The Perfect Candidate

by Sterling, Stephanie

“Michael!” Ashley giggled. “I’m sure that would defeat Norman’s whole purpose of asking me to dinner,” she said innocently, opening the front door, and then standing back to let his pass.

  “Norm didn’t ask you to dinner, I did,” Michael pointed out possessively, pausing in the doorway to look down at her.

  “Yes, but only because Norman told you to,” Ashley grinned. “Come on, you can’t deny it’s true!” she laughed, but then she patted his arm in a conciliatory. Gesture. “It’s okay, I forgive you. I know you’re not used to having a girlfriend around.”

  “I’m beginning to think there might be a very good reason for the that,” Michael grunted. “Goodnight, Miss Kendall,” he said, deciding that he could risk a quick, chaste peck on the cheek.

  Mistake.

  Desire hit Michael hard in the gut as he breathed in the enticing scent of Ashley’s skin and her shampoo. He soon found that he was in almost as a bad a state as he had been when they were sitting on the sofa together!

  “Goodnight, Mr. Reese,” Ashley said in a breathy whisper. Her eyelids had dipped low, their pupils were dialated.

  “I’ll see you at work tomorrow,” Michael said, stepping away from Ashley hastily, before he risked losing control of himself completely and simply pounced on her. “Don’t be late!” he shouted over his shoulder, before opening his car door and getting inside.

  7

  Michael breathed out heavily once he was safely shut inside the car. He had never, ever thought that simply being around Ashley would have had the power to discompose him so spectacularly! His body was burning and throbbing with longing. There was no way he was going to get any rest tonight.

  It was rather ironic! He couldn’t have Ashley – he knew that, but he wanted her regardless, but because she was meant to be his girlfriend, he couldn’t have any other woman either!

  Michael groaned, as he turned out onto the street. This was going to be torture! Why hadn’t he realized this before setting everything in motion? There was no way he could live like this until November- perhaps even longer!

  He was going to have to seduce her- not that Ashley had given the impression of being terribly hard to seduce. Michael had a good idea where a kiss on her couch would have led them. So, he wanted to have sex with her, she wanted to have sex with him, but they couldn’t because…

  “Because?” Michael muttered aloud.

  Well, because none of this was meant to be real. They had an objective - to get him elected as the next President. If they started muddying the water feelings, or at least, passions, then things would spiral out of control. He would upset her one way or another, she would leave, blow the campaign, and before he knew what was happening he’d have another Blair on his hands!

  It was just a bad idea all around!

  However, although Michael logically knew these facts, he didn’t seem to be able to communicate them to body, which was still throbbing urgently.

  Fortunately, by the time he found his home his desire was imperceptible to his housekeeper, but Michael was aware of the buzz of unfulfilled lust that was still zipping through his veins.

  “Can I get you anything to eat, sir?” Mrs. Martin asked, as soon as Michael stepped inside the front door. “I’ve made a stew and left it in the fridge. Did you want me to heat it up for you?” she pressed.

  Michael smiled and shook his head. He thanked the housekeeper for the work she had done that day, especially for taking the trouble to prepare him a supper that he could pop into the microwave later, and then he said goodnight and saw Mrs. Martin out to her car. He always took the time to make sure the almost elderly lady got off safely, carrying any bags she had, and making sure her antique car started.

  There was something wonderfully liberating about walking back into his empty house all alone after he had said goodbye to the housekeeper. It was as though he left public (hopefully) soon-to-be President Reese outside, and could go back to being plain old Michael once he was on his own. There was no one watching, waiting for him to slip up, looking for a story, or digging for a scandal. There was no one at all though, and that could be lonely at times.

  Or at the very least frustrating!

  He really, really needed a woman! At least that had been the one positive of having a wife. There was always a plentiful supply of sex. Well, in the early days at any rate.

  Michael took Mrs. Martins’ beef stew out of the fridge and put it into the microwave, shrugging of his suit jacket as he waited for his supper to heat up. He wondered if Ashley had finished her pizza. He wondered if she was in bed yet.

  “Stop it!” he growled under his breath and then went through the motions of getting ready to bed. He spared one last glance at his cell phone and frowned when he saw that he’d missed a call. He picked it up and dialled his voicemail, rolling his eyes when he heard Norm’s voice. He campaign manager was obsessing over some little detail that could have waited until morning. Didn’t the man ever switch off? Michael decided to turn his phone off, lest Norm be tempted to ring in the middle of the night- a scenario that, sadly, wasn’t that uncommon.

  He dried off quickly and sank, naked, into bed, stretching his large frame out over the whole double bed, and almost immediately fell asleep.

  8

  Ashley didn’t sleep well. She was having too much trouble deciding how she felt about Michael. Prior to ‘playing’ in his girlfriend, he was a man who she never thought about other than as her boss. Well… she was sure you couldn’t be female and not notice that he was one of the handsomest men on the planet. However, her appreciation of his body, well… and his mind, because there was no denying that he was extremely intelligent, had never been… inappropriate.

  She had known where she stood and would never have attempted to catch his eye. Would she? She didn’t know anymore! He had picked her out for the ‘job’ for some reason!

  Ashley thumped her pillow and wriggled around, trying to get comfortable. She could admit to herself that she had always found Michael physically attractive and mentally stimulating, but now she was discovering so many new things about him… that he was funny, and charming, and too sexy for words… that she was afraid she might be in danger.

  Especially if he made any more spur-of-the-moment visits late at night!

  She couldn’t believe that he had caught her in her pajamas! What must he be thinking of her? Ashley shivered as she remembered some of the looks that she was sure she had seen in Michael’s eyes when he was staring at her… she had thought, at one point, that he was going to kiss her, and she would have been only too willing to let him.

  Ashley rolled onto her back and cast her thoughts back to the one kiss that they had shared. She didn’t know if her mind had made it into something it wasn’t- something more wonderful than could possibly be real, but she was desperate to find out. She had to kiss him again, just for research purposes. She just wanted to see if her memory was playing tricks on her.

  She giggled into her pillow, finally finding a position that was comfortable to sleep in. How did one go about enticing the future President to kiss you? It might be a lot of fun trying to find out.

  Ashley’s dreams were good enough to let her live out that fantasy in one or two different scenarios once she finally fell asleep. She seemed to spend the whole night wrapped up in Michael’s arms, although when she did wake up the following morning, she was rather embarrassed to find that she seemed to have actually spent most of the night making out with her pillow!

  “What are you doing to me, Michael!” she sighed, stretching and glancing at her alarm clock, unsure as to what had woken her. She still had half an hour before she needed to get up!

  Ashley had just snuggled back under the blankets, imagining taking Michael up where they had just left off, when the doorbell rang. She groaned and threw off the covers when it rang a second time. Obviously this person was not going away, but what kind of lunatic came calling at 5.30am?

  “Michael?” she gasped.

  Ashley c
ouldn’t account for the unlikely thought, except for the fact he had called and caught her by surprise the night before, and he had since been on her mind constantly. Still… it was unlikely that it was going to be him, but that didn’t stop Ashley hurrying out of bed.

  She grabbed her robe, glanced in the mirror at her reflection, wanted to pull a comb through her hair, but decided she didn’t have time. The doorbell was ringing with increasing frequency.

  Ashley hurried downstairs, breathless and rosy cheeked, she unlocked the front door, threw it open… and suffered a severe disappointment.

  “Mr. Winterson?” she mumbled weakly, pulling her robe more tightly around herself. “What are you doing here?”

  “I’m sorry to disturb you so very early, Miss Kendall,” said the slightly plump, bespectacled, balding man, as he eased his way into the foyer. “However, I thought I should take it upon myself, now that your status has changed somewhat, to see that you have your own chauffeur and car,” he beamed, pointing over his shoulder to the shiny brand new car that was sitting in the middle of Ashley’s driveway.

  “Oh… wow,” Ashley said. She couldn’t deny that this was a lovely little luxury, but she had to wonder how necessary it was… especially this early in the morning! “Does er- Mi- Mr. Reese know about-?”

  “I’ll inform him during our morning briefing. I’m also here to make sure that you’re ready for dinner tonight,” he said, still smiling.

  “Dinner?” Ashley frowned. She had started to wonder if she was still dreaming. “I- that’s not until this evening, right? I don’t understand.”

  “I’ve being talking to some of our people Miss Kendall, and well- we’re not sure if we’ve got your image quite right yet,” Norman confessed. “So we’d like you to spend the day with some make artists and fashion designers.”

  “But I- my- speech,” Ashley whimpered, looking pitifully towards the living room, where all her notes were still waiting for her.

  What kind of woman was she that she would rather sit down at her computer and type up a speech for Michael on inner city poverty than go and be pampered and dressed up prettily? She asked herself, but the answer came readily enough. A woman who thought substance was important than style. It was more important to her for Michael to have a speech that sounded strong and convincing than it was for him to have the perfect (fake!) little woman on his arm!

  “Mr. Winterson, I really can’t-” Ashley tried to argue, but she didn’t think that Norman was listening to her. In fact, he was shooing her back upstairs to get dressed.

  9

  “What do you mean she’s not in her office?” Michael frowned, glaring accusingly at the young temp. It was lunchtime, and he had come downstairs to ask Ashley if she wanted to grab a bite to eat with him. They could look over the speech she was working on, discuss what would be happening at dinner... and he would get to feed his addiction. Only, he hadn’t been able to find her.

  “As far as I know, Miss Kendall didn’t come into work this morning, sir,” said the girl, cowering under Michael’s disapproving stare. “I- I haven’t seen sir all day,” she added weakly.

  Michael nodded, realized he was being bear when it had absolutely nothing at all to do with this girl. He thanked her for the information and forced a smile, before he the walked back to his own office, wondering where the hell Ashley was today.

  It didn’t take too long to find out… in fact, a telephone call from Norm provided the details almost soon as Michael got back to his office…

  “You’re doing what with her?” he growled, but decided he didn’t want to hear Norm repeat his preposterous plan for creating the perfect First Lady. “Look, can you put Ashley on the phone? I think I need to have a word with her.”

  There was shuffling, rustling and murmured voices, and then Ashley spoke.

  “Hello?” she sounded a little hesitant and uncertain, for some reason that made Michael even angrier than he already had been; somehow it seemed to support him in his belief that this was all totally unnecessary. It made Ashley sound guilty, as if she knew that she was doing something wrong.

  “Miss Kendall,” he drawled. “I went to your office to see you earlier.”

  “You- you did?” she said anxiously.

  “Obviously you weren’t there,” Michael continued, keeping his voice crisp and cool. “I had thought that we could go over the poverty speech while we had lunch together, but Norm informs me that you’re busy.” He was being petty and unfair, Michael hated himself like this, but he couldn’t stop. He had seen the night before how hard Ashley worked!- but that didn’t stop him from saying, “When do you think you might have had time to finish off a draft for me to look at?”

  Michael heard the hurt catch in Ashley’s breath, but he was still feeling out of sorts enough to take a gleam of satisfaction from it.

  “I’m only- I didn’t want-” she suddenly stopped trying to defend herself, and answered Michael in almost as cold a voice as he had been using. “I’ll have a copy on your desk in the morning, sir.”

  “Remember, you’re still coming to dinner tonight, Ashley.” It wasn’t a question. It was a statement.

  “I’ll have it finished,” Ashley argued doggedly.

  “Ash, listen you don’t-” Michael sighed, but he was interrupted before he could finish. He didn’t stay angry for very long, but while he was angry it could be small-minded and cruel.

  “I said I would finish it by tomorrow morning,” Ashley sniffed. “It’s my job. I’ll have it done for you, Mr. Reese. Goodbye,” she said, and then she hung up.

  Ashley’s hands were trembling when she passed Norman back his cell phone. She had never felt so small in her life! She had thought that Michael had approved her new makeover! Actually, she had worried that maybe he had requested it because she wasn’t living up to his expectations.

  She should have trusted her initial instincts that morning! She had known that this was all trivial nonsense, but she had let Norman persuade her anyway, and now she had promised Michael to have his speech finished by the next day! Ashley thought she might cry. There was no way she could have it finished in time!

  By the time evening came around Michael was sorely regretting the conversation that he had had with Ashley earlier in the day. He wouldn’t say that he was apprehensive about seeing her again, but he was well aware that she might possibly be wishing him actual bodily harm.

  He would just have to be at his most charming to win her over again. The limousine, which had been arranged to take them the airport before the flight on to D.C., was the perfect first stage of an apology. Michael had made sure there was champagne on ice to help soften Ashley’s defenses. He had even brought flowers!

  When they pulled up outside her house, Michael squared his shoulders, straightened his tie and steeled his resolve. He could be a man about this- he would just walk up to the front door, and when she opened it he would simply say-

  “Wow!”

  Of course, Michael had meant to say that he was sorry, but he was too busy trying not to swallow his tongue. Ashley looked… well she looked… too good for words to describe! She looked like she had just stepped out of a magazine, or right out of his dreams…

  “Ashley you look-”

  “Let’s just go shall we?” she said sharply, sweeping past Michael, who stepped back to let her go by, watching the hypnotic sway of her pert little behind as she walked.

  Damn, he had forgotten the flowers- the thought somehow managed to burst through the lustful hazy that was fogging his brain. They were still in the limo- but at least Ashley looked a little impressed when she saw the car. She didn’t comment on the ride however, she simply climbed inside and waited for him to follow.

  Michael did so readily, unable to peel his eyes away from the delectable figure of the woman now sitting beside him. He was just trying to decide how to launch into a neutral topic of conversation, when Ashley reached into her purse and took out her iPad.

  Michael frowned. “What ar
e you doing?” he demanded. His frown turned into a scowl when Ashley insisted on giving her full attention to her iPad. “Ashley?” he growled. He knew that losing his temper again wasn’t going to help in the slightest, but this woman had the ability to rattle him effortlessly! It probably had something to with the fact that he was still trying to work out a way to get into her panties…

  “I’m working on your speech, sir,” she sniffed, chewing her bottom lip thoughtfully as she read over what was all right

  Michael was sure the little gesture was done to annoy, not to arouse him, but whatever Ashley intent was his body clearly had ideas of it own how to interpret the slight of her teeth nibbling on the plump swell of her lower lip. He wanted to lean forwards, catch it between his own teeth and…

  “Ugh- why are you working on that now?” Michael asked, shaking his head to try and clear his thoughts.