Breathless Secrets by Elizabeth Lennox
Chapter 4
Molly stared at the invitation, printed on heavy paper stock and, as she fanned herself with the elegant envelope, she suspected the address was hand written. “Good grief!” she muttered, wondering how much a calligrapher charges per hour. Or did they charge per envelope?
After their picnic several days ago, Molly had avoided James’ phone calls. She knew that he wanted to see her again, but deep down, Molly knew that they were from two different worlds. Their lives and their preferences simply wouldn’t work together. How could she mesh her borderline poverty level lifestyle with James’ wealth and political aspirations?
Stuffing her mail under her arm, but keeping the invitation in hand, Molly made her way towards her apartment. She was tired and cranky, not to mention hot and sweaty from a long day at the community center. Plus, she really missed James! It didn’t matter how many times she convinced herself that he was wrong for her, she still missed him.
“A shower and a glass of wine,” she muttered as she shoved her key into the lock and pushed the door open. “Is that too much to ask for?”
Her phone ringing made her groan. Closing her eyes for a brief moment, she dug her cell phone out of her backpack and…almost dropped it when she saw who was calling.
The cell stopped ringing and Molly bit her lip, wondering if…yep! He called right back.
Knowing that James Morgan wasn’t the kind of man to stop, she pressed the button to answer. It was time to talk to him. She’d avoided his calls and text messages for days. She had to be firm now.
“Good evening, Mr. Morgan. How are you?” She closed her eyes, cringing at her flirtatious tone. She was supposed to be stopping this insanity. Not encouraging it!
Molly dumped the rest of her mail onto the counter as he laughed, sending the expected shiver of awareness down her spine. How did he do that every time? Eventually, she hoped to become immune to the soft, sexy sound. Unfortunately, “eventually” wasn’t today.
“I’m quite well, Molly. Thank you for asking.” She could hear the grin in his voice. “And how are you this fine evening?”
Reluctantly, Molly smiled at his teasing formality. “I’m fine.” She wondered what he might say next. She didn’t have long to wait.
“Did you receive the invitation?”
Molly tapped the thick, expensive paper lightly against her thigh. “Why yes, Mr. Morgan. I did receive the invitation.”
Another soft chuckle. And another shiver. Darn it!
“And did you open it?”
Startled, she stared down at the envelope. “How did you…?”
Another irritatingly sexy chuckle. “I suspected as much. It’s for this weekend. Friday, actually. I was hoping that you would come to the event as my date.”
“You need a date?”
“Not need,” he corrected. “Want. I’d love to escort you to this event.”
Molly tore open the envelope. It was a black tie event at the Willard Hotel. It was one of the fanciest hotels in the city, situated right across the street from the White House. Molly had been there once before, on a date. She’d met a guy at the hotel bar, and even that had been a startlingly beautiful venue. She could still picture the polished wood walls and the ornate chairs situated “casually” around low tables throughout the space. Molly had a policy of paying for her own drinks, but that place had been completely out of her budget, so she’d allowed her date to pay for the drinks.
“Um…I don’t think that–”
“Think of it as work, Molly,” he interrupted.
“Work?” she repeated, not sure she understood. Her job didn’t have many…any…work-related events at the Willard Hotel.
“Yes. There will be several influential and very wealthy people there,” he explained. “It would be a prime opportunity to get more donations for your community center.” He paused, letting his words sink in. “Didn’t you mention a tutoring program that you’d like to start? Think of all the teenagers that you could hire to tutor the elementary school students,” he commented. “And there are several colleges in the city,” James continued. “I know for a fact that students always need cash. You could hire those students to tutor the high school students.”
He fell silent, letting his suggestions swirl through the line between them.
“You’re evil,” she mumbled with a groan.
He laughed again, but this time, the sound wasn’t sexy. It was filled with amusement and the sound made her smile in response. Reluctantly. She could picture him sitting behind a huge, ugly, modern desk, his five thousand dollar shoes propped up as he leaned all the way back in his leather chair.
“Yes, I suppose that I am just a bit evil. So, I’ll pick you up at six this Friday. It’s black tie. I’ll send over a dress for you.”
“Don’t you dare!” she hissed, fighting back another smile. He’d trapped her into accepting his escort. But she refused to be passive. Straightening her shoulders, she pushed away from the counter. “And I don’t need you to pick me up, Mr. Morgan. I’ll get there under my own steam.”
“Don’t you want someone to introduce you around at the event?” he offered.
Molly gritted her teeth, no longer amused as her normal social anxiety kicked into high gear.
“What’s worse, Molly?” he asked softly. “Going to a big social event and having to maneuver through the throngs of people on your own?” His voice lowered, turning husky and sensual. “Or standing beside me, pretending that you aren’t affected by my touch?”
Oh, he was good! He’d completely understood her hesitation. “I don’t know,” she replied honestly.
“Fair enough,” he replied with another soft chuckle. “I’ll pick you up at six. We’ll go to dinner first and I’ll get you liquored up, so that you won’t feel too self-conscious surrounded by strangers.”
“Are you going to liquor me up to get me into bed with you?”
“Absolutely not,” he told her flatly, as all laughter vanished from his tone. “When we make love for the first time, I want you completely sober and able to make the decisions on your own. I want all of your reactions to be completely free of any sort of alcohol-induced courage. I want complete honesty between us.” He paused and Molly felt as if she could picture him making love to her just from his words. “I’ll pick you up at six o’clock, Molly,” he promised softly, then hung up.
Molly hugged the phone to her chest, gnawing her lower lip as she closed her eyes, trying desperately not to imagine James Morgan making love to her.
“Stop it!” she whispered harshly and forced her feet to move. But Molly wasn’t sure where she was going anymore. Every interaction with that man made her lose focus! Hadn’t she vowed to stop seeing him? And yet, she’d gone a mere two days without talking to him. She’d only been able to avoid him for two days! Nor could she ignore the crazy, electrified way he made her feel. What was it about James Morgan that made her feel so…crazy?!
Unexpectedly, Molly’s lips quirked slightly. “Jerk,” she muttered, and then made her way towards her bedroom, refusing to let herself think about James. Or Mr. Morgan, as she was trying to think of him.
James ended the call and leaned all the way back in his leather chair, his feet propped up on his desk as he stared out at the Virginia skyline. The campaign was going extremely well so far, but that was mostly because he was running for Senate against a weak candidate. A year ago, no one would have ever thought that Bernard Von Deuch’s Senate seat would be vulnerable. Everyone assumed that Bernard would have to retire in order for the Senate seat to change hands.
But the FBI investigation last year had revealed his corruption. Surprisingly, a lot of people didn’t believe that Von Duech had done anything wrong, that the investigation into his dealings was just a plot to ruin his reputation. James knew that the man should have been arrested, tried, and put in prison for the things that he’d done! Bernard Von Deuch was one of the most corrupt politicians around, with more than forty years of disparaging the law under his belt. Every time James thought about him, he became infuriated all over again. He was so sick of politicians breaking the law, flaunting their power, and ignoring the needs of their constituents.
And then he’d met Molly. She was happiness and innocence fused with a heavy dose of worldly knowledge and an understanding of how bad things really are…as well as an unfailing hope for how good the world could become if we put a little effort into making things better.
She was also physically beautiful, with those huge, brown eyes of hers, surrounded by the long, blond locks. He tapped a pen against his lips, wondering what she’d look like all dressed up. So far, he’d only seen her in jeans and tee shirts or that pretty sundress. Would she dress up for Friday night? Or would she defiantly wear something more casual?
He couldn’t wait to find out!
