“Shannon, dear.” Samantha Barrow approaches us as if she’s on a mission. “Come. It’s time for dinner.”
“Okay.” Shannon smiles at me over her shoulder. “Goodbye, Lieutenant.”
“Bye, Shannon. Hello, Mrs. Barrow.”
The older woman gives me a stiff smile. “Hello, Andrew.”
God, I hate when people call me by my given name. No one, not even my parents, has called me that for years. Mrs. Barrow knows that, since I met her on many occasions while I was under her husband’s command. So, she’s just being a bitch and I have no idea why.
Whatever.
The bar is calling my name.
***After dinner and a couple of drinks, I’m cornered at the bar by a busty blonde who tells dirty jokes and laughs at them without waiting to see if I think they’re funny. Normally, she would be a perfect target for a night of no-commitment sex, but tonight I have another woman on my mind. I’m not sure why, either, because as her father said, she isn’t my type at all. But every time I catch sight of Shannon, she shoots me an almost pleading look, and now I’m torn.
Senator Barrow asked me to look out for her, while his wife has made it clear she doesn’t want her daughter associating with me. I don’t know which way to go with this, but Shannon is currently on the dance floor with some suspender-wearing dweeb who keeps stepping on her feet and it’s obvious she’s miserable.
Oh, hell, in for a penny, in for a pound.
I excuse myself as the song comes to an end and approach Shannon with a smile. “Excuse me, is the next dance free?”
“Oh, yes, thank you.” She all but turns her back on her current partner and gives me a grateful smile.
Luckily, the next song is a popular but slow contemporary song, and she moves into my arms easily.
“Well, hello again,” I say.
“Hi. Thank you for saving me.”
“My pleasure.” I look down into those gorgeous eyes and it’s on the tip of my tongue to ask her to take the glasses off, so I can get a better look at them. That might offend her, though, so I don’t.
She moves easily in my arms, light on her feet. I’m not a great dancer but I can hold my own, and Shannon seems perfectly content to go where I lead her.
“So, are you in college?” I ask.
She nods. “Yes, at American University here in D.C. Mom didn’t want me to go away. Something about peer pressure and unplanned pregnancy.”
I can’t see for sure, between her glasses and the dim lights on the dance floor, but I could swear she rolls her eyes.
“What are you studying?”
“Teaching.”
“Why am I not surprised?”
“Mom is mortified. It’s the equivalent of going on welfare, in her opinion.”
“Your father isn’t like that, is he?”
“No, but Mom rules the house and he gets to escape to work, so mostly I’m stuck with her.”
“You’re not close, I take it?”
“We used to be, but once she realized I’m not the daughter she expected me to be, we drifted apart. She doesn’t understand that I’m twenty-one now, and just because she wants to marry me off to the first doctor that’ll have me, that’s not what I want.”
“What do you want?” I ask curiously.
Her smile turns shy. “To fall in love. To find my own personal Prince Charming, who sweeps me off my feet and takes me away.”
