Red Hot Rose Boxed Set (8 page)

Jacqueline was the only one who didn’t see the humor in the good-natured teasing coming from the onlookers.
 
Her nostrils flared and her head tilted to the side.

“Oh, so she works for you?”
 
A fake, bitter smile scarred her face.
 
“How interesting.
 
I don’t believe I’ve ever met her before.”
 
She held out a heavily-ringed hand at me.
 
“Nice to meet you, Rose …?
 
I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your last name.”

I could tell the reporters were practically foaming at the mouth over this little introduction.
 
Obviously, Jacqueline was totally tuned into what made them tick, and she was giving them a great show of revealing my “work” for Mr. Blackstone.

I lifted my chin, refusing to be cowed.
 
I took her hand in a firm grip and shook it hard.
 
“You didn’t catch it because I hadn’t given it yet.
 
My name is Rose DuPont.”

“Lovely to meet you, Rose,” she said.
 
“And what exactly do you do for Mr. Blackstone?”
 
She smiled knowingly, thinking she had me with this one.

I glanced at Alexander, but all he did was stare at her with murder in his eyes, his jaw muscle twitching like mad.
 
I was glad there were witnesses there so he wasn’t too tempted to kill her with his bare hands.
 
He sure looked capable and willing at that moment.

I decided the best thing to do was to diffuse the situation as much as I could, much as I wanted to call her out for that lipstick in front of this group.
 
My brain raced to come up with a job for myself.
 
The only thing I’d ever done before was work in a yogurt shop and go to college.

I said the first thing I could think of that wasn’t about yogurt.
 
“I’m doing PR work for Mr. Blackstone.
 
We were just discussing some ideas in his office.”

“I’ll bet you were,” she said in a low voice, only I could hear.
 
Then louder she said, “Oh, isn’t that exciting.
 
I didn’t realize he’d taken on interns during his campaign.”
 
Her tone was sweet, but her meaning was clear.
 
She meant to cut me down to size and treat me like a child.
 
And I could hardly blame anyone who assumed right along with her that I was an intern, since I didn’t exactly look like professional PR material right now.
 
Unless of course I was working for Hugh Hefner, which I wasn’t.

“She’s not an intern,” said Alexander, surprising both of us.
 
“She’s head of my election campaign team right now.
 
I’ve done some reorganizing.”

Jacqueline’s mouth dropped open.
 
“You cannot be serious.”
 
She laughed but then her laughter cut short when she took in the expression on Alexander’s face.

He was dead serious.
 
At least, he was putting on a good show of being that way.

I didn’t even wait for him to respond.
 
All the years of study and debate practice must have sunk in, because my mouth went on automatic pilot, and I just started spewing bullshit as fast as the words could pass through my lips.
 
He was a politician, and he needed to be elected.
 
Bam.

“We’ve had a long discussion about the state of politics today and the need to wipe the slate clean and come up with some newer programs and brighter plans that will more accurately reflect the future that Mr. Blackstone has in store for the public.
 
I’m sure you can appreciate that sometimes, things just get old and need freshening, right?”
 
I smiled sweetly at her, daring her to come at me again.
 
I was on fire in that moment and felt totally prepared to respond to anything she was going to say.
 
It was like the public relations angels were riding on my shoulders, speaking through me.
 
All I had to do was open my mouth and PR gold was going to fall out.

Alexander took a step towards me, taking my elbow in his hand.
 
“Rose was just leaving, so if you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to see her out.
 
She has a lot of work to do before the night is over.”

“All work and no play make Jack a dull boy!
 
Or should we say Jill!” said one of the guests.

“Yes, well, believe me, Rose is anything but dull.”

That earned him a few laughs as he steered me around the outer edge of the crowd.

I leaned in close to his ear and said, “I don’t want anyone to see the back of my dress!”

Alexander shifted so that he was walking directly behind me, blocking anyone’s view of my backside, allowing me to breathe a sigh of relief.
 
We were nearly to the door, the crowd parting to let us by, when I saw Jessica.

“Jessica!” I yelled, and waved at her.
 
When she looked up I gestured frantically towards the door.

She rushed over to meet me there, arriving just as Alexander and I did.

We stopped for a moment all together, the rest of the party continuing on around us.

“Well, hello, Mr. Blackstone,” said Jessica, holding out her hand.
 
“I’m glad I got a chance to finally meet you.”

“It is my pleasure, Miss …?”

“This is Jessica,” I supplied.
 
“My roommate and best friend.
 
And she and I will be going now.”
 
I grabbed her by her other hand and pulled her away from him, heading for the front stairs.

I’d hoped to leave him behind, but he followed us out.
 
“I need to talk to you,” he said quietly.

“No, you don’t,” I said.
 
Then I turned to Jessica and said, “Get the car.”
 
My tone brooked no argument, so even though she frowned at me, she left me to go to the valet.

“Yes, I do.
 
I have apparently hired you to be my new PR manager, so we have terms to discuss.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said, scoffing at his serious tone.
 
“I’m not going to be your new PR manager.
 
I just said that to get away from that witch.”

After a few tense moments of silence, the mini-cooper pulled up and I moved to go to the passenger door.
 

Alexander stopped me with a hand on my arm.
 
“Rose … I really would like to discuss this with you further.”

I pulled my arm away.
 
“And I would really not.
 
Have a good night, Alexander.”
 
I got into the car and stared straight head, ignoring him.

“What the hell is going on, Rose?” whisper-yelled Jessica, shifting the car into first gear.

“Just go,” I said.
 
“I’ll tell you later.”

The car pulled away, and I refused to look at Alexander as we left the driveway.
 
It took every ounce of willpower I had not to turn around.

“He’s staring at us,” said Jessica looking in her rearview mirror.
 
“Rose, do you have any idea who that is?”

“His name is Alexander Blackstone.”

“Yeah.
 
But do you know
who
he is?”

“A politician, I think.”

“Oh, my
god
.
 
You have no idea who he is.
 
He’s the one running for Congress in our district, dummy!
 
My parents are totally supporting the hell out of him.
 
They’ve given a ton of money to his campaign!”

I shrugged. “Good for them.”

Jessica drove the rest of the way in silence, but only after declaring her intentions.
 
“When we get home you are totally spilling it.
 
I want to know every single dirty detail about how you met him at that party and how you ended up in the middle of that media shit storm in there.”

I sighed.
 
I knew there would be no avoiding my roommate’s determination, so I busied myself with trying to release the stress from my head and the slight twinges of pain from my heart.
 
I was being totally stupid, thinking about Alexander as anything but a one-party-stand, but his handsome face and strong hands kept creeping into my thoughts and demanding they be acknowledged as things I’d like to see and feel again.

As soon as we were in the apartment, I made a beeline for my room, determined to get out of this dress and into the shower.

Jessica followed on my heels.
 
“Tell me.
 
Right now.
 
Everything.”

“There’s not a lot to tell.
 
I was leaving his office and got caught by that she-devil Jacqueline, whoever she is.
 
I don’t even know her last name or what she is to him.”

“Jacqueline Silverman is his former girlfriend or fiancée and also a reporter with that political news network.”

“Oh.”
 
That explains the talons
.
 
And the fangs.

“What were you doing in his office?”

“Cooling off.”
 
It wasn’t exactly a lie.
 
That had been the original reason for being there.

“Bull pucky.
 
I know you had sex with him.
 
You have sex hair going on.”

I peeked out from behind the shower curtain to scowl at her.
 
“Yeah, thanks for that hair, by the way.
 
I’m going to need industrial solvent to get all this crap out of it.”
 
I flung the curtain back in place and dumped an entire handful of shampoo onto my head.
 
I added water to try and get it to lather the glue away.

“Your hair looked amazing, which is why that wench got so pissed.
 
You were hotter than her.”

“I doubt that very highly.
 
I looked like I’d just rolled around in a barn, and
she
looked like she just walked off Rodeo Drive.”

“Well, did you?
 
Just roll around with him?”

“Jessica … I really don’t want to talk about it.
 
I feel like a complete fool, if you want to know the truth.”

“Why?
 
Did you tell him no?”

“No.
 
Not even close.”

“Well, good.
 
Because that would have been the only foolish thing you could have done.
 
So how was he?”

I wanted to keep playing the don’t ask don’t tell game, but images of his hands on my body and the feel of his cock inside me were my undoing.
 
I was nearly bursting with the secret, and I had to tell someone.
 
And I could trust Jessica probably more than I could trust myself.

“Fine.
 
We totally did it in his office.
 
I’ve never done anything like that before, and I’m never going to do it again, but it was … ugh … friggin amazing.
 
Okay?
 
So don’t ask me anymore because I’m done talking about it.”

The curtain went flying back, letting in a huge blast of cold air.

“Hey!” I screeched.

“Hey, yourself!” Jessica yelled back, a huge grin plastered on her face.
 
“You are such a slut!!
 
I love it!!
 
What was it like?
 
Did he totally take charge or did he have whips and stuff in his office for you to use on him?”

I laughed and jerked the curtain back closed, dipping my head under the water to get the soap away from my eyes.
 
“No whips, no chains, no handcuffs.
 
Just good old-fashioned office sex.
 
And I’m never going to see him again, so don’t get all excited.
 
It was a one-time thing.”
 
I stuck my head out of the shower again.
 
“And I quit, by the way.
 
I’m not working for the service anymore.”

“He tried to pay you, didn’t he?”

“Shut up,” I said, feeling my face heat with shame.
 
I put it back under the water.

“It doesn’t mean anything.
 
He hired you to entertain at the party.
 
It was just a tip, but not for the sex.
 
It was for being pretty in a dress.”

“Jessica, there is nothing you can say that will make me feel any better about turning down that five hundred bucks, okay?”

The curtain flew back again.

“Again with the cold air, Jess?” I asked, looking at her with only one eye open.

“Did you just say
five hundred bucks?!
 
As in one hundred, two hundred, three hundred …”

“Yes,” I interrupted her.
 
“Five hundred bucks.
 
Why?
 
Is that a lot?”