Page 19 of Primary Season
I thought about the text message on my phone, the one waiting for a reply. Probably a good thing that I hadn’t answered. Perhaps Heather had a good point. Patrick had made all kinds of promises about what he wanted to do after the election, but right now, that’s all they were:promises.
He could change his mind whenever he wanted, and where would that leave me?
When I found Alex in the hotel lobby after breakfast the next morning, she greeted me with an icy smile and tight eyes. Not the expression I wanted to see on her face. I cringed.
“You should have today’s schedule in your email,” she said. “Not as many planned events as yesterday, and if you want to, I thought we’d invite the media along this afternoon as we do some old-fashioned canvassing of a few neighborhoods.” Alex shoved her hands into her pants pockets. “Makes for a nice visual.”
“I reviewed the list on the elevator.” I looked down at my Omega watch. “Good work.”
“Thank you. And if you need it, there’s a coffee station just around the corner. I know how much you like coffee.”
“That’s not the only thing I like,” I said, lowering my voice. “I also like it when people return my text messages.”
“There wasn’t anything to say.”
“Wasn’t there?”
“I had work to do. Someone needs to make sure this campaign doesn’t go off the rails.”
My attention flicked across Alex’s body, taking in the smooth curve of her hips, the swell of her breasts underneath the black blazer, and the way a small strand of pearls danced across her neck. I wanted to kiss that neck, and those lips. Hell, I wanted to do more than just kiss them.
“I waited up last night, hoping to hear from you,” I said instead.
“Too bad. You needed your rest.” A small flicker of a smile danced across her face.
“In case you’ve forgotten, I’m your boss, and when I message you, I expect a reply.”
“Or what?” she said, overemphasizing theO. “What will you do to me?”
The red stain across her lips seemed darker and richer than usual, and it emphasized her stark-white, almost perfect teeth.
“You don’t want to find out.” I searched her face for a flicker of anticipation, but I wasn’t sure I found it. “Don’t test me.”
Alex made a move as if to step past me, but I caught her elbow and pulled her behind a large column in the hotel lobby.
“Listen,” I whispered, once I was reasonably sure no one else could hear us. “I know things are complicated right now, but I can’t shake the feeling that there’s something else bothering you.”
She glanced around the column.
“You can tell me. I promise.”
“Okay,” she said on her next exhale. “I had a good chat with Heather last night. Illuminating. She…elaborated…on some of the things that happened in the DC office.”
“Ah,’’ I said, still speaking so that only she’d hear me. “She told you about Kelly.”
Alex’s left eyebrow raised.
“Kelly misunderstood things.”
“Seems like that happens a lot to you.” Alex chewed on her lower lip as she studied me for a breath. “You know, when it comes to women, you like to keep thingsinteresting.”
“That’s one word for it. I’ll admit my past is unconventional, but that doesn’t mean the future has to be that way, too.”
“You’re my boss.” She closed her eyes and sank against the column. “I keep going back to that. We both have a job to do, and that job is to get you elected.”
“So let’s do that,” I said, tightening my grip on her. When she opened her eyes, I was almost afraid she’d end the moment by simply walking away from me. “We can think about the future later.”
Alex didn’t reply.
