Page 6 of Capitally Engaged

“I don’t get a choice of drink?”

“I’ll get you something else if you want it, but this bottle came highly recommended by our waiter and even more highly priced, so I promise it’ll go down easy.”

Preston picked up his glass, swirling the contents once, and lifted it to his lips for a sip. He considered the pallet after swallowing, setting the glass back down.

“Okay, that’ll do.”

I considered him for a moment. While being a reporter wasn’t my first choice of careers, I had a knack for reading people that came in handy while sniffing out a story, or more often, picking up on bullshit.

“You don’t know shit about wine, do you?”

Preston’s cheeks reddened slightly, before he speared me with an assessing gaze of his own.

“Okay, no. I usually buy whatever is right around the ten-dollar a bottle range. But let me guess, you’re an eight-dollar bottle girl.”

I laughed. “Like I said, the waiter recommended it, and I didn’t ask any questions. His accent intimidated me.”

Preston laughed too, picking up his glass and took a more generous sip.

“It’s clear we’ve both got this reading-other-people thing down, so let’s save some time and just be honest with each other tonight, okay?”

Preston nodded. He looked a bit wary, but I appreciated his willingness to agree to be open with me from the get go.

The waiter walked up just then.

“Now that your other party is here, do you have any questions about the menu? Or have you decided on a starter?”

“You got any food allergies or sensitivities, Brandt?”

Preston shook his head.

“Up for an adventure?” I held my breath while I waited for his answer. His willingness to trust me to order for him was a low-stakes test for what I had planned.

He shrugged in response before nodding slowly. I could work with that.

“We’ll take the chef’s special—appetizer, entrée, and dessert.” I hoped the hit to my credit card and the risk to my stomach would be worth it by the end of the night. Oftentimes, even though the food was richer, the lack of processed ingredients in restaurants like this could play nice with my digestive system.

“I actually studied abroad in France while I was in college,” Preston said, breaking the silence that fell across the table after the waiter left. He leaned forward to grab a piece of bread out of the basket another waiter smoothly dropped off without even breaking his stride.

“See, look. There’s something about you I didn’t learn this afternoon in my research. And to think, they say couples stop surprising each other eventually.” I poked around the fiancé issue to see how Preston would react.

“Yeah, about that,” Preston said, not looking up from buttering his roll. “I’ll just tell Senator Marsden you got ajob offer, had to move, and we’re doing long distance. It’s a reelection year, my schedule was too hard for you, we break up eventually, and it’s all over.”

I took in a deep breath. I just need to keep him in his seat after this next part, and I might have a fighting chance. “And what if we didn’t do that?”

“Didn’t tell him we broke up?” Preston held his freshly buttered bread inches from his mouth.

“Didn’t break up at all.”

Chapter

Four

Preston

I’d heard the term hysterical laughter before, but never experienced it firsthand. Our neighbors were staring, I could feel it, but still my shoulders shook, my eyes teared, and noise continued to leave my mouth. I hadn’t slept more than five hours a night over the past week, and once I got started, I couldn’t stop.

Jax did her best to ignore my outburst, pouring herself a fresh glass of wine. I slowly got myself under control, wiping under my eyes with my napkin before setting it back in my lap.

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