Andrea Laurence - Executive Pursuit

“No.” He didn’t budge an inch. “You won’t be happy there.”

“What makes you think you know so much about me, Kellan? It’s been a long time since we’ve been anything but casual acquaintances.”

“Exactly. And that ends here. Tonight.”

“Says who? You?” Penelope asked.

“I told you I would come back for you. Didn’t you believe me?”

Kellan had helped Penelope get a job as a White House intern while they were still in college. It was what she had always wanted, but the price of his gift was that they couldn’t see each other while she was interning. He knew it was important to her, though, and had told her he could be patient. That he would wait for her. But when she’d graduated, she’d continued working in the White House full-time as an administrative assistant and worked her way up to her dream job of social secretary. Kellan, meanwhile, had gone off to law school and followed his own path.

“It’s been six years. I thought you would’ve moved on by now.”

“Why? Because I had such a horrible reputation with women before we met?”

Penelope shrugged. “There is that.”

His blue eyes pinned her in place, sending a flush of heat up her throat. “And who have you seen me with since then? No one special. We were great together. I brought you out of your shell and you kept me level. We only split up because you were working for my mother.”

“Right.”

“And in a few weeks, you won’t be.”

“ In a few weeks ,” she repeated with emphasis. “Not tonight. I still have a job to do. Without a recommendation letter from Mrs. Ramsey, I’m going to end up moving back into my mother’s tiny apartment and begging to teach debutants how to serve a proper tea.”

“That’s ridiculous. You’ve done an amazing job. Everyone knows that.”

“No, Kellan. You know that. Outside of these walls, most people have no idea who I even am. No one stops eating at a State Dinner with the Premier of Japan and wonders who planned such a great party. The President and the First Lady did it. I am a silent force. I need that letter. And she’s certainly not going to write it if she finds you pressed up against me like this.”

Kellan looked down, starting at the pink toes peeping from her heels and letting his eyes slowly travel up the length of her body. “I’m hardly pressed against you. But I’d certainly like to be. That dress…” His voice trailed off and he swallowed hard before he spoke again. “You look great tonight.”

Penelope felt her knees weaken slightly, but she couldn’t fall into his arms the way she wanted to. It was pretty talk, but that’s all it could be. “Thank you,” she said. She could feel her cheeks flush, but she couldn’t break away from his gaze. “But we’ve had this discussion before. Nothing is going to happen between us while I work here.”

Penelope loved the thrill of planning a flawless event, the elegance of a perfectly crafted thank-you note. Etiquette was a lost art she was determined to keep alive. She’d come from practically nothing, and she’d still have nothing without the scholarship to Georgetown. She had fought her way to get where she was. Risking all that to fall into Kellan’s arms was foolish.

“And the clock is ticking down.”

So that was what brought all this on. He saw the end of his father’s administration as a green light between the two of them. She wished she could see it as positively. “Unlike you,” Penelope said, “I’m not looking forward to my time here ending.”

“That’s because you were never in the media spotlight.”

Penelope looked up at the man who’d protected her from the media when the lights had chased her. Dating the first son should’ve landed her name and picture in magazines and newspapers, but he’d shielded her from it all. In the years since, he had grown up, but he still had the same caring heart.

“I was almost caught up in the media storm. If not for you, I—”

“If not for me, you never would’ve been in that position to begin with,” Kellan said.

“But you could’ve let the press splash my name and picture everywhere. And you didn’t.”

Kellan smiled and her insides melted like she was twenty again. “I didn’t want to share you with the world. They would’ve found a way to turn our relationship into another one of my scandals, and you deserved better than that. I didn’t want to ruin us.”

“You couldn’t have ruined us,” she said.

Kellan narrowed his eyes as he listened to her speak. “What happened to that sweet, southern accent I used to love?”

Penelope was grateful for the change in subject. “I’ve been living in D.C. too long, I guess.” The truth was more that she’d deliberately tried to shake her accent. She’d wanted to sound more professional when she started to work at the White House full-time. She didn’t want to be the only Elly May in the office.

Kellan frowned at her. He could see the truth in her eyes. “There was nothing wrong with you the way you were. My Penny was perfect. You didn’t have to change for my mother.”

“I didn’t,” she started to argue, but she stopped. She had changed for Mrs. Ramsey. She’d realized that no amount of knowledge of etiquette or calligraphy would help her if she sounded like she was fresh from the holler. “I wanted to sound like everyone else.”

“But you’re not like everyone else. Everyone else is boring. That’s what makes you special.”

The music in the ballroom swelled and the New Year countdown began. It was a good excuse for her to shake this uncomfortable conversation. “I need to get back in there.”

“Wait,” Kellan said, blocking her escape. “I’ve already lost the last six years with you. Please spend the next seven seconds with me.”

His voice was a soft plea she couldn’t ignore. She could give him a few more seconds…but that was all. “Six, five, four…” she counted, her eyes locked on his.

Kellan took her hand in his own and pulled it away from his chest. He stepped forward, closing the gap between them. He wasn’t pressed against her the way she craved, but she was close enough to climb up to her toes and—

“Happy New Year!” the crowd roared from the other room and the familiar notes of ‘‘Auld Lang Syne’ began to play.

“Happy New Year, Penelope.”

“Happy New Year.”

Kellan slipped a finger under her chin and tipped her face up to him. His lips met hers. They were warm and soft, tasting of the champagne she’d chosen for the night. She couldn’t help leaning forward, drinking him in and getting tipsy from the sensation of his mouth against hers.

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