Read Online Campaigning for Christopher by Katy Regnery - Free Book Online Page A

squared her jaw. “I won’t go until you listen to me.”
    “There is nothing you could say that would—”
    “Listen to her, Chris!” exclaimed Simon.
    “ What ?” demanded Christopher, his green eyes skewering Simon. “Are you fucked in the head? Why is she even in here breathing the same air I am? She sabotaged my campaign!”
    “Which means she might be the only one who can help you!” yelled Simon. “Now sit the—the— fuck down.”
    Hearing his priggish campaign manager curse seemed to have a mollifying effect on Christopher, and he leaned back against the reception desk behind him and crossed his arms over his chest, his nostrils flaring with hatred.
    Her eyes skittered to his arms, and a quick mental image of those arms imprisoning her against the side of the winery on Saturday night made an unwanted shiver rush down her spine.
    This might be easier if he wasn’t so beautiful.
    And so monumentally furious.
    “So?” he demanded. “Speak.”
    Julianne didn’t particularly relish being spoken to like a dog, but took a deep breath and met Christopher’s steely gaze.
    “We go out there together. We say I’m your, um, your girlfriend. We say—”
    “Abso- fucking -lutely not. I can’t even—”
    “Chris, you need to shut up and listen,” said another man, bearing a strong resemblance to Christopher. He stepped forward and put his hand on Christopher’s shoulder with ease and familiarity.
    Yes, of course. She remembered. It was the brother whose wife was newly pregnant. Her eyes flashed to the beautiful, blue-eyed white woman standing just behind him, and Julianne recognized her from the wedding too.
    The brother looked at her with cold eyes, but nodded at her. “Go ahead, Miss . . .?”
    “Crow.”
    “Miss Crow. Finish up your plan.”
    She swallowed and looked at Christopher again. “So, we, um, we say that I’ve been your girlfriend for weeks, but you were p-protecting me from the public eye, um, because I wasn’t ready to share our relationship and anyway we, um . . . we didn’t want to distract voters. We both d-drank too much at your sister’s wedding because we were celebrating her, um, her happiness. We snuck away, started, um, m-making out and took some . . . p-private photos, but my phone was stolen yesterday evening and the photos were leaked. We are embarrassed in the m-manner that our relationship was suddenly exposed, but because we’re deeply in, um, in love, we’ve decided to roll with it.”
    Christopher’s scowl had not lessened throughout her speech. Now his eyes narrowed and his voice dripped with loathing. “You weren’t there as my date. Though my memories are hazy from the drugs you slipped me, I believe you were waitressing.”
    She flinched, resisting the urge to draw her thumb to her mouth and go to town biting the nail. Instead she kept her voice as level as she could and replied, “My being your, um, your girlfriend and my b-being a waitress are not mutually exclusive. P-plus, I’m not just a . . . a waitress. I’m also a, um, a m-model.”
    Christopher rolled his eyes, looking away from her like the very sight of her disgusted him to no end. “Wow. A profession with real depth.”
    Her temper flared. “You don’t know the first thing about me.”
    “Wrong!” he thundered. “I do know the first thing! I know you hurt people for no reason. I know you do despicable things for money. How do I know you don’t have a disgusting reputation? Why in God’s name would I want to hitch my name to yours?”
    “Because I p-promise you that—”
    “Your promises mean shit to me, honey.”
    She blinked, realizing, with some horror, that her eyes were filling with tears. He was so fierce, so wrathful, so implacable, she almost imagined she could see white heat emanating from him.
    I’m not helping. I’m upsetting him more before his press conference.
    She turned to Simon. “I’m so sorry for coming here. I think I should, um, should go . . .”
    “No!”