“The Cunningham-Maxwell race that we’ve been following still doesn’t have full results in just yet,” the news broadcaster reported. “From the looks of what we do have it’s a pretty tight race down there. The front-runner, Cunningham, appears to have the lead by a small margin, but it’s a toss-up if I’ve ever seen one. We’ll keep our eye on that one, but in the meantime, let’s take a look at the open seat race in Pennsylvania.”
Liz breathed out heavily. She wanted the results, and the waiting game was frustrating.
“Going to be close,” Hayden said, walking with her back to the bar.
“We always knew that.”
“Those results Tristan had make me think Maxwell’s going to pull it out. You said it from the beginning, but it’s different having the proof in my hands.”
“Yeah,” she whispered. The culmination of a lot of hard work and ambition on Brady’s part. He’d been born and bred for this role . . . born and bred to be president. He had convinced her of that. Liz shook her head. She needed to get Brady Maxwell out of her thoughts. After tonight that would be her mission. After he won . . . He had to win!
“Are you two going to have a shot with me or what?” Victoria yelled. She reached out and latched on to Liz’s arm and dragged her back to the bar. “Come on, Lane. Hurry up!”
Hayden shuffled forward with a barely suppressed eye roll. “Whatever you say, Vickie.”
“Liz, make him stop,” Victoria whined just before shoving a shot into both of their hands.
Liz turned her back to the bar, cocking her head to the side as she stared at him. God, he looked good tonight! “Hayden, play nice.”
“I always play nice, Liz.”
Victoria thrust her shot glass up into the air between them and they both followed suit. “I’ll toast this one to Liz.”
“Me?” Liz asked, widening her eyes.
“To the chick who worked her ass off for this moment. May the best man win,” Victoria said with a flourish.
Liz cringed at the ill-timed toast. Victoria was talking about the congressional race, but to Liz it was more between Brady and Hayden. Brady had been her world, but then her world came crashing down. Now she had to keep moving, keep living despite the destruction. It was self-inflicted . . . after all, she and Brady couldn’t be together. She had written negative articles about him before she had gotten to know him, and anything that could hurt Brady’s chance of winning was a danger to the campaign. Brady hadn’t left her mind a single day since she had walked away.
As she tipped the shot back into her mouth, the burn down her throat reminded her of exactly how she had felt every day since she had left him. It might have been the right decision, but it wasn’t easy, and it constantly left her with a bad taste in her mouth . . . and feeling a little sick.
But Hayden was always there too. Slowly but surely trying to pick the pieces back up . . . pieces he didn’t know existed. Liz had just refused to let it go further than that. The last thing she wanted was to start something with Hayden and look back and see that it had been a rebound.
“Looks like the results are in on that Cunningham-Maxwell race down in North Carolina,” the anchor said, slashing through all Liz’s coherent thought.
She froze with her eyes glued to the television. It was finally time. The next moment felt like an eternity, as if Liz were watching the whole thing in slow motion. The crowd quieted all around her as heads turned to the screen to hear what had happened. Victoria collected shot glasses from Liz and Hayden and slammed them down on the counter, then turned to listen to the reporter. Even she was interested . . .
Hayden’s hand landed on the small of Liz’s back and he drew closer to her. She felt his breath hot on her ear as he whispered softly, “Go out with me.”
It wasn’t a request, but not quite a command. And he said it so faintly, so decidedly, and at just the right time that she didn’t even have time to process what was going on. In a split second she was going to find out if Brady had won. But now her mind was lost in Hayden’s comment.
“And it looks like State Senator Brady Maxwell has pulled it off by an even slimmer margin than his primary race, with just over seven hundred and fifty votes over that threshold. Truly amazing. Congratulations, Senator Maxwell. We’ll be analyzing this victory more thoroughly later on tonight . . .”
Liz couldn’t hear anything else as the bar erupted. People all around her were screaming and cheering for their hometown hero. And she just stood there gaping.
He had done it! He had pulled it off. Seven hundred and fifty votes had pushed him to victory. That was such a small margin. Any precinct could have tipped the balance.
Then Hayden had his arms around her middle and was spinning her in circles. Liz giggled, threw her arms around his neck, and pressed her thin frame against his chest. He slowed to a stop and then lowered his mouth down to her lips. Without even a second thought, Liz let herself get caught up in the moment—get caught up in Hayden.
Her eyes closed and electricity shot between them as they melded together. The more she had pushed him away, the more the heat built between them. And now it had all released into one celebratory kiss. She hadn’t even known that she wanted this until it happened, and her heart fluttered.
Hayden pulled away first, and she knew her breathing was uneven as his hazel eyes looked deep into hers. “Go out with me,” Hayden repeated with that same smile that had won her over from day one.
Liz bit her lip. Brady was going to D.C. to be a congressman in the House of Representatives. He had just won everything he wanted and was likely celebrating that victory. He wasn’t celebrating with her, and he wouldn’t be. November didn’t mean anything to her anymore, and she had to move on. She had to forget Brady Maxwell. She would never regret what had happened between them, but she couldn’t keep obsessing.
Maybe if she just let herself like Hayden again instead of putting all of her energy into pushing him away, that would make it all that much easier.
She wanted this. She was ready to start over, and Hayden was giving her that opportunity. A smile broke out onto her face to match Hayden’s.
This was good. This was the right direction.
“I’d love to,” she murmured before finding his lips again.
Chapter 2
CHRISTMAS BOMB
Liz had skipped the newspaper holiday party the past two years. Walking into the upstairs of a downtown bar that the paper had rented out for the night with Hayden, she realized she hadn’t missed much. Cheap Christmas decorations filled the room, and a tiny tree was set up in the corner. A table was filled with platters of holiday treats and punch. Most people, not surprisingly, weren’t dressed up for the occasion. Some had on tacky sweaters, but Liz had clearly outdone them all.