Page 26 of All Out of Love

But when Grayson pressed his hand into her lower back, as if he was reminding her that he was by her side, and that she not alone anymore, she did feel a momentary sense of relief that somebody at least was in her corner. That somebody might even believe her.

But for how long? Especially now that he knew the whole story with every negative spin that commissioner spoon-fed him. How long could he stand by somebody with her kind of baggage?

But then he said something Toya was not expecting him to say.

“Get her back on the phone,” Grayson said to Oliver. “Tell her I want to make a deal.”

Toya and Oliver both looked at him. “And what deal could that possibly be, Grayson?” Oliver asked him.

“Tell her if she drop those charges against Jameesha Morgan, then I’ll guarantee she’ll be reelected.”

The commissioner sat up straight. So did Toya. But for two very different reasons.

For Toya, it was the fact that he would go all-out like that for her.

But for Oliver, it was all about the guarantee. “The only way she could be guaranteed to win,” he said to Grayson, “is if your father, our still beloved former governor, the most beloved man in this state, was to come out in complete and total support of her candidacy. That’s the only way. And everybody knows it would have to be something monumental to get Sebastian Carrington to throw his name, his reputation, his everything behind anybody. Especially a democrat.”

Grayson looked Oliver dead in the eyes. “Get her on the phone,” he said again.

Oliver was floored. But he hurried to get her on the phone.

Toya, however, was still reeling from the fact that the father of the man who took time out of his busy schedule to come and see about her used to be the governor of Maryland! What manner of man did she have on her hands? And why would he be so willing to help her and promise the top prosecutor that his father would put it all on the line for her too? Regular dudes just didn’t do all this.

She stared unblinkingly at Grayson.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

When they first walked out into the cool night air and Toya immediately began to wrap her arms around her body, Grayson took off his coat and put it across her shoulders.

“But you’ll be cold too,” she said. “We can share it.” She even went so far as to open it up so that he could ease into the warmth of that overcoat too.

Which made Grayson smile. Which made him even more convinced that he had done the right thing. “I’m okay,” he said. “I have on a coat.”

Toya knew he wore expensive suits, but a suit coat could not be compared to the warmth of an overcoat.

“Just come on,” she said, putting her arm around his waist and forcing him against her. “I keep most of it, but you can have some of it,” she added.

And there they were, walking arm in arm sharing his overcoat. Which was remarkable to Grayson. He’d given his coat to many women on many a chilly night. But never once did they give a darn about his warmth too. They wrapped themselves firmly in his coat like they were entitled to have it by virtue of their gender and his gender alone, and they never looked back. But not Latoya. She wasn’t built that way.

Even his driver, who stood at the back passenger door of his limousine waiting for them, looked as if he couldn’t believe it either. He saw when the boss gave her the coat. But he also saw when she put her arm around the boss’s waist, something most women wouldn’t have the nerve to do in public given how private everybody knew the boss was. But he saw her do just that. Who is she, he wondered.

But he was a good employee who knew to mind his own business. He didn’t say a word. He nodded to the lady as he opened the back passenger door, and Grayson allowed Toya to get in first. Then he got in behind her. When the door was closed and they were finally driving away from that detention center, he tried not to even look at them. He just did his duty and drove.

But inwardly, Grayson and Toya were both relieved to be getting away from that center.

The deal was struck, but even Toya knew it was a shaky deal. One that could easily unravel if all of the parts didn’t fit. Especially the part about his father.

She looked at Grayson. He had been quiet ever since the deal was struck, and he remained quiet. He had his overcoat folded up on his lap and was sitting with his legs crossed as if he was in deep thought. But they had to discuss it.

“Can I ask you a question?”

Grayson looked at her. She was relieved, he knew, but she was still worried too. “Yes.”

“That lady, the prosecutor, said she wasn’t going to press charges for now, but she said she could bring charges later. Is that true?”

Grayson hated that part too. “Yes it’s true.”

“If your father refuses to endorse her, will that be enough for her to take me back into custody?”