Indecent Proposal by Molly O'Keefe Read Free Book Online Page B

to find foothold, no reporter trying to make his name even the slightest whiff of scandal.
    And his night with Ryan to the outside eye was nothing but scandalous.
    That night was an anomaly. Best forgotten.
    He took a deep breath. Another. Stretched his hands out and then made fists. Pushed his messy, dirty hair back into some kind of order, straightened his dirty tie. Bit by bit he found himself back in control of himself. His body. His thoughts.
    Ashley was safe. She was here.
    Ryan was forgotten.
    And he was Harrison Montgomery, with a family dynasty settled comfortably, familiarly, on his back.
    Brody returned and sat down in his seat.
    “She’s sleeping again,” he said.
    “That’s good.” Harrison flipped the page on the passport paperwork and began filling it out, his mind clear. His hand steady.
    “You okay?” Brody asked.
    “Fine,” he answered without looking up. “Just fine.”

Chapter 5
    Wednesday, August 14
    “The good news! It just keeps coming!” Wallace Jones, Harrison’s campaign manager, a whirlwind of spectacularly bad ties and genius brain cells, burst into Harrison’s office without knocking.
    “I could use some good news,” Harrison said, sitting back from the dual, equally unappealing tasks of dealing with his mother and fundraising calls.
    Financially, he was tapped out. Between getting his sister free and the campaign, he was running on fumes. And credit.
    And his mother was here to harass him about Ashley.
    So, yeah, he could use some good news.
    “Poll numbers!” Wallace said, lifting a handful of papers into the air. “The Education Initiative is working; so is VetAid. We’re still up across all demographics. We’re spanking Glendale in women under fifty, minorities, and college students.”
    Harrison left the jubilation to Wallace—he was far better suited for it. Punching the air felt stupid to Harrison. But the 100-proof relief poured through him all the same.
    He allowed himself an unchecked smile and loosened his tie. Practically a party.
    “College students don’t vote,” Patty Montgomery said.
    Across his small office, on the large couch where he’d been spending far too many of his nights since gettinghis sister back on American soil, sat his mother, Patty Montgomery. Her black suit matched the black of the couch and the gray light from the window illuminated her in a strange way, and he had the brief impression of her sitting on a stage.
    And despite having grown up in Manhattan, her Georgia accent with its Buckhead polish was flawless. She sounded local. Several generations of local.
    Wallace whirled to see Patty—his enemy in so many ways—on the couch and tossed his hands up in the air. “Jesus, Harrison. How many times do I have to tell you having your mother here does not help our campaign? We are trying to distance ourselves from the mistakes your father has made.”
    “Family issues, Wallace. Not political,” Harrison said, though Wallace was right. The education scandal, the housing market, unemployment skyrocketing, increasingly disturbing race relations in Atlanta—all of it Harrison was trying to fix. All of it happened on his father, Ted’s, watch.
    “With your family it’s always political!” Wallace sat in the chair across from Harrison’s desk instead of flopping down on the couch, as was his usual practice, and glared at Patty. “I assume this is about your sister?”
    “Ashley is safe. That’s all that matters.” Harrison was trying to finish the argument his mother seemed hell-bent on rehashing.
    “All that matters?” She laughed, as if the safety and well-being of her only daughter was far down on her personal list of things that mattered. She ran a hand over her perfect, unmoving blond bob, the gold and diamond rings on her fingers gleaming, using all the meager light to her advantage. “You are running for Congress. Your father’s approval rating is at an all-time low, and she is somewhere pouting because I asked herto