A Pregnancy Scandal (17 page)

Clay backed away. “I'll get out of here so you have some privacy.”

She nodded but didn't speak so he gave her arm a little pat and steadied her as she slipped off the counter to stand on the marble floor. Once she had her balance, he backed out of the room, shutting the door firmly behind him. He almost ran over Hunter, who'd been hovering just outside.

“Dammit, Hunt. How did this happen? How did the protesters get inside?” Clay was as angry at himself as he was his security chief. Security should have watched out for her. Hell,
he
should have watched out for her. She was, ultimately, his responsibility.

Hunt made a noise that resembled a growl. “A group came through a secondary entrance in the basement and got to the main control board. Building security thinks it might have been an inside job. They're investigating.”

Lightning flashed beyond the sheer curtains covering the bedroom window, followed shortly by thunder. Frowning, Hunt pulled out his cell phone, swiped the screen then punched an app icon. “I didn't know we had weather moving in tonight.” He checked the forecast and radar then shrugged. “Nothing but boomers and some rain. Now, about Georgie. It won't happen again, Clay. I promise. I'll put a man on her personally.”

Clay tunneled his fingers through his hair. “As soon as she's—” A massive boom rattled the window glass and seconds later, all the lights in the suite went out. A scream from inside the bathroom had both men scrambling—Hunt for light, Clay for the door handle.

Jerking the door open, Clay found Georgie kneeling on the floor, her head down, shoulders hunched. Was she gagging? Jeez, but he hated that sound. Had ever since college and drunken frat parties. He kicked the door shut in Hunter's face and bent down. Using the flashlight app on his cell, he checked her over. Clay lifted her long brown hair back from her face, though she tried to turn away. Georgie's throat worked as she swallowed hard, coughing with the effort.

To combat his very visceral reaction to what was happening, Clay recited the Gettysburg Address. Then the Preamble to the US Constitution. He figured he'd have to start on the Declaration of Independence next but Georgie finally inhaled and turned an apologetic gaze on him. He stood to retrieve another washcloth.

“I'm sorry,” she murmured, not looking at him as he crouched beside her.

He wondered if her heightened color was a result of exertion or embarrassment. “It's okay—” He bit off the next word, an endearment that slipped too easily into his head. To cover, he brushed her hair back over her shoulders. Pet names didn't come as easy to him as they did Boone. The fact that one had formed on his tongue should have concerned him, but he couldn't work up the energy to worry about it at the moment. He handed her the washcloth and she wiped her mouth and face but still wouldn't look at him. It was then he realized she'd stripped down to a bra and panties—red ones. He refused to process that visual, focusing instead on the situation. “What happened? You seemed okay when I walked out.”

Georgie swallowed a dry heave and wrapped her arms around her chest. “I...panicked. The dark. And the storm. I'm a tad...claustrophobic. Or something.”

Clay swallowed the insane urge to laugh as his adrenaline rush faded. He bit the insides of his cheeks and when that didn't help, he bit his tongue in an aborted effort to stop the sputtering laugh that finally escaped. He immediately apologized. “It's not funny. I know. I'm sorry.”

A choking sound spurted from her. She'd hidden her face in her hands so he snagged the robe from the back of the door and draped it across her shoulders and back. She slipped her arms into the sleeves and twisted her body so she could see him. Clay was surprised to see her biting her lips as if she, too, was trying to hold back her laughter. Then the robe gapped and he glimpsed the bruise on her ribs. He curled his hands into fists to keep from ripping the robe off to examine her. Those bastards had marked her with their idiotic stunt. That quelled his urge to laugh.

“You're bruised, Georgie. And you have that bump on your head. I'd like a doctor to look at you, okay?”

Her forehead furrowed in confusion before she glanced down and saw what he was talking about. “Oh. I am. Huh.” Her gaze caught on his. “I was too busy being scared witless to notice, and it was dark so I couldn't see...”

She rubbed absently at her pale skin, and Clay reminded himself Georgie was in his employ and traumatized. He was not as big a jerk as his father or brothers when it came to women. He refused to be, but damn if he wasn't suddenly aware that Georgie had been hiding some very interesting attributes behind her boxy suits and thick glasses—said attributes all but staring him in the face, despite the modest cut of that red lingerie and the robe.

“I'll have the house doctor check you once the electricity—” The lights flickered, steadied and remained on. “Speaking of. Ready to get into the shower now?”

Clay stood and extended his hand to help her up. Just as she clasped his fingers, another clap of thunder shook the building and the lights extinguished. He felt her tremble and hunkered down beside her once more. “It's okay, Georgie.”

He swiped his phone and when the screen lit up, he tapped the flashlight app once more. “See? We have light.”

Georgie was panting again and a thin sheen of perspiration covered her face. “I'm sorry. This is stupid. I know it's stupid and irrational.”

“Fear is—” The light on his phone dimmed and he glanced at the battery indicator. He flicked off the flashlight app, but the home-screen light cast a soft glow over Georgie's face. “Sorry. I'm down to the dregs of battery life. We can go outside, into the bedroom.”

“No. There might be monsters under the bed.”

Clay studied her face in the ghostly glow of his cell. A hint of a smile tweaked her lips. Good. This was the Georgie he knew and...liked. Yes, definitely liked. He liked Georgie. She was his employee. He was only keeping her company in his bathroom because she'd had a traumatic day.

“I promise to slay the monsters.”

“Or legislate them out of existence?”

“I can do that. I'll introduce a bill in the Senate. And then I'll take you dancing in the dark.”

“Isn't that a song?”

“Springsteen.”

She blinked at him, her eyes owlish behind the lenses of her glasses. “You're a fan of the Boss?”

“Hey, just because I grew up on Waylon, Willie and the boys, doesn't mean I don't have refined tastes in music.”

That elicited a giggle. “Are you trying to distract me?”

“Depends. Is it working?”

“Sort of.”

“Then yes.” He eased down to the floor, stretching his legs out. “I'm going to take a shot in the dark here—”

“Peter Sellers!”

“I'm sorry. You didn't phrase that in the form of question.” He winked at her.

“Oh, getting technical, are we? Fine. I'll take Dark for three hundred, Alex.”

“Hmm. Okay.” The light from his phone blinked out. Clay didn't like Georgie's quick inhalation. He tapped the phone, thinking it had just gone into sleep mode. Nothing happened. “Sorry, Georgie. I think the battery died.”

“O-okay. Um...can we keep playing?”

“Sure. Dark for three hundred, right?”

“Yes.”

“Ha! Got one. Michelle Pfeiffer plays the family matriarch in this—”

“What is
Dark Shadows
?”

Georgie laughed as he huffed in pretended frustration. “How did you know that?”

“Clay, your crush on Michelle Pfeiffer is not exactly a secret around the office.”

“It isn't?” He did his best to sound both shocked and innocent, but damn if he didn't like the sound of his name coming from between her lips. He couldn't remember if she'd ever called him by his first name—at least not up close and personal like this.

“I'll take Dark for a thousand, Alex.”

He racked his brain for an answer and when it came to him, he grinned. “Come to the dark side. We have cookies.”

A sound that was a cross between a giggle and snort erupted from Georgie. “How do you even know that?”

The next thing Clay knew, Georgie was laughing—a deep belly laugh that almost lit up the dark with its happy sound. And just like that, the lights blazed, chasing the shadows away. As she dissolved into more laughter, relieved this time, he joined her. This was a side of Georgie he appreciated—her irreverent sense of humor. Working, she was reserved, thoughtful, erudite. She had a way of boiling down an issue into sound bites. She was knowledgeable and intelligent and he thought of her as his personal... His thoughts trailed off as he stared into her eyes—eyes a shade of green he was currently trying, and failing, to describe.

With a start, he realized Georgie was no longer laughing. She'd devolved into hiccuping sobs. He hated tears. The women his father married too often resorted to them, but Georgie's were real and earned. He gathered her close, stroking his palm down her back in long caresses.

“You're okay, Georgie. You're safe.”

She nodded, fighting for control. “I know. I'm...” She sniffed, looked around for a tissue, then gave up and wiped her nose on the sleeve of her robe. “Sorry, boss. I'm okay. Just...nerves. I hate the dark. Hate small spaces, especially in the dark.”

“Want to tell me?”

She shook her head but words tumbled out. “I was a kid. Got trapped in our old storm cellar. In the dark. Took my folks a couple of hours to find me.”

He tightened his arm around her and fought the urge to kiss the top of her head. “Yeah, that would not be fun.”

Georgie snuffled again so Clay reached for the roll of toilet paper and ripped off a strip. She took it and tried to discreetly wipe, then blow, her nose. Once she appeared composed, he disengaged and stood. “Why don't you stay in tonight, Georgie? You deserve a night off.” When she nodded, he opened the door and edged toward it. “I'll get out so you can shower.”

She nodded so he helped her up, made sure she was steady and once again retreated. He listened at the door until he heard the shower and then met Boone and Hunt in the living area of the suite. He gave his orders, grabbed clean clothes from his room and ducked into Boone's room to clean up.

Georgie was still in his bathroom when he was ready to leave for the donor dinner. Part of him wanted to stay, but the practical part, the politician he'd been born, bred and raised to be, marched out of the suite led by his chief of security and trailed by his chief of staff. Georgie would be fine. She had to be. He didn't stop to contemplate why that mattered so much.

Copyright © 2016 by Silver James

ISBN-13: 9781488001765

A Pregnancy Scandal

Copyright © 2016 by Kat Cantrell

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