“You can’t report about it or anything, obviously,” Savannah went on, oblivious. “I just thought it might be cool to have someone else get to know the real me. I kind of feel like you’re the only one who is even close.”

Liz didn’t know what to say. On one hand she was happy that Savannah trusted her enough to do something like this. On the other hand . . . she was freaking the f**k out.

Did that mean Brady was here? Would she have to sit through dinner with him? Could she pretend not to know him?

Shit! What if Clay was there? That might be even worse. Not to mention the fact that he knew her as Liz Carmichael. How exactly would she begin to explain that?

Not good.

“Liz,” Savannah said, twisting at her ring as she did when she was concerned. “I didn’t mean to freak you out. I can take you back if you want. I just thought . . .”

“It’s okay. Sorry, just had to wrap my mind around meeting someone’s parents,” she said with a laugh that sounded more like a cough. She didn’t want Savannah not to trust her. But she wasn’t sure how to keep that acceptance and still get through the evening.

“They’re totally chill. I promise,” Savannah said, popping open the driver’s-side door as if that were all settled.

Well . . . great.

Not seeing another alternative, Liz got out of the car. She smoothed out her skirt and adjusted the shirt she had tucked into the waistband. At least she knew that she looked pretty hot. There was that. She would have probably died if she had shown up wearing jeans to meet Brady’s parents . . . to see Brady.

At least she knew that there was no way in hell that she was going to break Savannah’s confidence, because she most certainly was not going to tell Hayden about this. Especially not after he had sounded kind of jealous about the way Brady had looked at her at the colloquium. She hoped it wasn’t as obvious to everyone else tonight.

They walked in through the front entrance of Bin 54. The entire restaurant was gorgeous, with elegant circular tables, low lighting with candles, and mood-setting red walls. Savannah gave her name to the hostess and she directed them down to a private dining room in the wine cellar. The walls were lined with bottles and bottles of expensive wine, and in the heart of the room was a long rustic wooden table set for ten with large black chairs. Candles littered the cellar, casting a soft glow around the room.

Everyone else was already seated when Liz and Savannah entered. Liz braced herself for the look that Brady was about to send her way, but he didn’t glance at her when she walked into the room. He was deeply engrossed in conversation with the person sitting next to him, and Liz was glad that he didn’t see her when she got a glimpse of the people in attendance.

Despite the fact that she knew that it wasn’t just some big publicity stunt and Heather had all but confirmed that Brady was in fact dating the girl he kept popping up in pictures with, she hadn’t truly believed it until the moment that she saw Brady sitting next to her, chatting with her, laughing with his parents.

Liz felt her already fragile heart drop out of her chest and watched as Brady stomped on it. She knew it was ridiculous to feel like that, but she couldn’t help it. She had walked out. She was the one who had let him go. But she truthfully hadn’t believed their relationship would go anywhere past that summer. She hadn’t wanted him to have to choose between her and the campaign. He couldn’t give up his career for her, and she couldn’t let him be the one to choose his career instead.

But she hadn’t ever wanted to be in this position. To meet the new girlfriend.

Her throat was dry. Her fingers felt tingly. She wasn’t going to cry. No, this wasn’t that kind of moment. This moment wasn’t one to be mad or sad or pitch a fit. She couldn’t even muster those emotions. The only thing she felt was the one thing that she had never wanted to feel: regret.

“Hey, y’all,” Savannah called, drawing everyone’s attention to her with a wave.

Here goes nothing.

“This is my friend Liz Dougherty. She works with me at the paper,” Savannah said as an introduction.

Brady turned around so slowly that if she didn’t know better she would have thought he was uninterested. But instead she could just tell he was struggling for control. His eyes met hers across the room and she managed a smile without thinking about it. He looked so f**king gorgeous. It seriously was heart-stopping . . . if she’d still had a heart.

He didn’t smile back. He looked at her as if he was asking, What the f**k are you doing here?

“Come on; you can sit by me,” Savannah said, taking a seat.

Liz followed behind her and sat down in the last open spot . . . directly across from Brady. The only positive to this entire thing was that Clay wasn’t here. Only good thing she could think of at the moment.

Besides the Maxwells and Erin, there were four people she didn’t recognize at all. Family friends, or maybe another politician or something if she had to guess.

“Liz, these are my parents,” Savannah said, pointing them out. “And I already introduced you to Brady earlier.” Liz didn’t even glance over at him. She couldn’t. “This is his girlfriend, Erin.”

She did assess his girlfriend, though. Judged her was more like it. Liz couldn’t tell how tall she was, but she guessed a bit taller than her by the pictures she had seen. She looked classy in a red dress with gold buttons up the front and a gold belt at her waist. Her hair looked like a freaking Disney princess—long, dark, curling at the ends, shiny, silky smooth, with all sorts of luscious body. She had almond-shaped dark brown eyes lined in onyx, and perfectly curled black eyelashes. Her lips were on the thin side, but whatever dark pink lipstick she was wearing didn’t make them stand out as much. Her skin was tan as if she lived at the beach, but Liz knew that she didn’t . . . so it must be fake. Unless Brady was taking her to the lake house . . . or the beach.

Whoa. She needed to stop that train of thought right now.

Liz tore her eyes away from Erin.

“These are the Atwoods. Close family friends,” Savannah explained, gesturing to the couple seated at the opposite end of the table. Liz couldn’t figure out why Atwood sounded familiar. “Matthew and Lisa.” Savannah pointed out the parents, then gestured at the brother and sister. “Lucas and Alice.”

Lucas was seated next to Savannah and looked about Savannah’s age. He was handsome in an unconventional way: tall with a kind of lanky frame and overgrown hair. He looked as if he would be more comfortable in athletic gear than the sport coat he was wearing. His sister, Alice, looked as if she was in middle school or at the oldest a freshman in high school. She seemed lost in her own world and twirled her honey-blond curls around her finger the whole time.