Cause For Scandal (Dynasties: The Elliotts #3)(9)
Author: Anna DePalo

He had to find her. He felt as though he’d finally found what he’d been looking for, and now that he had, he wasn’t about to let her slip through his fingers.

He glanced at the alarm clock on the night table. It was still early.

While he mulled over what to do, he ordered breakfast from room service, then padded into the bathroom to shower and then dress. He knew from experience that before long, Marty and umpteen other people would be calling him about the day ahead. The only reason he’d gotten a bit of a reprieve this morning was because last night had been his last benefit concert for Musicians for a Cure for the time being.

By the time room service arrived, he’d hit on only one possible plan—other than hiring a private investigator. He figured Caitlin had probably bought herself a concert ticket in advance—probably with a credit card—so someone at the box office should have a full name on file. If he could just get access to that information…

Sitting down, he dug into a breakfast of pancakes, scrambled eggs and bacon. Absently, he flicked through the local newspapers that he’d requested be delivered to him along with breakfast.

Taking a sip of his coffee, he turned to Page Six of the New York Post to see if there was any mention of last night’s concert in the gossip columns…and nearly spewed his coffee.

As coffee sloshed over the rim of his cup, he shot out of his chair to avoid getting burned.

There, staring up at him, was a paparazzi shot of him and Caitlin ducking into an elevator at the Waldorf last night. The first line of the article read: “Heiress Scarlet Elliott and rocker Zeke Woodlow’s midnight encounter!”

Heiress?

What the hell?

Anger rose like bile in his throat. Had he been taken for a ride last night?

But no, she’d apparently been a virgin. Still, his brows snapping together, he wondered whether she’d just been fulfilling some odd fantasy about a rock star, a hotel room and losing her virginity.

His eyes flicked over the rest of the article. Apparently Caitlin was, in actuality, Scarlet Elliott, member of the powerful Elliott clan and heiress to the Elliott publishing fortune. Even he’d heard of the family and Elliott Publication Holdings.

If he remembered correctly, the Elliotts owned everything from the highly regarded news periodical Pulse to the celebrity-watching magazine Snap.

Well, at least now he knew how to track down “Caitlin.” Page Six had done his work for him. Unfortunately, he now had another problem on his hands: Caitlin wasn’t just another rock groupie. She was an heiress—one whom he’d just deflowered—and the two of them were splashed all over the morning paper!

He hoped to God that the fact that her family was in the publishing business was a mere coincidence and not the reason Caitlin—or Scarlet, or whatever the hell her name was—had tracked him down. Otherwise, there was going to be hell to pay, and if he was going to pay through the nose, he was going to make damn sure that his Daphne look-alike did, too.

Picking up the phone, he punched in the number for directory assistance and asked for the address for Elliott Publication Holdings.

Summer stared at the wall of her cubicle at EPH’s headquarters.

She couldn’t believe how her life had changed in twenty-four hours.

Since when had she become so impulsive? So stupid? She winced. And, what was she going to tell John?

Thankfully, John was still away on his business trip. After all, what could she say to him?

Oh, hi. I’m so glad you’re back. Yes, yes…no, nothing much happened. I just lost my virginity to a rock star. I guess you’ve heard of him? Zeke Woodlow.

She groaned, leaned forward and rubbed her face with her hands again.

She felt ill, as if her stomach muscles would remain clenched for the rest of her life. Hysteria was barely being held at bay.

What had possessed her?

In a word: Zeke.

The answer popped into her head unbidden, and she felt herself grow hot.

In fact, she couldn’t remember anything about last night without feeling herself heat up. It had been one of the most wonderful experiences of her life. Despite Zeke’s reputation in the press as a player who changed women as quickly and easily as he changed clothes, he’d been sweet and gentle and considerate. She couldn’t imagine a better way to have lost her virginity.

Still, she’d lain in her bedroom last night and agonized till the sun had come up over what had made her act so recklessly. She hadn’t had much to drink. Sure, there’d been a couple fortifying glasses of wine back at Charisma’s offices while Scarlet had helped her dress. But those drinks had been hours before she’d stepped foot inside the Waldorf, and she’d only had a beer with Zeke in his dressing room.

No, she couldn’t blame the alcohol, as much as that would provide an easy out.

Of course, she’d also recently been witnessing her family come apart as a result of her grandfather’s ridiculous challenge. Certainly, there’d been more tension around The Buzz.

But whom was she kidding? She was a lowly copy editor. If there was pressure to be felt, it rested squarely on the shoulders of her uncle Shane, who was editor in chief of The Buzz.

Thinking of work, she winced as she remembered dragging herself to the office this morning. She’d been an hour late. Shane had seen her come in and quirked an eyebrow.

If she’d been productive in the hour since she’d arrived, she’d have felt better. Unfortunately, she’d managed the sum total of turning on her computer, making three trips to the pantry for coffee, water and more coffee, and staring at her cubicle wall.

There was no avoiding the last possible explanation for her uncharacteristic behavior last night: John. In the few weeks since he’d proposed, she’d felt jittery and unable to shake the feeling that she was making a mistake. Instead of planning her wedding, she’d found herself avoiding the subject of her upcoming nuptials whenever Scarlet or her grandmother had brought it up.

But had she slept with Zeke because of or despite her engagement to John? Had she unconsciously been trying to sabotage her engagement, or had she just been unable to resist Zeke?

She still couldn’t believe she’d lost her virginity so casually after hanging on to it for so long. The formerly, sensible Summer Elliott had convinced a reluctant John to wait until their wedding night. She’d envisioned her wedding as the culmination of the careful screening process that she’d begun after college, winnowing down a small field of men to find The One. What more appropriate time to lose her virginity than on her wedding night?