Page 91 of Seduce

“I’m an engineer.”

Whew! Neutral answer. She should have clued Damon in. Not that she thought he’d say anything wrong. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. Damon was cool as a cucumber, but Tessa was a basket case.

“Nice. Where did you go to school?” Allen stared at Damon.

“MIT.” Damon slipped his hand to Tessa’s leg and squeezed.

Allen nodded. “So how long have you been dating my sister?”

“Allen!” Tessa sputtered. “We talked about this.”

“It’s a fair question,” Allen said. “I have a right to know about my sister’s love life.”

“I’m going to disagree with you there,” Damon said in that firm voice of his. “What is between Tessa and me remains between us.”

“Really?” Allen raised his eyebrows. “And that picture in the gossip column?”

Tessa groaned. Why didn’t the floor open up and swallow her? She should have known better.

“Unfortunate happenstance. We were out with friends when that reporter intruded. It was coffee with friends.” While Damon kept his tone level, Tessa heard the thread of annoyance.

“I explained this, Allen.” Movement caught her eye, and Tessa turned her head. What the hell was a photographer doing here?

Allen turned and smiled as the picture was taken.

“Thank you, sir,” the man said and scurried away.

Tessa’s hands closed into fists. “You set that up.” Why did she think she could trust her brother? Allen knew she wanted to stay out of the limelight and not be connected to her political family, yet he did this anyway.

“Of course. Congressional candidate out to dinner with his sister and her beau.” Allen grinned.

“I’m so sorry, Mr. Kline,” the maître d’ said as he rushed to the table.

“Not your fault, Barry.” Damon’s tone was cool, not quite icy, and his demeanor morphed from cordial to controlled dominance. “I’ll bring a bottle of your favorite wine.”

“No need. It’s fine.” Damon glared at her brother as Barry left. “Why did you feel the need to embarrass your sister?”

“How did I embarrass her? It was just a picture.”

Damon stiffened next to her. Anger filled her own veins, but she couldn’t lose it in the restaurant. Too many eyes. Too many phones, pictures to be taken. She never should have agreed to this.

“I want to leave.” She stood up, and Damon did the same.

“Come on, Tessa. I’m in the mood for a good steak,” Allen cajoled.

Tessa’s mouth dropped open. “I don’t know what happened to you, Allen. I would say too much time with Dad, but somehow I don’t think that’s it.” She broke off when another man approached the table.

“Allen,” the man said.

“Representative Hopper.” Allen rose to his feet, and they shook hands.

“Please, don’t let me interrupt,” Hopper said.

“We were about leaving,” Tessa said as she fought to keep the anger out of her voice.

“Tessa,” Allen said. “This is my sister, Tessa, and her friend, Damon Kline. This is Representative Hopper. I met with him this afternoon.”

Tessa ground her teeth together. She wouldn’t make a scene no matter how much she wanted to. “If you’ll excuse me.” She didn’t wait for an answer. She slipped by Damon and walked away with her head held high.

---