The Billionaire Princess (7 page)

"Are you in DC this week?" Jake asked after greeting her. "Or was this the week of the fundraiser in Providence?"

"The fundraiser was last week." Sarah drew rows of connecting triangles along the edge of a piece of paper.

"Good. Why don't you come spend the weekend? Charlie has the weekend off and Mom and Dad are coming for dinner on Saturday."

Sara's ears perked up at the mention of her parents. She knew her brother still hadn't told them about his marriage. If he had, their mom would've called her by now. "Need reinforcements big brother?" She couldn't stop herself from teasing him.  He did the same thing every chance he got.

"If I did, I'd call Dylan. If anyone
can unruffled Mom's feathers it’s him," Jake answered with amusement. "I just thought I'd get you out of your little office on the Hill before you turn into a workaholic like our brother."

Turning the paper she began another group of triangles. "I'd love to see the fireworks when you drop the news, but I'm leaving for California tomorrow. The senator asked us to do some ads supporting his new education initiative." Only after she spoke the words did she realize that she'd used us rather than me.

"Us? Who's us?" Jake asked, genuine curiosity in his voice.

Damn Jake for being so attentive. While working with Christopher was no big deal, she hated the idea of bringing him up with her brother. It only reminded her further of the friendship she'd put at risk.  "David got Christopher on board.  He thought an ad featuring the two of us would boost support with the public more than an ad featuring only him."

"Doesn't surprise me that he signed on. When you see him tell him my number hasn't changed. I've called him a few times and he hasn't called back."

Sarah leaned her head back against her chair, her eyes closed. "I'll tell him."

"I can think of someone else who would support this legislation if you asked her," Jake said, his voice taking a serious tone.

She knew without him continuing whom he had in mind.  As an elementary school teacher Callie had a passion for education. And it wasn't that she hadn't considered it already.

"Callie would be a great person to have on board with her background, and you know how much the American public loves her."

Everything Jake said was true and the very reason she'd already considered her half-sister. Still Sara held back from calling her. While their relationship was more cordial now than when they first met they were far from best buds. She'd created the situation herself and she'd undo it if she could. Just thinking about the way she treated Callie made her cringe.

Images of the conversation she had when Callie first entered their lives, played across her mind like a bad movie. Hoping to get rid of the images, Sara opened her eyes and stared up at the ceiling. "I'll consider it, Jake. You know it's complicated."

On the other end of the line Jake remained silent and she guessed her brother was formulating his rebuttal.

"Only you can fix that."

Perhaps her brother was correct, but that didn't mean she wanted to reopen any old wounds. Right now she and Callie were able to be in the same room together and be civil to each other. If Sara reminded Callie of her previous behavior, who knew what might happen?

"Like I said Jake, I'll think about it." For now it was all she could say.

"Whatever. Call me when you get back to DC."

She knew her brother well enough to know it was taking most of his self-control to keep himself from pressing the issue further. "I will.  Good luck with Mom and Dad."

Sara hit end on the phone after saying goodbye, her entire body a jumble of emotions. Although she hadn't lied to Jake, hiding what had happened with Christopher felt like a betrayal. To top that off, her shame regarding Callie had her stomach in knots. If Callie had only showed up a year earlier or any time before she met Phillip for that matter, maybe their relationship would've been different.  Before Phillip entered her life, she'd been more trusting and more open to starting new relationships.  Her time with Phillip managed to kill all that.  Now she approached all new relationships, regardless of the person, with apprehension and suspicion.  In fact, since Phillip she hadn't developed any new friendship or let anyone get close to her—at least not until her brother's wedding.  Something about Christopher allowed her to drop her guard.  While she attributed some of it to the cosmos she'd consumed, that didn't completely account for that night.  The suspicion that usually shadowed all her new acquaintances never appeared that night.  The only emotions she felt that evening were attraction and curiosity.

Now that she'd let him get close, he often popped into her thoughts.  He didn't belong there, she knew that.  Yet he kept making an appearance and now she had a whole week ahead of her with him around.  Somehow she needed to push thoughts of their night together aside and focus on the task at hand.  Exactly how though she hadn't figured out yet.

“But I will,” she muttered as she turned her attention back to her calendar.

***

Sara struggled to stifle a yawn the next morning as the limo stopped at Reagan International Airport. The previous evening she'd gotten little sleep. After talking to Jake she'd finished packing and crawled into bed around one o'clock. Unfortunately, sleep had eluded her. Instead her conversation with Jake and uneasiness about this trip with Christopher weighed heavily on her mind. Now, however, the sleep she'd craved so much the night before threatened to overtake her.

"Another late night working, Ms. Sherbrooke?" Colin, one of the Secret Service agents assigned to her detail, asked from the seat across from her in the limo.

"I had a lot of loose ends to take care of before this trip. And please Colin, call me Sara." She'd been telling the agent that ever since he became part of her security detail, but so far he continued to address her as Ms.
Sherbrooke.

Colin nodded slightly. "I'll try to remember that ma'am."

Sara fought the urge to roll her eyes. Ma'am was worse than Ms. Sherbrooke. Oh how she wished Raymond, the Secret Service agent Colin replaced, would come back.

"Andrea and I reviewed your proposed itinerary while in California. We have a few issues we want to review with you."

Tossing her phone into her Coach purse, Sara slipped the straps onto her shoulder and reached for the leather briefcase at her feet. "Let's plan on doing it once we get to the hotel."

She didn't want to do it all. She knew the agents were only doing their job, but sometimes she found their presence intrusive. In fact she envied Jake for telling them to take a hike. But as much as she didn't care for their constant presence, she did feel safer with them around.

The door to the limo opened allowing a blast of unusually cool air into the vehicle. "That should be fine," Colin replied before exiting the limo first.

Before following the agent, Sara slipped on the jacket that matched her red skirt, grateful for the protection it gave her against the cool early morning air.

At least it'll be warm in California.
Smoothing out any wrinkles, Sara made her way to the stairs leading up to Christopher's Gulf Stream jet. With her right foot poised over the bottom step, she stopped. It  had made sense to fly back with him, despite the fact that she could use the family jet or one from the senatorial pool. They could use the flight time to review the scripts, which had been emailed to her. She stood there, though her body tensed and her mind telling her to turn around and scrap the whole trip.

Everything will be fine
. The sound of her heel hitting the metal step vibrated through her entire body and she forced her left foot onto the first step too.

"Perfect timing.
Did your driver already get your bags?" Christopher appeared at the plane door.

That morning he'd gone for what she called the super-casual look. With his faded jeans, plain gray T-shirt and sneakers he reminded her a little more of the guy who'd roomed with her brother instead of the ultra-wealthy CEO the rest of the world knew.

"All set." Sara forced herself to smile despite the tightness in her chest. She couldn't explain it, but she felt as if each step up the stairs was taking her further away from her life as she knew it and closer to something else. Something new and unexpected.

Christopher took a step back so she could enter the plane. "Excellent. As soon as you're settled we can go."

Forty minutes into the flight, Sara ditched her jacket and reached for her cup of tea. Both she and Christopher had finished their breakfast and had gone straight to work. Or at least she tried to work. Her brain had other ideas. It wanted to focus on the man seated across from her. Once again Sara's eyes traveled back to Christopher, the man who visited her dreams every night. The man, who despite knowing it was a huge mistake, she wanted to get to know better.

Despite her inability to work, Christopher didn't suffer from the same fate. Since opening his laptop, he hadn't looked up once.
A fact that actually annoyed her a little. Having a man ignore her wasn't something that ever happened.

Perhaps sensing her gaze, Christopher looked up, his warm chocolate brown eyes locking on her face. Heat instantly scorched her cheeks. It was one thing to study someone but another to be caught doing it.

"Sorry, I haven't been very good company," he said, his eyes never leaving her face. "I'm almost done with this."

The soft leather felt cool against the back of her thighs as she shifted in her seat, causing her skirt to ride up her thigh. "Don't worry, I'm fine."

Christopher's eyes dropped down to the screen once again. She heard his fingers moving over the keyboard then he closed the laptop and his gaze once again settled on her face.

"All done.
I'm all yours.”  His mouth curved into a wide smile.

Memories of their one night together exploded in her mind.  They hadn't spoken of it on the three occasions they'd seen each other yet she couldn't help but wonder if he ever thought about it.
Too bad asking is out of the question.

"You should be careful who you say that to." She hoped a little teasing would help her think of him as a brother type rather than a lover. After all she joked with Jake all the time. "Say that to the wrong woman and you'll find yourself holding a pumice stone giving a pedicure."

Without warning he leaned forward and lifted her leg toward him. The feel of his hand on her bare calf sent shivers through her body.

"Since it looks like you had one recently, I guess I'm safe." He lifted his head from his inspection of her coral pink toenails. Slowly he put her foot back down to the floor and released it. But even after he moved his hand away she could feel it on her skin.

Why did I do that?
Christopher gripped his armrest, hard enough to make his knuckles turn white to prevent himself from touching her again. "So how did you end up working for Senator Healy? Didn't he run against your father's friend George Beck in the primary?" A discussion of politics should be a good way to keep them both distracted.

"My father wanted me to work with George. Actually he guaranteed me a spot on his staff if I wanted it."

"Then why did you go with Healy? A lot of people didn't think he could win." Sara struck him as the type to follow the expectations of her family. Jake was the rebel, not Sara.

Sara shrugged one shoulder. "I like George. I've known him all my life, but I don't agree with his policies. A lot of them are too old-fashioned. Besides, I wanted to earn my position, not have it given to me."

Prior to a few weeks ago, he'd thought of Sara as little more than a spoiled rich girl. Sure he knew she was well-educated, but he hadn't realized she used her education or had any aspirations for the future. Obviously he couldn't have been more wrong. Not only did she have aspirations, she wanted to achieve them through hard work like everyone else.

"Makes sense.
But why Healy? I'm sure half a dozen senators or congressmen would love to have you on their team." Having the daughter of a popular president in your corner had to be a plus in politics not to mention she had a law degree from Harvard University.

"I liked his platform. It was something I could rally behind. Take this legislation of his for education.  He understands the importance of boosting the sciences and technology in schools. Many of the senior politicians are stuck in the past and don't see that our schools are lagging behind in those areas." As she spoke more emotion poured into her voice.

Christopher raised both hands in surrender. "You don't have to convince me. I agree, remember," he said with a laugh.

"Sorry,” she said looking a bit sheepish, "this topic gets me a little emotional."

Christopher dropped his hands. "I never would've guessed."

"I think we have a good chance of getting it approved. When these ads run, I think people will realize how much the country will benefit and contact their senators urging them to vote for the bill. Senator Healy was right. You are the perfect spokesperson. Although I'm not sure he needs me too." Sara reached for her teacup as she spoke.

"You're wrong there.  Trust me on this one." Christopher emptied his coffee cup and asked the flight attendant for more. "Are those the proposed scripts?" He glanced over at the papers in front of Sara. She'd been folding and unfolding the corners of the pages through the majority of their conversation.