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Putting her hands between them, she shook her head sadly. “You need to sit over there.” She gestured to the other end of the sofa and gave him a little push. “Every time you come near me, my brain starts screaming ‘Kiss Will, touch Will,’ and my higher reasoning shuts off.”
“I have problems with incoherency when I’m with you, too.” He slid to the end of the sofa. At that moment he would have gladly traded the presidency and all its privileges to be Joe Smith, accountant.
Taking a deep breath, he dug around for his higher brain functions and the coherent words he planned to say. He cleared his throat. “I greatly appreciate your statement through Lucas and Lucas. It was well written and thoroughly supported my account.”
Elizabeth sighed. “Lot of good it did. I thought it might derail the movement toward hearings and help my family get that contract back.”
Darcy pressed his lips together. Hilliard and Bing had not been very successful in their efforts to forestall the inquiry. Wickham and other political enemies had too much to gain by dragging Darcy’s name through the mud. “That might have been too much to expect.”
“At least the State Department cleared the Red Cross grant, so I’m back at work,” she said.
“Thank God,” he said fervently.
“But still, everyone just seems to think I’m coerced, lying, or brainwashed—as if it’s not possible that I’m genuinely attached to you.” She smiled sourly.
He leaned closer, drinking in her faint lavender scent. “Are you?”
She was breathing rapidly. “Am I what?”
“Genuinely attached to me?”
“Oh yes.”
That called for another kiss. The distance between them was crossed in an eyeblink. After a long silence, he pulled away, giving her a tentative smile. “I heard what you said to my aunt.”
She grinned. “That’s not the kind of sweet nothing I expected you to whisper in my ear.”
Darcy laughed. “She called and gave me an earful about what you said. The conversation had the opposite of its intended effect. It gave me hope that I hadn’t lost you altogether.”
“I’m not lost, b—”
He didn’t allow her to finish. “Thank God!” He clasped both of her hands in his, realizing what she needed to hear. “Elizabeth, I have to tell you something.” Her eyes, dark, mossy green, watched him somberly. “I think…no, I know…I’m in love with you.”
She swallowed, looking down at her hands. For a moment Darcy feared she was about to cry. “Will, oh God…I-I love you, too.” Her expression was unreadable. It certainly wasn’t happiness at their mutual declaration.
He would simply have to change her mind. His hands squeezed hers gently. “Then I want to pursue this and see where it goes. You know, date. Go out. Whatever the kids are calling it these days.” He pulled her into his arms. “I don’t ever want to let you go again.”
She frowned. “How is that even possible?”
“Well, my dating options are limited, but we can still order out for pizza and watch a movie on the couch. Or did you know the White House has its own bowling alley? Complete with shoes.”
She was silent, staring into space. The ticking of a clock behind them was overly loud in the quiet of the condo.
His palms grew sweaty. What if she wasn’t willing to make the sacrifices? “I realize I’m asking a lot,” he said finally. “The reporters will never leave you alon
e…You’d have to surrender a lot of privacy. But I can make sure you have security.”
She still wouldn’t look at him. Darcy’s heart pounded against his ribs. She can’t say no. Please, don’t say no.
“I’m not…I can deal with the media.” She swallowed. “It’s…your poll numbers.”
Okay, those words just didn’t make sense. “What?”
“You’ve seen it. Since this whole thing broke, your poll numbers have taken a nosedive. The media’s been questioning your honesty. Congressmen are going on television and implying that you’re immoral. And your approval ratings have plummeted.”
“I don’t care,” Darcy said. “The only person whose opinion counts is yours.”
She ran her fingertips along his cheek. “That’s sweet…and totally unrealistic. You have a tough vote coming up in Congress over the renewable energy and environment bill. You need bipartisan support, or it won’t go anywhere—”
