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“You want a donut or anything before you go?”
“Uhh…sure.”
* * *
In the car, I tried to eat the donut, but it was hard to swallow over the tightness in my throat. The dough tasted too sweet, and I hated the way it left my hands so sticky. But I forced myself to finish it before we made it to the library. All the while, Jones tried to engage me in polite conversation. He was a friendly man, and I had a feeling he and my father could have gotten along well. He was the type of guy that I could imagine myself referring to as ‘uncle’ had I known him longer.
However, he wasn’t Colt. And I desperately wanted Colt back.
When we got to the library, I went to the front desk to request several study guides. The woman behind the desk stared at me for a moment, and I instantly felt myself growing paranoid.
Did she know something about yesterday? Had she seen me and Colt? Had the person who’d almost come toward the room we’d occupied mentioned something to a library worker—telling them to be on alert for the Speaker’s daughter and a tall and hot security guard because they had done filthy things on a library table in a back room?
After she retrieved the study guides, she didn’t hand them over right away. She continued staring at me, her eyes scrutinizing me in a way that made me want to run away and never come b
ack.
Jones stood off to the side, watching. He took several steps toward me, apparently catching on to the fact that something was wrong. “Everything all right?” he said from the sidelines.
“I’m sorry,” the woman behind the desk said. “But are you Speaker Finley’s daughter?”
Jones was at my side in an instant.
I swallowed, my mouth having gone dry.
“I’m going to need you to keep your voice down,” Jones said to the woman.
Her eyes widened and she nodded. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I just wanted to say how much I love your father. I know he’s done some excellent work around the community. I just wanted to say that I wish him the best of luck. I hope he’s chosen as Vice President. If he is, he has my vote!”
I breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh…Uhm…Thank you.”
As if that close run-in wasn’t enough, to torture myself further, my feet seemed to move as if they had minds of their own. It even took me a moment to realize that I was taking myself right back to the room Colt and I had carried out our sordid deeds the previous day. I wasn’t even sure why. I suppose there was a part of me hoping that he would be right inside that room, waiting for me. That he would relieve Jones of his duty, and then take me to re-enact the previous day.
But once I got there, the room was empty.
“You like to be away from everyone, eh?” Jones said, following behind me.
“Uhm, yeah,” I lied. “It’s less distracting back here.”
“I understand,” he said. “Especially if you’re being recognized now.”
I sighed and settled into the room, suddenly feeling awkward. I didn’t want Jones in our special room, but I had so purposely walked here that I knew it would look weird if I abruptly changed my mind and headed to another area. So resigned, I took a seat at the table, trying to force from my mind the things Colt and I had done on that table. If I breathed in deeply enough, I thought I could still smell Colt’s scent.
“Well, this looks like a cozy spot,” Jones said, settling into a chair on the opposite side. “Don’t mind me. You won’t even know I’m here.”
I gave what I hoped was a polite smile, and cracked open the first study guide. I already knew that staying focused enough to actually study would be a hard task though. Slowly I was coming to understand the reason for Colt’s abrupt departure.
Colt Jackson was a man who had always taken his job seriously, and due to what had been happening between the two of us, he obviously felt his professional reputation was on the line. And if it came between me and his job, he was going to pick his job, no matter how many pretty words he had whispered in my ear while we’d been in the throes of ecstasy.
There was just no way that Colt and I could have, or should have, been together.
CHAPTER 13
Colt
When my phone had buzzed in the dead of night, my first thought had been, ‘Please don’t let me have jinxed myself.’
I was happy. So happy. Happier than I could remember being in a long time. Natalie was sleeping soundly beside me, so beautiful, her face so peaceful, finally absent from the stress that had been lurking in her eyes for weeks on end.
