Page 52 of A More Perfect Union

“Jack Riley. Hehelped me re-interview Donny Bloomfield. Good thing too since Bloomfielddropped a couple of bombshells and no one would believe me if Jack hadn’t heardit too.”

Suddenly consciousthey shouldn’t be having this conversation on a cell phone, Rook stopped her.“Hey, I want to hear all about it, but I’m about to get on the plane. I’ll callyou when I land and we can meet. Okay?”

“Sounds perfect.”

Minutes later, thecar pulled up to the private hangars at the John Glenn Airport, and Rookthanked the universe for charter planes and the ability to afford them. She’dland in DC, meet Zoey, learn about the new developments, review the files Erichad sent, and prepare for her meeting with Julia. With any luck, she’d get thework part done in time for a do-over of last night’s dinner with Zoey.

Chapter Eighteen

Zoey idled hercar near the hangar, pretending to read messages on her phone while castingsurreptitious glances at the runway to her left. She checked her watch for theumpteenth time. Nine o’clock. George had said Rook was due to land at eight andZoey had been waiting since then. If Rook didn’t show up soon, the securityguard she’d seen looping the building was going to have her tossed out.

This was a stupididea. Talking George into letting her pick Rook up at the airport was likely toget him in trouble and annoy Rook. Besides, her little sports car was hardly aplush town car full of Rook’s creature comforts, and her attempt to re-createpart of their very first meeting was a foolish sentiment. Since when had shebecome sentimental?You’re going soft, Granger.

Nope. She had solidplans to focus on business. She needed to bring Rook up to speed on her meetingwith Donny Bloomfield, and picking her up at the airport was a practical andefficient way to have their conversation in private. She tapped the steeringwheel, pounding out her nerves, and decided to wait ten more minutes before shebailed on Mission Surprise Rook at the Airport.

Seconds before herself-imposed deadline ran out, a G6 roared to a stop on the runway, and Zoey’sgut clenched, certain this was Rook’s plane. She stared at the door, willing itto open, and finally released her breath when she spotted Rook descending thesteps. Her stride was sure and easy, like she descended from expensive privateplanes on a daily basis. Maybe she did. Zoey remembered waving to Rook as she’dascended in a chartered helicopter the day they met, and she thought again howtheir worlds were miles apart. The first time she had the realization, ithadn’t mattered much, mostly because she didn’t think she’d ever see Rookagain, but now the gap between them was more of a challenge, and bridging itwas a mission she wanted to accomplish.

Rook scanned theparking lot with a perplexed frown. As much as she enjoyed watching her, Zoeyfigured she better send a signal or Rook was likely to call George and ask himwhere the hell he was. Zoey stepped out of her car and leaned against the door.As she waved in Rook’s direction, she felt a shiver down her spine spurring herto admit she hadn’t come here to expedite business. She’d come because shehadn’t wanted to wait the extra hour or so it would’ve taken Rook to drive intothe city and the time it would’ve taken to arrange a place to meet. The pastday with no contact had seemed much longer, and Zoey wished she could go backin time to before they’d learned of Mitchell’s death, to the intimacy of Rook’sliving room, to the kiss they’d shared.

“Hey,” Rook said, asshe drew closer. “You’re not George.”

“No one could beGeorge but George. He’s amazing. I was thinking of stealing him from you.”

Rook made a show oflooking around. “Looks like you already have.”

Zoey jingled her keysin the air. “Any chance I can take you where you need to go?”

Rook smiled broadly.“That depends.” She leaned in close, her whisper leaving a trail of heat alongZoey’s neck. “I’m supposed to meet up with this amazing woman. She’s beautifuland smart and I need to see her in person to apologize for being a controllingass last time we were together. Any chance you could help me out with that?”

Zoey turned slightlyand met Rook’s eyes. Her gaze was questioning, and despite her flirty manner,Zoey could tell Rook was the tiniest bit insecure about where things stoodbetween them. She started to offer reassurance, but the heat between themsucked up all the air, and instead she raised her hand and tucked an errantcurl behind Rook’s ear. Big mistake because once she’d touched her she didn’twant to let go. But they had work to do and they had to do that first or theywould never get to it. Reluctantly, she dropped her hand slowly away, allowingher fingertips to linger against the skin of Rook’s neck as she gently pulledback. “I think I can get you what you need,” she said, pointing to the car.“Shall we?”

Rook’s body shudderedas she released a long, slow breath. “Sure,” she said, her voice low and husky.

They climbed into thecar and Zoey drove out of the parking lot, turning onto the road before sherealized this was as far as her plan went. She knew they needed to work, butthe minute she’d seen Rook walk off the plane, thoughts of work had flown fromher mind. Left to her own devices, she would check into the nearest hotel, soshe said, “Where should we go?”

“That’s a goodquestion. Are you hungry? I figured out Senator Newman keeps his trim, athleticfigure because he doesn’t believe in eating. The last thing I had to eat was afat-free, gluten-free protein bar that tasted like flavored cardboard. Maybe wecould talk about the case over dinner?”

“I’m starving,” Zoeysaid. She wasn’t really, not for food anyway, but after the long travel dayRook had had, it was the considerate thing to say. And of course Rook wouldwant to get right to work. Zoey fast-forwarded to them sitting at a crowded DCrestaurant where politicians and other notables stopped by the table every fewminutes to say hi to Rook. She could think of no more miserable way to spendthe evening.

“Great. I hate to askthis, but do you mind if we work at my place? My office is full of half-doneprojects and we can get pretty much anything delivered in Dupont Circle.” Rookgrinned. “We can even have burgers again if you insist.”

Zoey flashed to herearlier memory of Rook’s couch. “Your place is perfect. And why don’t you pickthe food? I’ll eat anything you want.” She hoped the dark of the car hid theblush she felt fanning across her face at the double entendre. She had only thelength of the drive to get her libido under control and she started by changingthe subject. “Everything okay in Columbus?”

“It will be. I leftHarry behind to handle things.”

Zoey took the turnthat Rook pointed out to her. “Would you rather have stayed yourself?”

“Once upon a time Ithought I was the only one who could handle a case from beginning to end.”

Rook paused and Zoeyinjected, “Control freak much?”

“Big time. But then Irealized I couldn’t handle more than one or two big cases without somesubstantial help. If I was going to grow my firm, I needed to start trustingsomeone else to help with the work and the best way to learn is by doing. Harry’sbeen watching me for a while now. He’ll have his own style, which is how itshould be, but he’ll cover all the bases just like I would.”

“How did you startdoing this kind of work?”

“Lucked into it. Afew years out of law school, I got a job at the White House counsel’s office,which turned out to be more about problem-solving than the law. I developed atalent for making lemonade out of lemons, and when that particularadministration’s term ended, I opened my own shop.”

“Have you everthought about doing anything else?”

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