I drape my arm around her shoulders and tuck her against my side as we drink our champagne. We empty our glasses and then work on refills. “Have you renewed your contract with FNB yet?” I ask.
She groans. “Oh,pleasedon’t kill the mood, hon.” She motions for me to give her a final refill, and I do, topping off both our glasses, which empties the bottle. “They’re beingabsolutedicksthis time around.”
This I already knew because I’d asked around.
She’s not the only one with sources.
And her contract expires at the beginning of February.
“So what happens if you can’t come to an understanding with them? Any bites?”
She rolls her eyes and leans against the counter. “Fucking MSNBC, probably,” she says. “CNN wouldn’t even come close. CBS is still trying tocome back with a number, but I’m not holding my breath.”
“Fox?”
“Uh,fuckno, thank you very much. I’d like to actually have a damn career in the future. FNB is bad enough, but Fox turns you into tainted meat anymore.” She takes another sip. “If only we had a conservative network that wasn’t run by idiots and was more interested in the truth instead of Pepe memes. Do we have to talk work tonight?Really? This isyournight, honey.” She smiles. “I’m so proud of you.”
I gulp the contents of my glass and set it on the counter. Then, once she finishes hers, I take hers from her and do the same.
Now Sir is going to play dirty.
Very fucking dirty.
I take her hands in mine, gently squeezing as I bring them to my lips and kiss them before tucking them against my chest. “I love you.”
“I loveyou, too. You know that.”
I stare into her eyes and remember our wedding day. I owe her so much that I wish I could make up for.
I will owe her even more now.
“Press secretary,” I slowly say, “or comms director?”
It’s not a matter of being able to afford to do the job. The salary is shit compared to what she’s making now.
That’s not thepointof taking a job like this.
But her townhouseis paid off, she has plenty of savings built up, and the cachet she’ll have after her term in the position will probably double her current network salary. Not to mention she’ll have her pick of jobs later. Working for Shae’s administration will completely wipe away any residual funk left on her from having been an anchor at FNB.
She frowns in obvious confusion. “What?”
I turn. Leaning withmy back against the counter, I pull her arms around my neck and hold her against me, my hands sliding down her back to settle on her ass. “Press secretary or comms director? Your pick.”
“Are…are you offering me a job?”
I playfully pat her ass. “I don’t know. Am I still allowed to do this to you if I’m your boss?”
“You’re…you’re serious?”
I nod. “I’m the incoming White House chief of staff.One of the deals I made was that I have final say on certain things.”
“What about Bayard? I thought he would be press secretary.”
“No. He didn’t want it. He’s director of social media. That’s why I handled so many of the pressers myself.”
She leans in, tucking her face against my neck and deeply inhaling. We stand there for several minutes in silence. I’ve left both my phones on the couch,switched to silent mode.
I wanted no distractions because I knew what a hard sell this would be.
