For the Record (Record #3)(24)

Easton cracked a smile and nodded. “Where have they been hiding you?”

“I’ve been—” Liz cut herself off. She had been about to tell him she was the editor of the paper, but, well, she wasn’t anymore. And anyway, he might not know what had happened with her. It would be nice to be around one person who didn’t know that she’d had an affair with a politician. “I’ve been busy. Haven’t been around as much.”

“Well, let’s get started. Need any pointers?” he asked. “I can show you some good footwork, the right swing, how to move your body.”

Liz rolled her eyes. “Oh, please, no. I just need someone to beat.”

“Then we should probably find you someone else,” he said with a glint in his eyes.

After his first serve, Liz knew she was going to lose pretty handily. Her body protested with every swing, and the worst part was that it was clear that he was holding back to play with her.

“You’re so good,” she admitted when they took a short break. “How old are you?”

“Twenty-one, and thanks,” he said, offering her a bottle of water. “You’re really not bad.”

“Ha! You make me look like a joke.”

“You’re just out of shape.”

“Wow.”

“No seriously. If you were out here every day, we’d be more evenly matched.”

“I’m shocked you’re not on the UNC team,” she said.

“Well, I want to go to law school.”

“Oh,” she said flatly. Law school only made her think of Clay and how he was now clerking for the Supreme Court.

“Don’t oh me. I want to be a politician.”

“Oh!” Liz said, shaking her head. Damn, she could not escape her life. “Well, that’s nice.”

“You don’t believe me.”

“I really do. Let’s just play.”

And then they were back into the game. This was what she had come here for, after all. She put all of her energy into the athleticism of the sport. Focused on trying to crack through Easton’s advanced passes. She was good, but not that good. Having the added pressure of wanting to beat him made her work twice as hard, and by the time they left the courts, she was breathing heavy and slick with sweat.

“I’m going to fit you into my schedule three times a week. We’ll start off slow, but you should start running laps at least twice a week otherwise. Doctor’s orders,” Easton told her.

“I can’t commit to a training regimen,” she said. “I graduate this semester.”

“I’m going to save some time anyway,” he said as they walked into the air-conditioned lobby. He grabbed something from behind the counter and handed it to her. “Here’s my card. Figure out your schedule and get back to me.”

Liz slipped the card into her bag. Tennis had helped her forget her woes today. It might not hurt to start coming in more often. Maybe then she could think about something other than her failed attempts at living the life of a politician’s girlfriend.

“I’ll think about it,” she said noncommittally. “Thanks for the lesson.”

As soon as she got home, Liz hopped in the shower. She was toweling off her hair when she saw that she had missed Brady’s call. Finishing with her hair, she slipped into sweats and then called him back. She was still frustrated about what had happened earlier, but tennis had improved her mood immensely.

“Hey.”

“Hey,” she said softly.

“I called Erin.”

“Oh,” she said, perking up. She hadn’t thought that he would.

“You were right,” he admitted.

“Damn.” She hadn’t really wanted to be. “What did she say?”

“To be honest, after she told me, there was a lot of crying, and then she hung up on me.”

“She did!” Liz cried. “What for?”

“It wasn’t a mutual breakup,” he said stiffly. “She didn’t tell me exactly what she told the paper, but I can only guess that it’s negative from the way she was on the phone. She sounded like a mess.”

Liz stood up and started pacing her room. “What does this mean for us, for you, for the campaign?”

Brady sighed and for the first time she really heard uncertainty crack through his confidence. “I guess we’ll find out when the story hits, unless I get some information from Heather beforehand.”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything to that reporter,” Liz said, feeling defeated.

“You were just trying to find out information. You didn’t know what Erin had done or what kind of damage it could do. For all we know it could still be minimal.”

“Or it could be disastrous.”

Chapter 9

TWO WRONGS MAKE A RIGHT

Liz had gone through a million scenarios of what Erin’s article could be about. All she really assumed was that it wasn’t going to be pretty. Brady had broken up with the woman because of Liz. It wasn’t a huge leap for Erin to guess that.

When Liz opened up the Post article in her email the next morning, it was clear that wasn’t the only leap Erin had taken when speaking to the press.

As usual, it started out with the punch: Erin condemned Liz and Brady for sneaking around behind her back. They had worked so hard to portray their relationship as a positive aspect of his life that they were both so eager to share with the public, but now not only did they have the stigma of having hidden it, but Erin was making it seem as if the relationship had never stopped. She went as far as asserting that Brady had cheated on her on at least two occasions, but was certain it was more.