The Marriage Agenda Read Online Free PDF Page A

for breakfast if the courier talked—and even offered her a comfortable pair of sandals. Upon discovery of the latter, her earlier grievance faded. Any man who thought to rescue her from those god-awful high heels could be forgiven just about anything.
    She emerged from the bathroom feeling like a new woman.
    Knox looked up from his seat at the table and snapped shut his laptop. “How’s the dress?”
    She sat across from him, her mood considerably lightened when she saw the stark-raving approval in his eyes. “It’s fantastic.”
    “I tend to agree,” he said.
    Doubts rallied. In spite of the amazing sex, she’d managed to keep her brain ahead of her emotions. She faced him now bleakly dismissive—not because he didn’t thoroughly rock her world, but because her expectations were pegged at zero. The fact he hadn’t had a go-to condom in his possession lent credence to the notion he hadn’t intended to take her to bed, which left her wondering what he could possibly want from her.
    And whether she’d care, whatever it was.
    Pride kept her hackles raised, but the glass wall she’d built around her heart had turned to crumbling sand. Old feelings rushed the fragile barrier, sweeping away more of that well-intentioned indifference with every ebb of her emotional tide. But she wasn’t going to need him this time. He’d wrecked her naïveté once.
    She was stronger for it.
    Suddenly wary, she crossed her arms over her chest. “What do you want?”
    He raised an eyebrow but didn’t mince words. “You’ve heard about my father’s latest scandal.”
    It wasn’t a question. Knox’s father, Rex Hamilton, had been a United States senator for nearly twenty years. Though his terms were not without controversy, most of the trouble associated with his name was of a personal nature. Rumors flew, as they often did, but Rex had been discrete enough to ensure they remained unsubstantiated. He’d sent the gossip columnists into a tizzy a time or two, but without foundation, the gossip didn’t directly affect his career. At least not until recently, when he’d been strongly urged to step down after admitting to an affair with a well-respected cabinet member’s wife. Chloe wouldn’t have guessed Rex to be the type to surrender, but the fallout after the latest tryst had made national headlines, planting him in the middle of a semi-permanent three-ring circus and drawing paparazzi and political ire from every direction.
    When he’d given up his seat, he’d claimed it was for a love of politics and country—that in his absence, the business of governing could be accomplished without distraction—but Chloe didn’t necessarily buy it. Politicians were caught in scandals all the time, and Rex had a pristine record in the political arena. His extramarital affairs may have been a distraction, but he was a man for the people, and his constituents by and large loved him for it—some clearly more than others. What made this affair different from the rest? It was possible Knox’s mother had put her foot down—preferably in a very personal spot—but Katherine Hamilton was a gracious, classy woman who’d kept herself well above the fray.
    Chloe suspected there was more to the story, but with the news of Rex’s departure from the Senate breaking less than forty-eight hours before her date with Knox, she hadn’t had time to dig. Her hopes weren’t high—gaining access to the upper echelon of Washington was a pipe dream for a lowly print reporter, such as herself. But breaking a big political scandal would cement her job at the Washington Tribune .
    And she’d just reunited with one hell of a connection.
    Even better, she knew just the story to break…if she could prove true her suspicions about Rex Hamilton.
    “What about Rex?” she asked.
    “I want his seat,” Knox said.
    She pulled her damp hair over her shoulder, feigning indifference despite the interest tearing through her. “I’m a reporter, not a fairy