Blue Skies, Season 2, Episode 8 (Rising Storm) Read Free Page A

bit was better than nothing. Right?
    Her earlier joy evaporated as reality set in. Ian was the kind of man she could so easily lose her heart to. And anything he felt—well, it had to be temporary, didn’t it? He knew she wasn’t going to leave Storm. And she knew that eventually he’d be heading back to Montana.
    Which left her where exactly?
    Flirting with disaster .
     

Chapter 2
    Sebastian Rush walked out of his office, wondering how the hell it had all come to this. He and Payton had an agreement, damn it. And it hadn’t included walking out on him and taking his kids. His numbers had dipped five points in the polls. Thank God he’d already been reelected. Still, he didn’t need this kind of pressure.
    What he needed was some good news. Something that would cast him in a more positive light. His mother was always harping on spinning everything. Surely this could be spun as well. He shook his head, smiling at a group of passing ladies who averted their eyes as if he was a leper. When the hell had a man’s sexual proclivities been questioned so stridently? JFK had had mistresses. Nobody gave a good goddamn. Hell, when Marilyn Monroe sang happy birthday to the man, it was positive press.
    Of course, Marilyn hadn’t been college aged. Or had she? Sebastian frowned and then immediately forced himself to relax his face muscles. The camera added years; no point in helping it along.
    In just a few days he was heading back to Austin.
    Alone.
    Not that that wasn’t normal. No, what wasn’t normal was that there’d be no family waiting for him at home. No one to trot out in front of the journalists when family values were in play. Even as he had the thought, he knew it was too cold. Too calculating. He might have felt that way about his ice queen of a wife, but he loved his children.
    Didn’t he?
    Jeffry was a disappointment certainly. Even in today’s liberal atmosphere, surely Jeffry knew how his sexual orientation would play out in the media. Why in the world in the midst of all this scandal had he chosen now to come out of the damn closet?
    Maybe it was just a fad. That’s what his mother thought. Experimentation. The idea made Sebastian shudder. And if Jeffry’s predilections weren’t enough to deal with, there was Brittany’s infatuation with Marcus Alvarez. A deviant offender of the first order. Not the kind of man he wanted to inherit his kingdom. And besides how could he condone a relationship between his daughter and the brother of the woman who’d practically destroyed his career singlehandedly?
    At least the girl had fallen off the radar. A town pariah. No one was listening to her now. Although the damage was done. If he’d had his way, he would have destroyed her. But as usual his mother was right. The potential for fallout was too dangerous.
    God what a clusterfuck.
    What he needed was something to save the fucking day.
    As if some twisted deity somewhere had heard his plea, Ginny Moreno walked out of the pharmacy, her belly so swollen she almost waddled. And yet, Sebastian felt himself grow hard.
    He increased his pace, closing in behind her, relishing the chance to catch her off guard, a wild idea forming in his head. If his family had deserted him, maybe he’d just get a new one.
    “Hold on there a minute, Ginny.”
    She stopped, startled, eyes wide as she turned around to face him. “What do you want?”
    “To talk. We haven’t had a chance to talk lately.” He smiled, pouring on the charm. It’s what he excelled at after all. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking.”
    “I’ll bet you have,” Ginny said, the words half mumbled.
    “About us, I mean.” He reached out to touch her elbow, and she jerked free, eyes flashing. He didn’t remember her being so self-assured. It excited him. With a little polish… He shook his head, forcing himself to concentrate. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to invade your space; I just was hoping maybe we could try to start over.”
    “Start over?”