“Great. Tell your eyes and ears nothing is going on. Which they’ll see for themselves if you want to have someone follow me to lunch. Just don’t sit with us.”
She stared at me for a long moment. I gazed back defiantly, refusing to break eye contact. I’d compromised on virtually everything so far. Okay, well, I’d changed my hair back, so I looked my age. On everything else, I caved. Not this time. Not when I wasn’t doing anything wrong.
Finally, she huffed and looked away. “Good. It’s much better not to be casually dating while campaigning.”
“Oh really? And is Curtis’s private life being watched and evaluated until the results are in?” From what Daniel had told me, Curtis had some experience keeping the public from finding out about his relationships. Maybe he could give us some tips.
“This isn’t about him,” she insisted. “This is about you and the image you portray to the public.”
“As far as the public is concerned, I’m a nun,” I said dryly. “A nun who poles.”
“Keep it that way. Because if I find out you’re lying to me, I’ll leave you without a backward glance.”
“The door’s over there.” To emphasize my point, I threw my arm out in that direction.
She sighed. “Fine. Let’s go back to diction. You’re a straight shooter, Melody. A lot of people like that. Just not in a woman who’s running for office. And no swearing.”
Since I’d won the last battle, this time I gave her my full attention. Not swearing was easy. Well, doable. Avoiding words like “crap” required some conscious effort, but I’d manage. If being more reserved was what it took to get votes, more reserved I could be.
We seemed to have reached a truce by the end of the day. Erica announced that she had an errand to run and that she’d be back later. More likely, she was as sick of me as I of her, but I let her go. We both needed some time apart.
I sent Seth and Jade home early. They’d been working hard, and everyone could use a break. Daniel went for a walk to clear his head before rewriting a speech he was preparing for the local public access station. I badly wanted to go home, but Seth had emailed me a ton of stuff to read through, touching on virtually every vote the legislature had made or was expected to make before the end of the session, and I needed to review it. Sure, I could read at home, but there, the dual temptations of my overstuffed recliner and new TV subscription awaited. Better to spend another hour or so here going over the material. We had a podcast coming up next week, then the debate in a few weeks. I needed to be ready to talk about the issues.
The bell over the door rang, a reminder of the retail shop that once occupied this space. We really needed to lock the door and take that thing down, since we weren’t open to the general public.
A voice filled the space. “Hello? Is anyone here? I heard this place is under new ownership.”
My head shot up. I should hide. I would probably fit under my desk. Too bad the sound of my chair scraping back would give away my location. Maybe I should stay frozen in place, hoping the interloper would turn around and leave when no one answered his call.
Before I finished deciding how to react, a man stepped out of the shadows of the doorway, deeper into the room. The overhead lights illuminated his features, making it clear that I hadn’t hallucinated that voice. He turned, eyes landing on me at my desk.
His eyes raked up and down my body in a way that gave me a different kind of shiver than it used to. “You look good, Mel.”
“What are you doing here?”
My ex, Gary.
CHAPTER 16
Seesaw: Pole imitates life. With this move, sometimes you’re up and sometimes you’re down….
- Push and Pole Fitness Tutorials, Vol. 5
My blood turned to ice water at the arrival of the man I’d last seen ripping the clothes off another woman. I’d tossed him out of my condo without a second thought (other than changing the locks) and hadn’t heard from him in the weeks since. Typical that he would vanish without a trace and then show up at the worst possible time. It made no sense for him to be here.
His six-foot-frame filled the doorway. Since we’d broken up, he’d grown a full beard. Several inches of long, curly red hair, a riot that contrasted starkly with his buzz cut. His brown eyes carried the same trace of humor they always had, as if he couldn’t be bothered to take anything seriously. When we were dating, Gary always seemed larger than life. Apparently the women he was seeing behind my back thought so, too.
Thoughts and emotions warred within me, all of them wrong. I didn’t know what to say, how to act, what to think, where to be. Part of me wanted to stay seated at my desk, not moving or speaking, until Gary turned and walked away. Part of me wanted to yell at him for ruining my life. None of this would’ve happened if he hadn’t burst in on me. I’d made plenty of videos for Dance 4 U. The ones where I didn’t land on my butt got about fifty views and maybe one or two new students or a party. Curtis and his mother never heard of me. Until this jerk made me go viral.
Part of me hoped this was a bad dream. Surreptitiously, I pinched the inside of my arm.
Ow. Nope.
At least everyone else was out. The only thing I needed less than my ex at campaign HQ was for the entire staff to meet him. I really didn’t want to hear Erica’s take on my poor decision-making.
“‘What are you doing here?’” Gary repeated, in a bad imitation of me. “Is that any way to accept a compliment?”
I rolled my eyes. “Thank you for the compliment. What are you doing here?”
Grabbing him by the arm, I attempted to pull him out of the office, back onto the sidewalk. He dug his heels in. Using brute strength, I probably could have forced the issue, but I couldn’t risk the possibility of any passerby seeing me bodily remove him from the premises.
Funny, sure. But not exactly the type of behavior one expects from a state senator.
He planted his feet in place. “That’s the greeting I get? No ‘it’s nice to see you?’ What, am I not cool enough for your fancy new friends?”
“What are you talking about?” I hissed through clenched teeth.
“All the rich new politics people you’re hanging out with,” he said. “Yeah, I know what’s sup. You dumped me out of nowhere, and then you run for office. You think I wasn’t good enough to be a state senator’s man?”
This was unbelievable. How anyone could distort reality so much boggled my mind. “First of all, I didn’t dump you ‘out of nowhere.’ We broke up for many reasons, including that you were cheating on me.”
He shrugged. “Variety is the spice of life.”
My hand itched to slap him. Only the knowledge that it would somehow get back to Erica—or worse, the press—stopped me. Closing my eyes, I forced myself to count to ten before I attempted to reboot this conversation. “How are you, Gary?”
“Great, Mel, thanks for asking. And you?”
“Oh, just dandy,” I said through clenched teeth. “To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?”
“I want to help with the campaign,” he said. “They say it takes money to run for office, right?”
“You’d have to ask my manager,” I said. “I’m not in charge of donations. Did you want to contribute to the campaign?”
“Yeah, I’ll contribute. You help me out, and I won’t tell everyone the things I know about you. Things that’ll make you lose the election.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “You don’t know anything, Gary.”
“I know that you dance around in your underwear in public.”
“That’s not news. Everyone knows that. Go away.”
Footsteps alerted me to someone’s approach, but I couldn’t take my eyes off Gary. A moment later, Daniel appeared beside me.
“Hey,” I said absently.
“Is everything okay?” Daniel asked.
“Aren’t you going to introduce me?” Gary said loudly.
“No,” I said. “You
need to leave.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” he said. “You’ve got campaign funds, and I need money.”
“I’m sorry,” Daniel said. “Are you asking Melody to steal from her campaign and give it to you? In front of the person in charge of the campaign.”
“Stay out of this, man. It’s between me and my girl.”
“Your girl. Right. What was your name again?” Daniel asked.
“Who wants to know?”
Ignoring him, I said, “His name is Gary Tribbiani.”
“Like the guy on Friends?”
I shrugged.
“That makes it easy to remember,” Daniel said. “Thanks.”
“Hold up,” Gary said. “Why do you need my name?”
“I’m happy to explain,” Daniel said pleasantly. “You have fifteen seconds to get out of here or I’m going to call the police and report an attempted break-in at campaign headquarters. Then I’ll ask them to come and cart you out of here.”
The color drained from Gary’s face. “You can’t do that. Please, Mel, I’m desperate.”
“Oh, I can,” Daniel said. “I have a terrible memory, though, so if you leave now, chances are I’ll forget your name around the time the door shuts behind you. Unless you bother Ms. Martin again.”
They stared at each other for a long time. Gary was used to being tallest guy in the room. Daniel had at least three inches on him, though, and he worked out. Finally, Gary shrugged. He stomped out. The door swung shut behind him with a joyful chime of the bell.
I didn’t exhale until Gary moved beyond the enormous windows and out of sight. Then I went over and locked the door to ensure he couldn’t come back. My legs shook. I was so grateful to Daniel for being there, for convincing my ex to leave that I could’ve kissed him.
He stood across the room, and suddenly that was much too far away. Closing the distance, I threw my arms around his neck and let out a whoop. “That was amazing!”
Daniel picked me up and spun me around. Our laughter filled the room. Then our eyes locked. He stopped moving. Slowly, he lowered me to the ground. He was everything. Daniel filled my eyes and ears and nose, and still I wanted more.
“Thank you so much,” I said.
“You’re welcome.” The shakiness in his voice told me he was feeling the same desire that held me captive.
I leaned forward. The space between us evaporated. My lips touched his before either of us could stop to think. It was quick, so lightning fast I might have imagined it. But I didn’t imagine the shell-shocked look on Daniel’s face when he let go of me. I stepped back, dazed. Or the way I felt inside, all light and shimmery, like something magical was about to happen.
Except it wasn’t. It couldn’t.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t…We shouldn’t…” My face flamed. We’d talked about this. The two of us getting involved was a mistake. “I know, I know. Professional. I know.”
“Melody—”
I wasn’t even making any sense, but couldn’t seem to stop talking. “No. I’m sorry.”
“I’ve been wanting to kiss you since you pushed my car across that parking lot.”
The flurry of words coming out of my mouth stopped instantly as I looked up at him. Suddenly, I couldn’t breathe. “Oh. Me, too.”
“But we can’t,” he said, taking a step backward. “Not while we’re working together.”
“I know we can’t. And I can’t even have this conversation right now,” I said. “I’m sorry. Please talk about anything else.”
Daniel looked like he wanted to argue, but instead he took a deep breath and did as I asked. “So that’s your ex, huh? Charming guy.”
I snorted. “Yeah. It’s a shame things didn’t work out between us.”
“Are you okay?”
It wasn’t until he asked that I realized my hands were shaking from the encounter. Gary had been kind of a weasel when we dated, but I’d never imagined that he would come to my work and try to extort money from me. “I will be.”
“Come on. You should sit down. And we need to talk.”
Daniel and I walked back into his office. I took my usual seat in front of his desk, but instead of moving around to his chair, he sat beside me. Our knees almost touched.
“When you first came in here, I asked if there was anything I needed to know about you,” Daniel said. “Any dirty secrets?”
My head dropped into my hands. “Honestly, I thought Gary was long gone. I had no idea he would show up here. We broke up ages ago, long before that video.”
“Were you dating long?”
“Off and on for about a year, maybe a year and a half. It was one of those things that didn’t have a firm start or end date,” I said. “A few months ago, I told him we were completely done when I caught him cheating on me.”
“Ouch.” Daniel winced. “I’m sorry. That always hurts.”
“Thanks. I’m over it. But when that happened, I realized I’d been making the same bad choices over and over. It was time to take a break from serious dating, focus on myself. Then he busted in on me during that video, as the entire world saw. That pretty much confirmed every negative thought I ever had about him.”
Daniel said, “So you don’t still have feelings for him?”
“None. The more I think about it, the more I realize that relationship was a mistake from the beginning. Dating Gary was easy. He didn’t challenge me. I was lonely, and he knew how to make me feel special.”
“That’s good,” he said. “I mean, not that you made a mistake. But that you’re over him.”
When our eyes met, my breath caught at the longing in his gaze. He had to be thinking about that brief, fleeting kiss. I certainly was. What it could’ve been if we’d let it continue. “Couldn’t be more over him.”
“Does getting involved with someone feel like a mistake now?”
This was such sweet torture. Never breaking eye contact, I shook my head. “Depends on the person. I know it’s a bad idea, but getting involved with you feels like coming home.”
“Every second I spend with you, all I want is to do this.”
In an instant, he leaned forward. His lips captured mine, and I sighed with the sweetness and longing I tasted. His and mine, mingling. The kiss was hesitant, unsure. I returned it, knowing that we shouldn’t but wanting to hold onto what I could. This wasn’t like the brief kiss by the front door. That had been impulsive. This was deliberate, measured. This was the moment that we’d been building toward since I’d accidentally pushed his car into mine.
After a moment, he pulled back. My first instinct was to crack a joke. Deflect the tension. Excuse myself to go to the bathroom, get a glass of water. All the things I knew I should do. But I didn’t want to. I looked up at him and almost gasped at the desire I saw in this eyes.
“You’re not like anyone I’ve ever met,” he said.
“Neither are you.”
Daniel’s hands cupped my face, and my hands buried themselves in his hair. A fire ignited inside me. I leaned out of my chair, trying to get as close to him as possible.
Somewhere outside, keys jingled. A moment later, the bell over the door rang yet again. Those sounds reminded me where we were. This wasn’t the place for a stolen moment of passion. The two of us jumped, jerking apart as if someone fired a shot.
“Daniel? Are you still here? Why was the door locked?”
Oh, no. My heart plummeted at the familiar voice. Of all the people to catch us in the act.
Not wanting to believe, I turned and peeked through the cracked office door, toward the front of the building.
Erica was back.
CHAPTER 17
Superman: Make sure you have a spotter if trying this above the floor. The idea is to look like a superhero, with your thighs clamped around the pole and one arm stretched before you. The other holds you aloft…
- Push and Pole Fitness Tutorials, Vol. 3
Oh, man.
Oh, no.
Erica couldn’t catch us, not like this. Not after she and I spent half the day arguing about how I presented myself to the world. This was the worst possible moment for her to walk in.
“Shh.” Daniel smoothed back my hair. His lips hovered above my ear. “Slip into the bathroom. I’ll head her off.”
I nodded silently as he left his office and went to greet Erica. The bathroom was about four feet away, just to the left of Daniel’s office. Barely breathing, I inched down the hall. A moment later, I eased the door into place behind me with a death grip on the knob to stop the metal from clicking. As soon as the latch silently fell into place, my breath returned. Almost home free.
The face in the mirror barely resembled me, all swollen lips and flushed skin. My hair was wild. Anyone who saw me couldn’t doubt what I’d been up to, especially since Daniel’s hair resembled mine before we’d gotten interrupted. He could claim he’d fallen asleep at his desk or something, but not when I looked as disheveled as he did.
I splashed water on my face, counting slowly until my heartbeat returned to its normal pace. Then I skinned my hair back into a ponytail to tame it, flushed the toilet to explain why I’d been standing in the bathroom for five minutes, and went out to give the best performance of my life.
“Hey, Erica. I thought you went home for the night.”
“Too much to do,” she said absently, scrolling through something on her phone. “You’re still here?”
I cleared my throat, swallowing back a snarky response. “Yeah. Just thought I’d go for a run before heading home. Take advantage of the light while I can.”
She nodded dismissively. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Just like that, I’d been spared. She hadn’t even looked at me. Gary should be long gone, so I could take off through the neighborhood without fear of running into him. Things had been stressful, and truly, the physical release of getting some exercise would do me good.
Erica made it seem like the world would be watching me every time I stepped into public. While I didn’t truly believe anyone cared about me that much, the very idea of constantly seeing members of the press everywhere I went made me not leave the house much other than for campaign business. Even at headquarters, Daniel had found enough staff to handle most of our daily needs. I largely went to lunches with donors, visited the local colleges, and tried to explain to people why they should vote for me.
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