Page 192 of State of Retribution

He laughed so hard, he had tears in his eyes.“There’re so many things wrong with that question that I don’t even know where to start.”

“There’s only one correct answer to the question,” she said with feigned indignation.

“Of course I’d protect you from the antelope and the cheetah, but if we see them at Camp David, we have bigger problems than them attacking us or each other since neither of them is native to the mountains of Maryland.”

“How do you know that?”

“Um, everyone knows that.”

“Shut up.That’s not true.”

He rolled his lips as if trying not to laugh in her face.

“I said to shut up.”

“Yes, dear.”

“It’s annoying how smart you are.”

“And I’m not even the one who grew up right next to Maryland.”

“You’re pushing your luck, mister.”

“Then I’ll quit while I’m ahead and say I’d protect you from anything that might want to eat you.Except me, of course.”

Sam choked on her mouthful of wine as she sputtered with laughter.“That’s disgusting.”

“You don’t really think that.In fact, if I recall correctly?—”

She gave him a look that ended that thought before he could finish it.

He responded with a look that would melt the panties off any straight woman with a pulse, including her.“I could always refresh your memory after dinner.”

That was all it took to get her motor running for whatever he had in mind for dessert.

“We’re here to pack.”

“Among other things.Finish your dinner.We have an agenda.”

“What agenda do we have?”

“That’s for me to know and you to find out.”

Nick had neededthis night away from the White House with her far more than he’d realized until they were sitting in the place they’d first called home together, bantering over cheetahs and antelopes.He recalled how she’d resisted moving in with him when he first bought this place down the street from her dad’s house, because she’d felt their relationship was moving too fast.Once they’d reconnected six endless years after they first met, it’d happened at the speed of light, and he wouldn’t change a thing about it.

Funny how silly that seemed now that they were married more than two years and about to be the parents of four kids.Everything they were, though, had begun in this place, and it was sad to think about not living there anymore.He doubted they’d come back there after the White House, since the Secret Service would want them somewhere more secure.They’d allowed them to live there when he was the VP only because of its close proximity to Sam’s injured father.But it hadn’t been ideal then, and it wouldn’t be an option later.

“What’re you thinking about over there?”she asked as she took a bite of the chocolate cake he’d requested because she loved it so much.He’d saved the cookies for later.

“I’m thinking about how this was the first real home I ever had and how we probably won’t live here again.”

“Does that make you sad?”

“More reflective than sad.Home is wherever you and the kids are, but this place will always have a special place in my heart because it’s where we began—after I finally talked you into moving in with me, that is.”

“Haha, I had to put up some resistance, or you might’ve thought I was too easy.”

He laughed like he always did when she talked about being easy.“That’s one word no one isevergoing to use to describe you.”

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