The Billionaire's Temporary Bride (Scandal, Inc #3)(27)

The blonde led Charlotte through the office. Two staffers sat at their desks, talking loudly on the phone.

"You want me to get him right now?" one of them said. "How the hell am I supposed to get Mr. Coburn back to Massachusetts in time for that? It's not possible."

Had Jack flown to another state for the day and neglected to tell her? Charlotte wondered as the blonde led her through another door.

"Mr. Santos," the receptionist said, "There's a woman here for the congressman. She says she's his fiancée."

Mr. Santos held out his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you Ms. Crowley. I'm Jack's deputy chief of staff. He's told me all about you, although I only heard news of the engagement this morning. By the way, you can call me Ed."

"Nice to meet you, Ed. So he already told you? We only got engaged last night," Charlotte said.

"News travels fast in this town, especially when it involves the love life of one of the nation's most eligible bachelors."

"He won't be a bachelor for long," Charlotte said. "I was wondering if there was some way for me to reach him. It's kind of a long story, but I baked him a pie."

"The congressman's out of the office today, but I can see to it that he gets the pie," Ed replied. "Unfortunately, I can't give out the details of his schedule to anyone without approval. It's office policy. As soon as he gives the green light, I can tell you, but that won't help you much right now."

Charlotte tried to swallow her displeasure.

"He shouldn't be too long today, though," Ed assured her. "You can wait in his office if you'd like. I'm actually about to head out myself. Nancy, the woman who showed you in, will be able to help you with anything if you need it."

If Jack was out-of-state, there was no point in hanging around his office with a pie.

"That's alright," Charlotte said.

She felt defeated. She had gone out of her way to show some consideration for Jack, and it had failed miserably. Now she just seemed like a crazy girlfriend trying to track him down. She didn't know why all of this was making her so upset, but she felt the frustration welling up inside her chest like she was going to cry.

"Thank you for your help, Ed," she said. She turned and headed for the door.

Charlotte marched outside and just started walking. She didn't pay any attention to where she was going or how long she had walked. She must have wound her way in a circle, because before long she found herself back on the National Mall. She sat down on a bench with a view of the Capitol, placing the pie down next to her.


She didn't know whether to head back to her apartment or to Jack's house. Maybe this had all been a mistake: the pie, saying yes to the engagement, spending the night with Jack. Maybe she had been fooling herself into thinking that she and Jack had something more than a business arrangement, even if the pleasures of the night before were still vivid in her mind.

She must have looked like such an idiot, walking back and forth across DC with a pie in her arms. She tried not to get upset, but she could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks as she blushed in embarrassment. She'd thought maybe Jack needed her to be there for him as a wife, but now it seemed clear he didn't need a partner. He just needed someone to smile for the cameras. He didn't need her support or her friendship. He just needed her to sign the marriage contract.

She had gone through so much effort for nothing. She was exhausted and emotional and still hadn't even eaten all day. She looked down at the pie. She had been so proud of it that morning. The crust had browned perfectly, and the chunks of strawberry and rhubarb through the lattice of the top looked so colorful and delicious. It even smelled great.

She pulled the cling wrap off of the top of the pie to let the sweet scent of strawberry and the tang of rhubarb waft up toward her. This pie was supposed to show consideration and appreciation. Charlotte took a plastic fork out of her purse and dug into the pie. Maybe she should appreciate herself for a while.

As the tart taste of rhubarb rolled over her taste buds, Charlotte heard the familiar sound of her phone ringing in her purse.

Now he wants to get in touch with me. She reached into her bag and pulled out the phone. A little too late, she thought, swallowing the delicious bite of pie. The mouthful almost caught in her throat when she looked at the identification of the caller. The call wasn't from Jack.

"Hi, Mom," Charlotte said.

"You're ENGAGED?" her mother exclaimed on the other end of the line. "Why didn't you tell me when you called this morning?"

"Um, yeah," Charlotte said as she rewrapped the pie. "I thought I'd wait until the time was right."

"You're going to marry a congressman and you didn't think to tell us right away? You're going to marry anyone and you didn't think to call us right away?" The voice on the other end of the line was frantic but happy.

"I thought we'd come visit and tell you then." Charlotte looked around the Mall at all the happy couples, then looked down at the partially eaten pie in her lap. "We're actually going into a thing right now," she lied. "Can I call you back tonight?"

"Sure thing, honey," her mother said, "but I expect a full report."

As soon as she was off the phone, Charlotte started walking to Jack's house. It had been one thing for them to mislead people who didn't really know them. It was going to be another thing entirely to lie to her parents. She'd need to start working with Jack immediately. Well, she'd have to start working with him whenever he got home.