Page 44 of Presidential Bargain
Jameson rolled me onto my back and those thoughts and questions disappeared because I was filled with nothing but Jameson. He surrounded me completely, trailing kisses on my bare flesh, teasing the delicate straps of my nightie from my shoulders before tugging the rest of the silky material down my body. I wasn’t entirely sure that was how the garment was supposed to be removed, but I wasn’t about to stop him to tellhimthat.
“Can I have you too,Georgie?”
The question was loaded and I was starting to ask myself something similar. Could I really have Jameson? He had brought me into his world with no promises for more than what was originally bargained. He told me he wanted to be the president more than anything else. He told me he was an asshole and could only offer a woman one or two nights. He had given me more than what he’d originally offered and I’d willingly taken it. What would happen if he took itallaway?
“Jameson.” I was in my head. I couldn’t get out, no matter how wonderful Jameson’s mouth felt against my skin. “Jameson,stop.”
I heard him sigh heavily and then he let his head fall heavy to my stomach. I rested my hands on top, running my fingers through his hair, before he sat up. The fire that burned out of control in his pale blue eyes only moments before was extinguished. I could see the battle he fought with himself, the war between what he wanted and what hedesired.
“Will you still want me if you don’t win?” It was an honest question. What did he see when he looked at me? I solved a problem for his campaign. I helped his poll numbers. I knew exactly what I saw when I looked at him. My entirefuture.
Georgie stayed in my bed,but it felt like we were a million miles apart. Her question swirled in my mind like a storm. Would I still want her if I didn’t win? And then there were all the unspoken questions I saw behind her green eyes. She didn’t have to say them out loud because, chances were, I was asking myself the same questions. For the first time in weeks, I didn’tsleep.
I paced all night in my office, nursing a glass of my favorite whiskey. Georgie was supposed to solve my problem, and she did. In fact, she exceeded all of my expectations. She transformed my entire campaign. Hell, I could even give her credit for several campaign slogans. We made an excellent team. She took charge of communication, reviewing speeches and press releases, and even interoffice memos. She helped me prepare for speeches and spent time prepping me for the debate, pushing me on specific policy points, playing Devil’s Advocate when necessary. She made me a better candidate and a better man. But did I want her beyond this campaign? Beyond thepresidency?
My cell phone buzzed on my desk, distracting me from my thoughts. I looked at the caller ID; it was Sean, and it was three in the morning. That only meant one thing.Emergency.
“Yeah,” Igrowled.
“I clearly didn’t wake you. Did I interrupt you?” If this was an emergency, then the asshole shouldn’t be makingjokes.
“No. What’swrong?”
“There’s a story that’s about to leak.It’sbad.”
“How bad?” We had just come out of one shit storm; I wasn’t too keen on enteringanother.
“You’re going to want to buy a new pair of running shoes and maybe Metallica’s entire musiccatalog.”
Fuck. “What’s thestory?”
“Sextape.”
“Sean, what aren’t youtellingme?”
“It’s of you andGeorgie.”
I wanted to murder something, or someone. “How in the ever-loving fuck did someone get a sex tape of me andGeorgie?”
“It looks like one of Sierra Simmons’ assistants secretly filmed you and soldthetape.”
“Well, wake up Sierra Simmons and demand to know who the assistant was because I hope to God she fired that person. And then call the lawyers because this is clearly an invasion of privacy. We didn’t consent to beingrecorded.”
This was not what I needed. I wanted the public to forget about my playboy image. They clearly didn’t like the idea of a bachelor president; I could only imagine what they were going to think about a president with a sex tape. I needed to run a country in Europe; they didn’t give a fuck about sex scandalsthere.
“We’re on it. Huntley is going to have a field day with this. And you know it’s going to be brought up in thedebate.”
“I know.” I was disappointed in myself. This was why I didn’t want to get attached. I needed to use my brain to do all the thinking, not my dick. And my dick had far too many thoughts, none of which concerned becoming the next President of the United States ofAmerica.
“Just get an injunction to keep people from running the tape. I’ll deal with thefallout.”
“What aboutGeorgie?”
“I don’t know yet. I’llhandleher.”
“Get a few hours, dude. I need you on the top of your game to dealwiththis.”
I hung up, not bothering with the formality of saying goodbye. I was clearly not getting any sleeptonight.
