After the Kiss (Sex, Love & Stiletto 1)

“Mitchell, good to see you again, boy,” the senator said as he shook Mitchell’s hand.

“You too, Senator.”

Senator Blake grunted. “How many times have I told you to call me John?”

“John,” Mitchell amended.

The senator turned to Julie, his expression curious but more openly friendly than his daughter’s. “And who’s this?”

“This is Julie Greene, Dad,” Evelyn cooed. “She’s a sex columnist.”

It was intended as a barb, but Julie rolled with it. “Guilty. I hope I’m not sullying your box, Senator.”

Senator Blake threw back his head and laughed. Already Julie liked him better than his daughter. He looked like the quintessential American senator: tall, broad-shouldered, salt-and-pepper hair, strong features, a big voice.

His daughter, on the other hand, was the quintessential shrew: pinched face, snobbish, and currently all over Julie’s boyfriend. Julie tried to keep her eyes on the senator as he regaled her with some story about his pre-politics career in publishing, but her eyes kept flicking to where Evelyn—no, Evvy—had pulled Mitchell into the corner, his head bent down to listen to whatever she was whispering.

Julie must have been doing a piss-poor job of faking interest in the senator because he turned slightly to see what—or whom—she was looking at. For a second his eyes went sad.

“She thought he was going to propose,” he said, lowering his voice.

?

?Oh?” Julie said, her heart in her throat.

“We never did figure out what went wrong. I don’t know who was more upset to lose him, me or her,” he said with a small laugh. “He was like a son.”

Suddenly Julie felt guilty for judging Evelyn so harshly. She might be a bit of a bitch, but she was a brokenhearted bitch. Losing a man like Mitchell Forbes was bound to bring out the worst in someone.

She bit her lip. Where had that thought come from?

“How long have you two been together?” the senator asked, resuming his friendly manner.

“Oh, we’re not really together,” Julie said quickly. “Just sort of casually dating.”

Mitchell and Evelyn chose that moment to rejoin them, and Evelyn’s satisfied expression revealed that she’d overheard Julie’s comment.

Julie searched Mitchell’s face to gauge his reaction to her dismissal of their relationship, but his expression was even more placid and unreadable than ever.

The lights flickered, indicating the end of intermission, and Julie breathed a sigh of relief. She was starting to get frostbite from Evelyn’s glare.

“It was nice to meet you,” Evelyn said politely. “Mitchell, I’ll call you about what we discussed?”

Julie’s fingers tightened on Mitchell’s arm, and he glanced quickly down at her. “I think we’re good, Ev,” he said in a kind voice.

Evelyn’s eyes clouded over again, and Julie almost felt sorry for her again. Almost.

Julie and Mitchell didn’t say a word as they made their way back toward their own box, and Julie resisted the urge to ask the clichéd woman’s question: What are you thinking about?

On a professional level she hoped he wasn’t hung up on his ex-girlfriend. That would derail her story.

On a personal level … well, on a personal level, she really hoped he wasn’t hung up on his ex-girlfriend.

Julie almost smiled. The green had been an apt dress choice. She wondered absently if jealousy looked good on her, and was about to ask Mitchell when he grabbed her wrist and pulled her into an empty box.

“This isn’t ours,” she said, looking around in confusion.

His lips nibbled her ear. “I know. It’s empty.”