Page 2 of Bodyman

I’d immediately wanted him, and I’d had to force myself to look away out of fear he’d be able to see my intense attraction. The last thing I’d wanted was to make things weird for my sister or him.

But if he was straight, maybe that would tamp down my attraction. Hell, maybe enough time had passed that I would see him in a different light. And Cat was right about trust. If there was one thing I’d learned in my fifteen years in politics, it was that trust was incredibly rare.

And I trusted Kenan Harper with my life.

I vowed to keep things professional and at least interview the man. If I still felt the same attraction to him, I’d politely pass on his application.

But then he’d shown up for the interview, and I hadn’t been able to look away. He was tall, taller than me even, and he had a silent strength I’d never noticed before. His eyes held so many secrets I was desperate to seek them out, to get him to confide in me, if only to share his burdens for a while.

So much for keeping things professional.

I’d hired him on the spot.

CHAPTER THREE

KENAN

Keeping things professional with Garner Ashley was damned near impossible.

I’d had a crush on the man since I was twelve fucking years old and he was an eighteen-year-old Adonis. Not only was he beautiful like some kind of fairy-tale prince, but he was also smart as hell. He was heading off to the University of Chicago on a full-merit scholarship, and all I could think about at the time was that I wouldn’t get to see him at Catherine’s house anymore.

During his years in college, I’d heard bits and pieces of his accomplishments. I’d learned the most scandalous and enticing detail of all. Garner Ashley was gay. Not experimenting, not bi, but actually full-on gay and not even a little apologetic about it.

I hadn’t known it was possible for someone to be more perfect than he already was, but to hear about him living his true identity out loud, confidently and naturally, made him even more attractive to me during a time when my own sexual identity scared the shit out of me.

It was Garner’s own success story, heard thirdhand through his sister, that inspired me to work my ass off in high school so I could leave Brownsburg for college and ultimately escape into the Navy.

Now, here I was, working with him practically around the clock as a glorified gopher.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

After four years of working together, we’d fallen into an easy routine. I woke him first thing in the morning and served at his pleasure in whatever capacity was necessary until the very end of his day. Early on, he’d argued with me, nearly begging me to clock out and go home, but then there’d been several days right away that had convinced both of us how unrealistic that was.

“Please, Kenan. I need to know you’re getting some sleep,” he’d said. It was one of the rare occasions he’d slipped and called me by my first name. “And I need to know you’re not on the Washington streets in the middle of the night.”

It had made the difference between me tossing and turning all night in my shitty studio apartment and me catching sound sleep knowing he was safely ensconced only one floor below me.

I worried about him all the time. President Garner Ashley was the first openly gay president, one of the few single presidents, and there were heaps of people who had strong feelings about both of those things.

He was a target for hate every single day.

It was one of the reasons I’d volunteered for the position when Catherine had told me about her fear. “What happens if someone that close to him betrays his trust? His privacy? What if they sell out a sensational story to the media?”

She’d been so worried about her big brother she’d asked if I’d known any young men who could be trusted to apply for the position.

It had taken me only a microsecond to understand this was the reason I’d processed out of the Navy. Fate had something else in store, something important and meaningful.

Serving Garner Ashley, even in a position as low as his bodyman, had been more of an honor than my years in the Navy.

And it was never more true than the night everything changed between us.

CHAPTER FOUR

GARNER

Six months after my second inauguration, my team and I were just taking off to return home after a productive diplomatic trip to Brunei when we got the news about a coup attempt in Cedruaze. Tensions had been escalating in that part of Central America for a while, and we’d put special forces teams in place for just this eventuality. Air Force One quickly became a mobile command center as we strategized with the top military and State Department personnel to keep the situation from destabilizing the entire region.

We’d spent six intense hours watching it play out through our various intel sources while trying to manage the outcome and minimize casualties. Two of my own military advisors—who had a well-known ongoing feud—had disagreed about how to handle things, and when our delayed response to their urgent requests for direction had resulted in the loss of three members of the team, I’d felt the failure like a crushing blow.

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