We just needed to make it through this month and then we could figure out this mess together.
Just the thought of the word ‘together’ filled me with a childish giddiness that I fought to keep off of my face as I closed the doors and cut off the sounds of shouting outside.
“Ignore them, Lennon,” Brooks said as he nodded to the crowd that was already forming in the lobby. “Remember you have a job to do today.”
It was the cocktail hour before the actual dinner started and it was Lennon’s job to schmooze, a clear directive from her mother and McDaniels.
“That’s really hard to do when they’re right but really damned annoying about it,” Lennon muttered as she threw her shoulders back and plastered her best customer service smile on her face.
Dallas made a noise behind me, but by the time I turned to glance at him his face was impassive.
He was the only hold out in our core four. The only one who still refused to agree or even acknowledge that Lennon was a scent match for him and for all of us.
As if we hadn’t seen the way his eyes tracked her every movement or his increasing propensity for bickering with her—which was his own personal love language.
He needed time, I knew that much and so did Brooks. I just wasn’t sure if Lennon was going to be willing to give it to him forever.
Maverick told me that, even if she didn’t show it, he could feel the rejection she felt whenever Dallas drew away from her or ignored her and that it stung which had also made the alpha especially terse with our teammate over the past couple of weeks too.
Meanwhile, I just wanted to feel the same things he did.
It was like a weird sense of jealousy and impatience had filled me the moment we walked into that hotel room and discovered them together.
Now that everything was out in the open with Lennon I knew that my chance to bond with her was coming soon… but at the same time, the more bonds Lennon had on her body, the harder it would be for us to hide.
Her scent had already shifted and changed because of Maverick, her sweet cherry wine taking on the headier edge of his vanilla bourbon.
If not for the fact that nearly every person we worked with was taking suppressants the cat would have already long been out of the bag and we would have been chucked out on our asses.
No, I had to remind myself that my time, and Brooks’ time, and even Dallas’s time would eventually come.
For now I would have to be okay with the tiny stolen kisses that she pulled me in for when no one was looking.
Which felt few and far in between because someone was always looking at her.
Lennon truly was one of the most watched women in the world and it felt like the outer team that had, at first, been supporting us was now watching us more closely to see if and when we fucked up.
“I’m schmoozing, I’m schmoozing,” Lennon huffed dryly, waving a bejeweled hand.
This night wasn’t about securing votes or fundraising, but more about thanking those who had been with the Holloways throughout the election as a whole and giving people something more valuable than money: their time.
So we followed Lennon around as she asked people about their grandchildren, their hobbies, talkedad nauseumabout golf, the stock market, and well,schmoozed.
She was very good at it even though it made me want to bang my head against a wall.
It was one of the things I had hated most about attending events with my father. He would get wrapped up in these conversations for hours while my feet would go numb in whatever shiny, pinchy shoes my mother had picked out for me that evening.
I was just grateful the Secret Service-issued footwear was marginally more comfortable than that—better for us to run in if need be.
Finally, after what felt like hours but probably hadn’t been anything more than forty-five minutes, dinner was called and the crowd began to head inside.
President Holloway was already waiting inside at the head table as people filed in and found their place cards. Next to her were the former vice president and his wife, already beaming as their guests joined them.
Lennon moved to join her mother, her expression wavering as she stood next to her mother and waited for everyone to file in before taking her seat.
They were all wearing varying shades of blue, I realized as we stood off to the side of the table with the president’s Secret Service who shot us a glance before staring forward again.
“Thank you all for joining us tonight,” President Holloway said by way of greeting. “It’s hard to believe that we’re already here, a month out from election night. For those of you who attended the home state rally this afternoon it was a record turnout for Massachusetts!”
