Claire Gulliver #06 - Carnage Goes Coastal by Gayle Wigglesworth

story of his career success. It made him feel as if it was really happening. And Hadden’s surprise about his changed look convinced him he made the right decision to lose the beard.
    That had actually been Stanford’s suggestion. He said the “boys” in the party suggested a visit to a fashion consultant might help by giving him a more seasoned look to make the constituency feel more comfortable with his inexperience.
    He and Phoebe agreed, albeit for different reasons.
    The consultant promised a clean shaven face with fashionable glasses would help project Scott as an intelligent person, someone the voters would take seriously and respect. That change and the recommended wardrobe changes would support the image the party wanted Scott to portray.
    It was strange how much his appearance had changed. With the dark beard and mustache gone people first noticed the glasses surrounding his eyes. It worked so well, Hadden hadn’t even recognized him at first. And it was obvious while they talked that Hadden no longer considered Scott to be the bachelor-on-the-prowl he had been known to be when they worked together at the law firm.
    Scott remembered with discomfort how shocked he had been to find Stanford knew all about his affair in New York. It had frightened him to know his secrets were so easily exposed. He was only having some fun, he didn’t want to jeopardize his relationship with Phoebe, her family or the plan they had developed for the future. Scott vowed right then he was going to clean up his act.
    He made his decision to break the affair off with Karen on his next trip. But even if that hadn’t been his plan, when Karen told him she was pregnant he became very alarmed. Suddenly it was no longer a game, it was serious! He had no intentions of risking everything he planned for his life because of a little frolic with a cutie. And truthfully, he was relieved the decision had been made for him and the affair was over.
    But later, on a subsequent visit to New York, he saw Karen in the lobby of the Algonquin. His immediate reaction was delight at seeing her again, but that quickly changed to panic when he realized Phoebe was standing beside him. The panic turned to fury when he saw Karen’s protruding stomach and realized she had not aborted the pregnancy as he told her to do. He was so angry he could have throttled her right there. But Phoebe noticed he was upset and asked him what was wrong, so he had to pretend nothing was.
    He had ushered Phoebe into a taxi and spent a little time distracting her from the incident in the lobby. Later he berated himself for getting into such a dicey situation in the first place. He had acted stupidly that night in the bar where he met Karen. He had been playing games like he was still a carefree kid. He had pretended he was single and available in order to attract Karen. He used her for fun, to alleviate the boredom of the long nights he spent in New York. So now she was going to have his child. Now he had to worry about the possibility of this whole game coming back at him when he could least afford it.
    He felt cornered. He had realized he would have to have another talk with Stanford about the situation. However, despite his worry, he found Stanford to be supportive. True Stanford had reamed Scott out good, and he questioned him closely about where he got the funds to give to Karen, so Scott had to reveal the secret slush fund he had never mentioned to Phoebe. But in the end, Stanford said he would keep an eye on Karen and make sure she didn’t make trouble. Scott had gratefully let that worry drop from his shoulders.
    So later when Stanford suggested the fashion consultant, Scott was still sufficiently penitent to pay attention. Even though he was loath to give up his rakish looking beard, he decided a new look could be beneficial. And secretly he thought his new look would help him avoid Karen’s recognition in the future.

CHAPTER 16
    As soon as the bedroom door closed behind