“Anita,” Nora warned.
“We ran an exploratory poll,” Anita explained, “and people responded favorably to the idea of Logan in a relationship. And you couldn’t make for better optics: you’re pretty, connected to a Democratic senator, and an actual, honest-to-God elementary school librarian. Who even knew they made those anymore? You’re literally wearing a cardigan. Nice girl jackpot.”
I drew the cardigan tighter over my chest. Apparently, I needed to date Anita Jones. She found me more irresistible than all my exes combined.
“Enough,” Logan said, leaning over the table. “Alexis isn’t some prize horse at a show. You don’t need to twirl her around and slap her hindquarters.”
It was the first time I’d heard my real name out of Logan’s mouth, and at the sound, my body betrayed me. That familiar electricity zipped through me, making me lean incrementally in his direction.No, I reprimanded myself.He left you at the hotel without a backward glance. No last name, no phone number, nothing. And while that’s technically the point of a one-night stand,rude. Plus, he never told you he was a politician—and a playboy to boot!Okay, good, now I was properly pissed at Logan again.
I cleared my throat, and all eyes fell on me. “I understand what you all get out of this. But what do I get?”
“Other than saving face with your employer?” Nora gave me a pointed look. “How about fame, glory, and thousands of new Twitter followers?”
Cary shrugged. “Don’t you have a SoundCloud to promote or something?”
It was my turn to scoff.
“Then what do you want?” Nora asked. “Because we can’t offer you money. If that got out—”
“I don’t want your money.” But her question lingered: WhatdidI want? To turn back the hands of time and never set foot in the Fleur de Lis seemed out of the realm of possibility. The truth was, I didn’t know. I’d never been good at understanding how I felt or even what I thought when put on the spot. Usually, I liked to mull things over in private, preferably while reading a book. My feelings usually dawned on me hours or even days later, like watercolor paint slowly blooming on a canvas.
Every single person around the table, Logan included, watched me. “I’ll have to think about it,” I said, and saw them deflate. Suddenly this was the last place on earth I wanted to be: in a room full of disappointed strangers. I shoved back from the table. “I have to go.”
Nora leaped to her feet. “Totally understandable. It’s a big ask. Just—please don’t talk to anyone about this until you talk to us. Here.” She thrust a business card at me. “Take this. My cell’s on the back.”
“And decide fast,” Anita said. “We can only stall the reporters for so long. We have to jump before Mane does.”
I nodded over my shoulder, wrenching the door open. “Right. Process fast. Got it.”
“The clock is ticking!” Anita called. All the people at their desks whirled to look at me. “The vultures are circling!”
I put my head down and booked it out of the office.
6
Strictly Professional
I’d almost made it across the parking lot when a deep voice calledout behind me, “Alexis, wait.”
I stopped, heart rate spiking. Because of course I knew that voice. I gave my silver Jetta a longing look, then took a deep breath and turned.
Logan strode out of a back door I hadn’t noticed. His office was one of those quirky old renovated brick buildings that seemed to be everywhere downtown, and with its steepled roof, it looked like it could’ve been a church once upon a time.Don’t find a stitch of this charming, I instructed myself.Eyes on the man charging toward you. The clandestine political operative. The cad. The very good kisser—
I was still shaking my head when Logan caught up to me. He looked like he was all wound up to say something, but when he clocked my face, he paused and huffed, “What?”
“I was just thinking that the last time I saw you, you were running in the opposite direction. Interesting how the tables have turned.”
“Oh, good.” He grinned and I thought,Uh-oh.His expression was the gleefully manic one of a man who loved to rumble, getting his heart’s desire. “The gloves are finally coming off. Well, the last time I sawyou, your name was—” He made sarcastic little air quotes. “Ruby Dangerfield.”
It clicked: Logan wasn’t just angry at the situation. He was angry atme. What nerve, when he was the one who’d gotten us into this mess.
“You lied about everything, all night,” he said. “Your family, your friends. You’re not even related to Rodney Dangerfield!”
Just like Saturday night, Logan had a strange effect on me: my brain took his unapologetic brashness as an invitation to stop worrying about everything before I said it. “Oh, come on.” I snorted. “If you actually believedRuby Dangerfieldwas a real name, that’s on you.”
He shoved his hands in his pockets. “I bet you never even went on an archeology trip to retrieve a stolen artifact from the mouth of the Himalayas.”
I crossed my arms. “Of course I didn’t, because that’s the plot of a children’s novel. It’s disconcerting you didn’t know that.”
