Liz swallowed hard. Shit. She could not handle this right now. Not after just seeing Brady on TV and having a mental breakdown in the bathroom. She needed to keep the banter light and move away from the topic of Brady. But then again, all they had ever talked about was Brady.

“You were probably there with your girlfriend anyway. Hardly matters.” Clay opened his mouth for what Liz assumed was going to be another arrogant remark, but she kept going. “Anyway, I happen to know the artist. She’s my boyfriend’s sister.”

“Ohhh,” Clay said with that same knowing smirk. “Is that why I haven’t seen you at any of Brady’s events?”

“Something like that,” she said noncommittally.

“Is the boyfriend here now?” he asked, his eyes searching the room for the prime suspect. “I’d love to meet the guy who is going to be knocking down my door after I take you home with me.”

Liz bit her lip and laughed softly at Clay. It was strange to feel as if she had missed him and his antics, when she hadn’t ever really spent all that much time with him. But staring into his handsome face, she realized that she definitely had missed him. It made her stomach clench and roll at the life she had given up.

“So full of yourself,” she murmured.

“Oh, come on. You’ve been dying to get in my bed since the first time we met.”

“The first time I met you I was having a panic attack.”

Brady had just given a speech at a Fourth of July festival and Liz had suddenly realized how much he meant to her, how much the campaign meant to Brady, and that he had won her vote. The feeling had overwhelmed her and Clay had found her, though she hadn’t known he was Brady’s brother at the time.

“I did say you were dying,” Clay said, reaching out for her hand. She took a step back, letting his hand just barely graze her before retreating out of arm’s distance.

“You never cease to amaze me.” Her tone was light. It wasn’t as if she was actually angry that he was here. She just needed to get away before Hayden came looking for her.

“I’ve heard that before.”

Liz rolled her eyes. As cocky as they came, and yet she still hadn’t walked away.

“Well, I’ll let you get back to your girlfriend,” Liz said, the emphasis on girlfriend.

“Are you really going to turn me down again?” he asked, stepping closer to her once more.

“One day you’ll get the hint.”

“But not today,” Clay said with a smirk.

“There you are, Lizzie,” Hayden said from behind her.

Her face fell. She had been so close to leaving, but not close enough.

And the way Clay was looking at her just then spoke volumes. He knew that something was up, or at the very least that she didn’t want to be seen with him. She could punch him for that smug look, and she just hoped he kept his goddamn mouth closed.

Hayden wrapped an arm around her shoulders and planted a kiss on her lips. Huh. Was he showing signs of jealousy? Oh, it was so cute on him.

“Who’s your friend?” Hayden asked.

“This is Clay,” Liz said.

Hayden stuck his hand out in introduction. “Nice to meet you. I’m Hayden Lane.”

“Clay Maxwell,” Clay said, shaking Hayden’s hand firmly.

Hayden looked back and forth between Clay and Liz in surprise at the name. Liz bit her tongue. She would let him figure it out, and hope he didn’t ask her questions later about how she personally knew Clay Maxwell.

“Maxwell. Like Senator Brady Maxwell’s brother?”

“Ah. Representative Maxwell,” Clay corrected.

Oh, so now he was going to defend his brother?

“Well, it’s great to have you here,” Hayden said, producing that smile that always won everyone over.

“Thanks. You’re the brother of the artist, correct?”

“Yes, that’s right. Jamie is wandering about here somewhere,” Hayden said. He glanced around the room as if thinking about her would make her materialize before his eyes. And that was when it hit her: Hayden had stopped the jealous-boyfriend act as soon as he realized that Clay was potentially influential.

“I’m sure my girlfriend would love to meet her,” Clay said.

“I’d be happy to introduce the two,” Hayden responded.

And that was how Liz’s night turned torturous. She could see written all over Clay’s devious face that he was going to use the opportunity to stick close by.

They located Andrea, who didn’t seem to remember Liz from that chance encounter on Hilton Head back in August. That was lucky. Then they went to find Jamie, who was incredibly excited to finally meet her favorite fan. Apparently they had been chatting back and forth between the curator of the gallery who had procured Jamie’s artwork for Andrea.

Liz followed them around for another hour as Andrea gushed over Jamie’s talent. Clay and Hayden spoke cordially about everything from the newspaper to Brady’s election to Clay’s experience at Yale to the weather. Liz interjected only when she thought that it was veering too close to talk of Brady, but Clay didn’t know that she had been with Brady over the summer, so it wasn’t like that could come up. It turned out by the end of the conversation that she had freaked out for nothing.

Andrea purchased ten of Jamie’s paintings out of a single collection, and told Jamie that she would be a collector for life. Liz couldn’t even think of ten walls in her house where she could hang artwork. Then again, Andrea had a trust fund, and was dating a man who would most certainly move on to become a very prominent attorney . . . she probably had a bigger house than the one Liz lived in.

Clay shook Hayden’s hand as Andrea started for the door. Liz moved forward to say good-bye, but Clay pulled her aside. Hayden moved to talk to Jamie and didn’t even object to his girlfriend being taken away. She figured Clay must have charmed him in a way that only the Maxwell men were capable of.

“So,” Clay said as they walked slowly toward the exit.

“So,” she repeated.

“He’s in love with you.”

“What?” Liz snapped. She hadn’t been expecting that at all. Which was likely why he had said it.

“Yeah. I’ll be in town the next two days. We should find time to meet up again.”

Liz shook her head, still dazed from his assumption. “I’m not going to meet up with you. I know what that entails.”

“But you don’t love him,” Clay said, turning to face Liz.

“We haven’t been dating that long. Ugh! Why am I even justifying any of this to you?” she asked, turning to go.

“Hey. Don’t be angry.” He grabbed her elbow. “It really is good to see you.”

“Still not going home with you, Clay.”

He smiled in that way that made his dimples appear. “Next time then.”

Liz rolled her eyes. “Good luck.”

“I don’t need luck,” he said with a wink as he walked back toward Andrea.

Liz watched him walk out of the art exhibition. Her whole body trembled with the exertion of keeping herself together. Clay riled her up so easily, but she wouldn’t let him get to her.

So she didn’t love Hayden. She didn’t have to love someone she had only been dating for two months. It didn’t matter that she had fallen for Brady in a similar amount of time. She couldn’t compare the two men. She needed to stop doing it. Right. Now.

“Hey,” Hayden said, walking up behind her and whispering into her ear. She nearly jumped out of her skin and he just laughed. “Come with me.”

“All right,” she said, taking a deep breath and turning away from the exit.

“Thanks for introducing me to Clay. He seems like a good guy.”

Liz held in her hmph.

“Jamie is freaking out about his girlfriend’s purchase.”

“That’s good,” she said. At least someone had gotten something out of the day’s events.

“Will you just stand over here with Jamie for a minute?” Hayden asked.

“Why?”

Hayden smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist, drawing her into a hug. She breathed into him, feeling every ounce of what Clay had said washing over her.