Page 9 of Accidentally, Scandalously Yours

I arch a brow. “Is that not true?”

She purses her lips. “God, you can be an asshole when you want to be.”

I throw the rest of my whiskey down my throat. “If facing the truth makes me an asshole, so be it.”

Owen steps in. He knows Jill’s even more likely to pick a fight with me than with him. Looking at me, he asks, “What happened with Shelby?”

More of that infernal question. The same one my father grilled me on today. He was less than impressed with my choice to end things. Shelby was perfect “stock” as far as he was concerned.She could have taken you all the way to the presidency, he’d said before making it clear I had to find someone new for that task.

“She bored me,” I say.

“You two couldn’t keep your hands off each other,” Jill says.

“There’s a lot more to a relationship than sex, Jill. I need something more than that. Some fucking conversation for a start.” Shelby loved sex as much as I do, but when it came to sharing ourselves in other ways, she struggled. Our conversations consisted of talking about the parties she wanted us to attend, the dresses she planned to wear and whether I liked them, her ideas for her next hairstyle, and gossip. I couldn’t see myself enduring a lifetime of that.

Jill’s only half listening. She’s spied someone across the room that she’s interested in. Looking at Owen, she says, “Ron Johansen just arrived.”

Owen nods before glancing at me. “We’re still on for golf tomorrow?”

“Yes. The helicopter will be ready to leave at six thirty in the morning.”

Jill gives me one last glare before she and Owen make their way toward the man they’re trying to win as a client for North Management, their hedge fund. Jill resents the time Owen spends golfing with me and has made that more than clear. As far as I’m concerned, she needs to get over that. I’ve known Owen since I was five; we’ll be golfing into our old age.

I head to the bar, needing more whiskey to survive this night. My strides slow as I meet the gaze of the woman I haven’t been able to get out of my head for the last year.

Kristen Blaise.

Those beautiful blue eyes of hers are etched into my memory. I’d be able to pick them out of a lineup of eyes only.

She smiles before turning and walking out of the ballroom. I don’t waste a second before following her. I know exactly where she’s going after having done this four times with her now. The rooftop. To escape the crowd.

“You look like you can’t wait to get out of here,” she says when I join her in the elevator. We’re the only ones here, something I’m grateful for. I don’t like sharing Kristen.

“What was the giveaway?”

Her eyes light up with mischief as she cocks her head. “Hmm, let me see….” She grins. “You do wear grumpy well.”

“I’m not grumpy.”

Still grinning, she says, “No? What would you call it then?”

“Not putting up with people’s shit.”

“I can see it now.President Black, the president who didn’t put up with anyone’s shit. I’m sure that will go down well.”

“I think America’s ready for a president like that.”

“I think you’re out of touch with the people if you think that.”

I step out of the elevator when it reaches our destination and release a long breath as I look up at the night sky. “How do you do these things so well?” I’m convinced Kristen could excel at socializing in her sleep. Since that night we spent together a year ago, we’ve run into each other three times at galas. I’ve watched her move through each one effortlessly, like she was made to woo people.

“You do them just as well as I do.”

I walk with her to the railing, doing my best not to glue my eyes to her body. Keeping my hands off Kristen is always my greatest achievement when I’m with her. “Outwardly, yes. On the inside, I hate almost every minute of them.”

Kristen’s eyes flare with understanding. She knows what I’m saying without saying it: I don’t detest the moments I spend with her.

From the very first second we met, there was something between us. Hypnotic chemistry that made me helpless but to spend that entire night following her around the city. We talked until the sun came up and I carried her home on my back like she’d requested. I didn’t want to let her go and that spell she weaved over me has drawn me back each time I’ve seen her since.

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