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I still preferred “baby,” though.
“Is it really a good idea to do this live? What if I screw up or start stammering?”
“It’ll show that you’re a real person with a story to tell.” He gripped my shoulder and pulled me close to kiss my cheek. “I think it’s better that it doesn’t feel edited and polished.”
Yeah, he was probably right, but that didn’t mean I had to like it.
“How do you even know Ari, anyway?” I swear, he knew everyone.
“I don’t, really. I’ve only met her a couple of times.” He looked over his shoulder at the woman in question. “I know her research assistant.”
Sounded like semantics to me, but whatever. “You’re kind of—”
“Nate?” Gage pressed a hand to my cheek as he studied me. “What’s wrong? What is it?”
I couldn’t speak, though. My heart jackknifed into my throat, and my head started spinning as the blood drained from my face. Because standing on the other side of the room, just inside the doorway, was Senator Esther Fairfax.
We had been so cautious. Not wanting to give her time to sabotage our plans or prepare a response, we had kept quiet on the details. Ari had been promoting a live, in-person interview to her viewers, but she hadn’t used my name.
So, what the hell was the senator doing there? On the slim chance she had learned of the livestream, she couldn’t have known where it would be held. I hadn’t even known until earlier that morning.
Dressed in a navy pantsuit and beige pumps, she looked no less intimidating, despite the absence of her usual entourage. Her hawkish gaze cut across the room, and the moment her eyes met, she started walking toward me.
“What the fuck is she doing here?” Gage demanded.
His answer came only a moment later when the senator reached us.
“Nathan, I need to speak with you. Alone.”
“No.” Gage turned, angling so that he stood partially in front of me. “You don’t get to come in here and make demands. Nate doesn’t—”
“Gage.” I pinched the back of his T-shirt and tugged. “It’s okay.” After a deep breath for courage, I stepped around him. “Give us a minute.”
“Nate, you don’t have to do this.”
“I know.” I tried to smile, but it felt more like a grimace. “Just don’t go too far, okay?”
“Are you sure?”
No, not even a little. “I’m sure. Really.”
Leveling a withering glare on the senator, he pressed a kiss to my temple and backed away. “I’ll be just outside the door if you need me.”
Though Ari didn’t look happy about it, she and her assistant filed out of the room after him. The senator didn’t even wait for the door to close behind them before she started speaking.
“What is the meaning of this, Nathan?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“This interview. Exactly what did you plan to say?”
It didn’t escape my notice that she spoke in the past tense. As if it had already been decided that I wouldn’t go through with it.
“Only the truth.”
“The truth as you see it,” she snapped. “I don’t know what has gotten into you. Ever since you met that man, your behavior has been completely unacceptable.”
“His name is Gage, and he’s only trying to help me.”
