uncontrollably in response.
Because the truth is… I’m uncontrollably, undeniably wet for him right now. If he had moved his hand only a little more upwards, he would have come across proof of just how much my body enjoys his touch. The idea is so embarrassing that I want the ground to swallow me up just at the thought of it.
“That’s what I thought.” David smiles that terrible half-cocked smile, satisfied with my reaction.
“How dare you?” My voice is dangerous. “People are watching outside. What gives you the right to assume that I want you?”
“Because you do,” he says shortly. “Do you deny it?”
I try to open my mouth to protest. But not a word comes out. I just sit there, gulping air and attempting to stay afloat.
“Women want what I can offer them.” David is lecturing. It’s not a suggestion but an explanation of the facts. “They want my body. My power. My money. What they think I could do to them.”
I wait for him to continue. But the pause he leaves… it’s like he wants me to ask. Like he wants me to take the bait.
He’s playing with me.
And yet I still can’t resist. “What do they think you could do to them?”
His shockingly blue eyes pierce me. “I am a man who gets things done, Veronica. This applies to all aspects of my life.”
I’m conscious of everything about us. The way my whole body is tilted forwards as if it’s begging to be closer to his. Of the way my skin burns where he’s touched me. Of the way his hand comes over and brushes a lock of dark hair away from my face.
Flash. A not so subtle member of the paparazzi outside eagerly snaps that one up, leaving their flash on.
“I’m sorry, Veronica,” David says softly, “but I’m going to have to kiss you now.”
Being told by President David Shepard that he is about to kiss you really isn’t the type of thing most people would be sorry about at all. Most people are sorry about accidentally stepping on someone’s foot or accidentally sitting in the wrong seat in a movie theatre.
No, ‘sorry’ really isn’t the word to encapsulate how I’m feeling when David Shepard places his thumb on my chin and kisses me on the mouth.
Of course, it’s perfectly staged for the cameras. I’m not sure why none of them are clever enough to notice - why else would David deliberately rotate our heads so they can get a perfect view? - but in fairness, they’re all probably too busy thinking about what a killer headline this is about to be.
More than dinner: President Shepard shows affection for fiancée Veronica Waters.
Kiss and tell? SECRET KISS between SHEPARD and his soon to be WIFE.
PDA: Presidential Displays of Affection?
But the second his lips are on mine, I’m not thinking about any of that. My whole body melts as if a switch has been flipped inside my brain. Yes. Fuck yes. Every ounce of need that I’ve been repressing surges forwards uncontrollably.
I need him. I need him so fucking badly.
But of course, it doesn’t last long. He pulls away from me, and I notice the way his eyes dart to the cameras through the window as if to check.
Because that’s what he cares about.
The horror of what’s just happened sinks in. I’ve just kissed the President of the United States. And I liked it.
David
“I’m sorry, Veronica, but I’m going to have to kiss you now.”
The moment my lips touch hers, I know it’s a lie. I’m not sorry in the slightest.
I don’t need to kiss her for the cameras. The romantic date is more than enough to appease them. No, I kiss her because I want to. Because I have to. For me.
I’m not sorry at all.
As I watch her walk to the bathroom, all I can think of is that kiss. How fucking good it felt to kiss a woman, this woman, my woman.
No, she isn’t my woman. I have to be careful... really fucking careful. I’m walking such a thin line.
Fuck David, what are you doing?
This isn’t being in control. This is chaos. I’ve taken what I want with no thought for what it means.
What if she’d pulled back? What if she’d said no? The media would have torn this charade apart. That would have been it... the end of me.
No, I should have controlled myself. I need to stay in control. But how can I?
How am I supposed to have controlled myself, sitting across from her