Because she continued to stare at him, frozen in place, he glanced back at the woman behind the table, who’d done a good job of holding him off and attempting to cover for her sister. "Scarlet Elliott, right?" he sneered, before swinging back to the woman whom he'd last seen sprawled naked across his sheets. "And you're her identical twin…?"
"Summer," she supplied in a barely audible tone.
"Well, Summer," he said with false pleasantness, "there's no need to look horrified. I have to ask, though, how often have you and Scarlet played this identity-switching game? I'm finding it hard to believe I'm your first victim."
"How did you find me?" she blurted.
"Now that's a good question, isn't it?" he asked in the same pleasant tone. He held out a copy of the New York Post, folded and turned to Page Six. "Let's just say I got some unexpected help."
She took the newspaper from him and scanned it, her eyes widening.
"Yeah. Exactly." He glanced at Scarlet, then back at Summer. "Your sister tried to cover for you, but she's not that good an actress."
Scarlet bristled. "Look, Zeke, insult me all you want, but I resent having you take cheap shots at my sister. You may think, just because you're the current it-boy of the music world, that you can come in here and start flinging accusations, but I can have you thrown out so fast it'll make that rock-star hair of yours look more than artfully disheveled."
He raised his eyebrows. "Well, well, a debutante who doesn't bother with the kid-glove treatment. I guess that was your spandex-and-cleavage outfit that Summer was wearing last night?"
Summer took a step forward. "Stop it, both of you." She turned to him. "We need to talk."
"Yeah, we're in agreement on that at least. You owe me some answers."
"Not here though,” she said quickly. “There's another conference room upstairs, near my desk, that’s rarely used. We can talk there privately."
As he turned to follow Summer out of the office, Scarlet threw him a warning look that blared: Watch it. I can still have you thrown out of here on your ear.
He gave her a parting grin that was full of insouciance.
As he followed Summer down the brightly patterned hall to the elevator bank, he noted that, if anything, she looked even sexier this morning than she had last night.
She was dressed in kitten heels, pearls and a twin sweater set. The retro look was demure, yet alluring. While last night's outfit had been like a green flag at a professional car race, this was more stop than go, and sexier as a result.
Realizing the direction that his mind was heading in, he put the brakes on his thoughts. Annoyed, he reflected that, while he had every reason to be mad as hell at her, he was still attracted to her.
When they got to the floor above, he noticed the decorating scheme changed from turquoise blue and edgy to red with lots of glass and chrome. He figured they were in the offices of another magazine in the EPH publishing empire.
As if reading his mind, she turned and said over her shoulder, "This floor houses The Buzz."
"Let me guess," he said dryly. “You work for The Buzz." He reined in his temper once again at the thought that he'd been taken in by some reporter's scheme to get access. Marty would have a fit.
“Yes,” she acknowledged, then added, “Did anyone recognize you when you came in?”
“I’m surprised you didn’t hear the squeals and screams up on the eighteenth floor.”
She stared at him in astonishment.
"Worried?” he asked, unable to resist toying with her. Only after a deliberate pause did he explain, “This is New York City. Of course, anyone who recognized me was too blasé to care. That’s why celebrities love New York.”
When they got to the conference room, she shut the door behind them, and he sat on the edge of the conference table and folded his arms.
"Now, where were we?" he asked with outward pleasantness. He raised a hand as if to stop her reply. "Oh, yeah, you were about to explain how you forgot to mention you're a reporter, why you snuck out of my hotel room in the middle of the night and why you happened to be dressed like Scarlet." He added, focusing at the diamond ring on her finger, "Not to mention the fact that you've got a fiancé hidden away somewhere."
"He isn't hidden away. He's on a business trip."
"Even better." He felt a stab of jealousy. "I wonder how the future Mr. Summer Elliott will feel knowing his fiancée lost her virginity in a hotel room to a man she'd known only a few hours."
She flushed.
He cocked his head. "A little extreme, don't you think? Losing your virginity for the sake of a reporting assignment? Or was this just some prank that you and your sister concocted—sort of the last hurrah before the wedding?"
"Stop it! It's not the way you're making it seem."
"’Stop it,’" he mimicked. "Is that the best that you can do? Come on, Summer, let go of the uptown girl. Let's hear you really swear."
He was furious with her and even more furious with himself. He, who had a reputation for bad-boy ways and a sullen sulk, had been used and abused by Ms. Prim and Proper. The newspapers would have a field day.
"I don't need to swear," she snapped back. "And you're one to talk. Do you jump into bed with a different groupie every night?"
"Jealous?"
"That's ridiculous."
He decided not to enlighten her about his promiscuity or lack thereof. He wasn't a monk by any stretch of the imagination, but the news reports about him were usually overblown.
Besides, what could he say to explain jumping into bed with her last night? Whenever I see you, I hear a symphony? How corny was that? Not to mention that The Supremes had made it a hit song long ago. Yet, it was close to the truth. If only he could get that damn song down on paper…
Aloud, he countered, "You lied to me. Twice. First not telling me you're an heiress, now this." He gestured at her hand. "You're engaged."
"I have never read a book by Anna DePalo that disappointed me. Cause for Scandal is so wonderfully romantic that you can't help but sigh and wish it was you. Zeke and Summer are so well developed that you can easily put yourself in their place and feel all their emotions. A part of the series about the Elliott family, Cause for Scandal establishes a level of excellence that should make this series one of the best. Kudos to Anna DePalo for bringing some of the best romance to life." 
