“I think I can make that happen.” I leaned over to open the door. “Hop in, baby. I’ll show you a good time.”
She laughed, and the sound went straight to my dick as it always did. But this time, it made my heart swell with gladness, too. Before I could help myself, I reached for her, curling my hand around the back of her neck and drawing her close to kiss those pretty pouting lips.
“Hey.” I brushed my thumb over her cheekbone. “You look wonderful.”
“Thank you.” She smiled and kissed me once more. “You’re not bad yourself. Did you come right from the restaurant like that? I was surprised when you said you didn’t need to come up to change.”
I hadn’t told anyone about my visit to Casa de Romano—not my parents, not Carl and not even Amanda. I’d reasoned that until I knew more about what they had to say, it didn’t make sense to make a big deal out of it. And since we were on our way to a big night, I didn’t want to talk about it now. We’d have plenty of time later, I told myself.
“I had a meeting in the city this afternoon, so I came right from there,” I explained. It was the truth; it just wasn’t the whole story.
“Oh, cool. That was good timing, wasn’t it? So the trip into Philly to pick me up wasn’t completely wasted.”
“Hey, I was happy to come get you. We’re going to have fun tonight.” I eased into the lane of traffic, merging onto the street.
“Oh, Vincent.” Amanda shook her head. “Oh, my sweet summer child. One doesn’t have fun at political events. One merely survives them, if one is lucky.”
I hung a left at the corner. “It can’t be that bad.”
“It can be that bad and worse. And poor you, who can’t get totally wasted while we’re there, since you’re driving us home.” She reached over to squeeze my thigh, and my dick jumped in appreciation.
“That’s true. I’m sacrificing so much tonight, just so I can get you safely back to your apartment. I hope you’re planning to make it worth my while.”
“Babe, you can bet on it. Plus, I can just about guarantee I’ll be buzzed, so you can probably talk me into doing the really kinky stuff tonight.” Amanda raised her eyebrows.
“Wait, what really kinky stuff are we talking about here?” I slid her a side glance. “I thought we’d been doing the kinky stuff all along. Are you telling me there’s more?”
She trailed her finger up my thigh and closed her hand around my cock, almost making me veer off the road. “So much more, baby. So. Much. More.”
“Amanda, you made it.” Mrs. Simmons drew her daughter into a hug before she turned to me. “And Vincent. Look at you. Aren’t you looking hot tonight?”
“Mom.” Amanda rolled her eyes, grinning. “Please don’t objectify Vincent. It’s so not cool. Also, since he’s with me, it makes you sound a little creepy. A little Mrs. Robinson.”
Mrs. Simmons winked at me. “Coo-coo-ka-choo.”
“Hello, darling.” A tall, thin man with graying hair and a familiar smile joined us, leaning down to kiss Amanda’s cheek. There was just a trace of an accent in his voice.
“Daddy.” Amanda hugged her father. “I wasn’t sure you were going to be here.”
“Oh, I try to never miss one of the governor’s shindigs. Always such a good time.” Mr. Simmons winked at his daughter and then noticed me. “Kent Simmons. You must be Vincent. I’ve heard so much about you.”
“Ah ... nice to meet you, sir.” I shook his hand. I hadn’t expected to meet the father of the woman whose bed I was occupying with increasing regularity. “Depending on who was talking about me, don’t believe everything you hear.”
He laughed, and I realized why his smile seemed so familiar. Both that and his laugh were just like Amanda’s—or more accurately, hers were like his.
“It was all from my wife, and I can assure you that she is truthful and accurate to a fault. Also, she had only glowing reports of you. Particularly after you rushed to the city to care for our daughter when she was ill.” Mr. Simmons squeezed his daughter’s shoulder. “Knowing you were with her set our minds at ease when we couldn’t be there.”
“Yes, Vincent was my very own Florence Nightingale.” Amanda slid her hand into mine. “Now that you’ve both done an admirable job of embarrassing me, we’re going to find the bar, so I can drink away that memory. We’ll catch up with you later.”
She dragged me away as I smiled a goodbye to her parents. “Shouldn’t we have hung with your mom and dad a little longer?”
“Nope.” Amanda shook her head. “They have the whole schmoozing thing to do, and we’d only be in the way of that. We’ll have plenty of time to chat later, because we’re sitting at the same table. So never fear. You’ll be able to get to know them, if that’s what you want.”
We crossed the large ballroom, wending our way through clumps of people who were standing together. I recognized a few faces from the news, the movers and shakers who were bigwigs in the state of New Jersey. A few called out greetings to Amanda, who smiled and nodded to acknowledge them, although she never stopped walking.
“These people know you? I mean—that was the attorney general over there. And he was talking to a United States senator. They called you by name.”
She sighed. “Yeah, I know them. My mother’s been in politics since I was in the womb. Most of them have known her since then, so yes, they’ve watched me grow up. We’ve been at holiday parties together ... not to mention too many fundraisers to count. They’re like your aunts and uncles and cousins, in a way.”
