No Stranger to Scandal - By Rachel Bailey Page 0,19
to have someone stand up for her. She was a big girl, in charge of her own life. Being a target of people like Marnie and Angelica was part and parcel of the privilege she’d been born to, nothing more, and she could handle it.
Hayden’s head tilted to the side as he regarded her. “Did Graham offer you the junior reporter role?”
“He offered me a full-fledged reporter role. Then, when I turned it down, the weekend anchor job.” Graham had just been trying to help, to give her a leg up in the industry. The dear man had been baffled when she’d turned down the offers, but he’d grudgingly respected her decision.
“You’d make a good weekend anchor.”
“No, I’d be okay as one.” Being okay wasn’t part of her career plan. “I want the role, sure. But when I get there, I want to be truly good.”
“You’re not what I expected,” he said with the ghost of a smile on his lips.
“Neither are you,” she admitted, though she wasn’t sure what she had expected. Perhaps her experience with Angelica, Troy and Brandon had skewed her perception of investigators, but she hadn’t been expecting Hayden to be as considered in his approach, as quietly perceptive. And she certainly hadn’t expected the simmering chemistry between them. Even now, in the midst of a discussion about a congressional investigation, she could feel the almost visible haze of heat that filled the air whenever she was near him.
He cleared his throat. “So. Marnie. Could she have been involved?”
“Well, yes, she could have been involved.” She’d tossed the same thought around a few times herself. “But just because she’s horrible, and had the opportunity, that doesn’t mean she did break the law.”
He rubbed a hand across his chin. “From your insider’s perspective, could Ames and Hall have obtained their information from phone hacking without Marnie knowing?”
“Sure, it’s possible.”
“Possible but unlikely?” he prompted.
She shrugged. “Unless you were suspicious that someone had illegal sources, it wouldn’t be hard to be blindsided. Things happen in broadcast news so quickly that not everyone can be on top of everything.”
He nodded slowly and she could almost see the cogs turning in his mind. “It would be good if you could get me something on Marnie before I meet with her. Something that rattles her enough to admit to knowing.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Assuming she was involved.”
“Naturally,” he said, one corner of his mouth quirking up.
She looked across at him, the investigator for Congress, the man who was haunting her dreams. And she started to wonder if she could say no to him about much at all. She held up her hands. “I’ll see what I can do.”
* * *
Dark had closed in when they pulled up in front of Lucy’s row house, the only light coming from a nearby streetlamp that bathed them in a gentle glow. Her home had been something of a surprise—he would have guessed she’d live in a penthouse apartment within walking distance of cafés, not a place large enough for a family, painted in a rich cream. Every time he thought he had Lucy Royall pegged, she did something else to surprise him.
He shouldn’t like that so much.
He shouldn’t like her so much. No denying that he did, though. Couldn’t wait to hear what she’d say next, what she’d do. When she was near, he found it hard to look at anything else—it was as if she had a golden glow about her, an aura of stardust. And that mouth—a generous cupid’s bow that had driven him to distraction all day—every time she moistened those lips or pursed them in thought, heat had stroked down his spine. Keeping a professional distance was becoming more challenging by the hour.
He switched the car off and pulled on the hand brake. “Just let me get Josh out of the car seat and I’ll walk you to your door.”
“Don’t disturb him. He’s sleeping so peacefully,” she said softly, turning to look at his son in the baby seat. “And don’t lock him in either—just stay with him. It’s about eight feet to my front door. Honestly, I’ll be fine. I do it all the time.”
Chivalry fought with fathering instincts—could he let a woman walk to her door alone, even if it was only a few steps away? But he looked at Josh in the rearview mirror, and fatherhood won. And perhaps avoiding a doorstep scene was wise—this might not be a date, but would he be able to resist kissing