Page 7 of Caught By the Chief of Staff

Chapter 2

Take it Off

Washington D.C.

Present Day

“May I have this dance?”

My breath seizes in my lungs at the sounds of that whiskey-smooth and all too familiar voice that leaves an afterburn in its wake just like the drink. All night, I’ve been standing in the corner like an old-fashioned wallflower. I don’t belong here. I’m friends with the new First Lady, so I was invited, but I don’t belong here with the political elite of our nation.

I watched as Rick worked the room, moving from one important person to another. People want to be in his good graces, and when he found someone he was happy with, his smile was blinding. I haven’t been on the other end of that happy expression for almost a decade, and I probably won’t be ever again, so when I heard him speak, I figured he was asking a woman who was standing near me as punishment. Ever since Rick crashed back into my life, he’s been punishing me for leaving, for keeping his daughter from him, and—what seems to be my worst offense—not telling him why I did what I did.

He clears his throat. “Cara?”

God, I hope this isn’t a new level in the game we’re playing, where I ignore his attempts at public humiliation, and he calls attention to it so I can’t avoid it. There’s a lot of things I can take, obviously, or else I wouldn’t have run away from the only man I’ve ever loved while I was carrying his baby. But I’m not sure I can take much more where Rick is concerned. Part of me thinks I should have elected to keep Rachel and me in Jersey instead of following my main client and my baby daddy to D.C., but Rachel wanted to get to know her dad, and who am I to deny her anything when I’ve made so many mistakes myself?

So I packed up our lives and followed him here. He made sure Rachel lives in a nice house and attends the best school. He’s involved in her life like I always knew he would be if given the chance. Life would be perfect if he didn’t hate my guts. Oh, he wants me, and he has me, because I’m a sucker still in love with a man I can never have, so I take him in whatever way I can when he’s willing to give it to me. But every time he fucks me, he walks away hating me just a little bit more. And one day, these games will destroy me once and for all.

I squeeze my eyes closed and take a deep, steadying breath before I turn around. I’m expecting to find him in an embrace with a woman and he’s just apologizing for it happening right next to me. Part of me knows I deserve no less. But part of me wants to demand so much more. So I’m surprised to see him looking absolutely dashing in a custom tux with his medals pinned to his chest and his hand outstretched toward me in offering.

Grace told me that Jake and Rick decided to wear their medals as a nod to their time in service. Rick had only been on the teams for a few years when we were together. He was young and carefree. Quick to smile, he always had a joke at the ready. Now he’s older, more mature. He doesn’t look like he laughs often—or at all—anymore, and he’s feared by most people in Washington. It’s hard to balance this angry man with the sweet sailor I knew and loved. But when he smiles at me like this and holds his hand out to me, inviting me to dance with him at a ball, I take it. I take his hand and jump.

Rick leads me out onto the dance floor and pulls me into his arms. Earlier, I watched Jake lead Grace down onto the dance floor for their celebratory dance, looking like a fairy princess. And she’s got her fairy-tale ending too. The two of them are so in love, and they are going to change the world together. It’s a magical thing to watch, and I love just being in their orbit. But it’s also bittersweet, because my story isn’t the kind with a happy ending—it’s a nightmare.

“You look beautiful,” he says as he twirls me around the floor, and I realize the song playing is “Just the Way You Are” by Bruno Mars. It’s our song. It was playing on the radio the night we met, and we danced to it in the hotel room after we got married. It takes me back to a different time and place, when we were different people.

• • •

“Can I buy you a drink?”

I look over my shoulder, and the hottest guy I’ve ever seen is standing just behind me. He has hair that’s almost black, and it’s cropped shorter on the sides than the top. His eyes are like dark coffee. They heat me up while the corners around them crinkle in a smile.

“Cat got your tongue?” he asks me, knowing full well he’s too beautiful for me to be able to speak. What is this good-looking god doing here with us mere mortals?

“Yeah,” I answer in a breathy voice before I can enable my brain-to-mouth filter. “I mean no.”

“Good to know.” He laughs. “So what’s it gonna be, beautiful girl? Can I buy you a drink?”

“Okay,” I tell him. I shouldn’t, but the way he’s smiling at me makes me go stupid. It should be illegal for a man to look that good. I’ve never seen him here before, and I wonder where he’s come from.

“What are you drinking?”

I feel my face heat in a blush, not wanting to admit I’m drinking the most embarrassing drink ever. Why is it in this moment that the most gorgeous man I have ever met is asking to buy me a drink, maybe engage in a little conversation, who knows, and I chose tonight to be cheeky and order something funny-sounding instead of my usual 7 and 7 with a ton of limes.

“Umm…” I start.

“Umm…” the good-looking guy repeats.

“A Skip and Go Naked.” I cover my face with my hands, not wanting to look him in the eyes. “I swear I’m cooler than this normally.

“I’m more of a Drunken Sailor myself,” he adds before turning to the bartender. “Another Skip and Go Naked for the lady, and me as well, when you get a chance.”

“You don’t have to drink it,” I hurry to tell him. “I know it’s silly.”

“It’s not silly if you like it,” he says as he places his hand on top of mine where it rests on the bar top. “Do you like it?”

“Yeah,” I answer honestly. “I do.”