“A psych appointment?” he repeated, earning a scowl from Henry.
“Hey. Stop being so loud. That’s just between us, you know."
“Alright, go on. But there’s nothing to be embarrassed of,” Eli stated.
Henry just grunted and left, leaving the office door open behind him. Elijah hovered in the doorway, watching Sosie and Meredith interacting with other staffers.
When Sosie turned to look at him, Eli found himself averting his gaze. She approached him with a curious look on her face.
“What's on your mind?” Sosie asked.
“Miss Fields is very young. She's too inexperienced,” he replied, fighting the urge to take back what he'd just said.
Sosie snorted.
“Her father is Benedict Fields. She may be young, yes, but I don't think she's inexperienced. It would be stupid to replace her,” she stated confidently.
And as much as he wanted to argue with her, he couldn't. She was right, of course.
“But we need to,” he said, not sure how to explain things to Sosie and hoping she wouldn't pry the truth out of him.
“Why?” she said, giving him a suspicious glare.
“She knows something about me that could mean the end of my campaign,” he mumbled, hoping that was enough for Sosie to go on. “And I'm not sure she'll stay quiet about it.”
Sosie looked confused, but remained silent. When she'd recovered her composure, she went through a list of things she thought might mean the end of the campaign. Thankfully none of them were close to the truth, but he didn't appreciate her digging either.
“No! Stop guessing,” he said, feeling irritable.
Having Meredith Fields around would mean battling constant temptation. He was starting to wonder if he would be able to focus on the campaign, knowing she would be in the same building with him.
Fuck.
“Is this something I need to know about?” Sosie asked abruptly, narrowing her eyes at him. “I can't protect your campaign if you don't tell me the truth, Eli.”
He sighed and shook his head.
“No. But get rid of her,” he said.
It was Sosie's turn to sigh heavily and shake her head.
“I can't, Elijah. I can't tell the biggest publishing magnate in the country that his daughter isn't good enough. No matter what excuse I use, you know as well as I do that's how he's going to take it. Benedict Fields is a very powerful man. Whatever your secret is, do you think it's worth having the New York Tribune go after you?”
Eli fell silent.
She was right.
Pissing off Meredith's father would also mean the death of his political career, just in a different way. By all accounts Benedict Fields was an intensely private man, but two things were certain. He loved his wife and daughters above all else in the world, and he was certainly no pushover.
Eli's hands balled into fists. He felt like he'd been back into a corner with no way out. There was absolutely nothing he could do about Meredith. He'd have to settle for denying everything about that night.
If only he could deny his attraction to her as well.
“No,” he responded to Sosie grudgingly.
Turning on her heels, his campaign manager gave him a pointed look before walking back to the other trainees. Eli gave Sosie a curt nod before scowling at Meredith, who was still staring at him and frowning. Cursing under his breath, he retreated within his office and shut the door.
Chapter Six
Meredith rubbed at her eyes and let out a huge yawn. It had still been dark out and everyone else had still been sleeping except for the maid and her driver. She'd been up much later than usual, trying to convince her dad that she didn't want this particular assignment anymore.
Initially he'd thought she was kidding. He laughed, telling her he appreciated her attempts at what surely had to be a joke. But when he realized she wasn't joking, he'd brooked no further conversation about the matter. “A Fields never backs down from a challenge,” he'd said to her, as he had many times throughout her entire life.
Scowling at the memory, she took a quick mental inventory of what she'd packed. Space on the campaign bus would be limited, and Sosie had instructed her to pack light, limiting her to one suitcase. She'd opted to bring mostly interchangeable separates she could create multiple outfits from, with not a single pantsuit in the bunch.
She looked out the window and watched the sunrise, feeling gloomier than ever. She didn't know why, but she had a bad feeling about this campaign.
It was definitely him. I can’t be wrong, she thought as images of the masked man and Elijah Scott overlapped in her mind.
After being introduced to Elijah, she'd wanted to run out of his office and never look back. Elijah Scott was without a doubt the man she'd given a lap dance to her last night in New York. Even worse, she knew he'd recognize her, since she'd removed her mask. She was sure her father would have a heart attack if he knew about any of that.
Embarrassment had been eating away at her since then.
But for all his insistence, she knew he was just pretending not to know her. Not that she could blame him – after all, he was just doing his best to protect his image. Maybe she could catch him in private and clear the air between them. She was sure she could get him to agree to just forget about it, for both their sakes.
Slowly exhaling, Meredith couldn't deny the fact she was strongly attracted to the handsome bachelor. Just like she couldn't deny she'd wished her father had agreed to pull her off this assignment.
She couldn't believe how complicated her life had become over the past few days. This wasn't part of her summer plans. And it definitely wasn't what she wanted.
When she arrived, Meredith hurried to take her place with the other journalists who were already present, furtively looking around for Elijah Scott's familiar figure.
After looking around twice, she still didn't see him. Maybe he was already on the bus? She wanted to scold herself when she realized she was actually disappointed at not seeing him. She had a job to do, one that didn't involve lusting after Elijah Scott, no matter how hot he was.
She was representing her father's company. He'd made that crystal clear last night.
Get your act together, Meredith! she quietly admonished herself as she stepped onto the bus.
She took a seat near the center of the bus, hoping placing herself in the middle of the action would help distract her from obsessing over Elijah. Everyone already seemed to be working, their heads bent over laptops and notepads, and she followed suit, trying to fit in.
A few moments later Sosie stepped onto the bus, followed by a middle-aged man she introduced as Edward, their driver. Sosie had everyone's full attention as she went over the rules. Meredith listened attentively, not wanting to get on Sosie's bad side.
Sosie reminded everyone the only stops the bus would make would be those planned out ahead of time, listed on the itinerary she'd already emailed to everyone. Loud talking and listening to music without headphones would be prohibited, due to the fact they would be busy working while they were traveling.
“I think that's all I have to say for now,” Sosie said in conclusion. “But I do have a surprise for all of you,” she added, gesturing to the door of the bus.