Fixer: A Bad Boy Romance (24 page)

"Okay, that's enough," Tanner groaned, as both Freddie and Alicia dissolved into giggles. "Yes, I'm out with Alicia, and the two of us are together. Officially."

"Finally," Alicia added, provoking another snort from Freddie.

Needing to change the topic, Tanner turned his attention back to Freddie. "How about you?" he asked. "You're still seeing that girl from earlier? Crystal? Christine?"

"Cristina, and sadly, I'm not," Freddie admitted glumly. "She wanted a guy who'd be out in the bars every night, and my liver threatened me, told me that I had to choose - either break up, or look for a transplant. I decided that I'd rather keep my internal organs than have a long-term girlfriend with drinking as her top interest."

Alicia sighed. "Too bad. We could have gone on some lovely double dates together."

Both of the men shared a private glance, rolling their eyes at each other. Freddie might like teasing Tanner about his new relationship status, but he knew that any sort of double date would end up with both of the women laughing and having a great time together, while both of the men just sat, drank, and waited for it to be over.

Still, Tanner's face brightened as he turned back to Alicia, loving the feel of her leaning in against him. Solid, comforting, soft and warm and supple. He couldn't wait to get her back to her apartment - although, already, the space was starting to feel a bit cramped.

He hadn't said anything to her, not yet - but Tanner had set up several alerts on property sites, waiting for something in the right neighborhood, at the right price, to pop up so he could pounce on it. A good redirection of his predatory political instincts, he figured.

Not that those instincts weren't still getting a workout, serving as Alicia's chief of staff. Tanner quickly discovered that he had the rare talent of spotting incoming attacks from political opponents before they landed - it came naturally to him, considering how he'd helped to spearhead so many of those attacks in the past. He knew just how to counter them, and the Republicans were finally starting to realize that the measures Alicia championed weren't just going to fade away from normal blocking attempts.

After the FOCUS bill's "miraculous" passage, Alicia quickly became a media darling. Her clear approach to speaking, her strong beliefs that radiated through in every speech she gave, and her quick wit and ever-present sense of humor made her an immediate favorite on talk shows, and she appeared on several national programs, including The Daily Show (a personal favorite of Tanner's, and he nearly fainted when Alicia invited him to come along and meet the host before the actual taping of the show). After the bill faded from the news, Alicia stopped receiving quite as many calls for quotes on various topics - but Tanner made sure to collect the personal contact information of many of the reporters and television show producers, gathering ammunition for the next battle that Alicia set out to fight.

And he knew that Alicia had an entire list of other social issues and important bills that she wanted to champion.

Even tonight, although Alicia was now laughing and enjoying her drink as she chatted back and forth lightly with Freddie, Tanner had been forced to practically drag her away from the review of a bill she'd been asked to consider co-sponsoring. "No more work!" he had insisted, laughing as she comically tried to clutch the sofa where she'd been sitting. "Come out and play!"

"I don't wanna!" Alicia cried back, even as tears of laughter streaked down her cheeks and she fought to keep from collapsing into giggles at how Tanner was scooping her up. "All the other kids laugh at me and try to get me blackout drunk!"

"They're laughing with you, not at you!" Tanner countered, grunting as he finally managed to get her slung up and over his shoulder, like a bag of potatoes. "Think of this as a visit to your constituents!"

"My constituents are back in Colorado, you jerk," Alicia replied, but then fell silent. A moment later, Tanner jumped as a pair of hands grabbed his ass. "Hey, look at this! I found something?"

"What did you find?"

"A cute little butt!" Another pinch from her. "And I wonder what's on the other side..."

"Stop, hey!" Tanner groaned, as she wormed around, her hands diving under his clothes. "You're going to make me drop you!"

"Worth it!" came Alicia's muffled reply, as Tanner finally sagged back down on the couch, worried that he'd drop Alicia on her head and end up having to take the Senator to the hospital. She landed on his lap, grinning up at him as her hands spread to inappropriate areas.

"Plenty of time for that afterwards - we're going to be late to meet Freddie," Tanner protested, making a half-hearted effort to stand up.

"Oh well," Alicia replied, and then unzipped his pants.

Somehow, Tanner only remembering to zip up his pants as they stepped into the bar, they managed to only arrive about fifteen minutes past the time that they'd given Freddie.

"You know," Alicia now said, peering at Freddie, "I do know a couple of other nice young women who happen to be single at the moment. I could see about getting you a date, if you wanted!"

Freddie turned anguished eyes on Tanner. "This always happens," he moaned. "Oh, I'm not single, but I happen to have a single friend! Let me set you up? Do you know how many set-up dates I've been on?"

"Forty-eight," said Tanner, who had heard this speech before.

Freddie shook his head, his eyes drooping sadly. "It's forty-nine, now. My hairdresser tried to set me up with one of her friends. Her friend turned out to be forty-five and with a bee's nest of a hairdo so big that she probably had squirrels living in it."

"So what, no second date with her?"

"She offered," Freddie said with a deadpan face, "but I turned her down. She wanted to 'go out clubbing like those young folks do', and I was worried that her hair would end up devouring another victim."

"Shame," Tanner said, shaking his head.

"Well, this woman that I'm picturing for you is young, cute, and has normal sized hair," Alicia kept pressing. "Come on, maybe set-up number fifty will be the one that ends up working out!"

Freddie still looked doubtful, so Alicia changed her approach. "She also wears a size four dress, and a size D bra," she added.

Immediately, Tanner's buddy perked up. "Okay, maybe I deserve to give her a shot. After all, who am I to judge people before at least meeting them, right?"

Tanner turned and looked down at Alicia. "You're evil, you know that?" he told her. "Everyone always believes that the Republicans are evil, but I think that it's you, masterminding the whole thing."

She just smiled back at him, her blue-green eyes so full of warmth and life and love that he felt like he could happily drown in them. "Yeah, but you love me, so it's okay."

"I do love you, at that," he admitted, leaning in to kiss her.

"And I love you, so much," she whispered back after the kiss, not leaning back from his face, gazing into his eyes. "You drive me crazy, but you're also the smartest, most driven, most principled man I know. And I love you."

He kissed her again, feeling his heart sing, beating in time with hers. Even Freddie's groan was half-hearted, as if the man, despite acting like a curmudgeon, knew that he was seeing Tanner happier than he'd ever felt before.

For the first time in his life, Tanner didn't feel focused on the present, afraid to consider what might come next in the future. Until now, he'd always told himself that he needed to live in the moment, not think about where he'd be headed next, what was in store for him in the future. After all, for most politicians, there was little reason to ever look further ahead than the next election cycle.

But now, he wanted to stare forward into his bright future until he went blind. Even now, just sitting with his arm wrapped around Alicia, Tanner couldn't wait for the next step. Getting a house, maybe secretly lifting one of Alicia's rings to get her finger's size and then visiting a few jewelry shops, looking for that perfect diamond...

Yes, he couldn't wait for the future.

Briefly, Tanner wondered if Alicia had any idea what he might be considering for the future. She hadn't said anything, certainly, hadn't given him any sort of hint or prodding. But still, when he sometimes looked up to find her just gazing at him, loving him, the strength of her affection for him so strong that he could practically feel it as a physical thickening in the air, he suspected that she knew a lot more about what he was considering than what she was willing to divulge.

Not that he minded. Tanner knew that Alicia was smarter than him - one of the first times he'd realized that about his dating partner, and found comfort in it.

Right now, he could just relax, focus on helping her as much as he could, and wait for that bright future to arrive.

Tanner realized that he'd been tuning out for a few minutes, and quickly played back the last bit of conversation between Freddie and Alicia in his head. They'd been talking in incomprehensible jargon about some sort of computer security stuff; Alicia had a cybersecurity bill sitting on her desk, waiting to be reviewed, and Freddie clearly had some strong feelings on the matter.

He listened idly, focusing more on watching the animation, the energy, in Alicia's face and hands as she debated with Freddie. This woman, he thought fondly, would go far in politics. For once, he found himself believing the hype that the pundits summoned up when they debated who they'd see as contenders in future Presidential campaigns.

And Tanner swore, yet again, to himself that he was done with tearing people down. He'd left that part of himself behind. Now, instead of focusing on holding back others, he was going to help make things happen, make a brighter future.

After all, he considered happily for a moment before crushing the thought as too much, too soon, that future might not belong just to Alicia and himself.

Who knew what their future might hold?

No matter what, however, Tanner knew that he'd be spending the rest of his life working to make sure that Alicia was happy, as happy as he could promise her. He loved her, and he wanted to spend the rest of his life showing her, each and every day.

So he sat next to his true love and his best friend in the Capitol Lounge, sipping his drink and listening to them talk, enjoying being happy. This was all he needed.

The End - but there's another story ahead:

Selling Grace

You can still sign up for ANOTHER free book!

Sign up for my mailing list, and I'll give you another full-length novel, filled with mystery, romance, and sexy twists and turns, entirely for FREE!

A Billion Little Clues

Melinda Gaines, overworked personal assistant, is cursed with permanently bad luck. Her boss keeps making unreasonable demands, and no guy has seen the inside of her apartment in 
months
.

But when Melinda is sent to a party at the CEO's house, she ends up on a romantic, moonlit balcony with an unnervingly handsome stranger. Melinda is convinced that her run of bad luck is over.

That is, until she finds that her latest crush is being accused of murder...

Want it? Click here to sign up and get it now, or copy the following link into your browser:

http://smarturl.it/Westlake

My subscribers are the first to hear about my latest novels, and get unique sale opportunities, as well as a chance to read advance copies - all for free! Sign up now!

Keep reading! I've included a bonus copy of another book,

SELLING GRACE