Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 108242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
“I had to.” I run a hand over the tight muscles in the back of my neck. “He’s the whole reason I’m even giving this a shot. I had to acknowledge him right up front. What else you got?”
She stands and walks around the desk and leans down until our faces line up. “I’m very, very proud of you,” she whispers, closing the space between our mouths and kissing me. She tastes as pure as she did the first time I kissed her on a dark night on a cobblestone street. I stand and kiss her back with all the hope and love she inspires in me.
I glance over her shoulder at my open office door, finding the hall empty. I cup her ass and press my erection into her.
“So, is it a Tuesday?” I ask.
She laughs and drops her head to my shoulder. “No, Doc. Tuesdays will have to be very rare and special occasions for a long time.”
CHAPTER 41
LENNIX
“We need to get some town halls scheduled,” Kimba says, glaring at her laptop. “Damn spinning wheel. You’d think Steve Jobs could have figured this out before he passed away, rest in power.”
“He revolutionized the personal computer and changed nearly every aspect of your life with a cell phone,” Maxim says dryly. “Maybe you cut him some slack.”
“Please don’t tell me you’re a Jobs zealot,” Glenn groans.
“Zealot? Nooooo,” Maxim denies with a shake of his head. “Should he have a state named after him? Most likely, yeah.”
The rest of the senior staff gathered around Maxim’s campaign office in New York laugh. Setting up our headquarters here was a power move. Yes, CadeCo’s headquarters are here. It’s the coolest city in the country, at least by perception, and the center of music, theater, and the arts, but it’s also easy to get coverage here. To go viral here, and it’s within relatively easy striking distance of swing states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, and New Hampshire. It also doesn’t hurt that Maxim owns an apartment building in SoHo, which is where most of us live while we’re in town.
“Hey, speaking of scheduling town halls,” Glenn says, “didn’t Lacy Reardon used to work with you guys? She developed this SkedAdv app, and it’s a scheduler’s dream.”
Kimba and I exchange a quick “lawd have mercy” look at the mention of Lacy, the girl we had to dismiss after her affair with Susan Bowden was discovered.
By Susan’s wife.
Situations like that make me even more determined to keep my relationship with Maxim under wraps for a while. Though there’s no infidelity or misconduct, sex and politics have a torrid past. Anytime they rub up against each other, the public perceives it as scandal. And scandal destroys campaigns.
“Yeah, Lacy worked with us,” Kimba replies. “On Susan Bowden’s campaign for a while, but she ended up leaving. She’s incredibly talented. I heard she recently signed on with one of the Democrats.”
“Dentley’s campaign, right?” I ask, keeping my tone casual. “Governor from New Jersey.”
“Yeah, we did a project together a few months ago,” Glenn says. “Maybe we could persuade her to come work for Maxim instead.”
“I think we’re set,” I say. “But you’re right. She’s amazing. Now, back to these town halls.”
“Blech.” Maxim shudders.
“Blech?” I ask, laughing. “Are you a fourteen-year-old girl?”
He tosses a plastic-wrapped fortune cookie at me, and it bounces off my boob. He shrugs, looking all innocent. “Oops.”
I roll my eyes and can’t help but grin. “Town halls—we need some in swing states.”
“Hmmm, quick question,” Maxim says around the fortune cookie he popped in his mouth. “Will Thomas Jefferson be there? Wasn’t he the last person who cared about a town hall?”
“Maxim, we need a way for you to connect with people and answer their questions,” Kimba says. “Especially since you’ve never worked in government and you’re so young.”
“With so many people talking about my age, when they ask how old I am, I now say I’ll be forty my next birthday.”
“You’re on fire tonight, huh?” I ask.
His glance caresses each part of my face. I stretch my eyes to let him know he’s doing that thing again where he looks like he’s in love with me. He drops his gaze, grinning and picking up his phone.
My phone beeps a notification a few minutes later when we’re still listing reasons Maxim should do these town halls. Even with his changed contact name, I still nearly break a nail diving for the phone before anyone sees it.
King: I reaaaally need it to be Tuesday soon.
Me: We’re doing so well. Just hang in there.
King: You don’t tell a guy with blue balls to “hang in there.”
I snicker and glance up to find Glenn looking at me quizzically. “What’s so funny, Nix?” he asks with a grin.
The smile on Maxim’s face freezes and shatters like ice.
Oh, shit.
“I, nothing. I’m fine.” I pull the elastic band from my hair and then scoop my hair right back up into a ponytail. I don’t know what to do with my hands, and I don’t know why Glenn called me Nix. It wouldn’t be that big of a deal if anyone other than Maxim called me Nix, but no one ever does. “Um, so, town halls?”