Kiss the Girl (31 page)

Nixie
nodded
.  “The camera really does add weight.  You think all those women in Hollywood are anorexic because it’s fun?”

“Huh.” 

“Nice work, though, Mama Mel.  You were perfect.”

“Anything for my babies,” she said, patting her hair net. “I wish you’d told me we was expecting company, though.”  She cut her eyes to
Edward
.  “I’d have worn my better dress.”

“I wish somebody had warned me, too.  What are you doing here,
Edward
?”

“
Karl
called me.”  His dark eyes warm
ed with the sincerity Nixie suspected
he could summon up at will.
 
James
had to have learned it somewhere.
  “
He said you were stumping for childhood asthma in my backyard and could use some high-profile backers.”

Nixie grabbed his elbow.  “
Will you excuse us, Mama Mel?” 
Mama Mel
waved them away and settled back into her chair
.  Nixie le
d Edward
to the corner by the bathroom,
dropping his elbow the instant they left the crowd. 

“
Let’
s be honest, Edward,” she said,
her voice low and tense
.  “
James
didn’
t come off
well in his tangle with the women of Leighton-Brace.”

“He looked like an ass.”  Edward smiled pleasantly.

“I’d think you’d want to distance yourself from us and anything associated with us, given your presidential ambitions.  Why would you risk dragging the scandal back into the papers by turning up here
?”

He smiled.  “
Your mother
--
a fifty-year-old woman
--
stole your boyfriend.  She humiliated you with the whole world looking on, and
you’re worried about me?  Come on, Nixie. 
Where’s your pride
?  Aren’t you angry?
”

Nixie opened her mouth
.  T
o say what
,
she didn’t know
because it wasn’t like the guy
was lying
. 
Edward
shook his head, cut her off before she could speak.  “Don’t deny it, Nixie.  We both know what Sloan is.  She sacrificed you to her need to be outrageous, sexually provocative
.  Desired. 
Don’t you want to get even?”
  

Nixie studied him wearily
.  “
Edward, please.  Don’t insult my intelligence.  You wouldn’t be here if
you didn’t want something.  What is it
?”

He gave her a blinding campaign-poster of a smile.  “
I want you to take
James
to the gala you’re planning
.
”

She
stared
.  “
Why on earth would I do that?”

He smiled, but it was flat and joyless.  “Sloan’s always been terrified of getting old.  I can’t think of anything that would gall her more than thinking you were finally coming into your own
.  Your stealing back the man she stole from you tells the world that you’re finally
eclipsing her sexually.”

“Oh my lord.”  Nixie waved both hands in the air between them, as if erasing the words.  “
Let me rephrase.  Why on earth would
you
want me to do that?  It’ll be a tabloid blood bath.
”

“
That’s the point, Nixie. 
Jame
s
has
been off the rails for some time now.  I thought indulging him with this African hospital project would bring him back on line, but--
”
  He shrugged.  “You saw how that went.”

“Yeah.  The whole world saw.”

“Damn internet.”  He spread his hands helplessly but
his eyes went dark and hard.  “
The boy’s
a liability right now.  If I’m going to keep him on staff his image needs a serious overhaul.  I want the world to see him do the right thing.”

“And that is?”

“Ask
forgiveness from Nixie
Leighton-Brace.”

“Ah.”  Nixie nodded, finally seeing the angle.  “
And receiv
e
it.  Be judged sincere and worthy of forgiveness in a nice, high-profile venue.”

Edward stretched his lips in a parody of a smile.  “You’re a bright girl, Nixie. 
James is
an idiot for screwing you this way.”

“I’ve always thought so.”

“Listen, if you agree to this,
I’ll pack your ball with influential people
and their checkbooks
.
  But I want
James
on your arm, and I want you smiling at him
.
”

“And if I say no?”

“My influence works the other direction, too.  This is a pretty risky cause for an incumbent to endorse
so
close to mid-term elections, you know.
”

Nixie’s eyes narrowed.  “You’d keep a bunch of kids from
breathing
so strangers
will
think better of your son
?”

He shrugged.  “I’ll bend over backward for these kids
, Nixie
.  You’re the one putting
them
at risk so you
c
an indulge a personal
grudge
.”

Rage swelled up inside her, but she squashed it down.  Losing her temper
would only dig this hole deeper.
  “Okay, fine,” she said.  “
I’m willing to
let Sloan squirm
for a few hours
if it means raising money for these kids
. 
Tell
James
he’s got a date.  But if he makes one move
I don’t like
--
on me
or
Sloan
--
I’ll knock his front teeth out just in time for the campaign trail.
  Are we clear?
”

“Crystal.” 
Edward squeezed her shoulder
.
“You’re a good girl
, Nixie. 
I don’t know how you managed to stay so good all these years.”
 

“Yeah, me
neither
.”

CHAPTER SEVEN
TEEN

Darryl Johnson spoke to the pretty reporter while Erik stood by,
ready
to slap some sense into the kid
if he showed the slightest sign of veering into exhibitionism. 
So far, so good, but Erik stopped watching when
he
spott
ed a man
with a conservative haircut and an
expensive shirt standing near the bathroom with Nixie.

He’d clearly cut her off from the herd and
Erik didn’t care for the way his thick white fingers squeezed her shoulder
, like
she was a
melon at the market. 

Mary Jane arrived at his
elbow
.  “Hey,” she said.  “Who’s the hair do feeling up Nixie?”

“
That would be Senator Edward
Harper
.”

“
Oooh
.”  Mary Jane’s eyes went wide and s
he peeked around Erik’s arm
to get a better look. “
As in
the f
ather
of James
Harper
?  The guy who
--”

“--cheated on her with her own mom?  Yeah.”

“
Nixie should have accidentally stomp
ed on the guy’s
foot
half a dozen times
by now
. I
f not
for feeling her up
then certainly for fathering such an asshole
.
”  Mary Jane
looked up at him.  “You should g
o say hello.”

Erik watched the Gentleman from Virginia knead Nixie’s shoulder with those soft white finger
s
. 
“
Yeah, I might do that
.”

He waded through the crowd, making liberal use of his elbows.  He planted himself at Nixie’s side, close enough that she had to tilt her head back to look him in the face. 

“Nice work today, Nixie,” he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.  He gave her a squeeze
that
forced
Harper
to release her
.  “You’ve worked a miracle.  Mama Mel is now a celebrity in her own right.”

“She was gr
eat, wasn’t she?”  She patted Erik’s lapel and
leaned in confidentially.  “She only said cheap-ass once.”

“I know.  You did good work, Nixie.”

“Thanks.”  Nixie gave him a smile so dazzling and generous that he blinked, momentarily stunned. 

The S
enator
took
advantage of his inatt
ention to step
forward and offer
a hand.  “I’m
Edward
Harper
,” he said.  “
My son is a
n old
friend
of Nixie’s.”  He gave Nixie an intimate smile
.

“Old is right,” Erik said cheerfully.
  He turned to Nixie.
  “Didn’t
you kick that guy to the curb in Kenya a couple months back
?”