Page 80 of Dignity

And campaign phones. I need a work phone.

Shae is going to loan the campaign money to get it off the ground. We should be able to start accepting donations onlineby the end of next week, and will be able to deposit checks as soon as we’ve got a bank account.

“Tell me what hit you when we got there,” she says in a quiet voice I wasn’t expecting.

“Huh?”

When we arrived and you were helping me out of the car. You had a thought and the head shake told me we’d discuss it later.

Did I? I think about it and remember it.

I start to fudge, to outrightlie, and realize no.

None of this works if I lie to her or Chris.

She’s a grown-ass woman who wants to be POTUS, and if I can get her that far, I’ll be her chief of staff. That means having conversations along the way that are infinitely more difficult than this one.

I am aware of the driver, but the radio and heater are on, and he’s got a phone earpiece in his right ear.

I lean in close and dropmy voice. “There are certain personal facts I was ordered to keep private last night, and I…voiced my disagreement.”

Up goes the eyebrow. “Bet I can guess howthatwent,” she mutters, a wry, lopsided grin making me chuff.

“Probably very accurately. And as I helped you out of the car, our pictures were being snapped. I then realized the logicalwhyof the order.”

Her gaze is focused on me. Inthis dim light, her eyes look nearly midnight instead of grey, and not because of the contacts. They shift and pick up colors and shadows depending on the light. At dinner, with dim lighting and candle centerpieces, gold flecks stood out, sun-warmed granite.

“I know this whole situation is outside your wheelhouse,” she says. “Personally and professionally. Thank you for saying yes.”

“I didn’texactly have a choice.”

“Yes, you did.”

Time for me to arch an eyebrow.

This woman now speaking to me isn’t the Senator—it’s ShaeLynn Samuels. Her voice drops to a whisper. “If you’d said no, I would have told him to drop it, end of story, and he would have.”

I study her for a long moment and decide I believe her. That’s moot, though, because I’ve committed to this. She’ll have to fire meif she wants me gone, or do something incredibly boneheaded that requires I quit to make a moral or ethical point. “No lies between us. This works only if you’re honest with me. You can count on honesty from me, to a painful degree, at times. I’ll bust my ass for a win for you, but it requires trust. We need compartments for our various…personalities.”

She nods. “I agree.”

“And we hold backthe chief of staff news.”

“Why?”

“Because we don’t need Dems sabotaging you because they’re pissed off you’ll install a Republican as chief. You can announce that once you’ve secured the general election win. Don’t tell anyone else until then.”

She slowly nods. “Fair enough. I shall heed your sage advice.”

We ride in silence for a few minutes when she snorts.

“What?” I ask.

“Twenty buckssays that, by tomorrow morning, people are saying we’re sleeping together.”

“Won’t take that bet.” I smile. “They’re saying it already.”

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