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“Are you all right?” Dad asked in the hotel lobby, which had been serving as our designated meeting spot all week.
“Yeah,” I said, rubbing a self-conscious hand through my hair.
I actually felt better than all right, but I just wasn’t sure my appearance told the same tale. After leaving Colt’s apartment, I’d only had about two hours to crash in my hotel room before I had to start getting ready. My hair wasn’t as polished as I would have liked it, I hadn’t had time to thoroughly wash off the hairspray that I had used for my curls the previous night. And as time kept ticking by a little too quickly for my liking, I hadn’t been able to apply my makeup as carefully as I would have liked either. So I probably had bags under my eyes and looked a wreck despite the pleasurable glow I felt from the amazingly passionate night I’d spent with Colt.
“Why do you ask?”
Dad shrugged. “Something just seems a little different about you this morning. Did you have fun last night?”
Awkwardly, I turned my back to him to approach the refreshment table, where I started making myself a cup of coffee. “Yeah. Last night was all right.”
“What did you do?”
I coughed. “Nothing much.”
“Oh,” Dad said, sounding surprised. “I thought you and Eden hung out?”
“We did!” I said, wanting to slap myself. My mind was so occupied with Colt that I had almost forgotten Eden. “We uhm…Just went for a walk. Watched a movie. Girl-talked. That sort of thing.”
“That’s nice,” Dad said. “What—”
“Do you want some more coffee, Dad?” I asked, cutting him off before he could ask what movie we watched.
“Sure, sweetie. I could use a refill.” He handed o
ver his coffee mug and I proceeded to fix him a cup of coffee. Just as I finished, footsteps sounded down a nearby hall and an important-looking businessman in a pin-striped suit appeared.
“Speaker Finley!” he said, enthusiastically. With a wide grin, he took several long strides toward my father, his hand outstretched.
“Barry! How are you?” Dad said, taking the man’s hand and shaking it.
“Can’t complain! The real question is how are you?”
Dad laughed. “Pretty good. At least that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it! I’ve got a long road ahead of me, so I definitely can’t complain now. I’m just getting started.”
“So I take it that the vice presidency is becoming more of a probability than a possibility, eh?”
“I guess you can say something like that, if we’re talking about wishful thinking.”
“Excellent! And I see you’ve got Natalie with you for support! How are you, sweetheart?”
I smiled and handed my father his coffee before Barry embraced me in a hug. “I’m fine, sir. Good to see you again.”
“Likewise, darling. This old man needs someone like you to keep him in check.”
We all shared a laugh before Barry clapped his hands together. “All right. Well—time’s a wasting! Let’s get started.”
“Sure thing,” Dad said. “What’s first on the schedule?”
“We’re going to take a short walk to the meeting with a few campaign strategists to get some tips on how to make you appear to be the best candidate for the coveted position,” Barry said, motioning for us to follow him as he headed toward the exit. I took a large swig of my coffee, hoping it would wake me up so that I could pay better attention during the upcoming meetings.
“So that I can appear to be the best candidate?” Dad asked with a raised eyebrow.
Barry laughed and held his hands up in a surrendering gesture. “Hey—I know you’re the best candidate. It’s just a matter of making sure everyone else knows it too!”
“Oh, I see,” Dad said. Barry held the lobby door open for us and prepared to say something else. But whatever else he wanted to say got lost in a cloud of smoke.
The world outside exploded, a blast so loud that it sent my cup of coffee falling to the ground with me right along with it. My ears rang and my vision turned to gray. I lay sprawled on the floor, unable to comprehend what was happening.
