by Donna Hill
“How many students do you have?”
“Hmm, twenty,” she murmured, scanning the document on the screen.
“Big class.”
“Yes,” she added absently, typing data onto the spreadsheet. She checked her handwritten notes.
“What’s the lesson for tomorrow?”
“Ethics.”
He shifted his body. His conversation with Charlotte replayed in his head. He sat up then stood, walked to the window then back to the lounge. “Hot topic these days.”
“Hmm.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Are you okay?”
He halted his pacing. “Yeah. I’m going to take a shower and let you work. Come on up when you’re done.” He walked out.
Lee Ann followed him with her eyes, but his broad back revealed nothing.
Preston pulled off his shirt and dug in the pocket of his shorts to empty them. He pulled out Anthony Paulsen’s business card. Ethics. He shoved the card in the side pocket of his carryall and went into the shower.
He had some decisions to make in the next few days. The hot, sudsy water slid across the sculpted muscles of his chest, sloshing over the ripples of his stomach before bathing his crotch and flowing between rock-hard thighs. He lathered the navy cloth again. He was torn about meeting with Paulsen. He knew all about those backroom meetings behind closed doors. They were the status quo in politics. As much as the public was led to believe that votes were cast and decisions were made on the floor of the House and the Senate, the real decisions were made over lunch, on golf courses and thousand-dollar-per-plate dinners.
When he entered politics, walking the picket lines and leading community forums, he was an idealist, taught at the feet of the current president when he’d interned for him in Chicago. He believed that if you were honest and passionate and kept the interests of the people at the forefront, you could move mountains. When he was elected senator, he maintained that ideal—that he had the power to change things. It didn’t take long for those ideals to be crushed.
The machine of Washington was a behemoth steeped in tradition, old boy networks and under-the-table dealings. The real power in Washington professed change and progress, but it’s not what they really wanted. That would mean giving up the power that they believed was rightfully theirs.
So those like him who still had a little milk on their breath tried for as long as they could until opportunities like Paulsen came along and you found yourself tempted by the devil.
“How ’bout some company?”
The soap slipped from his hands.
Lee Ann giggled and stepped in. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Preston turned away from the water. His heart raced as much from Lee Ann’s surprise appearance as from the irrational idea that she had read his thoughts.
He wiped water from his face and laughed. “Dangerous sneaking up on a naked man.” He reached out and ran a single finger down the center of her breasts to her navel. Her stomach quivered beneath his finger.
She bent down and retrieved the fallen soap, and it was the craziest, sexiest move he’d ever seen. Arousal pumped, stiffening him.
Lee Ann held the soap in her palm. The pulsing water made her curves glisten.
“I think you dropped this.” Her hazel eyes had turned a warm brown. She began rubbing the soap in slow circles on his chest, his stomach. She bent and rubbed the soap along his inner thighs and was rewarded with a salute. She moved the soap up and down his extended shaft in maddening slow motion.
Preston gritted his teeth and pressed his palm against the cool tile wall to keep himself steady. His thighs trembled. She increased the speed, alternating between her hands and the soap until Preston was sure he would explode.
He captured her wrist. Her gaze flew up to his, and she shuddered. He pulled her to her feet. “Your turn.” He took the soap from her that had become an aphrodisiac and began massaging every inch of her body until she whimpered in submission.
Preston dropped what had become a lethal weapon on the floor and pulled Lee Ann to him, letting the water cascade over their bodies. He lowered his head and took a sweet nipple into his mouth. Lee Ann’s knees wobbled, and she clung to him, offering up what he sought.
His right hand slid down between her wet, slippery thighs and caressed her until her clit was hard and swollen. Reaching behind him, he turned off the water, pushed the curtain aside, pulled the towel down from the hook and wrapped her in it. Then he picked her up and carried her to his bedroom.
He placed her on the center of the bed and loosened the towel. For several moments, he stood above her and drank her in. She was so perfect. So beautiful. He wanted to take forever with her, but just standing there looking at her had him on the brink of climax.
Lee Ann parted her thighs, and Preston nearly lost his mind. He lowered himself onto the bed and stretched out beside her and began to place tiny kisses on her cheek, the hollow of her neck, the rise of her breasts, down the valley of her stomach.
She writhed and sighed softly as the pleasure intensified. Her head spun. Even her fingertips tingled. Her eyes flew open. She grabbed his shoulder. “Wait.”
He lifted his head. “What’s wrong?”
She scrambled off the bed and went to her bag. With shaky fingers, she found her makeup pouch and took out a condom and came back to bed. She sat in the middle and handed it to him.
The corner of his mouth curved. “Will you do the honors?”
“I…” She swallowed.
He tore the pack open with his teeth and pulled out the thin sheath. He covered her hand with his and guided her as the covering unrolled along his length. Preston groaned from the bottom of his soul and had to think about monster trucks to keep from losing it.
Lee Ann smiled demurely at her handiwork and scooted back on the bed. “No more waiting,” she whispered.
Preston crawled up the bed, and in a long single thrust, he buried himself inside her, shoving all the air out of her lungs and into the room in a shuddering gasp.
He slipped his arms beneath her, wanting every inch of her to be a part of him.
Tonight she wasn’t a caretaker, she thought as she raised her hips to meet his every need. Not an event coordinator, hostess or someone else’s assistant. He went deeper. Tonight she was a desirable woman with wants and needs and a man willing to fulfill them. “Ohhhh.” Tonight nothing else mattered but Lee Ann and Preston. She gripped his shoulders as ecstasy swept through her. Her body arched. The woman behind the layers of responsibility was being stripped bare with every kiss, every caress, every whisper of her name, every groan from his lips. Tonight she was free.
They’d used up half of the supply that she’d brought with her and would have gone further if they hadn’t knocked over the clock and realized that it was nearly two in the morning.
Laughing and weak, they curled up together beneath the sheet. Lee Ann rested her head on Preston’s chest.
“You are totally out of control, miss,” he teased, kissing the top of her head.
“Me! Who was the one who said let’s try it standing up?”
“It was fun though, wasn’t it?” He lightly pinched her bottom.
She swatted at his hand. “Yeah, it was,” she admitted, a shiver running through her, remembering how he’d lifted her in his arms and loved her until they both tumbled onto the bed, spent and happy. Her eyes fluttered closed.
“Get some rest, Lee,” he whispered to her.
She nodded, already dozing, and the last thought she had before she slipped into sleep was that she hoped Preston was everything she believed that he was.
They both overslept, and it was Lee Ann who jumped up and shook Preston awake.
He mumbled and pulled the sheet over his head.
She shook him harder. “It’s six-thirty.”
“Huh,” he grumbled and reached for her.
“Wake up, Press. You’re going to miss your flight.”
He squinted at the clock then at Lee Ann,
whose short, spiky hair was a mess all over her head. Her bare breasts were still swollen, and her nipples were standing at attention. He snatched her around the waist and pulled her down. “We have plenty of time,” he said and nibbled her neck.
A wave of heat shot through her. “No, we don’t,” she said unconvincingly as he suckled a nipple. “Pres…aggg…you’re going to miss your flight.”
He moved above her and pushed her thighs apart with a swipe of his knee. He leaned across her and took the last condom from the nightstand. “And I won’t see you for three weeks,” he said, rolling the covering down as far as it would go. He looked into her eyes before draping her legs over his arms. “So what do you say?” He pressed against her opening. “Yes.” He teased across the threshold. Her hips instinctively rose. “Or no.” He moved in just enough to let her feel him.
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Yes.”
“Woman, you can drive me to the airport any day,” he said as Lee Ann swerved into an available space, having turned a forty-five-minute drive into a half hour.
“I’d rather not have to leap over tall buildings in the process,” she joked. “Now go on. You really will miss your flight and I have a class.”
He leaned across the gears, slipped his hand behind her head and kissed her from the bottom of his soul, leaving them both breathless.
“I’ll call you tonight.”
Lee Ann nodded. The words stuck in her throat.
He pecked her lips again, opened the door and grabbed his bag from the backseat. He poked his head in the window. “Drive safe.”
“I will.”
He strode off, swinging his bag by his side. He got to the revolving doors and stopped, turned around and jogged back to the car.
“What’s wrong? Did you forget something?”
“Yeah. I forgot to tell you that…I’m crazy about you.” Before she could react, he turned away and was swallowed up with travelers.
Lee Ann sat in the spot so long that security had to inform her that she had to leave.
Chapter 9
“Ethics is our topic for today.” Lee Ann began walking across the front of the classroom. “Society assumes when we elect our officials into office that they will follow the law and a moral code and will not allow outside forces to influence their decisions, which should be based on the will of the people. Please open your texts to page 156.”
Lee Ann turned the discussion over to the class as they debated points, and her thoughts drifted back to Preston and his parting words. Her pulse quickened. Crazy about her. Was he saying that and meaning it or saying it only because he thought he should? Everything was happening so fast. Everything that she’d done since she met Preston had been so out of character for her. Until recently, she never thought she had a spontaneous bone in her body.
“Professor… Professor Lawson…”
Lee Ann blinked. “Yes?”
“Our next class…”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Yes. See you all on Wednesday.”
The class started filing out, some giving surreptitious looks over their shoulder.
Lee Ann was off balance. She’d never lost focus in class. How long had she been daydreaming? she worried as she packed up her briefcase. She waited until her students were gone before she walked out.
“Hey, Lee Ann.”
Lee Ann turned. Her eyes widened, and a smile moved across her mouth. “Teresa! When did you get back?”
They hugged.
“Today is my first day.”
“You look fabulous. How is the new baby?”
“Oh, she’s wonderful. I hated to leave her but…” She shrugged. “Have to pay the bills and with John being out of work…”
Lee Ann put her hand on Teresa’s shoulder. “I know. It’s hard all over. He’ll find something.”
“That’s what I keep telling him. The only good thing about coming off maternity leave is that I can leave Zoie with her dad. Are you finished for the day?”
“Yeah, just my one class.”
“There’s something different about you.” She angled her head and looked Lee Ann over.
Lee Ann frowned. “Different?”
“I don’t know—brighter, happier.”
Lee Ann laughed. “Okay, I guess that’s a good thing.”
“So who is he?” she asked in a pseudo whisper.
Lee Ann’s face heated. “He?”
“Yes, he. Having a new man in a woman’s life always makes her glow.”
She did feel as if she was beaming inside. She felt new and vibrant. “I have been seeing someone,” she confessed. “It’s still new, and I don’t know where it’s going. I just hope that it does,” she said breathlessly.
“That is so wonderful for you, Lee.” She squeezed her hand.
Teresa had been around during Maxwell and that whole fiasco. She’d encouraged Lee Ann to get back out in the world, but Lee Ann didn’t heed her advice. Instead, she became consumed by family and work and duty.
“Is he cute?” she hedged, nudging Lee Ann in the side as they walked toward the exit.
Lee Ann sighed. “Gorgeous.”
Teresa giggled and hooked her arm through Lee Ann’s. “Now that’s what I’m talking about.”
They crossed to the parking lot, chatting about new mommyhood and the spring semester.
“Good to have you back,” Lee Ann said when they came to a stop in front of her car.
“No, it’s good to have you back.” She kissed her cheek and walked off to her car.
Lee Ann opened her car door and scooted behind the wheel. She watched Teresa pull out and waved goodbye; a pang of sadness settled in her center. She’d never had to worry about money for bills or having to do without. She believed in what her father and Preston were working toward. It was crucial that they were successful in turning things around for all the people like Teresa. And she, as a teacher, could instill in her students, the future leaders, the importance of working for the people and the good of all. She put the car in Reverse and backed out of her space.
Moving along with the early afternoon traffic, she thought about Teresa’s comment. Was it really that obvious that she’d checked out of the excitement of everyday life? She crossed the intersection. Then she was long overdue.
Preston opened the door to his one-bedroom apartment in Dupont Circle. He loved the neighborhood, the shops and the close proximity to the Capitol without being too close. Here he could at least have the illusion of getting away while he was in town.
The setup was simple. There was no pool or backyard grill, but it was comfortable. The eat-in kitchen was small and functional. He had the basics in the sunken living room: couch, loveseat and side chair in a deep hunter-green leather and wood coffee and end tables. Everything was on one floor. That took a bit getting used to. He’d looked for a duplex but hadn’t found one in the area that appealed to him.
He strolled through the open space down the short hallway. His bedroom was on the left, and the bath was on the opposite side of the hall. He tossed his mail on the desk by the window and saw the flashing light on his answering machine. He hardly got any calls on the landline unless it was Merna with a problem at the house in Baton Rogue. He pressed the flashing button.
“Preston, Senator Lawson. I assume you must be on your way. I’ve made reservations for dinner at eight. There are some issues I want to discuss with you before the session in the morning. I’ll see you at Merlot on 16th Street at eight.”
Preston blew out a breath. A meeting with the senator certainly wasn’t on his agenda for the evening, but he couldn’t very well not show up. He stripped out of his clothes. He still had a few hours to get his mind right to meet the senator. But his first order of business was calling Lee Ann.
Her cell phone chirped as she pulled into the driveway of her home. She reached for her phone.
“Hey, Lee.”
She filled with warmth. “Hey. You made it.” She put the car in Park. “How was the trip?”<
br />
“Fortunately uneventful.” He chuckled. “What about you? How was your day?”
“Well, for some reason I completely zoned out during class. It seemed I couldn’t keep my mind on the topic.”
“What was your mind on?”
“Things that had no business being in a classroom.”
He heard the joy in her voice. “Well, we’ll have to talk about that some more tonight.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
She picked up her briefcase from the passenger seat and got out of the car. “What are your plans for tonight?”
“Actually, I got a message from your father.”
Her heart jumped. “About what?”
“He says he wants to discuss some things with me before the session tomorrow.”
“Oh.” Her thoughts went in a dozen different directions. She knew her father. All of his agendas were laden. And it took work to strip everything away to get to the real issue. “Let me know how it goes.”
“I will. I have a few things to take care of, so I’ll give you a call tonight.”
“Okay. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Bye.”
She disconnected the call and walked up the steps to her front door and went inside. Under other circumstances she wouldn’t give a second thought to a meeting between Preston and her father. But the dynamics had changed, and she only hoped that her father would play the senator and not her daddy.
She pressed the phone to her chest as she climbed the steps to her room. Tonight couldn’t get there fast enough.
Preston adjusted his tie as he walked into the dimly lit opulence of Merlot. The five-star restaurant was the epicenter of political meetings. At any time one could find any number of congressman and senators, CIA, FBI, corporate heads, economists, lobbyists and of course the Secret Service.
He walked up to the hostess podium. “Preston Graham. I’m meeting Senator Lawson.”
The polished young woman checked her register. “Yes, right this way, Senator Graham.” She picked up a menu. “Please follow me.”
Jacketed waiters moved expertly and unobtrusively around the linen topped tables. Preston recognized several faces and offered discrete nods. The hostess led him to a private table partitioned with beveled glass. She placed the menu on the table. “Enjoy your evening.”
