After the convention, they’d gone back to Washington. She’d unpacked, sent everything to the dry cleaners, and barely had time to renew her acquaintance with her apartment before they were on the campaign trail.
Not that travel was unusual for her. But this was a presidential campaign, and it was the big time—everything she’d hoped and dreamed for.
Mitchell was fabulous, and working with Governor Cameron’s team was syncing up beautifully. They had high hopes that, come November, the governor would be the new president. The polls were strong because the Cameron/Mitchell team was in high favor.
They were due in Florida for a campaign stop, and as they hit Fort Lauderdale, Evelyn pondered the proximity to Daytona Beach, her thoughts gravitating to Gray.
Not that her thoughts didn’t center on him every single day anyway.
She’d assumed once the campaign started it would be easy to forget about him, that she’d be way too busy to think about him, and she’d get over the hurt.
That wasn’t happening.
She missed him. Her body craved his touch. She missed sleeping with him at night and sharing her thoughts and ideas with him. She missed the sound of his voice, missed arguing with him about every topic under the sun. She missed the way he laughed, the way his smile made her entire body tingle.
She missed racing and found herself scanning the sports outlets for news about how Preston Racing’s team was doing.
Alex Reed, who was currently driving the number fifty-three, had placed fifteenth in the last race. Pretty darn good considering he was new in the car. And Donny had placed fifth. Great for Gray’s team. She was happy for him and he must be frustrated as hell not to be there, not to be racing or even be at the track.
She missed seeing him in his fire suit. God, he looked good zipped up in that thing, and even better out of it.
Her body reacted instantly and she pushed the visuals aside.
It was time for her to get a grip. She and Gray were over. Some day she’d run for office herself and match up with some representative or senator or lawyer and they’d have similar careers in Washington and it would make so much more sense for her future.
How utterly . . . boring.
She shuddered out a sigh and buried herself in work at the local campaign stop.
When her phone rang, she smiled as Carolina’s name popped up.
“Hey.”
“Hey yourself,” Carolina said. “Fort Lauderdale, right?”
“Yup. Where are you?”
“In D.C., actually. You’re flying back in tonight?”
“Yes. This is the last of our Florida stops.”
“Can we have lunch when you get back?”
“Hang on. Let me check my schedule.” She did a quick check. If she adjusted a few things . . . “Yes, I can definitely do that.”
“Awesome. How about one o’clock?”
“Perfect.” They made plans to meet.
It would be nice to spend a lunch hour with Carolina. She needed some downtime, even if it was only an hour or two.
And maybe Carolina would fill her in on how Gray was doing. Evelyn and the senator were busy on the campaign, and she refused to constantly ask him about Gray.
They were over and done with, so it was best to cut those ties.
*
THE NEXT DAY HER MORNING WAS FULL GETTING caught up at the main office, so she had to hustle to the restaurant to meet Carolina, who as usual looked fresh and well put together in a bright sheath dress with a beautiful scarf.
“You look gorgeous,” Evelyn said, kissing Carolina’s cheek.
“You look like you could use a nap.”
They sat at the table at the outdoor café in Georgetown and sipped tea and had salads. Carolina filled her in on what was going on with her fashion line, but they mainly talked about the senator and the election.
“You’re busy,” Carolina said in between bites of chicken salad.
“Understatement. I haven’t slept.”
“But this is what you wanted.”
“It is. I have no complaints.”
“And have you seen Gray?”
She took a deep breath. “No. Unfortunately, that’s over.”
“Is it? Why?”
She shrugged. “We’re just worlds apart.”
Carolina laughed. “Oh, that excuse. Did you even try, or did you get cold feet?”
“It’s a little more complicated than that. And hey, why did you assume the breakup was my fault?”
“Because I know you. You’d look for any excuse to not make it work. ‘Oh, he’s a lawyer, it would never work between us.’ ‘Oh, he’s not a lawyer, it would never work between us.’ ‘Oh, we’re from two different worlds, it would never work between us.’” She laid the back of her hand against her forehead for dramatic emphasis.
“I am not like that at all.” She paused, then cocked her head to the side. “Am I?”
“I think you look for reasons not to be in love because you’re afraid it’ll threaten your lifelong career goals, and if you do fall in love, God forbid you might have to compromise.”
Evelyn set her fork down. “I do not do that. Do I?”