of the United States. Somebody I can look up to and respect, but only from afar. Someone untouchable.
Somebody so out of my reach that I can’t even dream of tasting.
Without them… he’s just a man. An uptight, hard-ass of a man with shockingly blue eyes and cheekbones that could cut me. A man that makes my whole body feel tense and warm at the same time.
A man I want to take me to bed.
I snap myself back to reality. What on earth am I thinking? He might be playing a role right now, but he’s still the president. Was I seriously just thinking about how he might look naked?
Even worse… was I really secretly liking what I pictured?
“Something wrong, Veronica?” David asks me, his eyes taking me in from head to toe.
It’s not just simple concern. He’s giving me a soft smile, one corner of his lips cocked to the side. He’s amused by something.
Worry floods through me, even though I know it’s irrational. There’s something about those eyes of his… It’s like he’s reading my mind. Like he can see right through me.
I pray to every god out there that he can’t.
“No,” I reply, my voice barely more than a squeak.
Get a grip, Veronica, I snap at myself. What is it about being in the same room as this man that seems to lower my IQ by a hundred points? I didn’t get to where I am today by falling over myself every time someone moderately attractive passes by me.
Except the President is more than just moderately attractive. He’s a liability to women everywhere.
“Ready to go?” he asks, offering me his arm.
I stare at it. It’s only his hand… but I think about the effect holding his hand at the press conference had on me. His touch was calculated and planned, nothing more than another step in our plan. But the heat of our joined bodies won’t stay out of my head.
I really hope Trevor calls me back soon.
“Yes,” I say, after what feels like an agonizingly long pause on my side. He has to notice that something is up by now. “Let’s go.”
I slip my hand into his, praying that last time was an anomaly. But to my dismay, every inch of my skin feels as if it’s been set on fire. His hands are so warm. It shouldn’t be possible for anyone’s hands to be this warm.
“Come with me,” he says. “There’s a car out front.” He motions to Jackson. “Take the evening off. Thank you for doing such a good job today.”
It takes me far too long to process his words. How am I supposed to process anything else in the universe when David is touching me?
True enough, there’s a long black limo parked outside. A short distance away, there are two other cars. The Secret Service, I guess. It’s not like the President can just be allowed to go for a solitary drive on his own.
“Where are we going?” I ask.
“That’s the wrong question to be asking.” He holds open a car door and I climb inside.
“Then what’s the right question?”
He smirks as the car engine starts up and we begin to drive away, onwards and away from the White House gates. “‘What are we doing’?”
I have a sinking feeling that he’s playing with me. “Then what are we doing, David?”
“I’m making sure,” he says, slowly and unflinchingly, “that you’re thoroughly seduced.”
He should be illegal. If it wasn’t his actual job to run the country, I would suggest banning him entirely.
I can’t help going entirely red, even down to my neck. I’m probably clashing horribly with my dress right now.
The worst thing of all? I know he’s just trying to get a reaction out of me. Even though he comes off to the world as this serious, no-nonsense workaholic… there’s a part of him that’s a killer. A part of him that enjoys playing with his food before destroying it. He sees me as a challenge, I realize. Another roadblock in his road to achieving presidential glory.
It’s the same instinct that probably got him the power he has today. Watching him argue and speak in the presidential debates last year was an exhilarating experience. His opponents would talk and insult David to their heart’s content, and yet as soon as he himself began speaking he’d change the game. He’d play with them on stage, making his rivals fall over their words and look like idiots.
The truth about President David Shepard? Every move he makes is