“Why does that surprise you?”
She shrugged. “I thought the accident was serious.”
“It totaled the car, but Allison was lucky. She only suffered a broken leg.”
“Do you know why Gray insisted we met here?”
“You’re not happy with my cousin are you?”
“That’s an understatement.”
“When Gray called and asked me to pick you up, he told me what happened. Or at least, some of it. I got the impression he left out some details.”
She watched the cars outside. “The jerk is good at that.” Nice going. “Sorry about that. Gray’s no longer my favorite person.”
“Don’t worry about it. Like I said, he told me most of what happened. If it helps, I don’t think he’s seeing Nadia or anyone else.”
“That’s nice.”
“It’s not his way.”
She should’ve told Gray to send a car service tonight rather than accept a ride from Jake. “Pictures don’t lie.”
“You’re right.” Finally, he agreed with her. “But they can mislead depending on how they are presented.”
Okay, no more Miss Nice Girl. “Jake, I get what you’re trying to do. Gray wants you to convince me he did nothing wrong. It’s not going to work, so please stop.”
Jake pulled up to a red light and gave Kiera his full attention. “He didn’t ask me to do anything but pick you up. But think about it. Why would he see anyone else while he was with you?”
“Guys cheat all the time for different reasons. Women, too, I guess.”
He nodded. “When they think they’ll never get caught. Even if Gray was that type of guy—and trust me, he’s not. I know plenty of guys who are and he’s nothing like them. He’d know it was only a matter of time before someone snapped a picture of him with another woman. Why would he risk it?”
“Maybe he found it exciting. Some people find all that sneaking around thrilling.”
The light turned green, and Jake turned down the street. “If my cousin wanted exciting, he’d try sky-diving or something.”
“Can we drop this? We both have different opinions of Gray. Let’s leave it at that.”
“I can do that.”
“You really don’t know why I had to come here?”
Jake waited for the Secret Service to let them pass through the gates of the White House. “Nope. He just asked me to bring you here.”
Either Jake didn’t know why Gray wanted her here, or he was an exceptional liar. Maybe that’s another Sherbrooke trait.
Secret Service agents greeted them when they got out of the car and then checked her for weapons.
“Mr. Sherbrooke, the President is expecting you and Miss Renault,” an agent said, opening a door into the building for them.
He’d said President. She hadn’t imagined that. Why would Gray’s uncle, the President of the United States, be expecting her?
Kiera kept her mouth closed and walked alongside Jake as an agent led them down various hallways. Few people got inside this part of White House, and she wished she could concentrate enough to commit everything to memory. Under the current circumstances, though, that was impossible.
Their escort stopped in front of an office door. Jake knocked, and they waited for someone to answer the door. All too soon the doorknob turned, and the door swung open.
“We need to go inside the room,” Jake said in a low voice.