I walk across the room and embrace her. “We can’t control everyone in our lives, Reagan.”
She buries her face against my chest. “He’s always preaching to me about family and not ruining our name, but he’s the one doing it.”
“I’m sorry,” I say with my lips nestled against her hair. “I won’t let Carl release the photos.”
She pulls away and brushes her tears off her cheeks. “I need to see them.”
I don’t say a word as she walks towards the counter and the folder of photos of her father and the other woman. She moves them around for a moment before picking one up. “I wouldn’t believe it unless I saw it with my own eyes.”
Slowly, I walk up behind her and wrap my arms around her waist. She’s staring at the one where her father is kissing the woman on the cheek, and they’re both smiling, blissfully unaware of being photographed.
“I’m so angry with him right now,” she says, setting the photo down and picking up another. “He’s always preaching to me about the family name and how he’s done everything right. He makes me feel so small and inadequate, unworthy of the family name, and he’s been lying to the entire world for God knows how long.”
“I’ll bury these,” I tell her, moving my body closer so we’re flush against each other.
“Thanks,” she says, dropping the photo on top of the others before turning in my arms to face me. “I need to talk to him.”
I brush the tiny stray hairs away from her face, tucking a few behind her ear. “I’ll keep it quiet.”
“Carl won’t let that happen. Not for long, at least.”
“He works for me, Reagan, not the other way around.”
She smiles briefly and lays her hand upon my chest. “You’re so new. Campaign managers don’t always do what we ask or tell them to, Jude. Remember that. They have one goal—to get you elected.”
Using my fingertips, I tilt her chin to bring her eyes to mine. “I promise I’ll do everything in my power for this not to get out.”
She stands on her tiptoes and kisses me softly. “Thanks,” She murmurs against my lips. “I better go. I have to talk to Lexi about this.”
“This isn’t how I planned our night to go.”
We don’t have any other stops on the schedule together and no more debates. This was the last chance I had to spend with Reagan before the election, and Carl found a way to cockblock me without even knowing it.
She places her forehead against my lips, and I close my eyes. “I know,” she whispers, running her fingers across my pec. “Me either.”
“I’ll miss you.” I repeat the very words I spoke before Carl ruined everything.
She tucks her head under my chin and rests her cheek against my chest. “I’ll miss you too.”
I squeeze her tightly, memorizing the way she smells and feels in my arms. The next few weeks will be grueling, and more than anything, I want to stay in this moment. We’re in a bubble in here. The election is out there. Inside my room, we’re Reagan and Jude. Just a guy and a girl who want more than we can have.
Whatever happens in the next couple of weeks will influence more than the future of our campaigns; it will determine our fate.
Chapter 22
When I pull onto my parents’street, my throat tightens with emotion. I don’t want to park in the driveway and see the planters full of brightly colored flowers my mom faithfully waters every morning. I don’t want to walk in the door and see her taking care of the home she thinks she shares with a loving husband. And I sure as hell don’t want to confront my lying, deadbeat father.
I want to just keep driving. Past the house, out of the neighborhood, and eventually, across the state line. I want to hide and nurse the hurt still coursing through me. I don’t see how I’ll be able to campaign now, knowing it’s all been a lie. The father I looked up to was just a fraud.
But like always, I put what I want aside. I slow down and turn into the long, stone driveway. My father’s dark sedan is parked there. I texted him and told him I needed to see him face-to-face and that it was an emergency.
Once inside, I set my purse and keys on the counter. The kitchen is empty, the smell of homemade banana bread in the air.
“Reagan?”
My dad calls out from the hallway and walks into the kitchen.
“What’s going on?” he asks. “What’s this emergency?”
