Chapter Twenty
Now
As Inauguration Day draws closer, I’m living the worst kind of double life. The irony is, now I understand why some of my colleagues get trapped in messy personal scandals that end their careers and marriages.
I thought it was just stupid straight guys being stupid man-whores.
Turns out, no, stupid can transcend orientations into…
Well,mestupidly doing something that could ruin a lot of lives in one fell swoop, if it ever comes to light.
Not that I expect Ward to say anything.
In some ways, I’m still that desperate boy wanting to hold on to his guy. I wish I could get him to immediately divorce his wife, turn his back on his father, and come to me.
Except I’m sure my husband would have a thing or two to say about that.
Which leads me to the deepest source of my guilt—I’m digging myself a massive hole I don’t know how to extricate myself from. With every action I take, every kiss I give Ward, every time I fuck him, it’s like I’m running a backhoe overtime to bury myself even deeper.
And like hell will I let Ward go now that he’s back.
It means we’re walking a high wire and hoping we don’t fall and die.
He’s locked into his life, for now.
I will not leave my husband.
Stalemate.
At least I have the next four years to figure out what to do. I’ll have to run for re-election to a third term, I suppose, so that I can stay in DC and be close to Ward.
If he runs for a second term, I’ll run for a fourth.
That is perhaps one of the worst reasons ever to run for public office, but there you have it. I’ve never claimed to be perfect.
I think I’ve proven I’m anythingbut.
We’re seeing each other every day, even if only for a few minutes. I’m also trying to sandwich time into my schedule for Daniel, because I damn sure don’t want him to get suspicious.
No, I have no clue how to handle this. I go out of my way not to mention anything about Ward to him.
The night of the Inauguration, Daniel and I attend the first two balls together, then go our separate ways, supposedly to hook up with our respective work colleagues before meeting up at home later.
I end up in the hideaway with Ward, where we spend the next several hours making love.
Because I know, realistically, we’ll have to be exceedingly careful with our time moving forward. We won’t have the chaos to cover our asses and tracks.
Meaning I need to come up with a plan.
Ward’s wife, at least, is flying out tomorrow to spend a week with her family in Georgia. One of her sisters had yet another baby. That will give him a flexibility we can use to our advantage.
The day after the Inauguration is a workday for Daniel and me both. Our plan is to cook dinner together this evening and spend some quality time with each other. I owe him that much.
Even though I know my mind will be on Ward the entire time, and on the fact that he’s sitting alone in a house with a perfectly good bed we could be fucking in.
I snag twenty minutes in the hideaway with Ward after lunch, which will have to be enough to hold me until tomorrow afternoon, when I can go to his place and we can finally—finally—have some kinky fun, in a real damn bed, without worrying about being overheard.
Meanwhile, I plan on thoroughly wearing Daniel out tonight so he goes to sleep happy and exhausted and completely oblivious to my transgressions.
