by Jason Letts
If that wasn’t breathtaking enough, the sight of Alex loosening his tie only made the environment more thrilling.
“You don’t mind if I get a little more comfortable, do you?” he asked, and fortunately she had the same thing in mind.
“Let me help you with that,” she said, stepping closer to him and pulling the tie out of its knot. After casting it carelessly on the couch, Alex pulled her close again for another passionate kiss. He’d brought her there to find someone to play the part of a partner, but it was looking like she’d successfully negotiated herself into the real deal. At least ostensibly alone compared to the Rose Garden and its windows, Alex was much freer with his hands, which brushed against her thighs, hips, and breasts.
She’d spent so much time reading about his sex life that a lot of what was going on already felt familiar, as if this wasn’t even their first time together. The way he wrapped her up in his arms, his bright red boxer shorts, how he liked to kiss her neck, which felt so good. When she ran her hands down his lower back, the sounds that came out of his lips were all pleasure.
“We’d better be quiet or they’ll hear us outside,” Jane said with a wink.
“They’ll have to get used to it,” Alex said.
He peeled off her workout clothes, the leggings and then the top. And, no, unlike with Leslie Hodge he didn’t have a problem sending her bra to the floor along with all the rest of her clothes. Jane undid the buttons on his shirt, running her hands on his shoulders as she slipped it off. He was up against her with his lips on hers, making it difficult for her to tug down his shorts.
They were tripping over each other as he pushed her backward in the direction of what she assumed was the bedroom. Forcing herself to look back just so that she didn’t end up falling or colliding with anything, she saw the bed in the Residence’s master bedroom suite, with a sturdy wooden frame and a rich gray and silver comforter that made the whole thing look like a luxurious floating cloud.
She got distracted comparing it to her bed, which looked like something that belonged in an orphanage or flophouse, until Alex’s hand on her jaw brought her focus back to him. He had a devilish grin on and nothing else, and between the look in his eyes and her giddy feelings it was almost enough to make her laugh. He lifted her up and tossed her on the shiny, soft comforter, climbing up after her.
There were some parts of what was going on that seemed all their own. She grazed her fingertips over the scabs on her calf that he’d gotten from the bicycle crash. He held her hands over her head so that he could kiss her chest. No one had written about him doing that. She was ready when he couldn’t wait any longer and they came together, and all she could think was that it would be impossible for things to get any better than this.
Despite his apparent comfort with any level of noise, she did her best to keep it down, though she doubted there was any mystery to anyone in the building about what was going on. But Jane wasn’t someone he’d found on Facebook; she was a Secret Service agent with years of experience and a willingness to rise to any challenge. That’s what this agreement was going to be about, them being equals and tackling the difficulties together.
She pushed him to the side onto his back, so she could roll on top of him. It was hard to keep her head about her with the overwhelming pleasure she was feeling, but she managed to enjoy the view of his torso, handsome face, and tousled hair against the fabric. Just as she was getting into a good rhythm, he sat up and pulled her down against him. He was filling her up, and she could feel the tingly sensation in her cheeks. Their breathing picked up as their hearts raced with the movement.
Jane liked sex and had managed to rope a stud into bed on occasion, but she never remembered it feeling this good. He lifted her up and set her on her back, climbing on top of her with her legs up in the air. His thrusts were like a jackhammer, and she found it impossible to think straight until his climaxing set her off. All of a sudden she was gasping for breath like she’d just finished a race. Alex had some sweat running along his temple and a blissful smile that went from ear to ear.
The warmth of his skin stayed with her, and Jane gazed up at the decorative molding on the ceiling and the tops of the bedposts as she tried to come to grips with what she was doing here and how all of this had happened. It was never supposed to be like this, and a new life would mean new difficulties that might even include some regrets.
At least her head found its way onto a pillow and they finally got underneath the blankets. The bed felt like slipping into a dream.
“I hope this does the trick for you and boosts your approval ratings,” she said.
Alex had his hands behind his head next to her.
“I’m already starting to feel like the approval of a few certain people means a lot more than what all of the surveyors and focus group testers could ever tell me,” he said, and Jane couldn’t help but giggle. She rolled onto her side to face him.
“Maybe that’s the trick to it. The more you know what’s really important, the more you can trust you’re doing the right thing and keep going,” she said. He glanced over at her and nodded.
“That’s probably the only way to keep yourself from getting thrown around each time the wind changes direction,” he said. “There are some things that just have to get done even if they aren’t particularly popular.”
Jane could only imagine what he meant. There were suddenly oceans of things going on in the vast federal government that she’d need to learn about and understand.
“It would be nice if we only had the wind to contend with,” Jane said, recalling some of those threats, but Alex didn’t seem particularly concerned.
“So what are you going to do? How will you leave your mark?” he asked, a good question that she’d only begun to grapple with. Coming up with the right answer would take a lot of work in and of itself, but at least here alone with him she could say whatever came to mind.
“There are a lot of things I care about, fitness and exercise, personal privacy. I’ll have to think long and hard. Finding a cause to champion is one thing, but seeing if anybody will listen to me about it is something else. So many first ladies have created successful molds when it comes to advocacy, but there’s never been a first girlfriend before. Theoretically, I could end up leaving any day, and that lack of security might make people think that anything I have to say is hot air,” she said.
Alex nudged her with his shoulder.
“That’s where we know better. You and I made a deal, and there’s no way I’m letting you back out of it.”
Jane smiled. Having someone pushing her to grow was something she could get used to.
“Only time will tell,” she said, noticing how heavy her eyelids felt.
“Speaking of time, I told my chief of staff you’ll be coming by tomorrow morning to talk about our new arrangement. Don’t be late.”
She shot him a sidelong glance, surprised and with a note of trepidation. He sure hadn’t contacted anyone since they started speaking in the Rose Garden. It looked like Alex Morrin had no trouble banking on assumptions that he’d get what he wanted.
16
The Residence
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC
He was gone when she awoke, though considering his job she couldn’t exactly hold it against him. But the morning was well underway and despite the powerful urge not to get out of this amazing bed, she was sure she needed to figure out what came next and what she was supposed to be doing.
Getting home to clear out her apartment seemed high on her list, and she wondered if she’d have to hoof it on her own. Jane couldn’t imagine a Walk of Shame to be prouder of, but to her surprise when she emerged from the bedroom she found the boxes from her apartment stacked up near the Residence’s main entryway.
A strange sensation swept over her, as just like that this was where she lived. She could only spare a moment to wonder which agents had the unpleasant task of carting around her belongings, and
who Alex had to order to do that, before turning her attention to again marvel at the beautiful things around her in this place that were now, at least temporarily, hers.
The presence of those boxes solved the important problem of finding something suitable to wear, and once she’d rummaged around for her usual work attire and splashed some water on her face, took care of her hair, and touched herself up, she was ready to start thinking about whether or not she was supposed to be at over on H Street.
Since she no longer had any real duties with the Secret Service and had been expecting to spend her days sitting around until she was reassigned, checking her phone to see that there wasn’t much in the way of messages was enough to inform her that she had no reason to be at headquarters. The White House premises qualified as being at work pretty much anyway.
She spent a good fifteen minutes aimlessly looking around at the ceramic pieces in a case, the paintings, and the view out the windows before she recalled that she needed to meet with Alex’s chief of staff.
The Secret Service agent in the hallway outside of the Residence was also gone when she stepped out, saving her from another awkward interaction. She promised herself that she wouldn’t be bashful or sheepish about it with anyone again. After all, this was what their agreement entailed, and the only way to do it was with her head held high. Jane was sleeping with President Morrin, and if anyone wanted to give her trouble about it she would give it right back.
That included Chief of Staff Arundhati Singh. Jane walked into her office with all of the confidence and ease of strolling into her own kitchen for breakfast, drawing a slight smile from the middle-aged woman with the long black hair. Singh had been sitting at her desk but immediately got up to close the doors and lock them. This office was usually a thoroughfare of executive aides, lobbyists, and cabinet members, but there was no mistaking Singh’s intent that for the time being no one else would get in.
“Why don’t you have a seat? Alex explained what’s going on between you two,” she said as Jane settled into the cushioned chair on the other side of her desk.
“I wouldn’t mind if he explained it to me again,” Jane said, “because I still can’t quite believe it.”
“I’m an observant person, and I noticed the way you two looked at each other in that very first meeting. I suppose some congratulations are in order.”
Jane chuckled and brushed a few strands of hair out of her face.
“I appreciate that, but I guess we’re just living our lives. It might be best to save the congratulations until some progress is made, because it looks like the current state of things is causing Alex a great deal of concern, and I’m privileged that he feels like I can help,” Jane said cheerfully.
Singh nodded her head slowly and deliberately, her eyes firmly on Jane.
“There is plenty for us to be concerned about that has nothing to do with his poll numbers. That’s why I like this arrangement.”
“What do you mean?” Jane asked, somewhat perturbed by the elder lady’s intensity.
“Everyone’s takeaway from what’s been going on the past few months is that the president is under assault from direr and more devious threats to his life every day. First someone with a security clearance tries to kill him. Now there’s a secretive group plotting to take him out. The American Underground Movement is getting praise from various state lawmakers, some even in our own party. What’s next, a member of the Secret Service turns on the president when they’re alone?”
“No one in the Secret Service would ever do that,” Jane said, getting defensive.
“You say that, but we don’t know where the next serious threat is going to come from, but there will be one…and then another. That’s why everything points to the Secret Service not being enough. Alex needs someone who’ll protect him with each breath she takes. He needs a bodyguard so close that no daylight could pass between them.
“Forget boosting his likability with women who have trouble trusting him because he’s not married. What we need you to do is be the final, most permanent level of defense. You’re the agent who’s always on duty, the one who will sacrifice herself for him without a second’s hesitation.”
Taken aback, Jane stared at Singh, whose seriousness was etched into every fiber on her face. This was a part of the deal she’d never talked about with Alex, but now that she’d heard Arundhati saying it there was no doubt she was right. Jane had told herself she was ready to take a bullet for him when she’d flitted with being on his detail as a rider, but now personally protecting him was going to have to be what she did around the clock.
“I mean,” Jane said, struggling to come up with the right response. “I have the utmost confidence in Alex’s Secret Service detail, but I’m still an employed member of that agency as well and know that keeping him safe takes precedence, not just for them but for me.”
Her answer didn’t seem to satisfy the chief of staff, and it didn’t take long for Jane to recognize what she was really looking for.
“I’ll never let anything happen to him. I will do whatever it takes to keep him safe,” Jane said, correcting herself after her prior statement. A smile broke onto Arundhati’s face that almost made Jane think she’d be happy with the outcome if she ended up dying to save his life.
“Perfect. Of course, I don’t mean to discount the other ways you’ll be able to help us. We’re going to want to get moving introducing you to the public, building up your credibility and your platform, deploying you in ways that would make him more endearing and accessible to different groups. But that doesn’t mean we can’t get started settling you in. Are you ready to visit your office?”
“My office?” Jane said, stunned. Singh raised her bushy eyebrows.
“Having a vacant room in the East Wing isn’t doing us any good, no reason for it to go to waste. FGOTUS doesn’t roll off the tongue the same way FLOTUS does, but we’ll see if the communications director can whip up a good way to spin it. Come on,” she said, getting up and breezing to one of the doors, unlocking it, and cruising down the hallway with Jane struggling to catch up.
From the Chief of Staff’s office wedged in the far western corner of the West Wing, they started walking past the rooms of various senior advisers, along the corridor not far from where Ally Wilde’s secretarial office worked as the final gatekeeper to Alex and the Oval Office, and along toward the West Colonnade with the press briefing room on one side and the Rose Garden on the other.
Jane couldn’t help but notice that being escorted around by the chief of staff drew quite a few looks in their direction. The press corps, filing into the briefing room, gazed at her in such a way that she could practically see lights popping on in their heads as they began to mentally compose articles about her. Someone would figure out who she was by lunch and what they were doing by the end of the day.
The only face she might’ve recognized in the bunch was that of Oliver Ip, but by now the Washington Post had surely replaced him with another correspondent. With that bad apple gone, she hoped she’d be able to cultivate a much better relationship with the rest of the group.
On they went through the White House’s center structure, passing along the Cross Hall near the North Portico’s main entrance, where about a dozen Secret Service agents worked the door and the driveway on this side of the gate. Trusting their schedules and needs to the other planning and logistics agents in the Presidential Protective Division was not going to be easy, especially when so many of them were overworked and exhausted already.
Once or twice she caught them glancing at her, no doubt wondering what she was doing on that side of things when she should be more involved with security. Dedan had earned an explanation, but the others would have to live with seeing her transition to a new role. At least she’d have more gratitude for the sacrifices they made than most.
Compared to the other sections of the White House, the East Wing was quiet and calm, with more rooms dedicated to coordinating with various federal agencies.
The Calligraphy Room again caught Jane’s eye. If she was going to be around, perhaps she’d have time to stop in and see what they were doing in there.
At the far end of the corridor was the First Lady’s Office, which looked forlorn and out of place with the lights off and some cobwebs developing near the top of the door frame. Singh had to budge the door open with her shoulder, and once they stepped in Jane immediately noticed a musty smell. Many of the bookshelves were empty, and the dim light filtering through the drapes made the place seem kind of like a cave at the moment.
When Jane noticed some boxes on the inside of the door, she’d figured Bethany Morrin had forgotten to take everything with her.
“Ah, perfect,” Arundhati said, going to the boxes. “I’m sure you’ll be able to make the place charming and cozy in no time.”
It still took Jane a second to realize that the boxes in here contained everything she’d cleaned out of her office at Secret Service Headquarters.
“I didn’t expect things to be happening so fast,” Jane said. Singh flicked on the lights and then popped open one of the boxes.
“That’s the way it has to be. The sooner we get you in place, the sooner everyone can take it for granted that that’s how it’s always been.”
Looking around the space with its fancy meeting table and seating areas, she wondered how she could possibly translate what she had in her cramped, muted office with the glaring fluorescent light overhead.
“Other people might think that, but I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to,” Jane said.
Singh laughed.
“Tell me about it. When I convinced Alex to run for president, I don’t think either of us thought he would really win. It was about making a statement, and in a way we’re still doing that. Hey, look at this!”
She had pulled one of Jane’s old racing trophies out of the box and was handing it over to her. Jane took it and rolled her eyes a little.
“Oh, yeah, I was Colorado state champion back in middle school. Another strange thing that happened that doesn’t exactly seem real. Those were the days when people were telling me I was destined to run in the Olympics.”
