He settles in again and peace momentarily fills me, the way it always does when we’re alone like this.
Then his voice brushes my hair. “What do you think triggered this one?”
Under Jordan’s watchful eye and with him sharing my bed every night, over the years he’s tracked my nightmares and identified a pattern.
Stress.
I mean, I’m only the leader of the free world,duh. That’s not stressful atalll.
Except it’spersonalstress that generally triggers them. Traveling and being away from the White House overnight for several nights in a row to anywhere other than Camp David will also trigger them, but I haven’t traveled overnight in a few weeks.
“Stella,” I grumble. “Again. It’s that time of the year.”
My sister and brother-in-law are supposed to eat dinner with me here at the White House on Christmas Eve. My parents will arrive on the 22nd, spend three nights, and then depart for home the evening of Christmas Day. I tried to talk them into taking more time off but that was the best I could get from them.
I still consider it a win because it’s a longer stay than I’ve been able to talk them into in the past.
Leo’s supposed to spend the entire week of Christmas night through New Year’s here in the White House with us. Meaning I have to find a way to nip Stella’s aspirations in the bud once and for all.
Maybe it makes me selfish but I won’t give up a second of what little private time I spend with Leo and Jordan. Not even for my parents or my sister.
Mostly because my parents and sister don’t know me like Jordan and Leo, and there’s a good chance they would disown me if they did, which is the main reason I’ve struggled to protect my secret for so long.
Then again, there are plenty of days IwishStella would disown me. It certainly would make my life a lot easier, even if a permanent rift between us would hurt my parents.
Jordan sighs. “Do you want me or Casey-Marie to handle Stella?”
That’s a very tempting offer and I even take a moment to consider accepting it. “No, I’ll take care of her. But thank you, Sir.”
“Of course, boy.”
I might be the president of the United States.
I might have the nuclear launch codes.
I might have the entirety of the United States armed forces at my disposal.
But I have Jordan.
In some ways, he’s more powerful than all those other things combined.
Even more powerful than Leo. Once upon a time, Leo was the center of my universe.
Now?
It’s Jordan.
And I hate that who he is to me has to stay a secret from the rest of the world.
CHAPTERTHREE
THEN
Meeting Jordan Remington Walshfor the first time damn near takes my breath away.
Wait, let me back up.
Sucky storyteller, remember? Because how I reached that point with Jordan requires a little backstory so you adequately understand the complete context surrounding the events which unfolded.
