9781631054631ChoiceAffairsSalisbury (25 page)

I walked over to the
Sub-Zero and eyeballed its contents. I had hoped for pizza, but could tell by
his mood that was out of the question. Turning around, I sa
w him standing in the doorway. “Enjoying the view?” I
teased.

“Very
much.”

“Please, tell me what
you’re hungry for. All I see is a refrigerator full of food.”

“Whatever you want to
fix will be fine by me.”

“You’re no help,
Choice. Breakfast suit you?”

“Yes
, as a matter of fact, that sounds wonderful.”

“Okay, let me get
things started. Word of warning—I’m going to at least put on a T-shirt. Hot
grease and bare skin don’t go together.”

He began to chuckle.
If nothing else, I got him to lighten up and laugh a
little.
He was wound up tighter than a clock and needed to relax.

A short time later, we
were sitting at the dining room table feasting on biscuits, sausage, and cheese
scrambled eggs Apolo had insisted on cooking himself. The man had even picked
out a whi
te wine to go with our out-of-the-norm
breakfast-dinner. Only Apolo would think to do that.

Our conversation
centered
around
his cousin Tina and how she’d had to
move out of the south to accomplish what she had set out to do. Apolo mentioned
her parents we
re quite old fashioned and had expected
her to settle down, marry, and have kids after college. If she wanted to work,
she could volunteer for the Junior League or something. In other words, they
had expected her to follow in her mother’s footsteps and be
a gentile, southern lady.

“I don’t know why I
didn’t think of her until now.”

“Subconsciously, I
imagine you wanted to use someone locally, as did I. That’s not going to work
right now. From what I read online this afternoon, she’s quite sought after.”

“So, you won’t have a
problem using her services, if she has the time and agrees to take us on as
clients?”

“None in the least,
though I would like to speak with her first.” I grinned at him, a futile
attempt to get him to relax.

“I expect we’ll all
touch
base before the
weekend’s
out. Perhaps if she’s receptive to the
idea, I’ll suggest either she fly here for a visit, or that you go out there
and meet with her.”

“Or just start online,
Apolo.” I tried to stifle a laugh. Sometimes, he amazed me by how he co
uld forget something
so
commonplace as a teleconference. He’d
done them thousands of time at Choice Enterprises. No, Apolo was still a bit
old fashioned, preferring face to face contact over the internet.

“Yes, we could do that
too.”

“I’ve written down som
e notes of questions I’d like to ask her. Would you care to
see them, senator?”

He sighed, trying to
look dejected. It wasn’t working. “It doesn’t appear you’re going to give me
any other choice.”

“And while you’re
doing that, I’ll clean up this mess.”

He
grabbed my wrist as I passed him. “After which, I have
other plans for us.
Plans that
don’t include business or housework.”

Leaning over him, I
kissed him on the forehead. “I’m all yours, husband.”

* * * *

Apolo

I was fast learning
that being a politici
an is far more complicated in
these days and times.
Far more
complex than running my businesses.
Here, people held grudges, were
vindictive behind your back. All while smiling and saying glowing things to
your face.

Jacob has discovered a
reporter snooping
around.
That young pup from Atlanta.
The one Caitlyn caught parked outside
the gates of our home. What exactly he’s up to is unclear. He was granted a
transfer to the paper’s Washington bureau, with me being his primary interest.

I knew going in that
the
previous occupant of this seat had many enemies.
Jacob was concerned that some of it might carry on to me.

While my staff was
effective in diverting attention off the Susan Pickett-White—Senator
affair
and the other drama’s that seemed
determined to try an
d grow legs of their own, I still
worried for Caitlyn. Now, she
was
having
to deal with people not wanting to work with her because
of things attached to me. She’s a trooper, determined.

This reporter,
however, did push alarm bells for me. I wasn’t about t
o
let Caiti know, but instead, decided to invite him to my office. If he
accepted, see if I could figure out what he was up to.

My deputy
chief-of-staff, Ethan, initiated the conversation on my behalf. He invited the
reporter to a one on one, sit down inte
rview, giving
me the perimeters of questions that could or could not be asked. To Ethan’s
utter shock, he declined. That raised red flags.

“I’m sorry, Senator
Choice, I’ve never had a reporter refuse a chance for a private interview
before.”

“Don’t fret, E
than. That’s a huge warning sign to me. The man is
obviously fishing for something. Get with Jacob. Find out what you can on him.
Then report back to me.”

“Yes,
sir.
I’ll check with a few other reporters, see if anyone knows him. If they do,
find out what
they think of him.”

“Good idea. Just be
discreet when you do it. I don’t need anything thing else biting me in the
ass.”

“I will, sir. And I’ll
check with Jacob to see what he’s learned.”

My cell phone chirped,
and Ethan turned and walked out of the room. One thing was for sure, I had a
very competent staff. I peered down at the phone.
Tina, my cousin.

“
Tina,
thanks for returning my call.”

“What can I do for
you, cuz? I mean, Senator Cousin
. I got your text
messages. Just tell me in your own words.”

“You always were
straight and to the point, Tina.”

“Well, you won’t
succeed in business if you beat around the bush, now will you?”

“No, you won’t.”

I explained to her the
condensed version of wh
at Caitlyn was encountering.
Told her a bit about what we were looking at doing and what purpose we wanted
the foundation to have. Then, I took a deep breath and waited for her response.

“I’d be happy to help
her get things set up. It probably wouldn’t be
a bad
idea if I came out there in a few weeks. First though, I think Caitlyn and I
can work back and forth using email and things. She can give me a feel for what
you two are after.”

“Excellent. Here’s her
number, but I’ll let her know you’re going to be c
alling.”

“Yes, please, do.
After we speak, I’ll do some research and get a package put together. I’m
really looking forward to seeing you and meeting your bride. It’s been too
long, cuz.”

“Yes, it has. I’ll let
Caitlyn know to expect your call. Thanks agai
n,
Tina.”

“No problem, senator.
I look forward to working with you both.”

I ended the call
feeling at least someone was on my side.
Our side.
Tina would do an excellent job for us,
and I know she and Caitlyn will hit it off in a big way.

As I waited on
Caitlyn to answer, I thumbed through the draft of a bill I
was to introduce along with two other colleagues. This was my first honest to
goodness piece of legislation. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t give me goose
bumps.

“Good afternoon,
senator,” she ans
wered, seductively. “What can I help
you with?”

The sound of the
cadence and sweet lilt of her voice instantly made me aroused. By sheer will, I
fought the urge in my head.
The one
telling me to go home and fuck her.
That would have to wait. Things were di
fferent now. No longer was she just down the hall from me.

“Unfortunately, you
can’t do what I’d really like. Not even over the phone, darling.” I heard her
laugh at my referral to phone sex. I continued, “I was calling to let you know
I spoke with Tina. S
he’s very interested and will be
calling you shortly.”

“Good. That’s a huge
load off my mind.”

“Mine too, but I knew
Tina would be interested. I’d be helping her, as the politician on her resume.
Cousin or not.”

“Well, no one has to
know you’re cousins, do
they?”

“No,
not at all.
Anyway, work with her. She said once she’s got things put together, she’d
probably
come
visit and go over everything in
person.”

“Great, I’ll be on
pins and needles, awaiting her call.”

“I need to go, sweet.
I shouldn’t be late, so
go ahead and fix dinner if
you want.”

“Okay. See you in a
few hours. I love you.”

“I love you, too.” I
peered up, across my office, and noticed both Renee and Jacob standing there.
Placing the phone down on my desk, I beckoned the pair in. “This must be s
erious, if the two of you are tag teaming me. What’s up?”

I watched warily as
they eased in, Jacob closing the door behind him. Something was going on. I
knew them both well enough after all these years to recognize almost their
every movement. Renee certa
inly was not her usually
collected self. She kept eyeing Jacob and avoiding eye contact with me. This
had better not be bad news. I don’t need anything else throwing me a curve.
They both sat down in the leather chairs in front of my desk.

“By the look on
your faces, I certainly hope this isn’t bad news,” I half
joked.

“No, no, it isn’t
Apolo. We, I mean, Renee and I, wanted to ask you something.”

“But of course.
Anything.”

“Would you and Caitlyn
stand up for us? We’re planning to get married.”

I sat there, not sure
if I’d heard them right. How did this one slip by me? I usually pick up on
these
sort
of things. “Did I just hear you right,
Renee? Did you say married?
You and
Jacob?”

“Yes,” she replied.
“Married.
We’d like to do it when you break f
or Christmas.
That
way things
here will be pretty much closed down.”

“Of
course.
I’m sure Caitlyn would be delighted, as well. You’ll have to forgive me. I’m in
a state of shock.” I sat up a little straighter. “Tell me one thing, though,
will you?”

“Yes, o
f course,” Jacob said.

“How long has this
been going on? You know what I mean. How long have you two been seeing each
other?”

“A while,” Renee
replied, a coy grin on her face. “Part of the reason I agreed to join you here,
Senator, and part of the reason I
didn’t need to find
a place to live.”

“We did have one
question, however. This, our getting married, won’t put our jobs in jeopardy,
will it?”

“No, Jacob. You two of
all people should know that. Nothing will change.” I assured them. “By the way,
do you tw
o have plans for a honeymoon?”