An Irresistible Bachelor(99)

As Grace got swept up in some woman's arms, Callie blindly went into the living room and immediately knew she'd taken a wrong turn. She was lost in a sea of people. There must have been a hundred already there and more kept squeezing in from the hall. Moving through the throng, she went over to one of the bars that had been set up and ordered a glass of wine, not because she was thirsty but because she felt like she needed something to do.

She'd just accepted a Chardonnay when a woman wearing a dramatic gold dress stepped in front of her and said crisply, "Oh, good. And my husband wants a martini."

The woman snatched the glass out of Callie's hand and turned back to the man she'd been talking with.

I'm out of here, Callie thought.

But before she left, she tapped the brunette on the shoulder.

The woman pirouetted around and then smiled at the man next to her. "Oh, darling, your drink's here already."

"No," Callie said politely, taking her glass back. "That one's mine. If you want to be waited on, you could ask one of the men in tuxedos who are passing trays. Otherwise, you can stand in line at the bar."

As the woman began to sputter Callie walked away, leaving the glass on a side table as she tried to get back to the stairs. The congestion in the hall had gotten worse, though, so she decided to head for the rear of the house. She was moving through the dining room, which was filled with some truly gorgeous food, when she saw Jack in one corner. He was talking to someone intently, his back to her.

Callie stopped, forgetting the feel of people brushing up against her.

Jack had changed into a tuxedo and he looked good in formal clothes. The jacket stretched over his broad shoulders and the stark white of the shirt's jaunty collar played well against his dark hair.

He turned to shake a man's hand and she saw he'd been talking with a woman. Like so many of the other ladies, the long-haired blond was wearing a dress that was right off the runway and she'd accessorized it with plenty of important jewelry. Jack turned back to her when he was done talking to the man and she said something in his ear, a smile playing over her lips as she ran her hand over his cast. Jack laughed and pointedly stepped back.

It could have been innocent, probably was, at least on Jack's part, but at that moment Callie wasn't inclined to hang around. Her head was spinning from the noise and the people and so much more. If she didn't get away from the party, she was going to disintegrate and do something ridiculous, like elbow that woman right out of the room. As quickly as she could, she fled to the kitchen and left through the back door.

The night was cold and she was grateful because the chill helped quiet the buzz in her ears. Wrapping her arms around herself, she walked across the driveway and went up into the studio. She just couldn't bear to be in that house, not until after the party died down. She wasn't part of Jack's world and she couldn't pretend to be. Not tonight.

She went over to the couch and sat down by the last of the documents. One by one, she picked pieces of paper from the bin, in search of Nathaniel's truth.

Jack saw Gray through the crowd in the dining room and excused himself from a conversation about highway funds. There were a lot of people who wanted to discuss issues involving the state and it was clear that rumors about his candidacy were getting around.

Waving his arm, he caught Gray's attention and motioned the man over.



"Glad you came," Jack said as they met in front of a platter of poached salmon.

"I just talked with Senator McBride. I think you're going to be pleased." Gray lifted his glass in salute at a congressman who had just walked into the room. "The preliminary reports from the exploratory committee are highly favorable. You'll hear all about it tomorrow, but so far you've got some big backers on the fund-raising side and your name recognition is through the roof. There's heat, Jack. We've got some heat."

"That's great," he said for his friend's benefit.

"It's a hell of a lot more than great. And I've heard some interesting news. Were you aware that Butch Callahan physically threatened his deputy director when the woman didn't get behind him on those construction awards last year? You know, the ones that went to half his family?"

"Jesus. No, I wasn't."

"Yeah, well, no one else has heard about it either."

"Gray, how do you find this stuff out?"

"You don't want to know. Anyway, what this means is we've got something to barter with—”