‘Where?’One word. That’s all he sends.
My fingers are trembling as I type back.‘The Beast. Five minutes.’
His reply is instant.‘On my way.’
I shove the phone back into my bag and turn to Simone.
“I need to leave. Now.”
She doesn’t ask questions. She never does. Just nods and speaks into her earpiece, and within seconds, Agent Torres is at my side.
“Ma’am. We have a secure route to the motorcade.”
“Good.” I smooth down my dress, trying to look calm. Presidential. “And Agent Torres?”
“Ma’am?”
“Coach Hendricks will be joining me. For a… strategy debrief.”
His face remains perfectly neutral.
“Of course, Madam President.”
Oh, God, he knows. He definitely knows.I cannot bring myself to care…
The stadium tunnel is complete chaos with media, staff, and security everywhere, but my detail carves a path through it like a knife through butter. I’m walking fast, my heels clicking on the concrete ground, and my heart beating so hard I can feel it in my throat.
This is insane, absolutely insane. I don’t freaking care.
And then I see him. Levi is walking towards us, in his dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, no tie, looking scrumptiously disheveled. His hair is a mess; his shirt, untucked… Fucking hot. Our eyes lock, and the rest of the world falls away.
He reaches me in three long strides, and it takes every ounce of self-control I have to not throw myself at him right then and there.
“Madam President.” His voice is low and rough. “I hear we have a meeting.”
“Coach.” I school my expression, but my pulse is racing. “Shall we?”
Agent Torres leads us to the car. The rest of my detail falls into formation, walking in front of us, behind us, at our sides… forming a veritable wall of suits and earpieces. And nobody saysa word. The Beast, or Cadillac One, the presidential limo, is waiting with its engine running. Torres opens the backdoor.
“The route is secure, ma’am. Twenty minutes to the hotel.”
Twenty minutes.
I climb in first. Levi follows, sliding into the seat next to me. The door closes. And then we’re alone. With the privacy screen up, behind tinted windows, in a soundproof car. My security team is at the front, secret-servicely not seeing or hearing anything. We sit there for a moment, not touching. The tension, so thick I can barely breathe.
“Lina.” His voice is pure rasp.
I smile, dragging my lower lip between my teeth. “Levi.”
He chuckles, shaking his head. “Trynna be a gentleman here.” His hands are clenched on his thighs, knuckles white. His tone sobers. “I’m trying to give you an out. If you don’t want…”
I climb into his lap.
Fuck being a gentleman.
His hands catch my hips, digging into my soft flesh as I straddle him. My dress rides up my thighs.
“Does this look like I want an out?” I breathe close to his ear, rubbing the side of my face over his beard, filling my lungs with his scent, rolling my hips to feel him, running my fingers through his thick hair.
