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Darci snapped her fingers together and pointed. “Yes! I wanted to strangle her.”

Bradley scowled. “I assure you, my assistant is nothing short of brilliant. She should really run for office herself.”

“So that’s why you never came back to Exposure. You have a crush on your assistant. That’s adorable.” Darci sounded like a jealous high schooler and hated herself for it. After discovering who he worked for, there should have been no attraction left for Bradley Givens. And yet she was sitting her being jealous of an assistant.

Bradley was laughing at her. His shoulders shaking as he picked up a French fry.

“Adara is one of my closest friends. There is no crush, though. I’m terrified of her. Why haven’t you been back to Exposure?”

She jerked her gaze to his. “That was a sharp change in subjects. Why haven’t you been back?”

“You met me my first night there. Maybe I just didn’t choose to pursue a full membership? You, on the other hand, are a founding member and I’ve read your blog.”

Darci tried to hide her surprise at the notion that he read her blog. She didn’t need to justify her reasons for stepping back from the lifestyle to him. “I don’t want to talk about it. Especially not with you.”

“If it was me, I’m sorry. That’s clearly a place you love. I would hate to think I drove you away.”

She blew out a breath and willed herself to keep the tears at bay. “I went back a few times after we met. But then I got busy. Let’s just leave it at that.”

There was no way she was telling him she was tired of going back and hoping to find him there.

“Fair enough, Miss Sanders. What else can I do for you?”

“Give me ten minutes alone with your boss at the panel.”

He laughed, and that irked her. “Not happening. I haven’t even agreed to the panel yet.”

“Then at least tell me why your boss is co-sponsoring S.571 when we all know how harmful it is to sex workers and does absolutely zero to curb sex trafficking.”

“Well, that’s a matter of opinion. I’m not his policy adviser, so I don’t pretend to know the inner workings of every bill. I can’t give you face time with him. But I can give you a policy packet that outlines why we’re supporting this bill.”

It wasn’t what she wanted, but it was as close to putting him on the record as she could get right now. If Atleigh agreed to the panel, there would be other opportunities.

“Fair enough. I’ll take what I can get.”

“Good. Now maybe we can set work aside and enjoy the rest of lunch as friends.”

She snorted. “You and I will never be friends. Acquaintances. Friendly rivals perhaps. But never friends.”

“Now that is sad that you can’t have friendships with people who see things differently than you.”

She wanted to smack him. “You have no idea what you’re talking about, Mr. Givens. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m afraid I have another appointment.”

He stood as she slid off her barstool and pulled out his wallet. “Take my card. It’s got my direct line on it. You can call whenever you’re ready for that packet.”

She snatched the card and glanced at it then tossed it at him and slung her purse over her shoulder. “I already have your number. But you seem to have forgotten that. Good day, Mr. Givens.”

4

BRADLEY walked down the hallway of the Hart Senate Office Building. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he replayed his lunch encounter with Darci. He’d chosen not to go back to Exposure after that first night. But he should have called beyond the initial call he made the following morning as part of their after-care plan. As he reached the door marked Sean Atleigh, he fingered the business card she’d thrown at him. It had been a couple of weeks since he last visited Darci’s blog. The senator had moved their meeting back an hour, so he had some free time.

Should he go back to Exposure? Gage had been bugging him to come out and play. But when Atleigh expressed an interest in running for president, he knew he had to give all of his attention to the campaign.

In the reception area, Adara motioned him to her desk, but he waved her off, intent on getting to his computer to peruse her blog for a few minutes. “Give me a minute, Adara. I need to take care of something.”

“Boss, wait,” Adara said, getting up from her desk.

He stopped dead in his tracks as soon as he opened the door. A man with silver hair sat on his couch reading a paper.

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