Page 20 of Praise Me: President
Fear begins to tighten my gut, but I banish the feeling.
Fear is no match for my faith in Pierce McAlister.
“Give me a moment,” Pierce says, turning to me once the advisor closes the door of the SUV once again, cupping my face. “I want to bring you with me, but I refuse to have you anywhere near danger. I want you here where it’s safe.”
The imminence of his departure makes me shaky, but I lift my chin, not wanting to bog him down with guilt or worry when he has a disaster to avert. “I understand, sir.”
His lips twitch, his eyes raking over my face with open adoration. “While I’m gone, can you practice calling me Pierce?”
I let out a watery laugh. “I will. I promise.”
He slants his mouth over mine, kissing me passionately. “You sleep in my bed while I’m gone. In my clothes, too, angel. You wrap yourself in me until I get back.”
“That sounds like heaven,” I whisper, overcome by the potency of him. “And the next best thing to having you here.”
“When I get back, we’re going to sit down and talk about us.” He rubs his thumb in the hollow of my throat. “We’re going to do so many things when I get back, little girl.”
“Yes, Daddy,” I breathe, his spend still seeping out of me.
I lock my thighs together to keep it inside.
He bares his teeth against my lips. “Be good while I’m gone.”
“I will,” I promise fervently.
Then off he goes in a flurry of activity. Vanished into another waiting SUV, burning rubber toward Air Force One. While I walk into a White House that has changed its attitude toward me since I left. And not for the better.
I enter my office feeling strange, like I’m waking up from a trance.
Or more likely, I’ve been ensconced in a dream with Pierce for the last two days and now I’m being forced to perform normal, everyday tasks when I feel anything but normal. Despite the doubt I’m beginning to feel regarding my effectiveness at the president’s side, my heart is soaring somewhere in the clouds.
I’m in love.
I’m deeply, violently in love.
My body is bereft without him touching it. I’m aching over the knowledge that he’s moving farther away from me with every passing second. My secretary calls a greeting to me, and it takes me a full two seconds to comprehend her words, because I’m surrounded by a thick filter of joy. Joy that bursts like a bubble when the Secretary of Education enters my office behind me, closing the door and leaning back against it.
“Well.” Her smile is pinched. “How was the honeymoon?”
My chest lurches. “I’m sorry?”
Her laughter holds not a trace of humor. “Did you think you were just going to seduce President McAlister and no one would notice?”
“Seduce?” A queasy sensation swims in my stomach, because there is a chance that seducing the president is exactly what I’ve done. He told me we couldn’t have a non-professional relationship, and I continued to offer myself to him at every opportunity. Couldn’t help it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I manage weakly.
“Yes, you do, Ms. Rogers. Slinking off with McAlister before he’s had a chance to redecorate the White House. Did you think no one would notice you were throwing yourself at him?”
My temples are pounding. “I…you’re mistaken.”
“Am I?” She pushes off the door, stalking forward. “We believe in this man. He’s decent and hard working. A hero who gives a damn about the American people. And you’re going to ruin his reputation during his first month in office. How do you think it’s going to look to the public when it’s revealed that he’s sleeping with the youngest member of his cabinet? Not to mention taking her on state-funded trips. Is it true your things have been transferred to his bedroom?” She snorts. “I’m sure that was your idea.”
Some of what she’s saying is true, some of it not.
But the points she’s making are only validating my concerns. That I’m bad for Pierce. The exact opposite of what he needs. And what I hoped to be.
“Everyone in the White House is talking about this. It’s only a matter of time before it leaks to the press.” She stalks back to the door and yanks it open, sneering back at me over her shoulder. “You’re the last thing he needs. If you care about him at all, you’ll resign.”
I sit in stillness long after she’s gone, my heart beating triple time in my chest.