Richard strode over to the bar. She followed. “You get the negatives on you, and I get the negatives on David. It’s a simple trade.”
He knocked back a scotch, the peat tickling her nose. “What about your article for Karen on Nora fucking Roberts? Are you planning on using it to ruin my political career?”
“I know you won’t believe this, but I never planned on hurting your career. I only wanted to reclaim something important to me, something our divorce had stolen. Not everything is about you, Richard.”
He scowled. “You threatened me.”
“You pushed me.”
His sigh rushed out as he poured himself another drink. “Yeah, you never liked that. I wish I hadn’t done it.”
She looked at him, truly looked at him, and saw him for the first time. He was selfish, vain even. He gorged on power like a three-year-old gorged on Halloween candy. He used people to get what he wanted.
But their relationship had not been barren of moments of kindness, humor, and even love.
Still, it had always come second to his ambition and his needs—for women, for more money, for the ability to screw with people’s lives.
“Me too. We could have avoided this whole episode.” She fingered a Band-Aid on her hand. “No, I take that back. If this hadn’t happened, I never would have met Tanner.”
His mouth twisted. “You love him,” he accused.
“Yes. It’s ironic, don’t you think? You’re responsible for bringing us together.”
His curse didn’t bother her in the least. “He won’t stick, you know,” he said. “He doesn’t like to be tied down. The man’s never stayed in one place longer than a couple years. He’s a loner.”
She walked back over to his desk. Smiled. “I know who he is.”
He was someone who was willing to give up his life for the woman he loved—a real bona fide hero, straight out of Nora Roberts Land. And he was all hers.
Richard reached for another drink.
“So. Do we have a trade?”
“You don’t give me much choice,” he said. “My political career is more important than some city councilman. I’m going to do great things for this state. Wait and see. ”
“I’m sure you will.” He was a politician through and through, always had been, and God knows he had the adultery thing down pat.
He walked to the safe and dialed in the combination. When it beeped, he opened it with flourish.
She pulled the negatives out of her purse and extended them. When he reached out his hand, she pulled back. “No double-double crossing. Because when I say I want to be done with you, I mean it.”
His mouth tipped up. “You’re tougher than you used to be, Meredith. I don’t like it. And I don’t like your hair either.”
“Well, I do.”
He put his hand over his heart while the fire crackled and popped in the stone hearth. “I’m being straight with you here. You always brought out the best in me, Meredith.”
“Not always, but it’s good to be reminded.” She took the negatives he gave her, putting them in her bag.
“You aren’t going to check them?”
She studied him. “My gut tells me you’re not pulling a fast one. I’ve learned to trust it.”
“You always had good judgment.”
See, Divorcée Woman called out.
He walked over to the bar again. “How about a drink? For old times’ sake?”
“Why not?” she said, setting her bag down.
When he whipped up a dirty martini, a sense of surprise fluttered through her.
“You remembered?”
His face softened. “There’s a lot I remember.”
She drank the martini slowly as he sipped his scotch. Both of them studied the fire in the silence.
“I need to go.”
He nodded and followed her out. When she reached the landing, he helped her with her coat and opened the door. “I’m glad you didn’t die in that avalanche, Meredith.”
She wouldn’t even ask how he already knew about it. He was a journalist, after all.
Her mouth curved. “Me too. Goodbye, Richard. Good luck with the political game.”
The door closed. She walked down the stairs, running over their meeting in her mind. She’d known the instant the fight had gone out of him. As soon as he’d realized a compromise was needed, he’d turned reasonable and charming. Some things never changed.
Well, she had gotten what she came for. What Tanner wanted to do now that he was free and clear would be up to him.
She took a deep breath, inhaling exhaust and whispers of food from the restaurant quarter around the block. Her bustier cinched her ribs, and she touched it lightly with her fingers.