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How about we go out? Dancing and drinks?
Sounds good! Count me in!
I returned my phone to my purse and then leaned back in my seat as well, deciding that maybe a pregame nap would be good for me too.
* * *
By the time I got back to my hotel room, Eden had already done some research and found a club in the area that was supposedly the place to be for anyone looking for a good time. I should have known that would be the case though. My father and Senator Kurt had been friends for decades and thus, Eden and I grew up knowing each other. In her college years, Eden had been infamously known as a party-girl, much to her father’s chagrin. He had spent too much time answering and confronting reporters about his daughter’s wild antics. Since graduating, however, Eden had calmed down quite a bit, becoming the more responsible and respectable kind of daughter better suited for the public eye. Still, she knew how to let her hair down, and tonight would be one of those nights.
Thank God. Because Dad was right, I needed it.
After styling my hair and applying holding-spray to my curls, I put on my makeup and slid into my dress—a slinky black number that hugged my figure in all the right ways, and even helped give the illusion that I had longer legs. When I was younger, I had often resented my short height, sometimes it made people think I was younger. As I grew into my late teens and twenties though, I developed enviable curves that made quite a few representative’s sons look at me differently at political gatherings.
Satisfied with my dress and hair, I stepped into a pair of black sparkly open-toed heels and then studied myself in the mirror, trying to determine what else I needed to complete my look. I decided on a pair of sparkly earrings and a bracelet rather than my usual watch; I didn’t want to bother with keeping track of time tonight.
By eight o’clock, I headed out the door, ready for some fun and mischief after the long and tiring hours I’d spent keeping my father company on his business meetings.
CHAPTER 2
Natalie
After Eden texted me the address of the club, I took a cab to get there. When the driver pulled into the parking lot, I could already tell the place had a large crowd for the night. I glanced around apprehensively, hoping there were no hidden newscaster trying to catch a couple of politicians’ daughters in compromising positions. But then I reminded myself that this visit to Turkey hadn’t been widely publicized, which was why Eden had agreed to go out in the first place. We should have been in the clear.
“Thanks,” I said, paying the taxi driver.
He pocketed the money. “Have a good night.”
Before I even stepped completely out of the cab, someone whistled at me. I grinned, shutting the cab door and turning around to see none other than Eden Kurt coming my way. She wore a wide smile, a short red dress that complemented her auburn hair, and heels so high that I would have fallen flat on my face if I wore them.
“Hello, gorgeous,” she said, skipping over to me. She stooped down to give me a hug, having to bend more than normal since her heels made her tower over me even more than usual.
I hugged her back. “Hey yourself, beautiful. Looks like you’re ready for some fun.”
“And you know it!”
We looped our arms together and headed into the club, ready to drink and dance the night away.
* * *
By the time we were on our third drink, we had been on the dance floor for at least forty minutes straight with various guys who couldn’t seem to take their eyes off us. They offered drinks and pretty promises that we laughed off, perfectly happy to tease them without getting too serious.
“Damn, sexy. Let me get you a drink—or something better, if you know what I mean.”
I turned around on the dance floor, instantly feeling repulsed by the guy standing behind me. He wasn’t bad-looking, but there was something predatory about his appearance that immediately revolted me. He stared at me hungrily, biting his bottom lip.
“No, thank you,” I said, trying to be polite nonetheless. Even if the guy hadn’t been such a creep, I knew that I was reaching my limit and didn’t need another drink right now, or else I risked ending the night passed out in the bathroom.
“Ah, come on. Don’t be like that,” he said, trying to touch me. I quickly dodged his grasp.
“Back off,” I said, turning away from him. He muttered, calling me some ridiculous name before moving along in search of his next target.
I shuddered and glanced around, in search of Eden. Yet, as my eyes roamed the club, something else entirely caught my attention. I froze on the spot, sensing a penetrating stare coming from the bar area. My breath hitched in my throat for a second, and a quiver went through my body. A handsome stranger lifted his head just slightly, acknowledging me from afar.
My heart pounding, I averted my gaze in search of Eden again. I spotted her a short distance away, her arms wrapped around some guy’s neck as she twirled her hips to the beat of the music playing, keeping the guy completely riveted.
I headed their way. Thanks to my short stature, I dipped under their arms and squeezed myself between them. The guy looked down at me, startled at first, and then amused. A grin spread across his face as if he had just hit the jackpot, likely under the impression he was getting a two-for-one special.
“What’s going on?” Eden asked.
