Brent nodded his head slowly, a smile spreading across his angular face for the first time since he’d entered the office. “If we put that out there to the media, then everyone will understand when the two of you decide to break off the impetuous engagement.”
“I never said that, either.”
“Damn it, Matthew—” his smile went wry “—I taught you how to use those avoidant answer techniques with the press back when your mother was running for office. Don’t think you can get away with using those same techniques on me.”
Why couldn’t he bring himself to close the office door and tell Brent the truth? It all came back to protecting Ashley, her reputation and her pride as best he could until he set things right again in her life.
Matthew angled forward with a long creak of the wheels on the antique leather chair he’d inherited from his father. “I said Ashley and I are engaged and that’s exactly what I mean. We’re going to pick out a ring tomorrow.”
A ring?
Hell yeah.
Of course they would need a ring. If Ashley balked, he would suggest they could sell it afterward and donate the proceeds to her favorite charity. Ashley with all her generous ways would get into a notion like that. He wasn’t actually purchasing any token of commitment, rather protecting Ashley while contributing to a worthy cause.
Brent eyed him narrowly. “Why not give this Ashley Carson woman your mother’s ring from her marriage to your father?”
Good question.
“Ashley wants her own,” he neatly dodged. “As a foster child, she lived her life receiving hand-me-downs from others, rarely getting the chance to choose what suited her best. She deserves to have a ring of her choice and start traditions of her own.”
Yeah, that sounded plausible enough, especially given he’d only had half a second to come up with an answer. As a matter of fact, it actually resonated as true inside him, the decision he would reach if he and Ashley were doing this couple thing for real.
Matthew aligned the stack of bumper stickers. “I imagine the news will leak from someone in the jewelry store, but we’ll still want to make our own official announcement. When do you think is best to call a press conference? Tomorrow night or the next morning?”
“You actually love this woman?” His manager didn’t even bother hiding the jaded tone in his voice.
Love? The word brought to mind the endless times he’d heard his mother crying on the other side of the door after Benjamin Landis’s death. Ginger had been damn near incapacitated. If it hadn’t been for her kids and the surprise offer to take over her husband’s senate seat, Matthew still wasn’t sure how long it would have taken his mother to enter the world of the living again.
He would have chalked it up to emotions growing over a long-term relationship, but he’d felt much the same crippling pain when his fiancée died in college. No way was he going back for round two of that pathway to hell. The possibility of letting anyone have that kind of control over him again scared the crap out of him.
He’d been right to try and end things after their accidental night together. Circumstances, however, had forced them to bide their time before going their separate and diverse ways.
He thought about Ashley, and yeah, she stirred a protectiveness inside him along with that hefty dose of arousal. Just thinking about her nak*d body tangled in the sheets with her auburn hair splayed over the pillow…
Damn. He wouldn’t be standing up from behind the protective cover of his mahogany desk anytime soon. “I am captivated by her.”
Brent stared him down and Matthew held his gaze without wavering. Finally, his old family friend nodded. “Either you’re a brilliant liar or in more trouble than you realize, my friend.”
The camera flash blinded her.
Ashley blinked to clear the sparks of light as the intense reflection bounced off the marquise-cut diamond on her finger as she stood in front of the podium outside Matthew’s campaign headquarters in Hilton Head.
She hadn’t wanted him to spend so much on the ring, but he’d swayed her by telling her the proceeds from hocking the rock afterward would go to the charity of her choice. That he knew her and her wishes so well after such a short time swayed her more than anything.
His campaign manager, Mr. Davis, stepped between them and the microphone. “Thank you, ladies and gentlemen of the press. That officially concludes our conference for this afternoon.”
Ashley forced a smile on her face as cameras continued to click while Matthew escorted her toward a chauffeur-driven Suburban. The weight of the stone on her hand provided a constant reminder that while she might not be committed to this man, she was committed to her decision to help him with his campaign to beat his scumbag opponent.
She extended her fingers and stared at the brilliant diamond in the shiny gold setting, thought of their night together, followed by his cageyness the next morning.
She feared she’d made a mistake.
Not in deciding on the engagement. She still believed in making sure that rat bastard running against him didn’t get to exploit anyone else.
But this ring? She turned her hand to catch fragments of sunlight in the facets of the stone. The ring was perfect, exactly what she would want in a real engagement and now she could never have it because the marquise cut would always remind her of Matthew Landis and the way he’d hurt her.
She couldn’t help but think of how he’d hotfooted toward her door. When this relationship didn’t benefit him anymore, he would likely hotfoot his way out of her life just that fast. She didn’t want to view him in such an unfavorable light, but what else could she think? That’s what he’d shown her, and he was a politician, after all.
Although she’d seen signs he wasn’t the typical politician, she reminded herself he was used to spinning things to his own advantage. She needed to remember that in order to survive this debacle.
Ashley slid into the backseat of the Suburban, the driver closing the door after her while she settled into the decadently soft leather. A built-in television played a twenty-four hour news channel.
Matthew tossed his briefcase to the floor before buckling his seat belt. “Thank God, that’s past. We should have some time to talk before we reach my place.”
Her ears perked up and she lost focus on the ring. “Your place?”
“Yes, you should familiarize yourself with the property.” He angled to face her, his knee brushing against hers and stirring more than nerves in her stomach. “It would seem strange if you’re unfamiliar with where I live.”
“Of course. That makes sense.” She forced her face to stay blasé even though inside she couldn’t ignore the frustrated twinge that his reasons for taking her home were merely practical. “Why didn’t your campaign manager come along then? Where is he now?”
“Don’t know.” Matthew shrugged as a golf course with a lush lawn and palm trees whizzed past.
“I thought he wanted to tell me more about the upcoming agenda.” She tugged her lightweight sweater closed over her floral sundress she’d borrowed from Starr. The outfit was pretty, but Starr wasn’t as busty so the darn thing didn’t fit quite right and the press of Matthew’s knee against hers was starting to make the dress even more uncomfortably tight as her br**sts ached for his touch.
She should have been shopping for clothes rather than a ring in order to pull off this charade.
“Brent and I decided I could give you the information just as easily. He has enough to keep him busy.” Matthew clicked open his briefcase and pulled out a printed agenda roster. “I’m slated to speak at a Rotary breakfast in the morning and a stump gathering in the afternoon. On Saturday evening, there’s a harbor cruise fund-raising dinner.”
He paused reading to glance over at her, seemingly unaware of the havoc he wreaked on her senses with just the touch of his kneecap, for Pete’s sake. If only the photographers hadn’t caught those compromising photos, she could have gone on with her life, pissed off at him, certainly, but free of this painful attraction.
“Ashley?” He ducked his head into her line of sight. “Are you with me? Do you have a problem with any of this? You don’t have to attend everything. It’s not like you’re a politician’s wife.”
“Of course I want to come. It’s fascinating to hear all of the political ins and outs up close. And it’s not as if I have a job at the moment. Everything’s at a standstill with Beachcombers until the insurance company finishes its report and cuts us a check.”
She forced her eyes to stay dry when more than anything she wanted to shout her frustration over her out-of-control life.
She liked simple and uncomplicated.
Matthew Landis was anything and everything except simple and uncomplicated.
His handsome face went somber with concern. “I could always float you a loan—”
“Shut up about the money already.” God, he really didn’t have a clue about her values and pride in spite of the ring. Still, she eased her words with a smile even as constant reminders of his affluent world whipped by outside in the shape of waterside mansions and high-end cars. “But thank you for the offer. It’s very generous of you.”
“Don’t overrate me. The amount you need wouldn’t even put a dent in my portfolio.”
She wrinkled her nose and planted her legs firmly on her side of the car—away from his. The leather seats teased at the back of her calves with a reminder of lush accessories she could never afford. “Why did you have to take such a nice offer and downplay it that way?”
“I’m not bragging, only speaking the truth.”
That might be so, but it still didn’t mean she planned to let him open his wallet to her. Taking money from a man she was sleeping with seemed…icky.
She’d already come too close to crossing a moral conscience line with this fake engagement. She couldn’t take one step further. “I see plenty of wealthy people traipsing through Beachcombers who will stiff the waitress on a tip without thinking twice. I know affluence and generosity do not always go hand in hand.”
“Since I already have enough debates on my schedule, I won’t bother disputing your kind assessment of my character.”
She chewed her lip to keep from arguing further and simply listened to the roar and honks of street traffic. The last thing she wanted was to wax on about the wonderful attributes of Matthew Landis. That would do little to bolster her self-control.
He tapped her brow with a warm callused finger. “Penny for them.”
She forced a lighthearted smile on her face. “Come on, surely with your portfolio you can do better than that.”
“Touché.” He chuckled low, the rumble of his laugh sliding as smoothly over her senses as his arm along the back of the seat to cup her shoulders.
His touch burned along her already heightened nerves, tightening an unwelcome need deep in her belly. She’d always been attracted to him, but the sensual draw was so much more intense now that she knew exactly how high he could nudge her pleasure with even one stroke of his body inside hers.