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Jamie hadn’t been in the Oval Office too many times—it always seemed a little too surreal. The last time he had ventured inside was the day the president pinned the Purple Heart to his pristine uniform once his feet had healed and he was able to stand without crutches. It had made a pretty picture—president and war hero, side by side. America had loved it.
The president was on the phone when Jamie walked in, his new Secret Service goon tailing him and Boomer at his side. Nobody ever questioned the dog. President Barratt looked up from the desk, spotted him, and smiled, holding up one finger while the conversation finished. Jamie stood patiently at ease until the phone slotted back into the cradle.
“Jamie!”
“Hi, Mom.” He smiled warmly, stepping forward to embrace her.
She held him tightly for a long minute before kissing his cheek and stepping back, holding him at arm’s length while surveying him. “You look tired, honey.”
Jamie laughed and shrugged. “Ah, I’m okay.”
“Are you sure?”
He raised his eyebrows. “Mom, I’m twenty-five, not five. I’m sure. I’m fine.”
The president nodded before letting go of Jamie’s arms and heading back to the other side of her desk. “Okay,” she replied, gathering some papers and handing them to her aide, Natalie.
Jamie raised his eyebrows in acknowledgement and Nat gave him a brief smile before the president spoke again.
“I’ve asked them to get the house in the Hamptons ready for you. I thought you could stay there for a couple of weeks while you get back on your feet.”
“What?” Jamie replied in disbelief.
This was not what he’d expected. He’d thought that his mother would put him up in the White House for a little while until they found him an apartment or a penthouse. He’d been in the last place for only six weeks, but it made him sick to think about going back there. It didn’t hold good memories.
“I just don’t think it’s good for you to come right out of hospital and back into big city life when you’ve just recovered from a burn-out.”.
Jamie shook his head. “Do I not even get a say in this?”
The president looked up and around the Oval Office. There were only a few staff inside, but the door was open. “Can we have the room for the moment, please?”
They all filed out, and Natalie closed the door behind her.
His mother turned back. “Jamie, I can’t have you in DC right now. Not after the last time. You know that you can’t manage it at the moment—you need to take it easy, keep a low profile, make sure you’re fully recovered before you start all that again. If you go to the house in the Hamptons, then you can ease into it. Have a quiet drink with friends, walk Boomer on the beach…”
“Be boring?”
President Barratt fixed him with a stony glare. “Boring is just what you need right now, Jamie.”
He stared at his feet and drew his top lip between his teeth, anxiously gnawing it. Beside him, Boomer whined and nosed his hand, and Jamie pulled a deep breath, drawing himself up straight, and calmly looking his mother in the eye. “Alright.”
She smiled at him. “Good. How is your new Secret Service guy?”
“Roberts? Stoic.”
“Natalie says he’s exceptional. You have similar backgrounds.”
“Well, if Natalie says he’s decent…” Jamie muttered sarcastically.
“Be nice,” his mother warned. “You’re going to be stuck with him for a while.”
* * * *
Earlier at the hospital, Chris had already tired of Jamie’s shit.
This hadn’t been his first time meeting James Barratt, although it seriously felt like it; Chris and Jamie had crossed paths very briefly, two years earlier. But the man who had sat next to him on the drive back to Washington had been vastly different to the man he remembered meeting. This new James Barratt was more like a sulky teenager than the vibrant, charming personality he’d been before.
Jamie had walked out of the hospital at Bethesda to a horde of paparazzi and reporters. You could tell that he came from money and politics, the way he handled them with casual grace and charm, easily dodging questions that were too prying and reaffirming that he was fine, that he was back on form, fighting fit and ready for the world before sweeping away and climbing into the black Secret Service car, Chris sliding into the back with him.
