“What can I do for you, Evelyn?”
She turned to face him and gave him a smile. A practiced, professional, very businesslike smile. “I’m here representing your father, Senator Preston.”
Just as he was focusing his radar on her, she had to go and ruin it by working for his father. Though at least he was sending better emissaries now. Gray went to his fridge and grabbed a beer. “Want one?”
“Oh. No thank you.”
He popped the top off the can and took a long swallow, his throat parched from all those laps and the interviews he’d had to do after the disastrous finish. “Did you see the race today?”
“As a matter of fact, I did. I’m sorry about your wreck, but I’m relieved you weren’t hurt.”
He shrugged. “It wasn’t that hard a hit.” He pointed to the small table. “Take a seat, Evelyn. You sure you don’t want something to drink? I also have water and pop.”
“No. I’m fine. But it was nice of you to offer.”
Wasn’t she polite? She slid into the booth and crossed one long leg over the other. He cleared his throat. “Okay, then, what did my father send you all the way to Michigan to talk to me about that one of you couldn’t have called to say over the phone?”
She swept a curl behind her ear and folded her hands together on the table before focusing those gorgeous clear blue eyes directly at him. “As you are aware, or at least I hope you’re aware, now that Senator Preston has dropped out of the presidential race he has a good chance at being considered a viable candidate for vice president in the election this year.”
He leaned back in the booth. “I knew he dropped out of the race, but didn’t know he has a shot at the VP spot. Good for him. What does that have to do with me?”
“He’d be very grateful if you could assist him in his efforts.”
Now this was a first. His father hadn’t wanted anything to do with him for a long time now. “Is that right? And how am I supposed to help him?”
“You’ve done very well for yourself in this sport, Mr. Preston—”
“If you’re going to keep talking to me, Evelyn, you’d better call me Gray.”
She opened her mouth, paused, then nodded. “All right, Gray. As I was saying, you’ve become very successful in auto racing, which means you have a very dedicated fan base. A very dedicated nationwide fan base.”
Evelyn sure was pretty, and there was a light sprinkle of freckles across the bridge of her nose that spread to her cheeks, which did nothing to diminish how damn sexy she was, or how commanding her eyes were. Her beauty also didn’t distract him from the very clear message she had just delivered on behalf of his father.
“I get it. A very dedicated nationwide fan base of registered voters who you think I could persuade to cast a few for my dad and the presidential candidate. And if I agree, that makes Mitchell Preston an even more attractive potential vice presidential candidate, what with all those critical southern votes I could help him garner.”
She didn’t avert her gaze. “Yes.”
“Why didn’t he come to me when he was running for president?”
“He would have, had his presidential bid continued.”
“Huh. You do realize my father and I don’t exactly see eye to eye on a lot of things, political issues included.”
“I know a lot about you, including your likes and dislikes—politically, that is.”
He wanted to laugh, but he could tell Evelyn was doing her best to do the job she’d been assigned. It wasn’t her fault she’d been assigned to Mitchell Preston’s uncooperative sonofabitch of a son. “I’m surprised, given that I’ve never spoken publicly about my likes or dislikes—politically, that is.”
She lifted her chin. “Your father has briefed me.”
Now he did laugh, then took a long swallow of beer before answering. “Has he? My father doesn’t know shit about me. We don’t speak much at all. And since I inherited my trust fund from my grandfather when I turned twenty-five, he can’t blackmail me into giving him what he wants by refusing to give me money, so we have no reason to communicate at all and I have no reason to give him my assistance.”
He watched Evelyn squeeze her hands so tightly together that her knuckles turned white. “I see.”
He started to get up. “So we’re done?”
She didn’t move. “Your mother wanted me to tell to you that she would greatly appreciate your cooperation in this. She’s sorry she didn’t get a chance to talk to you herself, but she’s been very busy on the campaign trail with your father, and of course, you’re very difficult to get hold of now that you’re racing every week.”