The Rebel King (All the King's Men Duet #2) - Kennedy Ryan Page 0,94

him gets used to trusting his schedule to other people. I’ll tell him as soon as he’s done.”

I scan the perimeter of the crowd and the front of the stage, making sure the security is in place. Under his campaign T-shirt, Maxim wears a tightly-fitted bullet-proof vest, courtesy of Grim. There’s security at our SoHo apartment around the clock, which Kimba says makes her feel like a Kardashian, and Rick sits outside of my hotel room in every city on this pop-up tour. I’ve gotten used to it. I know it’s necessary, but I’ll never like it.

Once he’s done onstage, Maxim chats with people from the crowd, takes selfies, and generally wins over anyone within charming distance. The team huddles about the plan for the Philly leaders now that Maxim can’t meet them. Kimba has the great idea of having him record a video we’ll play at the beginning before we start addressing their concerns.

He’s no longer in front of the stage, so I dash to the bus, hoping to catch him before he goes. Not only about the video, but because I miss him so bad I ache. I just want to smell him, to touch him, to remind myself the man it seems the whole world wants more pieces of is still mine.

I hop on the Cade bus, which is long and tricked out with every amenity possible. Nothing but the best for Maxim. If that man is on your bus, it’ll be the best bus ride of your life.

Glenn is sitting in one of the booths, his laptop on the table.

“Hey, Glenn.” I hope my voice sounds normal now that I know he’s “into me,” according to Kimba. And, well, I guess according to Maxim, too. “You seen Maxim?”

“Uh, yeah.” He closes his laptop and looks up at me, his brown eyes intent. “He and I were going over some notes for Pittsburgh. I’ll keep working on the speech while he’s in Connecticut. He just left.”

“Oh.” I gulp down my disappointment. “I was gonna ask him to record a video for the leaders tonight.”

The thing about pretending you’re not dating on the campaign trail, is it actually is hard to date on the trail. Some days Maxim and I barely see each other. Today is one of those days. My phone beeps with a text.

“Kimba says not to worry,” I say, reading it. “She found out Jin Lei’s riding with Maxim to the airport and getting him to record it now.”

I slide the phone into the back pocket of my jeans. Glenn stares at the orange bra strap hanging down my arm, and I hastily pull it up again.

“Okay. Well I better—”

“It looks like we got some free time this afternoon,” he interrupts.

“Um, not much actually. Kimba and I are taking the local leaders meeting tonight, so—”

“How about a late lunch?” he asks in a rush, and reaches under the table, pulling out two of the boxed lunches organized by our local volunteers.

“Um, sure.” I sit at the table across from him and open the box. “Roast beef. Yum.”

“Don’t let the candidate see you eating that roast beef.” Glenn rolls his eyes. “He’ll want to know if it’s responsibly sourced or something.”

I pause with the sandwich halfway to my mouth. It occurs to me that not only have I been slow to see how Glenn feels about me, but maybe I’ve missed his true feelings about Maxim.

“Climate change is a huge part of Maxim’s platform,” I remind him, studying my cold cuts. “Of course he’s concerned about those things. Aren’t we all? You not a believer, Glenn?”

“In who? Cade?” He snorts. “I mean, do I believe he’s probably the next president? Yeah, I do, which is why I’m here, but let’s just say he’s not Owen.”

I place my sandwich on the wax paper on the table, blinking at him owlishly. “He never claimed to be Owen. They believe so many of the same things, though, that it’s easy for most people to support Maxim the way they did his brother.”

I sip the bottled water included with lunch. “So you’re only here for how it’ll look on your resume that you worked for the new president, if he wins?”

“That’s not the only reason I’m here, Nix,” he says, his eyes moving over my face, down my neck, tracing the satiny strap drooping down my arm again.

“Uh, could you not call me that, Glenn?”

“Sorry. I heard Maxim call you that and thought it was cute so I . .