The Perfect Candidate

by Sterling, Stephanie

  Ashley looked at him coldly. “Because you told me that you wanted it finished and on you desk tomorrow morning, sir.”

  All of a sudden Michael found himself smiling. “And do you always intend to do everything that I tell you?” he asked huskily. He could think of one or two instructions that he would love to give Ashley if she was willing to follow them… unsurprisingly, she wasn’t quite ready to forgive and play along however.

  She continued to regard him icily. “I did not like the way that you implied I wasn’t doing my job this morning!” she told him bluntly. “Mr. Winterson arrived at my house at the break of dawn to drag me off to-!”

  “Norm arrived when?” Michael asked incredulously, unable to suppress a flare of… jealously at the thought other man being with Ashley for so long, of him surprising her at her home… of Norm beholding her in the same enticing pair of pajamas that he had been witness to seeing?

  Ashley put down her iPad. “He showed up at five-thirty! I was still in bed!” she cried.

  Still in bed caused Michael’s gut to clench, and his blood began to travel south at a rather rapid pace. He shifted uncomfortably. “I’ll have a word with Norm,” he murmured, still unsure as to why the man had taken it upon himself to act in such a manner, and still rather disgruntled that he had done so.

  “Oh, don’t worry about it,” Ashley sighed, as she returned her attention to her iPad. “I don’t suppose it will happen again.”

  Michael grunted something, and tried not to sulk as she went back to writing his speech. She would have to stop playing around with the thing for at least a while when they arrived at the airport. He would just have to hope that he could focus her attention on him then.

  Consequently, Michael sat in brooding silence and let Ashley work for the rest of the car ride. Unfortunately, Ashley didn’t know that he was brooding, and so she assumed that he was pleased she was working away on his speech, and that he expected her to work tirelessly, to give up every second of her day to help with his campaign! She sat there getting crosser and crosser, until the limousine finally stopped.

  “Are we-” Ashley stopped speaking when she saw where they were. She blinked at Michael. “We’re at the airport?”

  “We are,” he nodded, and then he took her hand and helped her out of the car. “We’re flying to D.C.,” he informed her, keeping hold of her hand, even as Ashley tried to tug it back.

  “D.C.?” she gasped.

  Michael couldn’t help but smile at her surprise. He took the opportunity of her lowered guard to urge her forwards by placing a hand at the small of her back. It was a wickedly intimate gesture that he probably should have avoided, because he made his pulse jump and his body tingle.

  “Norm forgot to inform you of that little detail?” he asked, smugly.

  “I think you might have told me!” Ashley gasped accusingly.

  Michael shrugged his shoulders innocently. “I was hoping it would be a surprise,” he confessed.

  “Well I can’t imagine why!”

  Ashley didn’t sound really upset however, and once she was settled on Michael’s private plane, she actually seemed to be rather enjoying her surroundings.

  “I was going to offer you a drink earlier, but you didn’t seem in the mood,” Michael murmured, a touch of amusement in his voice. “Would you like something now?”

  “I’ll have-” Ashley hesitated. “I’ll just have an ice water, thank you,” she smiled at the air hosted. She was determined to keep her wits about her this evening!

  The flight was surprisingly pleasant. Ashley refused to drink anything stronger than water, but Michael refused to leave her in peace, so she didn’t have a chance to work on the speech at all. He kept up a steady stream of conversation for the whole journey, mostly about the election campaign.

  “So it’s really important for us to make a favorable impression on these business men?” Ashley asked. “Norman said it was vital for the campaign.”

  Michael frowned. “Well it would certainly make funding a lot easier,” he admitted. “Still, I would rather not have to pander to these men. Unfortunately the campaign won’t pay for itself,” he growled.

  “Careful, Michael, you’re starting to sound like an idealist,” Ashley giggled. She placed a reassuring hand on his hand knee. “I know you wouldn’t make a deal with anyone completely unprincipled,” she said warmly, and then became aware that Michael was looking at her hand, which was still resting on his leg.

  Ashley’s palm prickled. She was suddenly painfully away of the powerful muscle that had tensed beneath her touch, but she didn’t seem to be able to pull her hand away! Her pulse picked up speed and her breathing became shallow as she lifted her eyes to meet his.

  Michael’s gaze was hot and inviting, almost daring her to smooth her hand higher up his leg to see what she would find... She was exceedingly tempted to do so, breathless with anticipation… except, just as Ashley’s fingers flexed, the airhostess walked over and informed them both that they would be landing very soon and so could they please fasten their seatbelts?

  Ashley snatched her hand away from Michael, sanity returning with a vengeance, what had she been thinking? She couldn’t bring herself to so much as look at Michael as they landed in D.C. and disembarked. Michael didn’t seem to suffering any similar signs of embarrassment. When he spoke, it was as if nothing at all had happened on the plane.

  “The restaurant isn’t far,” he informed Ashley, staring at her pointedly when she began rummaging in her purse. “You’re not going to have time to work on that before we get there.”

  “Work on what?” Ashley asked innocently.

  “Ash, forget about finishing the speech by tomorrow morning, would you? Just enjoy tonight? I was an ass earlier.”

  Ashley didn’t contradict him, but she did sigh heavily. “You were right about it being my job though. I really can keep taking time off to have my nails done,” she muttered.

  Michael grinned. “Well if it makes you feel any better, I think your er- nails look lovely. You can’t have a First Lady who does have pristine nails,” he said, keeping and admirably straight face.

  Ashley giggled. “Thanks, it doesn’t’t really, but thanks anyway,” she laughed. “Ooh? Is this the place?” she asked, gasping when their car pulled up outside a building that looked even more lavish than the restaurant Michael had taken her to two nights before.

  “This is it,” he nodded. “One of the men we’re here to see owns this whole hotel chain,” he told her, helping Ashley out of the car.

  “Really?” Ashley murmured, she was sounding a little too impressed for Michael’s liking. “Now you did say that all of these guys are single, right?” she teased, taking his arm.

  Michael tried to force a smile, which was tricky, given that he was also clenching his teeth. “Just remember that you’re not single, sweetheart,” he whispered, slipping a possessive arm around her tiny waist.

  Ashley giggled. “I thought I was meant to flirt with these men?” she laughed. “I thought that’s why you brought me along? You know, I can just go back and sit in the car, and work on your speech, if you don’t need me to stay around,” she teased.

  “I need you,” Michael said slowly, huskily, trying not to think about all the ways in which he needed her… just how was he meant to concentrate on business when all he could think about was getting Ashley on her back? “I’m just rethinking this scheme you and Norm have come up with,” he murmured.

  “I didn’t come up with anything!” Ashley started to argue, but she couldn’t continue, because the maitre d’hotel had just spotted them and was hurrying over to greet them.

  “Monsieur! Mademoiselle! Monsieur Rousseau is expecting you.”

  Michael and Ashley were lead in the direction of a private room, away from the hotel’s other clientele, where the maitre d’ announced their arrival to four very smartly dressed businessmen.

  “Monsieur Reese! It is so good to see you again!” cried Monsieur Rousseau, s
peaking with a slight hint of a French accent. Michael had never been able to determine if it was real or simply put on. Monsieur Rousseau got up from the table where he and his other guests were already seated. “But I have not met your beautiful lady friend before!”

  Michael placed his hand on the small of Ashley’s back and forced himself to smile as he introduced her. He frankly didn’t like the look in Rousseau’s eyes, as the Frenchman looked Ashley up and down, before sweeping forwards to kiss her hand.

  The other three men, two oil tycoons and the head of an international retail company, were least extravagant in their praise of Miss Kendall (at least at first), but their appreciation was just as easy for Michael to read.

  “Michael, my wife isn’t going to be happy to hear I left her at home with the children when you brought your lovely girlfriend here!” laughed Roberts, one of the two Texan oilmen.

  Personally, Michael thought that Mrs. Roberts was going to be more upset if she heard about the way that her husband was trying to look down the front of Ashley’s dress.

  “Miss Kendall is an important part of my campaign team, Mr. Roberts,” he said smoothly, hoping to put an end to it, but the other man simply guffawed.

  “Oh yes! I can imagine just what sort of important role Miss Kendall must play on your team! That would be your personal team, right, Mike?”

  Michael could feel an angry heat rise into his face. He felt bad for Ashley, having to deal with this, he could see her posture stiffen, and if getting these men’s money wasn’t so important to the campaign he would have walked straight back out of the hotel! His displeasure must have been obvious, because Monsieur Rousseau quickly stepped in to defuse the situation by asking everyone to take their seats.

  Michael couldn’t decide which of the men he would rather risk Ashley sitting next to… she selected for herself however, sitting on the end of the table next to Michael and opposite the young, quiet retailer.

  “You looked like you were going to kill Mr. Roberts,” she whispered into his ear when on one was listening.

  “You want me to?” Michael whispered back. “I’m pretty sure I can remember all of my army training.”

  Dinner went… slowly. Nobody (except Michael, Ashley suspected) was in any hurry to start talking business. It wasn’t a subject that was even raised until they were waiting for dessert to arrive, and then, unsurprisingly, no one could agree on anything!

  Ashley hadn’t expect things to be easy for Michael, but she was frankly disgusted by how relatively little the businessmen were prepared to donate to the party, especially when she heard how much they expected Michael to give them in return! She was surprised, but also impressed, by how calmly and composedly Michael was able to hear their offers however. Perhaps he had been expecting them to play this way?

  As time wore on, and the evening became increasingly late, it became obvious to everyone that nothing was going to be decided on tonight. Ashley hoped this meant that she and Michael could leave soon! She still had a few hours worth of work do on the speech, which she was determined to finish by the next morning on principle!

  However, before anything had been mentioned about them leaving, the maitre d’ hurried into the room and spoke quietly into Monsieur Rousseau’s ear. The Frenchman frowned, and then laughed and turned to speak to Michael.

  “Well, Monsieur Reese! It seems you will not be escaping back to Chicago until we have reached an agreement after all!”

  “Oh?” Michael murmured. He sounded curious and mildly amused, but Ashley had seen his shoulders tense.

  “Oui, oui! Look!” Rousseau laughed, getting up from the dinner table and then walking across the room to the large windows. He pulled back the heavy drapes, which had been drawn to afford them more privacy, and revealed a winter wonderland outside.

  “It’s snowing!” Ashley gasped.

  “Oui, mademoiselle,” Rousseau chuckled. “I am afraid Pierre has just heard from the airport. All outbound flights have been cancelled.”

  Ashley glanced again at Michael, and tried to work out what he was thinking. Were they really stranded here… together? A shiver traveled down Ashley’s spine all of a sudden, and it didn’t have anything to do with the snow!

  “Then it appears we will have to trespass on your hospitality for a little longer, monsieur,” Michael murmured, frowning out at the snow.

  “Oh! It is no trespass! I have the perfect suite for the two of you,” he assured them, bowing before briefly disappearing out of the room. Ashley assumed that he had gone to sort out their room… rooms?

  “Michael?” she whispered. Only she and Michael had followed Rousseau to look out of the window. The other men were too busy drinking and joking to pay them any attention. “Michael we can’t share a room!” she hissed, however much she might like to…

  Michael looked down at her with one eyebrow raised. “I would rather not draw suspicion by insisting on separate rooms,” he said in a low voice.

  “But- but don’t you think it might do more harm than good? If it comes out that we stayed here… together?” Ashley croaked.

  Michael slid his hands into his pockets, looked out at the snow and rocked back on his heels. There was a smile dancing over his lips that Ashley wasn’t sure she trusted. “No, I don’t think so, not if you’re going to marry me,” he said matter-of-factly.

  “Not if I’m WHAT?!” Ashley squawked, and her eyes almost popped out of her head. Michael shot her a warning glance, and Ashley lowered her voice, remembering that they weren’t alone in the room. “What do you mean?” she hissed. “Not if I’m going to marry you?!”

  “Not really of course,” Michael muttered, managing to speak almost without moving his lips. “But that’s what we can say if we’re caught out. It might be worth running with that angle regardless,” he mused, looking thoughtful.

  Ashley wasn’t sure if she should be insulted or flattered. “Now you want us to pretend to get engaged?” she whispered incredulously.

  “You would get a very nice ring out of the bargain,” Michael chuckled. “You could even keep it when all of this is over.”

  “How generous,” Ashley snorted. “How exactly is all of this going to end, Michael?” she demanded, forgetting again that they weren’t alone. “Because we’re going to find ourselves walking down the aisle at this rate!”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Michael smiled, and alerted Ashley to Rousseau’s return so that she wouldn’t continue with this topic.

  “I have the perfect suite for you,” he gushed, walking over to the couple. “Did you want to see it now, or wait until later?”

  10

  Michael and Ashley didn’t manage to get away for another hour, and when they did finally excuse themselves, Monsieur Rousseau insisted on taken them up to their room himself.

  Michael was disappointed to see their ‘room’ was in fact more like two rooms, connected by a large, luxurious shared bathroom.

  “Wow,” Ashley whispered, and giggled slightly, as Rousseau quickly showed them around. “This place is bigger than my first apartment!” Michael grinned.

  “If you need anything- anything at all, just call room service. They have been instructed to fulfill your every need,” Rousseau chirped happily. He bowed a little as he backed towards the door. “Now, goodnight, and pleasant dreams,” he chuckled, glancing between them knowingly.

  “I don’t like him,” Ashley said, as soon as their host was gone. “He’s sure to tell someone! Call a paper… sell us out,” she muttered anxiously.

  Michael stared at her incredulously. “Ashley, there are two beds in this suite. We’re not exactly staying here by choice! If you wanted to you could go and lock yourself in your half of the suite.”

  It was Ashley’s turned to stare up at Michael incredulously. “And who’s going to believe that?” she demanded, and then her cheeks began to burn a fiery red. “Please forget I said that,” she mumbled.

  “Oh, I don’t think so,” Michael grinned. “I want to know
exactly what you meant by that,” he whispered huskily.

  “Just that- only that- everyone thinks we’re a couple,” she squeaked awkwardly. “And what couple- I mean, what genuine couple, would stay in a hotel like this- in a room like this and sleep in separate beds?”

  “An interesting question,” Michael agreed, his voice had dropped to a low rumbling purr. “Is there an answer?”

  “Well- I mean, it doesn’t’t apply to us!” Ashley gasped, a little desperately. “We’re not really a- not really a-” but she couldn’t finish, because Michael had just pulled her into his arms and crushed her lips beneath his mouth.

  Ashley gasped in surprise, and, given an opening, Michael’s tongue surged powerfully between her teeth. Ashley hadn’t been prepared for the kiss- and so she was even more unprepared for the hungry, practically ravenous, way that Michael plundered her mouth.