Page 4 of A Man of Power

“What you need is a staffer who can do their job well and make you look good. I am capable of both,” she states, her eyes narrowing on mine.

I fight the smirk that threatens to emerge. Something about her intrigues me, and I decide to take a chance on her. That decision shocks me a little because I don’t take many chances. “Very well, Ms. Martin. Consider this a probationary offer. Six months. We’ll reassess then.”

Her eyes that were fixed on my lips, fly to my eyes. “Really?” she squeaks.

I nod and stand, adjusting my tie. “Really.” I press a button on my phone. “Harriet, Ms. Martin will be joining our staff. Please come in here and see to it that she gets everything she needs.”

I hold out my hand to her once more and she accepts it. “Welcome aboard.”

“Thank you! Thank you so much!” she replies with a big smile on her face. I’m once again taken aback by her beauty.

“You’re—”

Fucking Harriet throws open my door. “Oh good. Glad that is settled. Alexis, honey, come with me. Let’s get you all set up.”

“Welcome,” I finish as I give Harriet a hard look.

Alexis waves at me as Harriet practically pulls her from my office, leaving me in silence as the floral scent of her perfume fills my nostrils. She’s gorgeous, and I should have sent her away. At least I was smart enough to give myself an out in six months. I’ve seen too many issues between staffers and their bosses. I don’t have time for that shit. Hell, I don’t have time for anything nowadays, especially not the tempting piece of ass that just left my office.

Chapter2

Alexis

I dropmy bag onto the kitchen island. Whitney looks up from her computer, and Erin turns from where she’s stirring something in a pot on the stove. Whitney Wellington and Erin Lowry have been my best friends since the first week of college. They couldn’t be more different than me or each other. Erin is the strait-laced, full-time law school daughter of a lobbyist and professor. Whitney is from old money, yet she’s currently getting her master's in anthropology, her thesis is on minority fisherman communities in the Chesapeake Bay. Her parents think she should be in law school with Erin and me. Her parents also never talk to her except on holidays and are never home. She was raised by a nanny. And then there’s me, a normal middle-class, Midwestern suburban girl, who decided to pursue her obsession with politics and study in the nation’s capital. On paper, we shouldn’t even know each other, but in reality, we are the perfect trifecta.

“So?” Whitney asks as she pushes her glasses up her nose.

I look down at the floor.

“Oh no. Tell me that asshole didn’t turn you down,” Erin states as she sets down a spoon and starts to walk over to hug me because she’s a hugger. Erin despises Sebastian North. I think she overheard a conversation at a party once and henceforth labeled him a player and an asshole.

I slowly lift my head up and grin. “Gotcha! He gave me the job on the spot!”

Erin’s eyes practically bug out of her head, while Whitney walks around the island and hugs me. “Seriously?” Erin asks.

I nod. “Harriet wasn’t sure what he was going to do. He insisted on interviewing me himself.”

Erin gives me a pointed look, and I roll my eyes. “Not like that, you perv. He actually interviewed me. It was…interesting.”

Whitney pulls away from me and cocks her head to one side while Erin’s hands go to her hips. I chuckle at my friends’ overprotectiveness. “Geez, ladies, back the fuck down. He didn’t look up my skirt, he didn’t say anything crude, and he didn’t make an ass of himself. I’ll admit, I have never been in a room with him alone before and it was…unnerving. He’s very…captivating.”

Erin sighs. “He’s just reeling you in so he can tap your ass.”

I playfully punch her arm. “He is not. I think he wanted to make sure he was getting a serious employee. I’ve heard rumors that he’s going to make a run for his father’s Senate seat.”

“Damn, really?” Whitney asks as she leans on the island and looks from Erin to me.

I shrug.

“I’ve heard those same rumors,” Erin says. She puts down the spoon that she’s still holding and steps toward me. “Just promise me that you’ll be careful.”

I put my hands on her shoulders. “I promise you that I know what I’m doing. Harriet is not going to put me in a dangerous situation, and I won’t put myself in one. It’s all good.” I glance over at some weird potato concoction she is cooking. “Let’s go eat. I’ll pay.”

Whitney laughs. “You don’t even have your first paycheck yet.” She grabs her purse from behind her and pulls out a credit card. “Philip and Gertrude will pay.” Erin and I can’t help the laughs that escape us. Whitney always lets her parents pay for everything. I know this is her way of dealing with the years of neglect from them, so I let her.

“Fine, but we are going to La Casa,” I state because I need my favorite Mexican food and a pitcher of margaritas.

“Duh, like we would go anywhere else,” Erin replies as she moves her pan off the stovetop.

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