Jude turns to face me then, his rumpled dark hair not matching his serious expression. He pulled on a pair of dark gray sweats and a T-shirt when Tyson called this meeting, and he still looks fresh out of bed. We both do. I’m wearing yoga pants and a “Titan for Tomorrow” campaign T-shirt I grabbed.
“I know we have to have this conversation, but—”
“Wait.”
My heart hammers with worry over what he’s about to say. Did he slip one of those times when I was working and he was lonely? Did he say or do something in a weak moment that he’s about to confess to me?
Not my Jude, an inner voice says. But there’s another inner voice, the one who was devastated by my father’s affair, telling me that…maybe.Maybe.
I hush both voices, focusing on the business at hand. “Don’t you think we need a rec on a strategist from the RNC, too?”
He nods slightly. “I was thinking Janet Fremont.”
“She’s working for Sheryl Canyon right now.”
“Ah, shit.” He runs a hand down his scruffy face.
“Jack Carrigan?” Tyson suggests.
“He’s good,” Jude says with a nod. “See if we can get him. And if not, call the RNC.”
“Will do.”
Jude turns to me again. “I need you to know I didn’t doanything, babe.”
“I know.” The response just comes out automatically, but I can’t meet his eyes.
“Guys,” Tyson says in a gentle tone. “Let’s just get this over with, okay? Let me lead it.”
I give him a grateful look and sit back against the couch, hands in my lap. I really didn’t want to interrogate my husband in front of his campaign manager.
“Yeah.” Jude takes a sip from his coffee mug and sits back too.
“Have you had any sort of extramarital physical or intimate contact with anyone?” Tyson starts.
“No.” Jude’s tone is emphatic.
“Ever done anything that could have been construed as nonconsensual? And remember, this doesn’t have to be recent. This could be a woman saying you did something inappropriate ten years ago.”
Jude shakes his head. “No. Even before I was married, I never forced myself on anyone. That’s against everything I am.”
“Every done any sort of role-playing with a partner?”
Jude sighs heavily. “No, not really. There was a woman who wanted to call me Daddy back when I was in the Corps, that’s about it. It was just a one-night thing.”
My stomach twists at the visual his words give me. I hate the idea of my husband screwinganyother woman, even if it was before we met.
“You good, Reagan?” Tyson asks me.
“I’m fine.”
He continues. “Ever had sex with someone video-recorded?”
Jude shakes his head. “Not that I’m aware of.”
“Ever gotten a woman pregnant?”
My stomach rolls with nausea at the very thought.
