With glasses poured—our second pricey bottle—and alone once again, Jace turns back to me. “All right. Where was I . . . Why are you smiling?”
“Because I’m having a good time.” I don’t want him to know that I’m in love with him just yet. That might scare him away.
His head falls back with his laugh. “Talking politics is enjoyable to you? Or is it the wine?”
“I will gladly listen to you talk politics all night long, as long as you remember it when I’m neck deep in Chinese dynasty research and need to tell somebody about it.”
“Deal.” He reaches across the table and takes my hand, and my stomach instantly does a flip. He kissed me goodnight after our first date, which was only supposed to last the afternoon and ended up dragging well into the evening. I’ve been waiting desperately for him to do it again today, but he’s been a perfect gentleman. “You know, you’re something else, Celine. I had a feeling about you, from the moment I started talking to you at that auction house.”
“What do you mean?”
With a light squeeze, he releases my fingers to lift his glass. I meet it in a toast, his eyes twinkling as he watches me through a measured sip. “You have this perfect balance to you. You appreciate the finer things, but I can tell you also value the little things; things money can’t buy. And you’re obviously working hard for this career of yours. I grew up around spoiled brats who don’t know how to sacrifice for something they want, and who’ve had everything handed to them. That’s not you. You don’t take anything for granted.”
My cheeks flush with his compliments.
“I wish we’d started this sooner. Sometimes I get so wrapped up in work that weeks can go by before I let any part of my personal life in.”
“You’re not completely to blame. Lately, my weekends have been tied up.” I’ve flown back to California twice since we met at Hollingsworth; two red-eye flights for the weekend, to see my mother.
Sympathy overtakes his handsome features. “How are you doing with all of that?”
I force a brave smile. “She started her radiation treatments. We’ll see how much it helps.” I’m trying not to dwell on the fact that there’s no hope; it’s only a matter of time now.
He scoops up my hand again, only this time he pulls my knuckles to his mouth, and kisses them so softly, making my stomach flutter. God, not only is my mother dying, but now I have to face moving across the country and leaving this beautiful man behind. We just only found each other. Will these next three months with me be enough to hold his attention until I come back?
As if reading my mind, he says, “San Diego is just a plane ride away. And it’s only temporary.”
He’s already thinking about long term, too.
I force down the bubble of excitement. Still, he must be able to hear it in my voice when I push. “So . . . your dad . . .” I want to know everything there is to know about Jace Everett.
“Yes, to answer your question about my dad, he never truly stops campaigning. He’s always rubbing shoulders with this person or another, looking for support. He has a bit of a break now, though, since winning the election last year.”
“Is he going to run again in 2018?”
“I think so, but we’ll see. He loves the politics, but can’t stand the opposition. They’ve been vicious through both elections, especially in this last one, last year. The initial front runner was ruthless; he had no qualms about hitting below the belt. Three days after my dad announced that he was running again, they dragged my mother into the spotlight with some story about her abusing our housekeepers. It was fucking ridiculous. When you meet my mom, you’ll see that it is. She’s the sweetest woman alive.”
He wants me to meet his mother.
“They’ve gone after me, too. First with some bogus story that I was embezzling investors’ money, and when they couldn’t make that one stick with public opinion, they got hold of a story about a female coworker that I dated for a short time.”
“What about her?” I’ve heard this story. It was the talk of the building.
He hesitates. “She was still technically married, but very much separated from her husband,” he quickly adds. “They spun it to make it look like I was some home-wrecking womanizer who doesn’t value the sanctity of marriage, and that she was trying to sleep her way to the top. It wrecked her reputation and her career. She left soon after.”
“That’s horrible. Can’t you sue them for that?” I ask out loud, but inside the worry is already churning. What would happen if the media started digging into me? Could they uncover my secret? It would be a lot juicier than what he’s describing. Just the thought of it . . . It’d be blasted all over the place. All over the state of Illinois, at least. That means the Sparkes would find out, and Maggie would find out. Oh my God, Maggie would flip! And my mother . . .
The last thing she needs to hear about on her deathbed is this.
“No, they use anonymous mouthpieces on social media to blast rumors out there, so it can never be tied back to them.” He takes another sip. “So, if you have any skeletons in your closet, you should probably warn me about them now.”
I force a smile and shake my head.
And hope that it’s believable.
“You look worried,” he notes with a frown.
“I’m just . . .” I scramble to explain what he obviously sees. “I don’t know how I’d feel about someone delving into my life like that. I’m a very private person.”
He reaches over to take my hand again. “We just won’t let them find out about you. For now, anyway.”
“I like that idea.” That could work. Keep this quiet until I’m back from San Diego. Until he’s fallen in love with me, and will forgive me, should my past ever come out. Because it’ll all be in the past by then. “Maybe we should set some ground rules then.”
His eyebrow spikes with amusement. “Ground rules?”
“Yes. Especially for at work. There’s a lot of water cooler talk around there.” I add with a blush, “And you’re a hot topic.” So far we’ve somehow avoided notice, but if Jace starts calling my work line or we start meeting in the lobby or anything like that, everyone’s going to know within a day.