“Uh, yes.”
Jacob didn’t notice, because he was looking at Harper, but Elizabeth’s brow was knitted in consternation along with something else: disapproval. Elizabeth didn’t think Jacob should have allowed Harper and Stewart Overton to come into contact in his home. She disapproved of Jacob for allowing it. Apparently, she believed Harper shouldn’t be trusted, and that Jacob was being indiscreet—even foolish?—in allowing her to see too much of the secret inner workings of Jacob’s “house” as Overton had stealthily put it.
“Then we’re all set,” Jacob said, reaching for Harper’s hand. His jaw looked tense, and he was obviously irritated at what had occurred during the brief, charged exchange, but he clearly didn’t plan to address it with Elizabeth presently.
“Jacob, what should I tell Lisa about your dinner?” Elizabeth called.
“Nothing,” he replied without turning around. “I’ve told her to go home. So should you. We’ll fend for ourselves for dinner.”
Harper walked with him through the glass doors and out onto the magnificent terrace, going over in her head what had just occurred. The distinctive whistling, harsh chopping noise of a helicopter reached her ears. She paused on the second level of the terrace and looked back up at the mansion.
“I didn’t know you had a helipad up there.”
“Yeah.” He tightened his hold on her hand and urged her down the next flight of steps. “It comes in handy.”
“Jacob . . . I’m sorry, if I interrupted something—”
“You didn’t interrupt anything. He was leaving. I invited you here,” Jacob said firmly without turning around.
“Elizabeth wasn’t pleased that I came into contact with the secretary of defense in your home.”
Jacob paused slightly and glanced over his shoulder. “So. You recognized him,” he said with an air of resigned inevitability. He resumed leading her down the steps.
“I told you I wouldn’t leak anything I learned about you,” she said, coming up next to him as they reached the pool level and walked toward the pool house.
He frowned. “I wouldn’t be asking you here if I wasn’t confident of that at this point,” he said. “And it’s not a big deal, anyway. I just do some consulting work with him sometimes.”
Harper thought she shouldn’t mention that most people would consider him giving advice to a high-level cabinet member a pretty major deal.
“Maybe you should assure Elizabeth, then. That I’m not here in the capacity of reporter.”
They paused outside a glass door. In the distance, she heard the rough chopping sound of the helicopter rising in the air. Wind from the blades ruffled the bangs of Jacob’s burnished hair. Despite the novelty of a helicopter taking off just yards away, Harper couldn’t take her eyes off him.
“No,” he murmured, his rich, deep voice running over her skin and making it tingle. His agate eyes were heavy-lidded and a seduction all on their own. “That’s not why you’re here, is it?”
She swayed closer to him. Wind swirled around them, and the chopper noise grew fainter by the second. Why did he have to smell so good all the time? Just a nose full of his scent, and graphic memories bombarded her brain about their raunchy tryst in the Gazette’s bathroom hours ago.
She cleared her throat and lowered her head, bullying her brain into focusing. “You should say something to her. Elizabeth, I mean. She seems concerned about me. And you.”
“Don’t worry about Elizabeth. I’m not.”
He lifted her chin, and their mouths fused in a taut, hot kiss. By the time she opened her eyes a moment later, the helicopter sound was a distant hum.
“Hi,” he breathed against her upturned lips a moment later. “I didn’t get a chance to greet you properly.”
She smiled. “That’s because you were meeting with the United States secretary of defense. I’ll forgive you. This time.”
He smiled and kissed her once more before stepping back.
“This is the women’s side,” he said, nodding at the pool house entrance behind them. “Suits are kept in the cupboard next to the showers. There are usually several brand-new ones in there for guests. I’ll meet you out here in a minute?”
“Okay,” she said, feeling a little light-headed and euphoric from his kiss. The idyllic surroundings. The prospect of spending the evening with him . . .
All of it.
She felt a little self-conscious when she exited the pool house a few minutes later. Jacob had been right: there were several suits available. There were bikinis and maillots in a range of sizes. Harper had been determined to choose one that still had tags on it, however; one that was clearly unworn. She didn’t at all like the idea of wearing one of Jacob’s former lover’s swimsuits.
The only one with tags that was in her size was a cute dark blue bikini, but it was brief. Very brief. She felt like her breasts were exploding out of the top of it, and the bottoms were tiny. Thank God she’d shaved this evening. To make matters worse, she couldn’t find any cover-ups. She grabbed a thick white towel from a cupboard and held it in front of her midriff self-consciously as she exited.