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Kline picked up the cigarettes. “I don’t think he was in the mood,” he said as he lit the first cigarette and then handed it to Lonsdale, “to hear what I had to say.”

Lonsdale took the cigarette, thrilled by the prospect that it had just touched Kline’s lips. “You have nothing to worry about.”

“From where I’m sitting it seems like I have a lot to worry about.”

Lonsdale set down her drink and reached out and grabbed his arm. “You have to trust me on this, Wade. They’re trying to scare you off this, hoping that it will simply go away, but it isn’t going to go away. This whole sordid mess is going to be in front of my committee the day after tomorrow, and then you are going to look like a hero.”

Kline was silent for a long moment and then after looking around he started laughing.

“What’s so funny?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “I just thought of something my dad said to me years ago.”

“What’s that?”

“He was a lawyer too, and he used to rattle off all the great attorneys in New York, and he used to say to me, ‘Son, do you know what they all have in common?’ And I used to say, ‘They’re all smart,’ and he’d laugh and say, ‘They’re all smart, but what they really have in common is that everyone hates them.’”

“The old adage that you can’t be successful without people hating you,” Lonsdale agreed.

“I suppose.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll stick to our deal,” she said. “The Criminal Division is yours.”

“Not if the White House has anything to say about it.”

“If the president wants to get any of his judges confirmed he’ll go along…trust me.”

Kline took a big gulp from his drink and said, “So what’s next?”

“How about dinner?”

“Oh,” he said, trying to buy a second to think, “I’d love to, but I have plans. In fact I really should get going.”

Lonsdale looked up into his damn blue/gray eyes and thought about kissing him. “But I just got here.”

“You were forty-five minutes late,” he reminded her.

“But I’m a senator.” She smiled. “I have a busy schedule.”

Kline took a step back and laughed in a carefree way. He held his glass up and said, “The most beautiful senator on the Hill.”

Lonsdale blushed. “Flirting will get you everywhere.”

“I’ll have to remember that, but I’m going to have to take a rain check on dinner.”

Lonsdale’s euphoric mood plummeted, but she didn’t let him see the disappointment she was feeling. “I know,” she started, “I have three more functions to attend to this evening, but I would have loved some company.”

“Next time,” he said in a rush. “I promise.”

“Good.” Not wanting the rejection to drag on any longer than it already had, she offered him her cheek, and said, “You’d better get going.”

Kline kissed the smooth skin just beneath her high cheekbone and then retreated. Lonsdale watched him walk back into her office and when he was finally gone, she let loose an emotional exhalation and began fanning herself with her free hand.

CHAPTER 47

RALPH Wassen entered the expansive office and eyeballed the dejected look on his boss’s face. He had just passed Wade Kline in the hallway and guessed correctly that Lonsdale’s consternation was due to the handsome boy wonder from the Justice Department. Never one to beat around the bush he blurted out, “You want to sleep with him, don’t you?”

“Excuse me?” Lonsdale said, genuinely stunned.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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