Campaign For Seduction Read Online Free PDF Page B

desperation, she glanced around and wished there was something—anything—for her to feign interest in, but the space was austere and unhelpful. Seat…another seat…whoops, another seat with his soccer ball in it…table…paperwork…dark windows through which she could see nothing.
    That was about it.
    A troublesome new thought came: why hadn’t she worn something other than the cornflower-blue suit her network-provided stylist had picked out for her? She supposed it was pretty enough, but—
    Wait a minute. Thinking about changing clothes to impress a man, Liza? Hang your head in shame, girl. Obviously she was not in her right mind. Time to speed things along and get out of here.
    “So,” she said. “Was there something you needed from me?”
    Nothing about her word choice was particularly amusing as far as she could tell, but his eyes crinkled at the corners anyway, and she had the distinct feeling she was missing a crucial detail about something.
    “You could say that. I hope Adena didn’t wake you up.”
    “Don’t worry.” She studied the tips of her pointy-toed black heels and tried to brace herself lest he grin again. “I don’t think anyone on the plane is going to sleep until November 5th, anyway. Do you?”
    Another rumbling laugh, every bit as exciting as the first. “I was just thinking the same thing a few minutes ago.”
    “So…I’m assuming you’re going to ask the network to replace me?…”
    “What makes you say that?” he asked.
    “I don’t seem to be your favorite person.”
    “What makes you say that?”
    The words were the same, but his inflection was a little sharper the second time around. Looking up, she discovered that his gaze had become narrowed and speculative.
    “I think it was the way you glared at me earlier, Senator. That was a clue.”
    A slow grin crept across his face. “And here I thought I’d been so subtle.”
    “That was subtle?” She widened her eyes in mock alarm. “I’d hate to see direct.”
    “Well…your coverage hasn’t been that easy on me, has it?”
    “You didn’t expect me to go easy on you, did you?”
    “Liza,” he told her, “I wouldn’t expect anything about you to be easy.”
    There was a husky new note in his voice that made her wonder if the topic had changed without her knowledge, but nothing in his bland expression or relaxed posture gave him away.
    And yet she still felt pleasantly agitated, her skin a degree or two warmer than it had been a second ago. “I give you the same unbiased professionalism that I give all the politicians I cover. That’s fair, isn’t it?”
    “I’m not sure former senator Gregory would think it was fair.”
    Liza scowled. Naturally the role she’d played in the downfall of one of his colleagues would be a sore subject for Senator Warner, but that didn’t mean she was an unethical reporter. She wasn’t. She was a shining example of journalistic integrity, and everyone knew it.
    “Senator Gregory shouldn’t have had his aides buying drugs for him to support his coke habit.” Liza tried to keep the huffiness out of her voice, but that was a lost cause. “He contributed to his own downfall. In fact, I’d say he hand-picked the most spectacular downfall he could find and then enthusiastically worked for it like it was his lifelong goal. I just broke the story.” She shrugged. “And anyway, any other reporter would have done the same. Like the CNN news reporter who broke the story of the governor’s affair a while back. It’s news.”
    Liza froze.
    What? What had she just said? Had she just mentioned Beau Taylor, the governor of Virginia, who was married to the senator’s sister, Jillian?
    Smooth move, girl. Way to move the conversation along.
    Liza wanted to glue her big fat mouth shut, but the senator merely grimaced and ignored the subject of his wayward brother-in-law.
    “I…see.” Leaning a hip against the side of the nearest seat, he crossed his muscled forearms over his chest