Courting Gossip. Kimberly Dean

      He held out his hand. ‘Could you join us?’

      She pulled the belt of her robe tighter around her waist. ‘Are they gone? Did you take their camera?’

      ‘They’re in the other room. I promise you, you won’t have to deal with them.’

      Genieve thought fast. It wouldn’t be good to get on the police’s wrong side. Brody had told her not to leave the bathroom, but she was left to her own devices now. She needed to play this right. Tilting her head, she gave the young officer a helpless, fearful look. ‘Thank you for coming to our rescue.’

      Our rescue. Hers and Samuel’s. They were together, a couple. At least on paper…

      Reluctantly, she stepped into the bathroom doorway. There were still loud voices and way too many people in the room where, only a few moments ago, she and the senator had been getting down to an entirely different kind of busy. She pushed a shaky hand through her hair. When she saw another cop’s head snap around, she took her time combing her fingers through the strands.

      Instinctively, she fell back on the training that Luxxor had given her. Say as little as possible, stay out of the limelight and wait for the company lawyer to show up. She didn’t need to tell the police her name, but she wasn’t to fight their requests.

      ‘Genieve, darling. Are you OK?’

      She fought not to roll her eyes. So much for not identifying herself. She took one look at Samuel and knew she had to go into protective mode for him, too. Brody wouldn’t want shots getting out of the senator wearing nothing but a bed sheet. She grabbed another robe off the shelf and handed it to him. ‘I called your lawyer,’ she said, looking at him steadily. ‘He should be here soon.’

      ‘My law— Oh, yes. Good. He’s needed.’

      Samuel knotted the belt of the robe around his waist. His cheeks were flushed and his famous, perfect silver hair was mussed. It was hard to tell if that had come from her hands or the altercation.

      Genieve’s cheeks warmed. There wasn’t much about sex that made her shy any more, but the situation here was downright mortifying. The bed where they’d lain was rumpled, clothes were strewn about the room and, worst of all, she still felt that ache of need deep down in her core.

      She’d been close. With the fantasy she’d had going, really close.

      Her skin crawled when she caught a glance of the two men who’d broken in through the open door to the front room, and she hurriedly stepped out of their line of sight. She had to keep as little attention on herself as she could, although that was easier said than done. She tiptoed her way through the mess of clothes and bedding and settled onto a hard stuffed chair in the corner of the room. The large robe gaped open when she crossed her legs, but she let it. She needed to have everyone on her side right now, however she could get them.

      ‘Are you OK, ma’am? Can I get you anything?’ the officer asked.

      A magic carpet ride out of here?

      ‘Could you bring me a glass of water?’ she asked, her voice throaty.

      She ended up with three of them. Every cop and hotel associate in earshot moved to get her a cup. She smiled gratefully as she evaluated the scene. The young cop seemed to be the one trying to wrangle everything. He had a notepad out and was writing everything down.

      ‘Ma’am, I’m Officer Simons. Would you mind answering a few questions?’

      ‘She’s not a ma’am, she’s a call girl,’ someone in the next room called.

      Genieve winced.

      ‘What are they still doing here?’ Samuel bellowed. ‘Why haven’t those two been arrested yet? Do you know who I am?’

      Genieve rubbed her temple. Where was Brody?

      ‘They just barged in,’ she told the policeman. ‘I was so scared. I thought they were going to hurt us. I started screaming. Thank goodness someone heard.’

      She let tears well up in her eyes and let out a sniffle. She whipped a Kleenex out of the box on the table beside her and blotted her cheeks. ‘I really…Can we talk about this later?’

      Simons patted the air. ‘Of course, ma’am. If you could just sit right there, I’ll get this sorted out as quickly as possible.’

      The cop headed back into the front room. The wait was excruciating, but Genieve tried to contain her nerves. The senator wasn’t having much luck with his. He was in a huff. The police and hotel staff were trying to calm him down, but nothing worked until a change suddenly swept through the air. The cops in the room stood up straighter, and the hotel manager started wringing his hands.

      ‘Hey, you. Are you in charge here?’ she heard someone ask in the front room of the suite.

      She sat a bit straighter in her chair. Brody?

      Her heart started beating faster. She was actually glad to see him. He was grumpy and bossy, but he’d know better how to handle this mess.

      But would he protect her? Or let her take the fall?

      Her fingers wrapped tightly around the arms of the uncomfortable chair as the noise out in the front room increased. She heard the reporters – she didn’t think she’d ever forget their voices – but then she heard sighs and moans that made her blush.

      ‘I want that video burned,’ Samuel yelled. ‘They broke in here. That’s private.’

      Genieve felt ill, but then someone was in the doorway. Her anticipation rose, but then recognition hit and her stomach dropped to somewhere down near her feet. The tall, well-built man who’d entered the room wasn’t Brody Haynes.

      It was Detective Morgan, Nina’s detective.

      Genieve tried to make herself disappear, but the detective’s gaze locked onto her. She was the centre of attention in the room, red hair or not. He recognised her, too, and the gears in his head started turning. He was a handsome devil, and sharp. The man had been poking around Luxxor for months. He had a serious thing for her boss, and he was more than a little curious about what her company did. Genieve watched him, frozen and unable to stop him as he connected the dots.

      Oh, God. Even if she made it out of this room without being arrested, Nina was going to kill her.

      Fight-or-flight kicked in, and Genieve judged the distance to the door. Yet movement in the doorway pushed her right back into her chair. Another man had arrived at the worst possible moment. Her heart that was already beating too fast kicked into overdrive. It was the no-nonsense fixer – and also the sexy man from her fantasies.

      Brody was finally here.

      * * *

      Brody’s blood was pumping and his jaw was set when he arrived at the Emissary Hotel. He’d nearly flown through DC’s empty late-night streets and the tyres of his car had left skidmarks in the parking spot he’d found outside on the curb. He’d known this arrangement would cause problems. He’d tried to stop the senator’s ‘relationship’, but Gunderson was infatuated with the shapely redhead he paid to keep in his bed.

      Genieve Hart played with a lot of men’s heads, but Gunderson was an elected public official. He should have better self-control, no matter how mesmerising the woman was.

      Brody’s focus was laser-like as he strode through the lobby to the elevators, but he picked up on everything going on around him. Word was already getting around to the hotel staff. He heard the cleaning crew whispering at the bell stand as a maid stood with her vacuum turned off. Two squad cars were parked outside and a harried hotel security man was punching at the keyboard of a computer at the check-in desk. The only good thing so far was that the network news teams hadn’t picked up the scent yet.

      Only one rogue crew had crashed into the senator’s private party. TMI was an internet news site, from what he’d been able to pull up on the WiFi connection in his car. He’d never