Page 11 of Caught By the Chief of Staff

Chapter 3

Just let it go

Manhattan, New York

Six months earlier…

“Can we talk?”

I knew Rick was going to be meeting Senator Chancellor here, and I also know we need to find some kind of new normal, even footing sort of. If that’s even possible after my world got flipped upside down last week when I saw him for the first time in almost a decade..

What I did not plan on was my long-lost baby daddy making an appearance.

In all the time I had known Grace, she despised Senator Jake Chancellor of New York. Never in my wildest dreams did I think she would hook up with the hot former Navy SEAL turned sexy politician. And then it happened so fast I didn’t have time to prepare.

I knew Rick worked for the senator; I just figured I could avoid running into him. It was a naive plan, and it clearly had a snowball’s chance in hell of working out. At all. But who would have thought a small time personal stylist with a very limited client list would ever run into the right hand man of America’s most beloved politician? Certainly not me. In fact, Rick and I had lived in neighboring states for almost three years and had never once crossed paths. I don’t know what I was thinking when I moved Rachel and I back to New Jersey. Maybe I thought I could be in touch with my heritage and introduce my daughter to a little of hers too. But all I managed was to complicate our lives tenfold.

I had no idea Rick planned to meet the newly minted couple at their home to ride with them. Or that he was about to be confronted with his long-lost ex-wife who had been living in the same city with the daughter he never knew he had. It was a lot to take in. I like to think I was prepared, but really, I was hiding.

And now, it’s time to face the music. I can only hope I’ll be able to live with the consequences after. But my daughter deserves to have her father in her life, and he should get to know her too. Maybe they’ll be good for each other.

So I came to the senator’s office first thing this morning after I dropped Rachel off at school. I just drove straight over here so I wouldn’t be able to chicken out by going home. I know from Grace that the senator drives her to work a little later in the morning, so there won’t be a ton of people here to witness my shame.

My knees are weak, and my armpits are sweaty. I’m a regular Eminem song as I walk through the halls. I stop in front of his office door and take a deep breath before raising my fist and knocking.

“Come in,” his terse words sound through the heavy door. I let my hand feel the cool metal before I turn the knob and poke my head in.

“Can we talk?” I ask his stunned face. Clearly, Rick didn’t expect to see me here.

“Yeah,” he says hesitantly as he stands from his desk and buttons his suit jacket. “Come on in.”

I push the door the rest of the way open before closing it behind me. He gestures for me to sit in a club chair in front of his desk, and I walk through his spacious office and sit down. He has a corner office with huge windows that overlook some of the prettiest parts of the city. A huge wooden desk sits in the center of the room, a silent statement of the power and money he wields on a daily basis in the name of the senator. I can’t help but look down at my worn jeans that fit a little snugger than they did a year ago and a pair of Converse sneakers. Maybe I should have put more thought into how I looked this morning before I came over here.

“So…” he starts as he leans his ass against the front of his desk with his arms folded over his chest. “You wanted to talk.”

“Yes,” I say as I reach into my huge tote bag of a purse. “I know the other day was a shock to you.”

“You can say that again,” he mumbles.

“And I know you don’t understand—”

“I don’t.”

“But I brought you these,” I say as I hand him a small pink photo album I made throughout the years for him and a small envelope. He opens the envelope and stares at the paper.

“My name is on her birth certificate?” he asks, clearly surprised.

“It always was,” I say after I clear my throat.

“Why?”

“You’re her father,” I explain.

“No,” he says, studying me, “I meanwhydid you run?”

“That’s an official copy. I have one as well,” I tell him, trying to change the subject. “That’s your book as well. I’ve been putting it together for you over the years, just in case.”

“Just in case of what?”