AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Something about him made her think he was tiptoeing around her. He still had the natural self-confidence she had seen in the press conference, but still there was something else, and she didn’t know what it was. Did he want to know about the paper? Did he want to know about her article? Something didn’t add up.
“Did you need something?” she asked, straightening her blazer.
“Need something?” he asked quizzically. His brows knit together. “Why would I need something?”
“I just thought…” She trailed off, embarrassed. “Just the paper…”
“Oh, no,” he said. His eyes seemed to bore into her, searching her. She wished she knew what he was thinking or where this was going.
“Do you enjoy flying?” he asked abruptly.
“What?”
She was taken off guard. Did he want to take her flying? That was ludicrous.
“Flying, like in airplanes,” he added.
“I don’t understand. ”
“I never did. My ears popped, my parents argued, I never got a window seat, the lines were too long, and it always happened when I wanted to stay home. ”
Why was he telling her this? He didn’t even know her name.
“I’d have panic attacks before boarding,” he informed her. “Sometimes my parents would give me medicine to knock me out so I wouldn’t hyperventilate. ”
“I’m sorry,” she said, not sure how to respond.
“I grew out of it, of course. I had to, especially if I wanted to be a politician like my father, but I never forgot that feeling. My fingers and toes would get warm and tingle. I’d find it hard to swallow. My stomach would be racked with nerves. I couldn’t focus properly on what was at hand. I couldn’t keep my breathing even, and I also couldn’t seem to suck in enough air. It was one of the most frustrating experiences of my life. ”
“I’ve hyperventilated before,” she admitted—she wasn’t sure why. “My sister made me run a couple miles to the store with her in the middle of the summer in Tampa, but I’m not a runner. I’ve never felt so terrible. ”
His eyes glistened as they stared into hers. “Then you know what I mean?” He waited until she nodded. “Well, I’ve never associated that feeling with anything good in my entire life…until you asked me that question today. ”
Liz’s mouth popped open without any intention on her part. “What?”
Her question had been tough. She hadn’t cared, though. She had wanted answers and all he had done was sidestep. She hadn’t thought he had given it much thought, and he certainly hadn’t thought about her.
“I think I hid it as well as I could, but I had to get off of that stage. I was suffocating under your scrutiny. ”
“Me?” she squeaked, losing all semblance of composure.
“And I wanted to know how you did that. ”
Liz didn’t know what to say. No one had ever said anything like this to her before. She felt like an idiot staring up at him, getting lost in the endless dark depths of his eyes. How was she supposed to respond to that? Only two minutes ago she had thought this was some kind of joke. Now he was saying that she completely disarmed him. Him. State Senator Brady Maxwell III.
“You seem surprised,” he said.
“Of course I’m surprised, Senator Maxwell,” she said formally. “I’m not entirely sure how to even begin to respond to that. I wasn’t doing anything on purpose. I just…asked you a question. ”
“You asked one hell of a question,” he said, leaning forward into her.
“I’m not going to apologize,” she told him, standing up taller in her heels.
“I wasn’t requesting an apology. ”
“Then what?” she asked skeptically.
“I was merely complimenting your reporting skills. How long have you had this position?”
