The woman surveyed Lauren critically as she took Beth’s credit card. “Sorry, you’re right.”
“She is?” Lauren asked, bewildered.
“Oh, yeah. Lauren Strayer is way skinnier. No offense, ma’am,” she added quickly, not wanting to lose the sale.
Lauren’s gray eyes turned to slits as she glared at Beth, who looked like she was about ready to sink into the linoleum. “Oh, Beth?” she drawled in a singsong voice.
Beth gulped. “Yes?”
“You’re fired.”
* * *
Monday, February 14, 2022
DEV ROLLED HER shoulders, humming in pleasure when she felt her spine and neck crack and move back into proper alignment. It was 8:30 p.m. She was bone-tired and all she really wanted to do was call it a night and go to bed early, but she knew she still had something very important to take care of. It had been on her mind all day and, much to her private embarrassment, Dev felt a little like a high schooler with her first crush. God, I hope she likes it. What if she doesn’t like it?
With slightly trembling hands, she took the two boxes from her desk drawer and headed out of the office. She laughed a little, realizing she was making herself crazy for nothing. Glancing at the clock, she frowned, knowing she’d missed dinner with the family and that the kids would already be in bed.
That meant Lauren would be in her room working or in the kitchen playing cards with whichever agents or staff members had drifted there over the course of the evening. Dev smiled a little and shook her head as she exited the Oval Office. That discovery had been a bit of a surprise. Devlyn had overheard Amy, one of the agents who was permanently assigned to the Marlowe children, complaining about the $75 she’d lost to Lauren that week and the six pounds she’d put on since they started playing cards in the kitchen near all that food.
Dev stopped at Liza’s office and rapped on the doorframe. Two agents, who shadowed the President’s movement through the White House, stopped as well, staying well back to remain as unobtrusive as possible. Her personal assistant worked nearly as late as she did. “Liza?”
The reed-thin young woman glanced up quickly from her computer. “Oh, Madam President, I’m sorry I didn’t hear—”
“No worries.” Dev was quick to correct her. “Everything’s fine. Go home and have some fun tonight.” Dev winked. “That’s an order.”
“Are you knocking off early yourself, Madam President?” That didn’t happen very often and Liza knew it. But today was special. She bit back a grin.
“I’m going back to the residence for the evening. It’s umm,” she blushed slightly, “Valentine’s Day, you know.”
“I know. I have a late date.”
Dev let out a relieved breath; glad it wasn’t just her. Liza looked excited, too. “And I have a couple of surprises for Lauren.” She absently fingered the small boxes in her hand. “I want to give them to her before it gets too much later.”
She nodded at her boss. “Yes, ma’am. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“I’ll be here.”
Devlyn walked down the hallway with increased speed. As tired as she was, the thought of spending the rest of the night with Lauren was giving her renewed energy. She entered the Executive Quarters and quickly checked the children, finding them sound asleep. They looked so peaceful and quiet. Life, she decided at that moment, was very, very good.
Her next stop was her own room, where she changed from her skirt, blouse, and proper shoes into something far more comfortable. Donning a pair of jeans and a heavy-weight, tan-colored polo shirt that Lauren had given her for Christmas, she ran a brush through her dark hair, the dry air causing it to crackle as she brought it to order. She remained in socked feet, retrieved the gifts that she’d tossed on her bed as she dressed, and began padding down the hall.
Knocking softly on the door, she suddenly worried that Lauren might have given up on her for the evening. But when the door opened her face broke into a radiant smile. Worries forgotten. “Hiya, beautiful.”
Lauren wore an answering smile of her own. She was beginning to wonder if Devlyn had forgotten about the holiday completely. “Sweet talker.” Casually, she leaned against the doorway. “Care to come in?” Lauren stepped back.
“Love to.” Dev entered the room and waited for the sound of the door clicking shut before she turned to face her fiancée. She drew in a deep breath. “I’m sorry it’s so late.”
“It is late,” Lauren allowed softly. “But I love you anyway.” She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Dev’s neck. “I was really hoping to see you tonight.” She leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her partner’s throat, smiling when she felt Dev shiver at the contact.
Dev swallowed, a little amazed at how undone she could become over a simple kiss. “How could I not come see you?” she finally muttered. “It’s Valentine’s Day.”
“I—” Lauren’s words were cut off when Devlyn ducked her head and captured her lips in an insistent but tender kiss that quickly became passionate.
Dev’s assault continued until she was treated to a throaty moan by Lauren and felt her companion melt into her arms. “I love you,” she told her, punctuating each word with a nearly chaste kiss to Lauren’s cheeks and nose.
Lauren blinked slowly. Her heart was beating double time and her libido was enthusiastically doing a happy dance. “I believe you.”
Chuckling, Dev brushed her thumb over Lauren’s lips. “I can’t wait to be married to you.”
“Me too.” Married to a woman. To the President of the United States. To Devlyn. God, who would have thought? Blonde brows contracted slightly as she considered their current position. “But it will be different how exactly?”
“I won’t have to come to an entirely different room to see you.”
Lauren laughed softly as she held Dev close. “I like my room. But you know darn well that I spend most nights in your bed as it is.” She shook her head at Dev’s pout. “It won’t be forever, Devlyn. But this arrangement keeps the press from shredding you.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
“Devlyn,” Lauren warned playfully. She was not going to get into this discussion again.
“Sorry.” Dev stepped back and reached into her pocket. She pulled out two carefully wrapped jewelry cases and offered them both to Lauren with a hopeful look on her face. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”
The writer shook her head, correctly guessing that the boxes contained gifts that were far more extravagant than those she could give Devlyn in return. “You’re going to spoil me.”
“I hope so.” Dev followed Lauren to one of the two sofas that flanked a cherrywood coffee table. Proudly displayed on the table were the two dozen fragrant, very fresh, blood-red roses the President had ordered that morning. Dev grunted her approval. “The White House florist does a hell of a job.”
“They’re beautiful as always.” Lauren leaned over and inhaled a deep nose-full of their spicy, gentle scent. “Mmm…” She sat next to Dev and shook the smaller of the two boxes next to her ear.
Dev rolled her eyes and grinned. “Just open them already.”
“Don’t rush me. I like the anticipation.” She slipped her nail under the tape and lifted the flap, going at a snail’s pace just to tease Devlyn. It was a method of playful torture each employed with the other in a variety of scenarios that often included the bedroom.
“You’re making me crazy!”
“Well, duh.” Lauren winked. “Good crazy or bad crazy?”
“Yes.” Dev watched as Lauren opened the small box to reveal a pair of solitaire diamond earrings.
Lauren’s eyes widened a little as the stones glittered elegantly in the soft light of her room. Jesus. “Oh, Devlyn, they’re beautiful.”
Devlyn was glad she was sitting because her knees went watery with relief. “I’m glad you like them.” She gestured with her chin towards the other package. “This one is just a little something to go with them.”
The second box revealed a diamond
tennis bracelet. Lauren looked to her fiancé. “You shouldn’t have.”
“Sure I should have. I love you. You deserve beautiful things.”
“I love you, too.” Lauren removed the bracelet and wrapped it around her wrist. “It’s beautiful, Devlyn.” She held it up and the light caught the precious stones, causing them to sparkle happily and both women to smile in frank appreciation. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
She carefully put on the bracelet and placed the other piece of jewelry back in the box, setting it on the table. “I have something for you too. It’s not quite as grand as this, but—”
“I love it already,” Dev told her sincerely.
Inexplicably, Lauren felt her throat close at the simple words. She nodded a few times, then pushed to her feet. She pointed at Dev. “Can you stay here for a moment? I’ll call you when I’m ready.”
“But—”
“Hush and wait for me to call you. No peeking.”
Dev huffed. “Fine. Waiting right here.”
Lauren headed for the bathroom and Dev sighed. Her sitting still on the sofa lasted all of one minute before she was on her feet pacing around the room. She stopped her restless roaming when she spotted two new photographs on Lauren’s desk. Photography was a hobby Lauren took seriously, many of her photographs ending up in the biographies she penned. And she was just as likely to follow Dev around with an old-fashioned 35mm camera as she was with a pen or recorder.
Dev lifted one of the new, silver-framed photos, the metal feeling cool against her hand. It was a close-up black-and-white shot of her sitting at her desk in the Oval Office as she gazed down at a stack of papers. One hand was pushing her obsidian hair from her face while the other was tightly clenching a fountain pen. Her expression was that of a serious, very intense woman puzzling something out. Dev wasn’t sure if she liked the photo or not. It was almost disconcerting the way the lens and Lauren had captured her completely, the picture easily conveying emotion she was aware ran close to the surface.
The second picture was completely different and Dev recognized the scene instantly. It had been shot right after she and Lauren had announced their engagement to her children. After dinner they’d all adjourned to the family room to watch a movie together, and what began as a tickle from Ashley devolved into a free-for-all. She hadn’t remembered Lauren taking the photograph, but the wonderful feeling that pulsed happily through her veins that day was still very fresh in her mind.
She brushed the tips of her fingers over the frame and smiled. The mutual, if sometimes awkward, love affair Lauren and her children shared warmed her heart.
“Devlyn?”
Dev’s head snapped up at the sound of her name. She saw a naked arm snake out behind the bedroom door and set a gold gift bag on the floor. Then the arm disappeared.
Devlyn quickly crossed the room and, with a smile on her face, she pulled her gift from the bag. The silk robe was a deep, midnight blue and the fabric slid against her fingers. Hoping this was what Lauren had in mind, she quickly shed her clothes and slipped into the robe, groaning a little under her breath as the cool silk caressed warm, naked skin and sensitive nipples that already ached in anticipation of what was behind the bathroom door. “Ohhh.” The robe’s billowing sleeves were very full and three-quarter length, and the hem stopped well above mid-thigh.
“Devlyn?”
That soft southern drawl from behind the door caused Dev to lick her lips nervously. “Yes?” she croaked, rolling her eyes at herself. She could hear the smile in Lauren’s voice as she spoke.
“Are you going to stand out there all night?”
“Uh… No. Of course not.” Dev kicked her discarded clothes out of the way and reached for the door handle. She stopped with her hand still in the air and wiped her damp palms on her robe.
The sight on the other side of the door took her breath away.
The room was illuminated with soft candlelight, and a steaming bubble bath half-filled a large tub. Champagne was chilling in a bucket and, best of all, Lauren was sitting on the edge of the tub, dressed in a black negligee with matching sheer black robe. Dev’s mouth dropped open, but somehow she still had to fight to keep from swallowing her own tongue.
Lauren’s eyes twinkled happily at her lover’s reaction. She resisted the urge to run over to Devlyn and run her hands across that smooth silky… skin. Breathe, Lauren.
“Aren’t you cold?” Dev managed to croak out as she took a slightly wobbly step forward. Dressed like that, her mind finished.
“You decide.” Lauren crooked her finger at Devlyn, then stood, giving Dev a full view of her outfit, or more precisely, her lack of outfit.
Oh, my God. Devlyn was sure her heart, or possibly her head, was going to explode before she made it across the large bathroom. Lauren Strayer was undeniably the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. Her heart began to race.
“You’re beautiful,” Dev whispered as she ran her eyes all over Lauren’s body like a hot bath.
The beauty of Lauren’s choice of attire was, in actuality, that it didn’t reveal much at all. It merely hinted at the treasures that lay beneath. The younger woman knew that she had just put a match to what promised to be a short, but explosive, fuse.
“I’m glad you like it, Devlyn. I thought you would,” Lauren said quietly, a hint of a smile playing around the edges of her lips. Moving away from Dev just as the President reached her, she began to pour a glass of very cold champagne. The room was hazy with steam from the bath and cool droplets developed on the champagne flute, falling to the ground silently. “Here, I think you might need this.” With the grace of a cat on the hunt, she moved back to Devlyn and offered her a drink.
“Most definitely.” Dev took the glass and drained it, never taking her eyes off Lauren. She licked her lips lightly when she was finished. “Thanks.” Eyes still locked with Lauren’s, she set down the flute on a small wooden table next to the bath. “I want you.”
Lauren’s eyes fluttered closed as she gathered her wits. “You do?” she managed, her pulse visible on the pale skin at her throat.
Dev’s eyes darkened. “I do.” She reached out and barely touched Lauren’s shoulder, her fingers grazing Lauren’s skin through the sheer material. “You’re driving me crazy.”
“You said that before,” Lauren answered amused, her stomach muscles contracting from her own desire. “Good crazy or bad crazy?”
“You said that before, too,” Dev breathed, leaning in and kissing a wet trail from Lauren’s cheek to her shoulder. She uncovered the skin with a simple brush of her hand while she distracted Lauren with gentle kisses.
“Devlyn…” Lauren moaned, her eyes closing as fire erupted deep in her guts and spread lower.
“Mmm?” Her lips never left Lauren’s skin.
“I, I.” Lauren swallowed hard as she tried to focus on what she wanted to say. “I drew you a bath.”
“What bath?” Dev hummed at the taste of Lauren’s skin.
“I don’t know,” Lauren said fuzzily, her hands sinking into soft hair as she pulled Dev closer, giving up the idea of rational thought completely.
Devlyn dropped to her knees, hitting the slick tiles with a loud thump. Long fingers traveled up Lauren’s belly, skimming her breast on the way to the strap of her negligee. She lowered it slowly, reverently, a kiss finding its way to every new inch of exposed skin. The delicate material and Dev’s hot tongue slid down Lauren’s skin like warm butter, causing her to shiver and gasp as her arousal built to a nearly painful pitch.
“I’m keeping you. You are so perfect,” Dev muttered against the soft skin of Lauren’s breast. “Thank you, this is exactly what I needed.”
Lauren’s knees threatened to give way as Dev began to suckle in earnest. “God!” If it weren’t for Dev’s hands, which moved to the small of Lauren’s back, holding her steady, she would have melted into a puddle on the floor.
“Bed,” Dev whispered hotly. “Or I’m ha
ving you right here, right now.”
Lauren wasn’t aware of much more than Dev’s teasing tongue and ardent lips until she felt the coolness of the bedspread against her back and the wet heat of Dev’s skin as she climbed on top of her. Lauren’s own hands had been mostly idle, but the temptation was too great not to reach out and take what was being so freely offered. She ran her palms over Dev’s back, then used them to guide Dev’s mouth to hers for another devastating, probing kiss.
Tongues collided as groans filled the quiet room. They both lost track of the time, kissing and touching well into the night.
While her lover was distracted with a particularly intense exchange, Lauren reached between them, her hand sliding down along smooth skin and soft flesh. She moaned her approval when she reached her goal.
Dev had been a wonderfully patient lover with her, allowing her time and space to work through her inexperience when it came to loving another woman. Sometimes, to Lauren’s frustration, Devlyn could be too patient. But once Lauren understood that was just Dev’s natural state of being, that she was truly free to experiment, or much to Dev’s delight take the lead, her imagination grew wings. Tonight, for example, Lauren Strayer’s patience had come to an end. She wanted Devlyn and she wanted her now.
And she was going to have her.
Devlyn was panting now, her skin slick with perspiration and condensation from the steamy bathroom and her own arousal. “Oh, Lauren…” she gritted out, the power of their lovemaking washing over her like a tidal wave, leaving her shaking in its wake, her body convulsing powerfully as she buried her face against Lauren’s salty-tasting neck.
Lauren’s hands slipped from between their bodies, and she began a gentle massage as she waited for Devlyn to recover. She knew she wouldn’t have to wait long.
The taller woman groaned loudly when strong fingers dug into tired shoulder muscles. “God, I am so keeping you.”
Lauren laughed. “Were you thinking of getting rid of me?” Dev’s quick movement onto all fours above her caused her to jump in surprise. “Yeow!” Transfixed, she watched the sensual sway of Devlyn’s breasts as she spoke.
First Lady Page 5
