Page 85 of The Pinkie Pact

Holy hotness! I swallowed as the elevator doors shut us inside, Kieran pressing the lobby button then stepping toward me. He wrapped his arms around me, bringing me in tight.

"I missed you," he whispered against the top of my head.

"I-I missed you too."

Before I could even think, his lips were on me, devouring me in a passionate kiss that left me breathless. Gone was the hesitant Kieran who was so nervous to kiss me. This Kieran took and took and demanded more, making me shiver with desire and want.

His hands were everywhere, exploring me in a way he never had before, and I did the same, touching his back, arms, chest, until my hands ended up in my favorite place, the tender spot where his hair touched his neck, and I held on, not too gently.

There were no words for how much I wanted Kieran.

The elevator slowed down, forcing us to break apart. "Do you know how close I am to pressing the emergency stop button?" Kieran asked, trying to catch his breath.

I laughed at him as the doors opened and he stepped away from me. In a daze, I wasn't sure where I was and what I should be doing. Someone was waiting to get on, so we both exited the elevator.

"I don't even know where I'm going," I said, smiling up at him.

Laughing, he rubbed his temple. "Honestly, I forgot what I was going to do."

We stepped back into the lobby where I had literally just been while Kieran glanced around.

"Oh," he suddenly said, "I'm supposed to meet someone and bring him up, someone who's recovering from eye surgery."

"Aw, that's sweet."

"That's me... sweet as a strawberry," he said, flashing that mega-watt grin at me.

I knew he was joking, but he seriously wasn't far off. Elbowing him, I said, "Okay, sweetness. I'll leave you to it and go back upstairs." I started to walk away. "Maybe I'll see you later," I added, glancing back at him over my shoulder, attempting to give him my best flirty look.

He didn't say anything, but I swear his eyes were so heated they practically burned me as I pressed the button for the elevator and turned around.

Oh, yes, I still had it, girl.

As I stepped into the elevator, I found myself wondering exactly how long it took for election results to come in.

***

The night ended up dragging on and on as we waited and waited along with about twenty other people for the results to trickle in. I had forgotten how agonizing it was to wait and see if your candidate won. And this time, it was even more personal than ever before because it was an actual person I knew, the mother of two people I cared about deeply.

The room where we all hung out was a large suite that seemed built for events like this, complete with a huge table for meetings, a kitchen area, tons of plush couches and chairs, and several TVs tuned in to different channels, all reporting on election results from across the country.

The table was a mess of laptops, tablets, papers, charts, drinks, and food. And of course, everyone was glued to their phone, reporting back constantly to the senator.

But God bless her, she'd given me the biggest, warmest hug when I'd walked in, something that made me like her even more. I mean, this was a woman in the middle of a humongous, make-or-break career moment, and for her to take the time to even say hello to me, let alone hug me, made me happy that I'd come at all tonight.

Kara introduced me to a few people, including Kieran, drawing attention to ourselves as we all laughed. But mostly, Kara and I hung out on a couch together—watching, taking it all in, listening. I could feel the tension coming off her as she picked at her cuticles repeatedly.

Her mother was everywhere, talking to everyone, checking in, listening intently to someone giving her the latest numbers. Mr. Emerson showed up after a while, and I tried not to look at him at all. But the few times I did, he paid me no attention, and I was beyond glad about that. I'd be happy to not even say hello to him tonight.

Every once in a while, Kara or I would get up to grab more food or drinks. Of course, Kara spiked our cokes with some rum that was in the fridge because there was definitely some booze being consumed here. Not much. But if the senator won, or lost, I figured the drinks would be flowing big-time then.

The most amazing part of the night was observing Kieran, watching him be a son and be an important part of her campaign, someone that others clearly looked up to, asking for his help and opinions. Until now, I had no idea how involved he really was. He'd made it seem like he was just helping his mom out, but tonight, I could see he was actually a part of the campaign itself.

Something about it was insanely attractive, making it nearly impossible to keep my eyes off him. I'd never been with someone who was so smart, so capable, and it was a huge turn-on. Maybe I'd been missing out all this time by not going for the smart, kind of nerdy dudes.

Or maybe it was just Kieran.

As I stared at him speaking to some campaign staffer, I admired everything about him, from his gorgeous face and cut jaw to his hot, fit body. Even the way he talked did something to me.

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