Page 20 of Courting Gossip (Courting)
A jogger sprinted past, and Brody moved over to a nearby bench. He leaned against it and tapped his fingers against the wooden back. The story of those two being a couple just didn’t ring true. Even if nobody ever found out she was a paid escort, there was the age difference. The senator’s female constituents didn’t like their sexy senior senator dating someone half his age, even if the men were impressed. Genieve was too bright a flame. Anyone would question why she was with him. At best, she’d be labelled a gold-digger.
The two just didn’t fit, contract or not.
At least that was the conclusion Brody had come up with, some time as the sun had been coming up. The kiss had nothing to do with it.
Nothing and everything.
He tried to ignore the tingle in his lips, but he rubbed them together anyway. They’d been doing that on and off ever since she’d moved in and planted one on him. He remembered the feel of her, the humid air pouring out of the bathroom, and the scent of clean, beautiful woman. His lungs expanded, and he blew out a breath that was more winded than the jogger who’d just passed.
Why had she done that? She’d been half asleep, he knew. Had she even known who he was? Or was it habit? That possibility was like an elbow to the gut, but it hadn’t stopped him kissing her back – right after his brain had kicked back into gear.
Which it needed to do right now.
Realising he’d become distracted, Brody reached up to adjust his sunglasses. It was a sign to the senator’s aide to get things moving along, but just then Gunderson tapped the reporter on the shoulder and shook his hand. It looked like things were winding up on their own as the senator and his troupe began marching again up the Capitol steps.
Brody watched until they made it all the way inside without any more reporters swooping in. He rapped his knuckles against the wooden bench and moved along, too. The first phase of his plan had gone well.
Now he just had to catch up with two novice reporters and let them know just how unwise it would be to continue spreading unfounded rumours with charges already hanging over their heads. It hadn’t taken much digging to discover one had a Peeping Tom conviction from his college days. Something about the girls’ shower…The other had a mother who worked at a bump-and-grind in a questionable area downtown. It didn’t matter if she just served drinks. He could spin that.
Brody straightened his tie and slid his hands into his pockets as he headed to the Metro entrance. As tired and ill-tempered as he was, he had no doubt Phase Two would be any different. For Jenny’s sake, he wouldn’t let it.
