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"Oha moment," she said

If only he knehat kind of ht now," he drawled

"Much better"

He smiled down at her, and she noticed how handsome he was "So, what do you think about the party? A bit different frolad it’s not red-white-and-blue," she said

"Ah, how exceptionally unpatriotic," he teased

"Well, what do you think about it, then?" Liz deht over to her She smiled as the whiskey slid down her throat

"Hrin

"Of course"

"I think the decorations are a bit overdone, the crowd is a bit stiff, and the candidate is a pompous asshole But hey, we don’t vote on character, do we?"

Liz nearly choked on her drink Had he really just called Brady a po she would have thought two o, but she didn’t think that anymore She knew Brady too well to think that was true

"Good to see you think so highly of your representative," she said, biting back a smile

"Don’t believe all of that They don’t represent us They represent theive them a lot of money," he told her as a matter of fact

"What a jaded view of the political process," Liz said She’d had sihts before, but that hy she was in journalism and not politics She couldn’t deal with the insincerity and duplicity herself She would rather report on it

"Only honest one you’ll get in here tonight, and don’t forget it," he said, gesturing to the crowd

"You think pretty highly of yourself I sure hope you never go through the trouble of running for office," she said with a genuine shed out loud and set his drink on the table "So, you’re saying that you approve of the Maxwell fa over the political field?"

"We’ll see how the prioes first," she said diplo for office?" He leaned forward as if to get the inside scoop

"Definitely not," she said

"Maybe reconsider it"

"And would I have your vote, considering what you think about politicians?" Liz asked, leaning forward to ive away my vote freely, but I think I’d let you take it," he drawled "You want to run against a Maxwell?"

"Maybe I’ll wait for an open seat" She took another sip of her drink His eyes followed the radually fell silent all around the just inside the double doors, directly across fro-believable He seriously got better-looking every time she saw him He wore a black tux, and his hair had been styled to perfection Everything just fit him as if it had been et him out of it

She zeroed in on hi out with a ca else And what she saw made her stoeous wo, lustrous hair, flawless skin, and an expensive-dress-and-jewelry kind of wo on to Brady’s elbow as if…she was there with hiuy said next to her "See what Iwith her"

Liz’s fingers clenched into the cloth on the table as her heart sped up Three days ago she had beenBrady’s best friend for the first ti to the event alone, she hadn’t thought he would shoith so Liz that he didn’t want anyone near her Noas here with solare must have drawn Brady’s attention, because his eyes found her easily in the crowd They stayed like that for only a couple of seconds, but she was sure he grasped the heat in her stare His eyes traveled away from her, but jerked back to her al to puzzle out an answer, and then he looked away

She felt sick She needed to get away fro out of nowhere "Sorry I was held up" He looked over at the guy she had been standing with and clapped hi you? Are you liking Yale?"

Liz wanted to disappear She was fury about this They couldn’t be out in public, but that didn’tsoirl She had never wanted to be in anyone else’s shoes asjust fine I see you know Liz," he said, using her na rather than only after Chris had just said it

"Oh, you know Liz?" Chris asked, sounding confused "She’s here withshe had not to wrench it out of his grasp "I didn’t know you had alreadyto face Liz

That snapped her out of her anger for a second "What?" Liz asked, her brows scrunched

The guy Chris had called Clay smirked and extended his hand "Pleasure to meet you" Liz took his hand and shook it "Clay Maxwell"

"Maxwell," sheto judge the situation

"We met at the Fourth of July rally," Clay told Chris, "and then again just now"

Clay Maxwell Fuck Of course, it was Clay Maxwell The only other person she had found interesting, attractive, and engaging had been Brady’s brother Great!

Liz glanced back over at Brady, who had started talking to his guests and posing for pictures along the way His parents were standing behind hiuy froht She would be sure to avoid them Heather was one of the feho knew her indirectly

But orse, the wo with had her arm on his sleeve and followed at his side the whole time Liz felt heat rise to her face as her stoht knots She sed down a lump in her throat and balled her hands into fists at her sides She would have clutched onto the fabric of her dress, but she didn’t want to ruin it