Rumor Has It (22 page)

“Liza,” he said, touching her elbow and forcing her to turn around and look at him.

“What?” Anger flashed in her eyes, followed by a bolt of sadness. Then it hit him: Liza was trying to hide what she was feeling. And she wasn't doing a good job of it. Taking her face in his hands, he kissed her softly.

“I'm not letting you go,” he said. “How can I when I'm falling in love with you more every day?”

“You're what?” she whispered.

“Falling for you.”

She stroked his face. “Can we do this? I know you want this senate seat, and with everything that Robert is saying about me . . .”

“I don't give a damn about that. Do I want this seat? Yes, I've worked too hard for it and I'm not going to insult your intelligence and pretend that I'm going to give everything up and we're going to sail off into the sunset.”

“I appreciate that.”

“But,” Jackson said, “I'm not going to be robbed of a personal life because I want to be a senator.”

Liza lifted her chin to Jackson's lips. “But what if your personal life costs you the chance to be the senator that this district needs?”

“That's for the voters to decide. I'm not going to borrow trouble. And I'm not doing anything illegal.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to his chest.

“I think we need to take this behind closed doors.”

“As much as I want to,” Jackson said, “I have an early morning meeting and . . .”

“That's too bad,” she said, then nibbled on her bottom lip. Liza tried to hide her disappointment, because she understood that things were about to get really busy with Election Day creeping up on them. Still, you don't tell a woman you're falling for her and hit her with the “I have an early morning” line.

“Let's have dinner tomorrow,” he said as if he read her mind. “And you bring the dessert.”

She smiled. “Chocolate?”

“Of course,” he replied, then kissed her again. When their lips parted, Jackson almost wanted to say forget the morning meeting and ask her to stay with him. But he had to focus. He had to make sure he would be the winner of the election. “See you tomorrow, babe.”

“Bye,” she said as he dashed to his car. Liza wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. How could she feel so good and so bad at the same time?

Returning to the table she and Chante shared, she saw her friend was waiting there with another cup of coffee and a salted caramel brownie.

“Are you trying to gain back all of the weight you lost to fit in your wedding dress in one night?”

“Ha,” Chante said. “I just figured you needed some chocolate since Jackson left without you. You two have more sizzle than a steak on a grill.”

“I wonder if that's all we have,” Liza said quietly, then broke a piece of the brownie. She toyed with it for a moment, thinking that she was borrowing trouble because of the thoughts she was having about Jackson, then popped it in her mouth.

“You love looking for shadows when none are there,” Chante said. “Don't make me take my brownie back. That man is trying to win an election that's about six days away. I bet he has a lot of work to do. And he needs to be focused.”

“You would've been a great political wife,” Liza said with a laugh.

Chapter 25

By the time Liza arrived home, she was feeling a lot better. Chante had given her a much needed reality check, and the infusion of chocolate had the right touch of mood-lightening chemistry.

For once, Liza intended to go home, not worry about media coverage or Google alerts, and head straight to sleep. She was about to get out of the car when she saw headlights behind her and a strange car pulling into her driveway. Panic gripped her. Who was that? Had she been followed? Was she about to become a victim of a random crime?
Oh, God,
she thought.
Maybe I should've watched the news a little more closely.
Glancing in her rearview mirror, she saw a tall figure emerge from the car. As he stalked over to her vehicle, Liza's panic turned into rage. What in the hell was Robert doing at her house?

She opened the door as he approached her car just so she could slam it into him. “What the hell do you want?”

He bent over in discomfort and then stood up and looked at her. “You selfish bitch,” he spat.

“The same could be said about you,” Liza said as she got out of the car. She kept her finger on the panic button just in case she needed to get her neighbors' attention.

“Why did you find that woman and—”

“Stop! Just stop. You're going to show up at my house in the middle of the night after you called me a former call girl and you have the unmitigated gall to be upset because I found the woman you paid to bend over your desk? You want to be upset about something, be upset that you can't keep your pants zipped. Be upset that you didn't cover your tracks better. And definitely be upset that you found a prostitute with morals.”

“You are a piece of work, Liza. All these years you made me believe you had my back. Told me that you believed in me and would always support me. When I needed you the most, you turned your back on me. Who does that?”

“Seriously? Who goes on television and calls his friend a hooker? Who cheats on a woman and can't take getting caught like a man? That would be you, Robert. Why would I continue to support a loser like you? You're that same non-responsibility-taking frat boy from college. Have you ever respected a woman? Or did you think your mouth would always get you out of everything? I was fooled for so many years. You raped that girl in college, didn't you?”

“Shut up! You're pathetic, and guess what, even if I lose, people will still wonder if you were or are a hooker. And let's see how many celebrities will be seeking your services—well, you know what I mean.”

Liza slapped him. “You're nothing but a power-hungry piece of shit and I wish I'd known this years ago. Then I wouldn't have wasted so much time believing that you were someone special. I guess you're just the son of a crackhead seeking revenge on all women because your mother didn't want you.”

He stepped toward her and Liza gasped. “And you wonder why no man, not even your father, wants anything to do with you. You're right about one thing, women—especially ones like you—aren't worthy of my time or effort. You'd better stay out of my way.”

“Go to hell, Robert. And maybe you need to stay out of my way, because I have way more dirt than you paying for sex. Don't make me use it.”

“This isn't a Twitter beef, Liza. I will destroy you, because lies travel just as far as the truth.” He spat on the ground, then walked to his car. Liza slowly counted to ten, because she wanted to march over to his car and toss bricks at the windshield. Instead, she watched his car leave her driveway and then she headed inside. If Robert wanted to start a war, he'd messed with the wrong person. And he should've known that. Sleep was now the last thing on her mind as she walked into the house. She grabbed her laptop and sat on the sofa. After booting up the computer, she looked for links to stories about Robert and Dayshea. Liza wasn't the least bit disappointed that every news agency in the state had picked up on the story. However, an Op-Ed piece in the
News and Observer
gave her pause. She read where the author talked about her alleged connection to the South Park Madam and questioned if she'd been the one who'd set Robert up with the prostitute he'd been photographed with.

“Asshole,” she muttered as she clicked on another link; this one was about Dayshea and her criminal past. “Of course we're going to blame the victim.”

The next link was an exposé about Robert's disrespect of women, including the alleged rape of the college student. There were former secretaries from the law firm who said Robert had sexually harassed them, but they settled with the partners to keep it quiet.

“Thank God for the
Huffington Post
,” she said as she retweeted the link and shared it on her Facebook page. She thought about writing a blog about it, but that would require more energy than she had at the moment. Yawning, she closed her laptop down and wrapped her afghan around her shoulders, then drifted off to sleep. When morning came, she had plans to drop the hammer on Robert and his chances to be a senator or even a damned sanitation director.

 

 

Jackson couldn't sleep. He tossed and turned until about three A.M., when he realized that the reason sleep wouldn't come was because he missed Liza. Her warmth next to him and the faint sound of her breathing, it amazed him how quickly he'd grown used to that. How comfortable she made him feel in the midst of this election cycle. And he was nervous. Wondering what the morning would hold with all the allegations about Montgomery, and the final get-out-the-vote rallies that he was expected to attend to sway more people to his side. Then there would be the media's questions about Liza and Montgomery. How many “no comments” would he have to deliver tomorrow?

Flipping on his back, Jackson stared at the ceiling. Was he built for this? Had this senate campaign been in vain? What was he going to do if he actually made it to the General Assembly? He may have won the debate, but Robert did touch on some insecurities that he didn't want to admit he had. Maybe he didn't have the experience that a senator needed. Maybe he wasn't ready to tackle all of the issues that politicians had to deal with while they were in session. He couldn't just push through sweeping changes for veterans and their families alone.

Closing his eyes, Jackson decided that all he could do was go to sleep and let tomorrow happen when it was time. Still, as he drifted off to sleep, he yearned for the touch of Liza's soft hands.

The ringing of his cell phone woke Jackson from a deep sleep and a delicious dream of making love to Liza. It was a little after six and he was sure that it was Teresa.

“Yeah?” he said when he answered, not bothering to look at the caller ID.

“Did I wake you? I'm sorry,” he heard Liza say. “I figured after last night's debate you'd be up and doing the morning shows.”

“Not yet. I actually overslept. I had a lot on my mind.”

“Really? Anything you want to talk about?”

“Mmm, I'd rather show you all of the things that I've been thinking about. They all involve you.”

“Interesting, because you were the first thing on my mind this morning when I woke up. But I still waited an hour or so before calling you.”

“We should've just woke up together. I'm sorry I didn't take you up on your offer last night.”

“A mistake I'm sure you won't make again.” She laughed and Jackson's morning wood twitched with desire.

“What are you doing right now?” he asked.

“Waiting for my coffee to brew.”

“How long would it take you to get here, with some of your delicious coffee?”

Liza laughed. “All you want is my coffee?”

“Not at all. I want every part of you. Especially the most intimate parts.”

“I'll see you in ten minutes,” she said, and then the line went dead. Jackson hopped out of bed and into the shower.

 

 

Liza brushed her teeth and then tossed cold water on her face. She was glad that she'd taken her shower as soon as she woke up. It was a cold shower to cool her hormones after dreaming of Jackson all night. She missed waking up in his arms this morning and she tried to ignore what she was feeling. She knew this man had a busy day; she'd been on his campaign website and seen that his first event was at ten, and that's why she decided to call him so early. She wanted him. Wanted to taste his lips and feel him deep inside her. Liza skipped putting on a bra or panties as she pulled her bandeau dress over her head. She pushed her hair back, then grabbed her purse and headed for her car. Part of her expected to find slashed tires or a broken windshield after her encounter with Robert, but her car was intact, so he hadn't lost his mind. Driving to Jackson's, she tried to forget what had happened with her and Robert. She wasn't going to tell Jackson about it at all. All she wanted to tell him was how deep she needed him to go.

It took her about fifteen minutes to arrive at Jackson's house, and when he opened the door, she threw herself into his arms. They kissed long and deep. Jackson's hands pushed up the bottom of her dress and stroked her naked bottom. Liza moaned as his fingers danced across her cheeks.

Her body tingled at his touch, hummed when his index finger found her throbbing bud of desire. She bit down on his bottom lip as he drew circles on her clitoris. Her moans turned into screams of passion as he thrust his finger in and out of her hot and awaiting valley. Liza's knees went weak as they broke their kiss and he thrust deeper into her with two fingers. Then Jackson dropped to his knees and brought his lips to the center of her desire. He sucked and licked her as she gripped his neck. Liza howled as she met a quick climax. Jackson continued to lick and suck the sweetness of her climax.

“Oh, Jackson,” she moaned as he lashed her with his tongue. Liza stroked the back of his neck as if she was encouraging him to keep his mouth right where it was. It didn't take much encouragement for Jackson to get his fill of Liza's sweetness. The more he licked and sucked, the more he wanted her. And when her explosion dampened his face with her passion, he wanted nothing more than to bury his hardness deep inside her walls.

After pulling his mouth away from her, Jackson rose to his feet and scooped Liza into his arms. He took her into his bedroom and laid her on the bed, where he'd dreamed of doing this all night. The gleam in her eyes as they looked at each other made his erection grow harder. He reached into his nightstand drawer and pulled out a condom. After sliding the sheath in place, he spread Liza's thighs apart and entered her. She pierced the air with a guttural moan. Jackson thrust in and out of her while gripping her hips.

Liza pressed forward, matching his intensity. Jackson buried his lips in her neck, licking and kissing her as she ground against him. “Yes, yes, yes,” she repeated like a mantra. Her moans encouraged him to dive deeper, finding all of her hot spots, every spot that made her moan, made her wetter, and brought her closer to climax.

Liza tilted her head back and screamed his name. Her release poured down her thighs and Jackson reveled in the hot wetness falling on him; it felt like a summer rain. “That's it, baby, come for me,” he whispered in her ear.

Liza's walls gripped his heated erection as she had another orgasm. And this time, Jackson came with her. Sated and sweaty, they collapsed in each other's arms. Silence enveloped them as Liza snuggled against Jackson's chest, inhaling his clean scent. Though she could've stayed wrapped in his arms all day, they had work to do.

“Liza,” Jackson said.

“Mmm?”

“What happened to my coffee?”

She snatched the pillow from underneath his head and playfully hit him across the chest.

“Ouch, woman,” he quipped, then rolled her over on her back. Pinning her arms down, he captured her lips in an ardent kiss that lit her body on fire. She wrapped her legs around his waist as their tongues tangoed. She parted her thighs and Jackson swam in her hot wetness. Liza had never felt such intense pleasure, felt so desired and wanted.

“Kiss me,” Jackson ordered. Liza complied, adding a few nibbles to his bottom lip. Jackson growled as he exploded. Holding Liza tightly, he released a satisfied sigh. “Whew, I think if I had that coffee now, I'd have a heart attack.”

She smiled and kissed him on the cheek. “Besides, this is a better way to wake up.”

“You won't get an argument from me,” he said, then glanced over at the clock on his nightstand. “Damn.”

“I guess we have to get out of bed now,” she said, taking note of the time.

“Unfortunately, but tonight, I won't make the mistake of sleeping alone. Will you stay with me tonight?”

“Yes, because I really missed you last night.”

“Not nearly as much as I missed you. I know things are getting hectic right now and when I pick up that cell phone real life is going to creep in and steal more time out of my day.”

“But this is what you have to do so that you can be that voice in the Senate for the wounded warriors, for the poor families in this state living paycheck to paycheck, and the seniors who depend on Medicare.”

“Somebody has been on my website,” he said with a grin.

“You'd better live up to those campaign promises or I might have to tweet about you.”

“And that really does scare me. What is it about people and Twitter? Just because they read it in a tweet it's true? And then you with that blog. People love it. I'm kind of hoping that I never make you want to post about me on it.”

“You mean I can't sing the praises of my war hero?” she joked. When Liza saw the frown on his face, she was a bit confused. “I was just joking.”