He nodded. "Of course, having to kiss babies got old really quickly. So I lost the election and retired gracefully from the scene."
"I don't believe you."
"It's true." He looked at me, eyes wide. "Google news reports for the Shire of Merredan. You'll find several mentions of me."
"And why would you be mentioned?"
"Because there was a severe lack of lovely half-Aedh up there, which meant I had no choice but to assuage my more earthy needs with local lasses."
Lasses, plural. I smiled. "Just how many lasses are we talking about?"
"More than two. Less than ten."
I laughed. It hurt my head, but I didn't really care. "So that's what lost you the election."
"It wasn't so much my lascivious tendencies, but rather the fact they included several married women." He slowed the car and pulled into a parking spot, and I realized with surprise we'd arrived at my warehouse. He looked up at it for several seconds, then said, "It's a lovely old building."
"It's lovely inside, but no one with any taste in architecture would call the outside lovely." I undid my seat belt, then leaned across and dropped a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you for an interesting afternoon."
He smiled and ran his thumb down the side of my cheek. "My pleasure. In more ways than one." His lips met mine, the kiss brief and yet intense. "Until midnight tomorrow."
"Until then," I said, and forced myself out of the car.
He left with a squeal of tires, the rumble of the big engine shaking the windows in the houses opposite. I smiled and headed up the stairs, typing in the key code, then peering into the scanner. The door clicked open, and Ilianna said from the kitchen, "About time!"
"Sorry," I said, dumping my handbag on the couch, then making my way toward the bathroom. "And you were wrong about us being followed. They haven't given up."
Her head appeared around the kitchen doorway. "You all right?" Her gaze swept me, and she frowned. "God, you look like shit. Did they attack you?"