The Lying Season (Seasons #1) - K.A. Linde Page 0,101

candidly. “So do I.” Her blue eyes were steady on my face, looking for a reaction. “I am going to put in my bid to run for president.”

My jaw dropped open. But my heart soared.

“Leslie! That’s…that’s incredible. You’d make a great candidate.”

“I’m not certain of that,” she said with a small sigh. “But I am glad that you think so. I have many things that go against me in the race. Many things that could come out in the election cycle. They would dig through my past, through my finances, my children, my husband, my political career. It would all be on the table.”

“And yet, you still think that you should run?”

She nodded once, decisively. “Despite all that, I think that I can make a difference. I think I can do more than just be the mayor of New York City. I could help the nation.”

“I think you could too.”

“I’m glad,” she said. “Because I would like you to run my campaign.”

This time, my jaw hit the floor.

My dream.

The one I’d had every day since hearing Governor Woodhouse speak.

The one I’d never thought would be a reality.

It was here.

She was asking me to run her bid for president.

“You’re more than qualified,” Leslie said. “And I want to put my money where my mouth is. I want as many qualified women in top positions as I can get. I know I can only do this with you at the helm. What do you say?”

“Yes,” I said without hesitation. “Yes. Absolutely yes. I’ll do it.”

“It’s going to be tough. We both know it will be. But it will be worth it.”

“It will be.”

“You can’t tell anyone yet, of course.”

“Anyone?”

She laughed. “Well, you can tell Sam.”

I grinned. “Oh good.”

“But we’ll have to put together an announcement date and start to get the team back together.”

“I’m so happy for you,” I told her honestly. “I think we can do this.”

“I sure hope so.”

We spent the next hour strategizing everything that we could for the presidential election, which would be exponentially bigger than what we’d run in the past. I had pages of notes on my tablet by the end of our conversation. And I felt like I was on cloud nine as I skipped out of the office and headed to Buns to tell Sam.

Sam was waiting for me at our booth in the back of the completely empty burger joint. He stood when I rushed into the place, his eyebrow arched at my enthusiasm.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

I grabbed his hand and tried not to jump up and down with excitement. “No one else knows but Court and Penn, but Leslie just told me that she’s planning to run for president.”

“Holy shit! That’s incredible, Lark.”

I bounced a little on my toes. “And even more…she wants me to run her campaign.”

“Wow. That’s a huge responsibility. I can’t think of anyone else who would be better for the job.”

“I can’t even believe this is my life. That I could be this lucky.”

“It’s not luck. You’ve put in the work, and now, you’re being rewarded for your loyalty and dedication.”

“You’re right. I know. But it still seems totally out of this world that it’s happening.”

He grinned down at me. “I guess this might make my news seem a little less exciting.”

“Oh?” I asked. “What’s your news?”

Slowly, he withdrew a small Tiffany blue box from his pocket. My hands flew to my mouth as he went down on one knee in the middle of our diner and opened the box to reveal a round cut diamond with other diamonds on either side of it on the platinum band.

“Lark, will you marry me?”

“Oh my god,” I gasped, tears coming to my eyes. “Yes, yes, so much yes. What is this day? I can’t believe this is happening. Of course I’ll marry you.”

He laughed as I rushed through all of my words. Then he straightened and seized me in a tight hug that made the tears fall down my cheeks. This was happening. We were getting married. I couldn’t even breathe.

I pulled back just enough for him to pluck the ring out of the box and slip it onto my ring finger. I held my left hand out to admire the beautiful thing while I brushed the tears off of my cheeks with the other hand.

“I love you so much,” I told him.

“I love you too.”

The light reflected in his eyes and made them shine. He was beaming, his smile stretching from ear to ear. As if he’d never