Page 157 of Catfish

“Well, you should know, Governor, that it was the first state that gave women the right to vote.”

I lift a brow. “That’s it? We live in the twenty-first century now.”

"I dunno." She shrugs. "It looks pretty, and it has buffalo."

“Buffalo?” I repeat slowly.

“Yeah.” I remove my hand from hers to give ourselves some space because this woman is definitely not the definition of any woman I've ever met in my entire life.

She's weird and exuberant. A red flag to keep at a distance because she'll leave you behind or burn your whole world down if you don't keep up. And I can only imagine what she'd do if she found out the truth behind Chase and me.

“I have my next presidential debate there,” I tell her. “And since I don’t have your vote yet, I’d like to win it.”

“You want me to...you want to win my vote?”

I smile at her. "You're a woman, aren't you?"

She snickers and undoes her seatbelt but stays seated. “I am. When is it?”

“Next week. Em will be coming with me, of course, so you won’t be so bored.”

She shrugs and begins to pick at her purse. “I’ll have to see if Mila and Sadie can handle the tea party we have next week but—”

My eyes widen. “A what?”

“Tea party.”

I stare at her. “You’re kidding me.”

She chuckles lightly and shakes her head. "You political people are odd folks, but you're paying me to do stuff like this so…"

“Kill me if I ever ask you to do anything like that,” I profess. “It’ll be then that I’ll know I’m losing my shit.”

Reagan gasps, placing a hand over her heart. “Did you just swear about your people?”

“I’ve sworn in front of you before.”

"I don't know if I can work for you anymore." She slowly begins to slide out of my SUV, but I grab her bicep and lightly tug her back inside.

“You’re ridiculous, do you know that?”

She beams. “Yes.”

I roll my eyes. “Are you even sane enough to vote, Miss Shelton?”

“Are either of us sane to be in this world, Governor?”

I scoff, inhaling a deep breath before saying, “I think we’re both insane.”

She finger guns me. "My thoughts exactly, but it's not for the faint of heart. Every day is a battle, someone trying to—well, your position is a little different than mine."

“But you almost married one,” I retort.

Her eyes narrow. “You and your background check.” Her tone turns ridgid. “Did you learn everything you wanted to know?”

"Nothing that wasn’t public record already.”

She gawks at me for a moment before shrugging her shoulders. “I understand why you did.”

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