Amelia Autin - Killer Countdown

He opened his mouth to ask Carly about it when the makeup artist said suddenly, “There, honey, you’re all done.” She removed the towel and whipped off the bib, then patted the knot of his tie back into place.

He looked in the mirror and realized the woman had been right—he couldn’t even tell he was wearing makeup. He looked like himself...only better. And for the first time in his life he understood why women wore makeup. Not that he would ever wear it for anything other than the TV cameras—he could hear his brothers snorting with laughter and making crude jokes at that idea—but still...

“Thank you,” he told the woman, catching her eyes in the mirror. “I was wrong. You didn’t do your worst, you did your best.”

The woman beamed back at him. “’Course I did, honey.”

“How do I get this junk off afterward?”

“You leave it to Maggie,” Carly said, smiling at both of them. “I’ll bring you back here when we’re done. Thanks, Maggie, you’re a treasure.”

As Carly led him toward the sound stage where the interview would be recorded, Shane tugged her sleeve to hold her back for a moment. “Before I forget, I wanted to ask you something.”

“What?”

“Would it be breaking any journalistic ethics rules if I asked you to accompany me to the reception at the Zakharian embassy tonight? The invitation was for me and a guest.” Carly’s eyes widened, as if he’d taken her by surprise. “I hate these formal affairs, but I’d hate them a lot less if I had an intelligent woman to talk with while I was there.” He laughed suddenly. “Sorry, that wasn’t very smooth. The truth is, I’d really enjoy your company. Will you go with me?”

* * *

After they finished taping the interview, J.C. came out of the sound booth to shake Shane’s hand. “Great job, Senator. Sorry about the diagnosis, but very glad to hear it’s controllable with medication.”

“Thanks.” Shane didn’t say any more, but Carly saw the speculative way he assessed J.C. and then her, as if he was wondering if there was anything between them.

Because he’s interested in you? she wondered. Seriously interested in you? Or just because he’s curious?

Until that point Carly had never really looked at J.C. as a woman would look at a man, but now she did. And what she saw explained why Shane might wonder about their relationship. J.C. was nearly as tall as Shane, just as physically fit and a couple years younger. He wasn’t quite as handsome, but he had the kind of face—not to mention that terrific British accent—most women would be attracted to. But not me, she insisted. There was no spark with J.C. and never had been. She couldn’t say that about Shane.

Carly’s gaze caught Shane’s, and she shook her head slightly, answering the question she knew he wouldn’t ask outright. His dark brown eyes warmed—there’s that chocolate fudge, she told herself—and a tiny smile played over his lips. And despite telling herself not to, she returned his smile with a tiny one of her own.

She took Shane back to Maggie for removal of what he’d referred to as “junk.” Then she returned to the soundstage to confer with J.C. about the interview, which would be “spliced and diced,” and put back together, along with a computer-generated reenactment of the domestic terrorism bombing at the bookstore where Shane had been injured five years ago, for broadcast that evening.

A twinge of guilt touched Carly’s conscience because she hadn’t told Shane about the reenactment when he’d refused to allow any questions about that incident. It had been J.C.’s idea, and she’d enthusiastically agreed this morning, thinking it would be a great visual. But now she wasn’t so sure. Oh, it would still be good—but she was fairly sure Shane wouldn’t like it. Even less would he like the two-minute film clip interview with the woman whose life—and whose baby’s life—he’d saved.

There was something appealing about Shane’s insistence on keeping that door closed. It said something about his character that he wouldn’t use his heroism five years ago to his advantage now. But just as he hadn’t been able to keep the news media from telling and retelling the story when he’d been running for Congress and then for the Senate, he couldn’t keep her network from playing the hero card during this exclusive interview. Heroes helped ratings. And though Carly was a hard-hitting investigative reporter with a strong ethical background, ratings were a fact of life.

She considered asking J.C. to ax either the reenactment or the film clip, then decided against it. The network had already spent the money on the computer graphics and to interview the woman. The only argument she could muster was that Shane wouldn’t like it, and she didn’t think that would carry much weight with J.C. It wouldn’t have carried much weight with her, either, three days ago.

Before she’d met Shane.

That realization scared her right down to her shoes, and made her wish she’d turned down Shane’s date request instead of accepting it with alarming alacrity. Because if she was looking at herself and her actions differently after only knowing Shane for two days, any more time spent in his company was a disaster waiting to happen.

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