Page 11 of Where There's Smoke

He jumped when I looked at him, like he thought I’d forgotten he was even in the room. As if that was going to happen anytime soon.

He recovered quickly, though. “What about the press conference itself?”

I shot him a pointed look. “If I ask you if you’re already well prepared, well rehearsed, and completely ready for that, there’s only one right answer.”

He shifted a little, his eyes darting toward his uncle. Then he nodded. “Yeah. I’m ready for it.”

“You sure?”

Another nod.

Good enough. I didn’t have time to quiz him. “Between now and the debates, we need to get some ads together. Print, television, radio, anything we can. Or at least get them started. This is all on extremely short notice for me”—I threw Roger a glare—“but we’ll get it done.”

Roger drummed his fingers on the armrest of his chair. “I’ve been in contact with the director who handled my last television ad campaign. He’s already getting a crew together. They’re just waiting on word from you about content.”

I nodded. “Good.” Normally I’d have been pissed he’d jumped the gun and made a move without my approval, but time was of the essence here. I’d forgive a presumptuous move if it got me a director and a crew.

“In terms of content,” I said, “Casey always has an aggressive ad campaign. That man is the king of smear tactics, so we need to start early with ads specifically detailing Jesse’s qualifications. Put a preemptive positive spin on anything Casey might try to slam. He’s going to try to say you’re just a pretty face, so we need to emphasize you’re more than a pretty face.” I made the mistake of glancing at Jesse just then and barely kept myself from shivering.My God, youarea pretty face, aren’t—Focus, Hunter.

I shook myself and went on. “Celebrity politicians aren’t as accessible to Joe Citizen because they’re larger than life. Godlike. Whatever. The publicsees you as being on a completely different level than themselves, and that’s a disadvantage in politics, which means you’re going to spend almost every waking moment of this campaign on the road meeting people. We need to get you in contact with as many voters as we can. Show them you’re on their side, on their level. Shake as many hands and kiss as many babies as you can.” I smirked at Jesse. “Stock up on vitamin C and echinacea, kid, because you’re about to catch every cold in California, and there’s no calling in sick on any of this.”

Jesse shrugged. “I passed the bar exam while I was half-dead from the flu. I’ll manage.”

“Yeah, well, this—” I stopped. “Wait, seriously?”

He nodded. “Probably would have scored better if I’d been running on all eight cylinders when I took it, but…” He shrugged again, and the faintest hint of a smug grin materialized on his lips.

I reached for my drink, using that subtle motion to mask the shiver that raised goose bumps all along my spine. Pretty boys on their own didn’t do it for me, but pretty-boy academics—the ones who flourished in academia and made it look so goddamned easy—were my Achilles heel.

I took a long swallow of not-nearly-iced-enough tea, and as I set the glass back down, I cleared my throat again. “Anyway. As far as staffing goes, I’ve got a few people along from your uncle’s last campaign. They’re working on staffing the campaign office, and we’ll open the office doors the morning after your press conference. We’ll have paid and unpaid staffers on the road with us as well as in the home office.” I shifted my gaze toward Jesse. “You’ve been around campaign events before, but you’ve never been a candidate, and you’ve never worked in a campaign office. There are some things you need to understand.”

Jesse said nothing, just gave a “go on” nod.

“First and foremost, these offices are gossip mills that make tabloid reporters look like monks who’ve taken vows of silence. Anything you say, do, or think is fair game to be twisted around and slipped to the press. We’ve screened the fuck out of every staffer, from the paid ones on down to the unpaid ones, but it’s still possible for a plant to get in.”

Roger laughed dryly. “That, it definitely is.”

I nodded and gestured at Roger. “Your uncle’s third campaign? I swear to fuck, half the staff turned out to be plants from his opponent. That, or they were just very easily persuaded to give up gossip and speculation.” I folded my hands across my lap, digging my fingers into the backs of my hands just to keep from fidgeting. Or reaching for my cigarettes. “Okay, not half, but…it was a nightmare, let’s put it that way.”

“I can imagine.” Jesse squirmed like the idea of plants and moles made his skin crawl.

Oh, just you wait, Cameron.

“Watch everything you say and do,” I said. “It doesn’t take much for an innocuous comment about ‘hey, not a single black marker in this package will work’ to get twisted around and publicized as ‘African Americans are lazy and refuse to work.’”

Jesse’s eyebrows jumped. “Are you serious?”

“I swear on my life, I’ve seen that very thing happen.”

He shifted uncomfortably. “So should I just not say anything to anyone in the office?”

“No, then you’ll come across as unfriendly, and they’ll use that against you too.”

Jesse thumbed his chin. “Sounds like a catch-22.”

“Welcome to politics.”

“Great.”

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