by Linda Howard
Even though he was amused by her speech, Nick knew she was dead serious and fought back a smile. “That’s not your fault. He tried to kill us both.”
“Which will lead people to wonder what kind of woman marries a man like him. They’ll question my judgment and yours for getting involved with me. They’ll rehash Johnson and every other ugly case I’ve ever had—and there’re a lot of them. It’ll reflect poorly on you.”
“I’m not running for office, Sam. It’s being handed to me for one year, and then it’s done.”
Rolling her bottom lip between her teeth, she mulled it over. “We’d attract a lot of media attention after everything that happened this week.”
“I can handle it if you can.”
“I’d hate to be responsible for causing you trouble. I’d hate that.”
“I can deal with that, too.”
She rested her hands on his shoulders. “You want this, don’t you?”
“My life was just fine before. If I say no, it’ll be fine after.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
“It’s something I never dreamed of, something I never even considered before yesterday.”
“My dad and Freddie think it’s so cool,” she said with a shy smile. “They say it would work out fine for us. My dad even thinks it could be a ‘grand adventure.’”
Her skeptical scowl amused Nick. “They’re very wise men. You should listen to them.”
Looking up at him, she said, “Can we eat? I haven’t eaten all day, and I’m starving.”
He decided not to push his luck since she seemed to be coming around to a decision in her own peculiar way. “Sure.”
“Oh!” she said on the way to the kitchen. “You got a tree!”
“I told you I was going to.”
“When did you have time?”
“I did it this morning, along with a few other things.”
“What other things?”
“A little Christmas shopping,” he said with a mysterious smile as he poured her a glass of wine. “And some real estate shopping.”
Her eyebrows knitted with confusion.
He served her the reheated shrimp fettuccine Alfredo and carried a tossed salad to the table. “You said you couldn’t live way out here in Virginia, right?”
“Uh-huh.” She dove into the meal as if she was, in fact, starving. “You never told me you could cook like this! It’s amazing!”
“You never asked, and I’m glad you like it.” After lighting the candles on the table, he sat down across from her. “Anyway, since you can’t live here, I bought a place in the city.”
“What place did you buy?” she asked, astounded.
“The one that was for sale up the street from your dad’s. I looked at it on Sunday when you were at work, I offered this morning and they accepted. I’m meeting with a Realtor after Christmas to list this place.”
She sat back in her chair to stare at him. “Just like that?”
“I knew you’d want to be close to your dad and to work.”
“Won’t you need to maintain a residence in Virginia?”
Implied but not stated was if he became a senator. “John took care of that. He left me the cabin. That’s why they wanted me to come today.”
Her eyes went soft with emotion. “Nick…That’s wonderful. You love it there.”
“I was so surprised and delighted.” He reached for her hand and brought it to his lips.
“How’s Graham doing?”
“Better. They let him go home today when his blood pressure returned to normal.”
“That’s good.”
“I feel sorry for them. They’ve got a long road ahead of them coming to terms with all of this. And the media is clamoring for info about John’s illegitimate son.”
“They should just come clean at this point.”
“I think that’s the plan. Laine wanted me to tell you how very sorry she is for lying to you about Thomas. She said she panicked when she saw you had his photo.”
“It’s in the past now. I’m over it.”
When they finished eating, Nick picked up their wine glasses and led her to the sofa. “John had so many secrets. Hell, I had no idea until today when the lawyer was doling out his millions how insanely wealthy the sale of his business made him. There were a lot of secrets, but he loved his father. So much. Despite everything. He loved him.”
“I can understand that. There’s not much my father could do to change how I feel about him.”
“You’re lucky to have him.”
“And I know it.”
He studied the face that had become so essential to him. “What’re we going to do, Sam?”
“Well, tonight we’re going to decorate that tree.” She glanced at the tree and then down at the gifts under it. “What’s all that?”
“One for every year we missed.”
Smiling, she shifted to straddle him. “That’s so incredibly sweet.”
He pulled her in close.
“Tomorrow,” she said, touching her lips to his, “we’re going to Tracy’s for dinner. The next day, you’re going to tell the Virginia Democrats that you’re their new senator.”
He cradled her face in his hands. “Am I?”
“It’s just a year, right?”
“One year.”
“It’ll be a total mess. You know that, don’t you?”
“I love a good mess,” he said with a teasing grin. “In fact, I live for messes.”
She smiled. “We’re really going to do this.”
“We really are.”
“I love you, Senator Cappuano.”
“I love you, Lieutenant Holland. Merry Christmas.”
“Same to you.” She leaned her forehead against his and looked him in the eye. “It’s gonna be one hell of a New Year.”
“I can’t wait.”
*
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ISBN: 9781460313268
Copyright © 2013 by Harlequin Books S.A.
The publisher acknowledges the copyright holders of the individual works as follows:
AGAINST THE RULES
Copyright © 1983 by Linda Howington
FATAL AFFAIR
Copyright © 2010 by Marie Sullivan Force
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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