Chapter 2

      Debra had suffered a crush on Trey Winston from the very first time she’d met him years ago. She’d always known he was out of her league, but her crush had never really diminished over the years.

      She couldn’t help the fact that her heart always leapt a bit at the sight of him, that she often grew tongue-tied and clumsy in his presence. Even sharing the single night that they’d had together hadn’t changed her attraction to him; instead it had only deepened her feelings for Trey.

      But, it didn’t matter what she felt about him because she knew that she was the last woman on earth he would ever want to have a public relationship with. He had his future neatly planned out with Cecily McKenna by his side.

      As she drove to the Regent Hotel to meet both him and the hotel manager to discuss the event, she couldn’t halt the tingling nerves that fluttered through her veins at the thought of working with him so closely.

      She knew he’d probably marry Cecily, a gorgeous heiress who had the social savvy and political chops to be an asset to him.

      Debra also knew that she would be a definite liability to Trey. She’d been born out of wedlock. Her father, who had been a married CEO of a Fortune 500 company at the time, had never acknowledged her existence personally. In fact, Debra had been raised by her mother to never mention her father’s name, to never expect anything but a monthly support check in the mail from him.

      When her mother died right after Debra’s graduation from college, she had met with her father for the first and the last time. She had requested one thing from him—she wanted him to use his influence to get her a job in the political arena, specifically with Kathleen Adair Winston. As one of Kate’s top contributors to her political campaign when she’d run for vice president, he had been instrumental in her attaining her position with Kate.

      That’s the only thing Debra had ever asked from the man who had never been anything but a name on a check, but he hadn’t even managed to follow through on that. In recent years, there had been whispers of scandals within his company and talk of her father having some shady dealings.

      Debra could crush on Trey all she wanted, but she knew she would only be an embarrassing one-night stand and right now a valuable tool to use to achieve his dreams. She would work her butt off to help him in his bid for a seat in the Senate. She wanted him to have his dream and she’d also do the best she could because Kate had asked her to.

      She parked in front of the prestigious thirty-story hotel and looked at her watch. She was twenty minutes early for their ten-o’clock appointment so she remained in the car with the engine running and warm air blowing from the heater vents.

      She’d been surprised when she’d called the hotel and discovered that the ballroom was available on a Friday night two weeks from now. Two weeks. Jeez, Kate must think she was some kind of magician.

      But there had to be some magic at work for the ballroom not to already be booked, Debra thought.

      Her hand fell to her stomach, caressing the place where she knew eventually there would be a baby bump, a bump that could potentially destroy Trey’s future plans.

      Politics thrived on scandals and any of Trey’s adversaries would turn a simple night between two consenting adults into something ugly to use against him. Everyone knew he’d been seeing Cecily so that one-night stand would be a testimony to a lack of morals on both their parts. He would be painted with the same brush that had darkened his father’s Senate term.

      Debra knew that neither of them lacked a moral compass. The night had simply gotten away from them, both of them making mistakes in judgment.

      He would never know about the baby, although it broke her heart that she felt like she was somehow repeating a history she’d never wanted for any child of her own.

      She loved the baby, despite the circumstances of the conception. She would be the best mother she could and maybe eventually she’d meet a man who wanted her and her child enough to form a family unit.

      She checked her watch once again and then cut the car engine. She grabbed her purse with her electronic notepad inside and then got out of the car. She’d power dressed today in a stylish dark brown skirt and suit jacket with a beige blouse. Brown pumps adorned her feet and tiny gold hoop earrings were her only jewelry.

      Drawing in several deep breaths as she walked to the hotel entrance, she shoved all thoughts from her mind except what needed to be here to do her job well.

      She still couldn’t believe how lucky they had been that the Regent’s ballroom was available on a Friday night two weeks from now. Two weeks was the mere blink of an eye in planning the kind of event they intended to have.

      Whenever possible, Debra used the hotel’s event planner, but the Regent had a new woman working in that position, somebody Debra had never worked with before. It wouldn’t take long for Debra to discern if the woman was adequately prepared to do the job they needed and if she wasn’t then Debra would bring in an event planner of her own.

      Debra knew she had a reputation as being sweet and accommodating, but she could be a vicious shark when it was necessary to get what was best for the Winston family.

      She went to the reservation desk and asked for Donald Rasworth, the hotel manager. She smelled Trey before she saw him, the expensive scent of a slightly spicy cologne that had clung intimately to her skin the morning after their wild, impetuous encounter.

      She turned and nearly bumped into him. “Oh. You’re here,” she said.

      He smiled. “Aren’t I supposed to be here?”

      “Yes, but I just didn’t know that you were here... That you’d actually arrived...”

      Thankfully she was rescued from her inane ramble by a tall slender man who approached them with a hand extended and a wide smile of welcome on his face.

      “Mr. Winston,” he said as he grabbed Trey’s hand in a shake. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir. We’re hoping here at the Raleigh Regent that we can meet all your needs for whatever event you want to plan.”

      Trey turned to Debra and introduced her. “This is the person you need to please,” Trey said. “She’s our special weapon when it comes to planning these things.”

      “I understand you have a new event planner. Will she be joining us?” Debra asked.

      “Stacy Boone and yes, she should be joining us at any moment.” He looked around the lobby, as if expecting the woman to be hiding behind a potted plant or an elegant column. “While we wait for her why don’t I go ahead and take you to our main ballroom and let you have a look around.”

      One demerit for the late Stacy Boone, Debra thought as she followed behind the two men. Trey was clad in a navy suit with a matching shirt, and she couldn’t help but notice that he looked as good from the back as he did from the front.

      Broad shoulders, slim waist and long legs, the man was definitely eye candy even without his confident stride and the aura of power that radiated from him.

      A vision of his naked body flashed in her brain, causing her to stumble over a bump in the carpet that didn’t exist. Trey turned in time to put a hand on her shoulder to steady her. “Okay?” he asked with concern.

      “I’m fine,” she assured him quickly. It was a relief when he dropped his hand from her. He was a warm and friendly man, a toucher by nature, but she didn’t want him touching her in any way. It evoked too many memories she definitely needed to forget.

      They had just reached the ballroom’s double doors when a young blonde in a pink dress and high heels to heaven came rushing in. She carried a messy pile of paperwork and a smile of apology. “Sorry I’m late.”