Page 37 of Commander

After Ashur had fucked my brains out almost a day ago, we hadn’t seen or spoken to each other. He’d been called into an important meeting within minutes of entering the wedding party meeting. Whatever had happened had consumed all of his time for the rest of the day.

His absence had left me to man the family, friends, and guests. Minesh’s disposition hadn’t improved in the slightest, and so for the most part, everyone pretended to ignore his antics.

And true to Ashur’s prediction, Samina lasted all of three minutes before she walked out of the meeting room for a shot of tequila. I guess I owed Ashur a debt now.

The thing that sucked the most was to attend our rehearsal dinner with a big chunk of my wedding party missing. That’s what had happened when all my closest friends had decided to enter the political world.

Whatever had gone down must have been major. I’d almost given in to the urge to call in a few of my contacts in Solon to get the details, but restrained myself. Any snooping outside of Ameera’s case would undermine Tyler. The second I got nosy was the second I’d convey I didn’t have confidence in Tyler’s ability to handle his role as director. Solon had never had a director who held a high-level government position until Tyler, and because of this, he had to walk a very tight rope between the two roles.

My phone rang, and I grabbed it from the counter. My stomach flipped when I saw who the caller was.

“Hello, Mr. President.”

“Hello, First Lady.”

The possessive way he said those words had a shiver going down my spine.

Why did it feel so good to hear his voice?

Maybe because you haven’t gone more than half a day without talking to him in the last eighteen months.

“I’m sorry I left you to the family yesterday.”

“I’ll think of some way for you to make it up to me.”

“I’m sure you will.”

“Ash, is everything okay?”

He blew out a deep breath. “Not really but there’s nothing I can do.”

I wanted to ask him to elaborate but knew he couldn’t tell me. Was this what other political wives felt?

I was as nosy as they came and not knowing the nitty gritty of a situation only piqued my curiosity more.

How does one go from being the boss to the woman behind the man? I understood that I couldn’t handle missions anymore, but I couldn’t even practice law. I was a kickass lawyer, but no one would see that now that I’d be Ashur’s wife.

Snap out of it, Tara. Stop thinking about your change in circumstances and focus on being there for the man who seems more stressed than he should be on his wedding day.

“We can stay in Washington so you can handle whatever crisis is going on. I won’t be upset if we have to cancel our honeymoon.”

“God, no. It’s the only thing keeping this day on the right track. I want a few days alone with you where I’m not the president. I just want to be a man spending time with his wife. Will you let me be your husband? Will you for a few days pretend there are no bargains or financial gains? That there is no contract stipulating a baby? That you and I are a couple who are completely into each other?”

I swallowed. Dear God. What could have happened? Ashur never sounded so vulnerable. It was as if he was resigned to a complete and inevitable fallout.

“Whatever’s going on, I’m not going anywhere. You’re stuck with me, Mr. President.”

He released another sigh, then said, “Fuck. I just messed up my hair. That battle ax in charge of my attire is going to kick my ass.”

“Ashu, I can’t believe you’re afraid of Neya. She barely comes to your shoulder.”

When Neya had said she would make sure Ashur was dressed the way a president should dress for his wedding, I’d almost felt sorry for Ashur. Neya was the epitome of tiny but mighty. No one got in the way of her fashion sense, even a six-foot-three president.

“I’m afraid of you, and you’re shorter than her.”

“Whatever,” I muttered.

“Besides, I know things about her the average Joe would never know.”

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