I curled my fingers into his hair, deliciously tired. “Why?”
He sat up, pressing the heel of his hand into his chest, and looked down at it. “I think I’m too happy.”
“No such thing.”
“I think I’ve wanted this for too long. My body doesn’t know how to process the fact that you’re here, and I can do this.” Ben leaned in and pressed a kiss to my lips, achingly gentle. “And this.” He slid down the bed and kissed my hip bone. “And this,” he said, breath warm between my legs.
“What are you—”Oh.His mouth closed over me, and all the tiredness washed away as my body sparked to life again, his tongue hot and circling.
From downstairs, a crash sounded, followed by raucous laughter, and Ben and I jumped apart.
“Shit.I actually forgot there was a party going on,” he said.
I sat up, tossing him his shirt. “Cockblocked by Texas politics. Happens to the best of us. Hurry up, get dressed.” I’d forgotten about the party, too, and now it hit me: my bosses wereliterallydownstairs. I was risking my carefully cultivated veneer of professionalism; potentially my job.Dangerous move, Stoner.
Ben pulled his clothes on, adjusting his bow tie rakishly, with a little wink. I stepped into my dress, turned, and he zipped it up my back. But before I could bend for my shoes, he swept me into his arms and tackled me back into the bed.
“BenLaderman,” I protested, laughing and shoving his shoulder. He grinned, his finger tracing over my collarbone, over the curve of my shoulder, then down to my wrist, eyes following.
“What are you doing?”
“I promised myself I would memorize you,” he said softly.
I laughed, tilting his chin to catch his expression. But when I did, I stilled. Ben was giving me a look I remembered all too well. The too serious one that made the world stop for a moment, made everything pause, hold its breath, waiting for what would come next.
“You’re looking at me funny,” I said weakly.
“Lee.” Ben’s voice cracked with nervousness. Under my fingers, I could feel his pulse beating wildly in his throat.
My own heartbeat sped until I felt dizzy. “What?”
“I—”
Outside the door, the floor groaned with footsteps.
Ben and I stared at each other in horror; then he rolled off the bed and pulled me to my feet. I’d just shoved my boobs into my dress when the doorknob rattled and I froze.
Someone was here. Someone had found us.I shot a desperate look at Ben, but it was too late. The door swung open and two people tumbled in, kissing like their mouths were on fire and the only remedy was to tamp the flames with their tongues. The couple stumbled into the side table just like I had, and twisted so I could see their profiles.
I gasped, hands flying to my mouth.
It wasDakota. And the governor.
At the noise, they wrenched apart, eyes swinging for the source. The moment Dakota saw me, her face fell. But her horror had nothing on mine.
Dakota Young—my boss—was having an affair with the governor of Texas.
“Oh, thank God,” the governor said, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. “It’s only you two.”
“Lee.” There was so much worry packed into that single syllable that I couldn’t look Dakota in the eyes.
“Right...” said the governor, eyeing Dakota and catching on that this was actually worse than he’d judged. “Not ideal to run into your head of PR, I guess.”
Dakota stepped forward. “I’m so sorry, Lee.” She waved a hand between herself and Governor Mane. “This just happened. It took me by surprise. We meant to end it, but things have just been so crazy, with the bill and the Herschel launch—”
“How long?” I asked, finding that my cool, calm and collected voice had activated out of nowhere, like a muscle I’d trained, swinging into action.
She shot a guilty look at the governor. “Maybe...a month or so? Maybe six weeks.”
