He exhales and sets his mug down. “I could get fired for talking to you about this, but I think you’ll find out soon, so fuck it. There’s a small but vocal minority who thinks they can strong-arm everyone into getting their way on a few provisions of the tax plan. We’ve been trying towork with them, but because our margin for passage is so slim they’ve become less and less reasonable.”
“They’re holding it hostage.”
“Exactly. The teacher credit debacle is one example. When that got leaked, it really lit a fire under Hammond, so we’re trying something a little different. We thought if we could get a few of the more moderate Democrats on board, then the problem goes away.”
“What makes you think you can convince Carol?”
He smiles. “One of the ideas floated was to triple the child care credit.”
“Tripleit?” I nearly drop my plate.
“It’d be a way for Warner to salvage some success from your bill, reframe the narrative a little. Not to mention, her numbers would get a bump for supporting the tax breaks. She could be part of the victory lap. It’s a win-win. That’s how we’re framing it, anyway.”
“If Carol flips and throws her support behind the tax bill, that will be abigdeal.”
“That’s what we’re counting on. We think where she goes, others will follow.” He takes my hand and starts playing with my fingers, and awareness dawns.
“Wait, was thisyouridea?”
“I can’t take all the credit, but I campaigned hard for Hammond to go this direction, yes. I was inspired by a certain ball-busting blonde...”
I can hardly process all these developments. “So you’ve been working on all of this behind the scenes and didn’t tell me.”
“Iwantedto tell you. Desperately.” He brings my wrist to his lips and kisses it.
“But you couldn’t. I get it. However, I’m a bit concerned about what a convincing liar you are. It’s a serious boyfriend red flag.”
“To clarify, I never actuallylied.” He drops his head to my shoulder, pressing kisses along my collarbone.
“A sin of omission is still a sin. Any other secrets you’re keeping? Now’s your chance to come clean.”
“Hmm, let’s see.” He tilts his head like he’s considering it.
“I was kidding.”
He purses his lips, eyeing me thoughtfully.
“You can’t possibly be hiding anything else.”
His expression shifts, the look in his eyes distinctly guilty, and my insides tense up. “Okay, now you’re making me nervous.”
He chuckles as he takes my hand again, his other arm wrapped around my legs on his lap. “So you know how I’ve never told you the number one criteria for my ideal woman?”
I stare at him like he’s just asked me to explain nuclear fission.
“Just go with me on this.”
“Um, okay?”
“I never could figure out a way to tell you this without it coming off wrong, but here goes.” He shifts in his seat, clearly uncomfortable. “My future wife needed to give me the same feeling I got when I met... someone else a while back.”
My face heats. Is he seriously talking to me about anotherwoman?
His eyes take on a faraway look. “About six months before you showed up in my office, I was at an event and saw this woman across the room. I was immediately captivated by her. It was like a lightning bolt. There was just something about her... she stopped me in my tracks. I knew I had to meet her, so I wrangled an introduction somehow.”
He’s staring off into space, and I’m simultaneously desperate and terrified to find out where he’s going with this. I hardly want to be compared to some dream woman he’s built up in his mind. I try to remove my legs from his lap, but his arm tightens, holding me in place.
He looks back at me and smiles tightly. “But when I told her what I do and who I worked for, she lookedrightthrough me. I mean, shebeelined outta there.” He lets out an angry-sounding grunt. “I was... I don’t know, pissed. Disappointed.” He takes a deep breath, shaking his head like he’s shaking off the memory.
