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“The bar will be fine.”

He told the hostess, and she nodded toward the bar. “Sit anywhere you like.”

He put a hand on the small of her back and tried not to think about the last time he’d touched her.

When they were seated, she got a thoughtful look on her face as she stared at him. “Givens. Are you related to Steve Givens? The former governor of Arkansas?”

“He’s my father.” His response came out stiffer than he intended.

The bartender came over and took their drink orders. Bradley ordered an appetizer to share between them while they looked at the menu.

“Do we need to discuss our encounter, Miss Sanders?”

She quirked one eyebrow up. “It was just that. An encounter. I was disappointed not to see you back there, but then I haven’t been back in several months myself, so perhaps you were there and I didn’t know it.”

He reached for her hand, but she pulled it away. “I think we should keep this professional. Does Atleigh know your father is considering a run for president? Is that why you’re not running Atleigh’s campaign?”

President? My father?Out loud, he asked, “And where did you hear that awful rumor?”

Surprise flashed across her face before she recovered and said, “Oh, you know how the D.C. gossip mill is.”

“Gossip is all it is, I assure you, Miss Sanders. I am running the senator’s campaign.” He spoke with confidence, but inside a small bubble of panic formed.

“Well then, I guess it’s a good thing you didn’t come back to Exposure.”

Bradley picked up the drink the bartender had dropped off. “And why is that, Miss Sanders?”

“Because I promise I will do everything in my power to see that Sean Atleigh never sees the White House.”

Bradley raised his glass to her. “So we’re to be rivals then. Good to know. May the best campaign win.”

• • •

Darci squared her shoulders and tried to push down the memories of the way Bradley had touched her that night in Exposure. But pushing those memories down just brought back the memory of Carrie’s phone call. Kaden was back. She blinked and returned her thoughts to Bradley. To find out he worked for a man who represented everything she abhorred made her feel ill. How could someone who was part of the BDSM community support a man like Sean Atleigh? He was a pro-life, anti-queer politician who didn’t understand the concept of separation of church and state.

She blinked and shook her head, trying to soothe her thoughts. “Thank you for the meeting, Mr. Givens. I guess we should get down to business.”

Bradley nodded. “By all means, Miss Sanders. I’ll be honest, I was vague on the details of our appointment.”

She reached into her bag and pulled out a flier. “The ACSL and several other organizations are hosting a panel discussion at Georgetown. We’re trying to get politicians from multiple points of view to join us along with leaders in education, the economy, and social work. We’ll be covering a number of topics and think your boss would be a valuable addition to the panel.”

Darci didn’t feel that way at all, but she was an expert at her job. She’d volunteered for the ACSL since her freshmen year in college, and got a full-time job as an assistant for two years before she was given the job she held now. She could make the most abhorrent of politicians think she wanted them to be part of a project even though she had every intention of using that project to tear down their platform.

“I’ll have to check the senator’s schedule, but it sounds like a wonderful opportunity. We’ll need a full information packet to make our decision. Will you have media coverage?”

Darci grinned and nodded. “We’ve got a two hour slot on UNN with Jake Holt.”

Bradley raised an eyebrow. “Impressive that you got a national news network to grant you that much time.”

“There are a number of high profile bills in the senate as you know. We’re hoping this will be a good chance to put those in front of the American people and UNN saw it that way, too.”

Their food arrived and Darci bit into her burger.

“I feel like this could have been a phone call, Miss Sanders. Was there something else your boss wanted to discuss?”

Darci laughed. “Your boss is the worst about returning phone calls. And honestly, I’m surprised you even took this meeting. I spent this morning on the phone with a dreadful woman in your office trying to get the senator on the phone for a comment on his stance on S.571.”

Bradley’s eyes narrowed. “Adara Kent by chance?”

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