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Thwunk! There went that spear of anxiety right into my gut, which I always got when someone asked me about wedding plans. Jeez! Why had the topic of conversation changed so rapidly, and why did that question have to be addressed to me? I took a few precious seconds to get my thoughts together before I answered.

“Ah, yes.We’reworking on it.” I put a heavy emphasis onwe’re, which didn’t go unnoticed by either the president or Slash.

“Of course, you are. Congratulations to you both. Did you know my daughter just got married?”

Was he serious? Whodidn’tknow? It had been all over the news for the past month, with endless updates across every media platform regarding her dress, the wedding party, the venue—which happened to be the White House—and the ceaseless stream of celebrity guests. Ugh. I couldn’t get away from it, even when I tried.

“I saw it on the news,” I said carefully. “Looked like a great time was had by all.” I hoped that was an appropriate thing to say because I couldn’t have cared less. Even though I was engaged to be married, weddings and wedding planning were not my thing. I looked to Slash for help, but he avoided my gaze, even less inclined to talk about the White House wedding than I was.

“It was a magical event,” the president said. “Have you sorted out the details yet?”

Truthfully, we’d barely even started, mostly because we didn’t know what we wanted for a wedding. In the meantime, my mom had kind of hijacked the process just to get things moving. Slash told me there was no way he wanted to get in the middle of that, so he’d jumped ship, leaving me alone to figure things out with my mom. Not that I blamed him. If I could have jumped ship with him, I would have. Unfortunately, being left alone to the machinations of my mother meant things had gone exactly nowhere because I was in a resistance mode and couldn’t make up my mind about anything.

“Um, no,” I said. “We haven’t had time to do any planning yet. We’re really busy. Really,reallybusy, and I just said that. But as Slash mentioned, his younger brother is getting married at Christmas in Italy, so everyone on his side of the family is preoccupied on getting past that event first.” Thank God for that. At least that left me with only one side of the family to deal with—mine—and my mom was more than just a handful. “Our wedding will likely be sometime after that.”

In truth, Slash and I would have already eloped if not for our families, especially my mother, who expected a big wedding and my extensive involvement in said planning.

“Weddings can be a stressful time,” the president said, sympathy crossing his face. “I don’t know what we would have done if not for the assistance we received from my daughter’s wedding planner. She was absolutely spectacular, a real go-getter. I can’t recommend her highly enough. If you’re worried about things, she’ll help you out.”

He walked over to his desk, pulled open a drawer and rummaged around. “Ah, here it is.” He pulled out a business card and held it up between two fingers. “Amanda McCormick, Event Planner to the Stars. Kind of a pretentious title, but I assure you, she knows her business. If you need someone to do everything for you, she’ll get the job done.”

He jotted something down on the back of the card, then presented me with it. The raised letters of her company name on the card, along with fancy logo of thin gold and silver entwined hearts, made my stomach churn uncomfortably.

“Amanda may have an exclusive clientele, but tell her I sent you, and she’ll give you the friends and family rate.”

“Um, thanks.” I quickly stuck the card in my sweater pocket where it felt as if it were burning a hole in the material. “That’s really nice of you, Mr. President. We, ah, appreciate the suggestion, don’t we, Slash?”

“Absolutely.”

The president leaned forward in his chair. “Although it’s quite an important event, your wedding is not the only reason I brought you here today. I’m well aware of the things you both have done in the past year to support our country, including moving up my timeline for meeting the pope. General Norton has apprised me of all of the activities and the significant risks you’ve undertaken on behalf of our nation’s national security. I wanted you to know that your actions have been noted, and I’m personally grateful for your commitment and dedication to the protection of our nation.”

“As am I,” General Norton added. “Your work at the NSA, Slash, has been beyond exemplary, and we are fortunate to have you. Miss Carmichael, your assistance has been invaluable, as well. I’m really sorry we lost you to the private sector. You’re welcome to return to the NSA any time you’d like.”

That wasnotgoing to happen anytime soon, but I appreciated the sentiment.

“It’s an honor to serve my country, sir,” Slash said.

“Me, too,” I added, wishing I’d said it first.

“We’re fortunate to have you both.” The president clapped a hand on Slash’s shoulder and sent one of his famous beaming smiles my way. “Now, young man, hopefully you won’t argue with your president when I insist that you take off the next three weeks to do whatever you’d like, courtesy of Uncle Sam. I’d offer the same to you, Miss Carmichael, but unfortunately you no longer work for the government.”

The surprise on Slash’s face was priceless. “But... I couldn’t possibly,” he protested. “There’s so much work to be done. I don’t dare be away for that long.”

“I’m sure General Norton will hold down the fort in your absence. There’s always work to be done, but you’ve earned this break. This past year has been exceptionally busy for both you and Miss Carmichael. Stopping the terrorists in Sweden, putting an end to industrial spying in the nanotechnology market, helping to take down those terrorists at the high school, eliminating the worst cyber mercenary this world has ever seen, masterminding the cyber standoff with the Chinese, and now strengthening U.S.-Vatican relations. Trust me, son, you deserve it. Youbothdo.”

General Norton nodded vigorously. “Listen to him, Slash. That’s an order from your boss, not a suggestion. Take a well-deserved break. Three weeks should do it. That means I don’t want to see you at all during that time. Come back to us after Thanksgiving, nice and relaxed. Trust me when I say the work will be waiting for you.”

Slash glanced at me as if hoping I had a good excuse to say why he couldn’t take the vacation. I didn’t. But even if I did, I certainly wasn’t going to argue with the president of the United States and the director of the NSA. Not that I thought they’d listen to me anyway.

Apparently at a loss as to how to successfully decline, Slash accepted the inevitable. “Well, then, I guess it’s decided. I thank you both for your generosity.”

“I figure you can spend some of that time working on those wedding plans,” the president said. “Take the pressure off your fiancée.”

Slash smiled, but appeared slightly alarmed. It occurred to me that since I’d known him, he’d never just taken time off for himself. It had always been to help me or his family, to save the world, or manage an international crisis. Now he was going to take time off to plan our wedding?

For a moment, I panicked, wondering if my mother had been talking to the president. I wouldn’t put it past her to petition all the way up to him if she thought it would light a fire under Slash and me to get the wedding planning underway. But she hadn’t mentioned mingling with the president before, and I was pretty sure she would’ve said something if she had. But still, when it came to wedding planning, I wouldn’t putanythingpast my mom.

Apparently the meeting was over, so the four of us stood, politely shook hands, and Slash and I were escorted out of the White House. We were taken back to the security checkpoint where we retrieved our phones and personal effects. After we climbed back into the limousine and were sitting side by side, I turned to him.