Page 28 of Innocent

“The what?”

He smiles. “PPD—Presidential Protective Division. The Shift is the term for the core team who directly protect POTUS. The president.”

“Wow, okay. That’d be awesome, thanks.” Sure, I’ll jump at that offer, just to spend more time with the guy.

His smile widens. “Great.” He leads me outside, where we hand over our security badges as we leave the premises. As we walk, he makes a quick phone call, speaks to someone in what sounds like French, then ends the call. “Got us a table,” he says as he tucks his phone away.

“Was that French?”

His smile widens. “Oui. I speak a couple of languages. Kind of my superpower, and one of the reasons I was hired by Mr. Bruunt to work for President-elect Samuels.”

He grabs us a cab and I honestly don’t even know where we are. “Did you have any questions so far about the process?” he asks.

I shake my head. “Not really. I just don’t understand how they’ll get everything done so quickly on Inauguration Day.”

He chuckles. “Lotsof people. At least a hundred or so just working in the White House. It’s not like they’re taking out walls and retiling bathrooms. Paint goes up faster than you think. And some rooms, all they’ll need to do is vacuum and dust and swap out furniture. By the time Inauguration Day rolls around, you’ll have everything plotted out on the plans for the Chief Usher, and the two of you will be best buddies and on a first-name basis.”

I should be looking at the sights passing by outside the cab, but I find myself staring into Leo’s eyes. “This is all very…intimidating.”

“I know. But relax—I’m sure you’ll do great. I looked through your portfolio. You’re very talented.”

A rush of warmth flows through me at that and I hope to hell I’m not blushing. “Thank you.”

“And Kev will get you hooked up with the worker bees who will do your bidding.” He smiles. “There are civil servants who work for the White House who will do the actual grunt work. You’ll mostly be a facilitator between the incoming president and the White House staff. You’ll have the better part of three months to prepare. There are a lot of things that will happen behind the scenes that you won’t need to be involved with.

“And for some of the rooms, it’s okay if it takes a little longer than that to complete them. Mostly, it’s the Oval Office, the president’s private study, the vice president’s office, and the living areas in the White House residence and vice president’s residence that have to be completed. The master bedrooms and bathrooms, those rooms. If a sitting room or guest room or ballroom or something aren’t ready, that’s okay. But they need to be able to go to bed that night, and fix breakfast in the morning.”

The question’s out of my mouth before I realize I’ve asked it. “Will I be working with you, too, sir?”

His gaze narrows again, the way it did back on the staircase, and I feel my cock fully harden in my slacks once more.

“Oooh, you can pretty much count on it.” His voice sounds low and dark and tinged with need.

Or maybe that’s wishful thinking on my part.