Executive Pursuit

CHAPTER TWO

In three weeks, Penelope Hart will quit her job as the White House Social Secretary. Which means the president's son has three weeks to make his move. He's waited for years, and nothing will get in his way.

Kellan finally pulled away, quite pleased with himself when Penelope didn't recover immediately. Her eyes were still half-closed, her breath short as she clung to him. Her cheeks were flush against her creamy skin. He wanted to reach up and remove the pins that kept her silky chocolate-colored hair twisted up behind her.

"Come home with me tonight."

That immediately snapped her out of the romantic fog. Her eyes widened for a moment, then she pulled herself back into the uptight, reserved woman she'd become while he was away. Her lips tightened into a line of disapproval and her spine straightened. She must've learned this response from his ever-proper mother. Linda Ramsey had looked at him like that on more than one occasion.

"I can't."

He'd fully anticipated hearing those words. But he wasn't about to give up. Not tonight. He was tired of wanting her and going to bed unfulfilled because someone might disapprove. Finding out that in a few short weeks she would be leaving for Atlanta had been a wake-up call. He had to make his move now or miss out on his chance entirely. "Why not? And don't you dare mention my mother and her stupid rules."

"Because I'm working," she clarified. "There are a hundred and fifty people in the other room, and I'm still in charge of the party."

At least it wasn't a no. The party would be over eventually. He was so close to having her in his arms again, he could wait a little while longer. "They're all going to clear out now that midnight has come."

"Most, but not all. And then I have to oversee cleanup. I'm not going to be leaving here anytime soon."

She was a slave to her work. He both admired and hated that about her. "Then I'll let you get back to your work," he said, taking a large step backward. He tried, but he couldn't keep the irritation from leaching into his voice.

"Kellan, I-" she began, but he held up a hand to silence her protest.

"Go do your job, Penelope. But this isn't over. I told you I would come back for you, and I meant it. I'm going to ask you to come home with me again after the last guest has left and the last table is cleared. Hopefully then you'll have a different answer."

Penelope's ruby red lips parted as her mouth fell open. He could tell her mind was racing to come up with a protest or an excuse. But it wasn't going to work and she knew it. "Okay," she said at last. "I'll see you later."

Kellan watched her glide by him in her floor-length black velvet gown and disappear through the doorway into the East Room. He waited a few moments before he returned to the party himself, eyeballing the bust of Benjamin Franklin on the nearby table.

"She's going to say 'yes,' isn't she Ben?"

The statue stayed mum on the subject, but the forefather's smug expression gave him confidence nonetheless. He wasn't about to give up. He'd made the mistake of letting Penelope go once. The last few years without her had been agony. He'd forced himself to focus on school, letting his love life and social agenda waste away to nothing. The women and parties that had earned him his reputation had become meaningless after he'd been with her.

But he was tired of living half a life. He wasn't about to let Penelope move away without giving them one more shot.