and blatantly ignoring her. She opened her mouth to say something and then closed it. She didn’t know what to say. Before today, they hadn’t spoken or seen each other since the day that she had walked out of his primary victory party. Her body was itching to be closer to him, to run her fingers through his hair and feel his lips against her skin. But she knew she couldn’t have any of those things and that she shouldn’t want them.