“We decided only essential campaign personnel—”
“I’d say Sam ispretty essential.”
Dan shrugged.
Martha patted Sam on the shoulder. “We’ll get you a hotel room, sweetie. Have a seat.”
Martha assigned Ray to get Sam up to speed. Sam took notes the whole time Ray spoke, then repeated what he’d heard.
“But not a press conference?” said Sam. “You don’t think that makes us look afraid to answer questions?”
Dan and Sam debated back and forthfor what felt like an hour. Jackson picked at a turkey sandwich, glad this was not his full-time job. Dan agreed to give it further consideration, so Sam took a pad of paper and walked to the other end of the room to craft a statement.
“One last thing,” Dan said, leaning forward and pointing at Jackson. “Take that pin off your lapel.”
Jackson had begun to think no one had noticed it. Hefingered the pin. “Really?”
“Look, you want to wear rainbows, okay, ain’t nothing wrong with that. Unless you’re a conservative. If the base thinks we’ve hired a gay lawyer—”
“It’s not relevant,” Park said.
“Youdidhire a gay lawyer,” Jackson said, holding his hands in his lap to resist the urge to punch Dan. “Or Park did anyway. I’ll take the pin off, but if anyone asks, I’m notgoing to deny it.”
Dan shot Park a look that read,This guy? Really?
Park shrugged. “You want the best? Jackson’s the best.”
Dan grunted. “Fine. But no pin.”
Jackson took off the pin and pocketed it. Then he held up his hands.
“Can we try not to insult people we’ve just hired,” Park said, sounding resigned.
“I’m just saying,” said Dan. “What you do in your own time is noneof my business, but if we’re paying you, you will not do anything to compromise the campaign. Is that clear?”
“Crystal,” said Jackson. He regretted taking this case in a tangible way.
* * *
After the meeting, Jackson left the hotel and Martha followed Park back to his hotel room.
“Good job there,” Martha said as Park pulled his hotel room door closed.
“What do you mean?”
“Jackson Kane sure is a hunk of man.”
Park rolled his eyes, though he agreed. “What did you think of him otherwise? He seems on top of things, right?”
“I’ll bet there are some things you’d like him to get on top of.” Martha winked.
Park dropped the stack of paper he’d been holding onto the desk. “Knock it off. I didn’t hire him so I could sleep with him. Not that he would even say yesif I asked.” He sighed and sat in the desk chair. “We had a big fight this morning over breakfast. Turns out there’s still a lot of unresolved bullshit between us. Go figure.”
Martha frowned. “I still can’t get over that you used to date him. Are there any other hot guys in your closet I should worry about as the election approaches?”
“No. Not really.”
Martha draped herself on thesofa, looking very much like she had all the time in the world to listen to his long-over romantic exploits. “‘Not really’? What does that mean?”
