Off the Record (Record #1)(10)

The waiter shook his head. “No, but I can make an inquiry if you like.”

“Yes, please do. Thank you.”

She had no idea who would send her a drink. She was here with everyone she knew in Raleigh.

The waiter traipsed off to see if he could get more details about the person in VIP. She wished she had said yes now, but she felt weird accepting a drink from a stranger. She hadn’t been in that situation very often.

“That was weird,” Liz said. She turned back to face the other reporters.

“I can’t believe you turned down a free drink,” Jenny said.

“I didn’t know who it was from.”

“Still,” Monique cut in, “it was free.”

“If the guy wants to give me a free drink, he can come up and offer it to me himself.”

The girls shrugged and returned to their conversation about spin media and how they thought it was going to affect the Maxwell congressional race. As interesting as the conversation was, Liz wished Hayden would come back. She grabbed her empty glass and tossed an ice cube into her mouth to suck on.

“Hey,” Trent said, extricating himself from the conversation and sliding into the open position Hayden had previously occupied.

Liz smiled at him halfheartedly. She had been expecting this.

He scooted over until his entire leg was pressed against hers. “That was some great work you did today,” he said, resting his arm on the back of the booth and leaning into her.

“Uh…thanks,” she said, moving over an inch or two to put distance between them.

He bridged the space immediately. “So…are you and Hayden…?” He trailed off.

“Are Hayden and I what?” she snapped. She was growing more and more uncomfortable by the second.

“You know…dating?” he asked her br**sts.

“Do you date your coworkers?” she asked, diverting the conversation.

“I would if they were as pretty as you,” he said.

Liz frowned. “I don’t like to mix business and pleasure.”

“So, then you’re not together?” Trent clearly wasn’t seeing that she was including him in the business category.

“No,” she told him reluctantly.

“You know,” he said, trailing his hand down her pencil skirt, “I find your attitude toward the Senator very attractive.”

Liz stared down at his fingers on her skirt, and then brushed his hand aside. Why did he think he could touch her?

She tried to keep the anger out of her voice. “Did I have an attitude? I thought I was just doing my job.”

He smirked, not even affected by the fact that she had moved his hand. And really, that look wasn’t attractive. He didn’t have the face for it. He should seriously reconsider his facial expressions.

“Whatever it was, I like it.”

Liz grabbed her glass and tossed the last remaining ice cube into her mouth; anything to use as a distraction. He was still staring at her, waiting for her response, but she had none…except to tell him to get lost.

She glared at the empty glass. Why had she refused a free drink anyway? Another drink would be good right about now.

“So…are you interested in maybe…” he began, but she cut him off and stood abruptly.

“I think I’m going to go find Hayden,” she told him, placing the empty glass on the tiny table.

“I’ll go with you,” Trent offered quickly.

She placed her hand on his shoulder, keeping him from standing. “Really. I’m fine,” she said, then made a hasty exit.

Her feet carried her toward the center of the room, but there were too many people, and she decided better of it and began to walk around.

Just as she started skirting the crowd, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Expecting to see Trent following her with an irritating persistence, she reluctantly turned around.

“Ma’am,” the waiter said, dropping his hand apologetically.

It was the same waiter who had tried to give her the whiskey sour, and he was still carrying it. Yeah, she needed that. She reached out and took it off of his tray. “Sorry about hassling you earlier. Thanks for the drink.”

The waiter smiled. “The gentleman didn’t wish to send his name.”

Liz waved it aside. “That’s all right. I appreciate it, whoever he is.” She took a sip.

“He did request that you join him in the VIP lounge instead.”

Liz stopped with the glass at her lips and eyed the waiter suspiciously. “You’re serious?”

“Yes, if you’ll come with me,” he said, and began walking away.

Liz stared after him. Was he expecting her to actually follow him? She scurried forward more out of curiosity than anything. Her reporter sense was tingling and now she had to know the story. Who exactly was her mystery benefactor?

Chapter 4

AIRPLANES

Liz caught up to the waiter as he opened a side door that led to a flight of stairs. He held the door for her and allowed her to enter before him. They walked up the stairs and into one of the second-floor balconies that overlooked the patrons below.

The VIP lounge really wasn’t anything fancy. No different from the room below except more sparsely populated and with way more staff. Okay, so maybe the booths carpeted in a red velvet material were a bit newer and the black high-topped tables and chairs had more shine to them. It sure was nice to have a long horseshoe-shaped bar in the center of the room all to yourself, but none of it was all that extravagant.