She blew out a very frustrated breath. “Believe me, if we were anywhere but here, your . . . problem, wouldn’t be a problem for long.”
He dropped his head and gave her a look that scorched her. “Not helping the issue here, Evelyn.”
“Sorry.” She turned around, thinking that might help.
“Neither is that great view of the skin of your back, your very fine ass, and those legs of yours.”
She couldn’t help but smile as she turned back to face him. “I think I’ll go seek out the restroom to . . . repair the damage.”
“You do that. I’ll find you in a minute or two.”
Despite the frustration, she smiled the entire way there.
True to his word, Gray was waiting for her as she exited the bathroom a few minutes later. She couldn’t resist glancing down where his shirt covered his slacks.
“All better now?”
“Not if you keep staring.”
She grinned. “I’m not going to apologize again.”
He laughed and took her hand. “Let’s go find Craig and Miranda. This is going to be a long drive back.”
They found Craig, who was singing with the band, just as Gray said he would be.
And like Gray said, Craig was definitely no expert rapper, but his exuberance was infectious and the crowd bobbed up and down, clapping and singing along. Craig appeared to be having a blast. They waited until he finished, then made their way over to tell him they were leaving.
“Thank you. I had a wonderful time,” Evelyn said.
Craig hugged her. “You keep watch over this one. Make sure he doesn’t drive too fast.”
She laughed. “I’m not sure I can do anything about that, at least when he’s on the track.”
After she gave Gray a hug, Miranda clasped both her hands. “Thank you for coming. And for your offer.”
Gray slanted a curious gaze her way. “What offer?”
Miranda answered. “She’s going to enlist your father’s aid with some of my charities. I’m so grateful. You know how hard it is to get anyone in the political sphere to even take your calls when you’re trying to cut through red tape. She’s going to help me leap a few steps.”
Gray looked over at her, and he didn’t look happy, but he smiled at Miranda. “Isn’t that just great.”
They said good night and made their way back to the car. Gray was silent for at least ten minutes. She could tell from the tight set to his jaw that he wasn’t happy, but since he hadn’t said anything directly to her, she had no idea what had upset him.
“Is something wrong?”
“So you couldn’t resist the opportunity to play politics with my friends?”
She blinked. “Excuse me?”
“Miranda. Her charities.”
“Oh, that. She told me about the issues she’d been having getting funding and access for some of her causes. I know your father could assist with some of that, so I offered. Is that a problem?”
“You also know that Craig and Miranda have a lot of money. My father helps them out, then they help him out. That’ll work out well for the senator’s campaign, won’t it?”
She was momentarily stunned and without a comeback to that, something that rarely happened to her. She was well trained to handle insults. Politics was all about firing insults and innuendo, and she could deal with anything thrown her way. She just hadn’t expected it to be thrown by Gray.
“You’re kidding, right? I didn’t even know where we were going tonight. Do you think I hid in the bathroom and pulled up Craig and Miranda’s bio and financials, then decided to feel her out to see if I could finagle a way to do her a favor so they’d be in the senator’s debt and toss some money his way?”
His hands tightened on the steering wheel. “I don’t know. Did you?”
She rolled her eyes. “No. Of course not. And I’m offended you’d even think so.”
“Well, I don’t really know you, do I?”
“No, you don’t. Which is why we will not be sleeping together tonight.”
He pulled onto the highway. “No, we won’t.”
She fumed silently on her side of the car, and he did the same.
“But if we had ended up in bed together tonight, I can guarantee you there wouldn’t have been any sleeping, Evelyn.”
Asshole. He just had to throw that out there, didn’t he? Not that she cared anyway.
He’d pissed her off and she no longer found him appealing in the least.
And she wouldn’t even think about having sex with him ever again.
EIGHT
IT WAS A DAMN GOOD THING GRAY HAD HIS HEAD screwed on straight, and that he was back on the track where he belonged.
He’d almost done something stupid last night, had almost taken Evelyn to bed. He’d listened to her background story and had actually felt sorry for her, when the whole time she’d been manipulating him behind his back.
What a sucker he’d been. It was just like all the times his dad had shown up at his sporting events at school. Those were such rare occasions, and Gray had gotten his hopes up, so excited to see his father there. And during the opportunities he’d had to glance up and see his father in the stands, it would turn out his dad hadn’t been watching the game at all. Instead, he’d been off wandering the bleachers, glad-handing all the parents and stumping for votes.
God forbid he actually show up for his own kid. No, that wouldn’t be self-serving, and if there was one thing Mitchell Preston did and did well, it was serve himself.
Obviously his father had been teaching Evelyn the finer points of that game, a game Gray wanted no part of.
She’d suckered him in well enough with her sad story of how she wanted a family and a tree swing, how she wanted to be able to balance that with a career. He’d been impressed, and he wasn’t often impressed, especially by anyone in politics. He’d even been dumb enough to believe her, too, which was his own damn fault. He’d started to think she was genuine and honest, that her rockin’ killer body also accompanied a true heart, something so rare in the political world, and even rarer in his father’s circle.
He’d been wrong.
That wouldn’t happen again.
He pulled out onto the track, pushing Evelyn and anything about her to the back of his mind. Now it was time to concentrate on his car and his practice run. He wanted the pole for this weekend’s race. That was the only thing he needed to focus on, because there was nothing better than starting the race in front of the pack.