Holding Her in Madness (35 page)

“Triple A is good,” I said reaching for my purse to find my membership card. I fumbled with my wallet, finding the card behind everything else inside. I could feel his eyes on me, he studied me and it made me nervous. What was he thinking? I dialed the number as I swiveled away from him needing to avert his stare.

“Hello, Triple A, how can I help you?” I could barely hear the tiny female voice above the loud classic rock the pulsed throughout the smoky bar. City chatted with the bartender as I tried to drown them out and give my location and details about my car. They wouldn’t be able to make it out to my car until morning. Fuck. I thanked her for helping me before hitting the end button.

“What’d they say?” City asked with a sincere look as the bartender sashayed away from us.

“They won’t make it out here until morning because they’re busy and we’re in the middle of nowhere. I’m to leave it unlocked so they can get in and put it in neutral or something. I don’t know how it works. I’ve never had my car towed before.” Now what the hell was I going to? I was stranded at The Neon Cowboy with Mr. Sexalicious and my dirty thoughts.

“I’ll bring you back to your car when I’m done eating. I guess you’ll need a lift home too?” he asked, sipping his drink as he eyed me.

I smiled at him, though I hated the thought of him going out of his way and I wasn’t that comfortable with a stranger knowing where I lived, I couldn’t say no. “I’d appreciate it, if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all, Suzy. I can’t just leave you here and walk out the door. I got ya, babe.” He turned his stool toward me and leaned into my space. “Where do you want me to take you after we leave? Home?” He quirked an eyebrow, waiting for my response and held me in place with his hard stare.

Home? Whose home was he referring to? City looked to be the type that had different women falling out of his bed every morning… or maybe he kicked them out before he fell asleep. His hand brushed against the top of my hand and my internal dialogue evaporated.

“Where. Do. You. Live?” The laughter he tried to hid behind his hand made it clear that I sat there longer in thought than I had realized.

I cleared my throat, “I need to unlock my car then I need a lift home. I live about fifteen minutes north. Is that okay? I mean I don’t want to.” He put his finger over my lips and stopped me mid-sentence.

“Doesn’t matter, I’ll take you anywhere,” he said with a sly grin that made my pulse race and my body heat. He licked his lips and I stared like an idiot. My sex convulsed at the thought of his lips on my skin. What the fuck was wrong with me? Every movement he made and word he spoke turned sexual as if permeated my brain. I needed to get laid; this man was not hitting on me, was he?

“You want some? I can’t eat it all,” he said as the plate was placed in front of him.

I shook my head and picked up my drink trying to cool my body off from the internal fire caused by City. The cool sweet strawberry slush danced across my tongue and slid down my throat.

I swirled the red straw in my mouth, trying to occupy my mind. His arms flexed as he lifted the burger to his mouth, forearms covered with tattoos. The left arm had various designs woven together— a koi fish, a tiger, and a couple other nature themed pieces that seemed to move across his skin and his right arm had a city skyline. I wanted to touch his arms and run my fingers across his ink. He looked big everywhere and my gaze drifted down his body and lingered at his crotch. I wondered if his motorcycle and tattoos made up for shortcoming elsewhere, but I couldn’t believe a man like him was tiny. There’s no way in hell he has a party…

“Pickle?” I blinked and moved my eyes away from his crotch to his eyes.
Pickle?
He held it and motioned for me to take it.

“No. Thanks, though. You eat it,” I said feeling like he was reading my mind. God, I hope he didn’t see me staring at his crotch.
I sucked down the rest of my drink wishing now that it did have alcohol in it. Maybe then I wouldn’t feel so embarrassed. “I noticed your tattoos. What’s the one on your right arm?”

“That’s the Chicago Skyline,” he said, as he took another bite.

“You from there?”

“Born and bred, baby.” He grunted and continued to chew. I couldn’t take my eyes off his mouth. Watching him eat was erotic to me, his lips moved as he chewed and sucked each finger in his mouth to clean off the juices that flowed from the sandwich. Damn. It had been too long since I had sex – when eating becomes sexual – Houston, we have a problem.

Currently available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, and Smashwords.

Visit
http://chellebliss.com/purchase-links/
to purchase.

Excerpt from

DC Affairs: Book One

By Selene Chardou

I could think of many better ways to spend my Friday afternoon but at the moment, my time was taken up at the Coburn Presidential Headquarters. I needed a job in the worst way, and though I’d spent over two thousand dollars on my interview outfit alone, I had a feeling it would pay off. At least, I hoped it would.

I showed up to an empty office in the heart of D.C. If there were others who worked there, they were conspicuously absent and this didn’t seem like an oversight on my interviewer’s part.

The young woman interviewing me had to be at least thirty-five though she still possessed youth-infused looks, shiny auburn hair and captivating pale green eyes. Her body was athletic though she had rather large breasts carefully hidden under a designer power suit and stylish Christian Louboutins’ adorned her feet.

There was nothing about her that spelled cheap or tacky and I hoped to God I conveyed the same image to her.

She smiled ingratiatingly at me though the only reason it wasn’t a full on smirk was due to her passion and less than cynical attitude towards her boss, Governor Peter Coburn.

“Hello, I’m Kylie Miller, campaign manager for the Governor. Usually my assistant, Russell Berkeley, conducts the interviews for the Governor’s aids but since you will have a major job in the Presidential campaign, the Governor insisted I meet you.”

I smiled back and tried to leave my own snarky feelings out of it. She was a bitch but that was hardly of consequence. As long as she did her job and took me seriously, that’s what mattered.

“Sigourney Stewart,” I responded as we shook hands.

Her palms were warm and dry, her handshake firm before she let go and proceeded to turn her back on me. “We’ll speak in my office and conduct the interview there.”

“Is the Governor on site?” I inquired while I tried to keep up with her long stride. Clearly I wasn’t as practiced walking in four-inch designer heels as the campaign manager. I’d only recently graduated from university, and was much used to running from class to class in Nikes or one of my favorite pair of UGGs.

Kylie stopped walking and I barely managed to stop myself before I ran into her as she whipped around to face me. “Why do you want to know where the Governor is? Are you getting ready to bat your eyelashes and fan-girl the man? For
God’s
sake, Governor Coburn is married,
Miss
Stewart.”

“I know that, Ms. Miller.” My face flushed and I could feel a blush creep up from my neck as I tried to keep my temper in check. “I planned to do no such thing. I only wanted to meet the man. I’m from Maryland and meeting the Governor is not something that happens to me everyday. I’m sorry if I offended you, it wasn’t my intention.”

She smirked this time before she turned away from me and continued to walk. “The Governor is in Annapolis but the campaign headquarters will remain here in Washington, D.C. I hope I don’t have to explain to you
why
. This is where all the top political figures are, including President Nyongo-Rice. She has been mum about who she would like to take over for her after she finishes her eight years in 2016 but it’s a given Elaine Riley sees herself as a natural successor, merely because her husband was also President of the United States. This campaign is about continuing with Nyongo-Rice’s policies and not changing a damn thing. Is that understood?”

“Yes, Ms. Miller,” I managed to reply to her canned speech.

“Good.” She opened her office and I followed her inside. She closed the door behind me as I took a seat in front of her desk. There was a seventeen-inch laptop open and her workspace was generally uncluttered. The office was cold, impersonal, without even the basic necessities there like photos or memorabilia.

As she took her seat, I noticed her glance at her laptop screen before she slammed it shut and faced me again with cold green eyes.

I cleared my throat though my gaze never wavered from hers and she looked away first. “I’ve seen your resume and know the basics about you. You’re impressive: you graduated from Harvard with a Political Science degree, Magna Cum Laude, and you recently graduated from law school at Georgetown. Tell me, do you plan to take the bar exam this summer?”

“Only if I don’t get this job. There is a good chance I can get a job in my field if this doesn’t work out.”

Kylie raised a perfectly manicured brow in my direction though she said nothing.

“I mean, if there aren’t any jobs here in the political area then I might as well continue with my backup plan of corporate law.”

“Oh? Corporate law? It doesn’t seem very civic duty to me, Ms. Stewart.”

“Well, actually it is. Most of the lobbyists have some form of higher education and personally, I would like to work for one of the pharmaceutical companies.”

I cursed myself inwardly.
What a stupid fucking answer!

“A
pharmaceutical
company?” Kylie bit out. “Tell me, how does that help the average American? They hire you at a starting salary of say, one hundred thousand dollars per year, do you think Joe and Jane America are truly going to benefit under Nyongo-Rice Health Insurance? No, they aren’t because they’re going to raise the price of their already outlandish drugs to help pay for your salary,
Miss
Stewart.”

I took a deep breath before I continued. I knew it no longer mattered what I said because this shark was going to jump on everything and make me believe I was wrong.

“Actually, my father is a doctor at Johns Hopkins and he thinks they need more people like me in corporate law. He’s always been very supportive of my efforts and my wish to work at a pharmaceutical company has nothing to do with money and everything to do with helping the average American who is paying through the nose for prescription coverage and out of pocket costs.”

A total bullshit answer to this bitch before me but what was I supposed to say? I was part of the iPod Generation and damn right I wanted to make money, if only to pay back a year’s worth of school loans good grades and scholarships didn’t cover entirely. Did this cunt think they would disappear by osmosis?

Kylie smiled again. “Interesting. However, we aren’t here to talk about your backup plan, we’re here to speak about your wish to work for the Coburn Campaign. So, I have to ask you now. Why Peter Coburn? Why not Elaine Riley? She is a woman after all.”

What kind of answer did she want to hear?

I blurted out the truth.

“To be honest, I wasn’t crazy about her husband, President George Riley. He was an egotistical megalomaniac who seemed to only care about keeping this country out of wars and playing under women’s skirts. That is not an admirable trait in any president—Democrat or Republican. I care even less for his politically ambitious wife or their stuck-up socialite daughter.”

She smiled rather slowly while nodding her head. “My sentiments exactly. We already had eight years of the Riley fiasco, why would we want another eight again? I’m glad you feel open and honest enough to discuss it with me, Ms. Stewart. At least I know you’re trustworthy and forthright with your opinions. This campaign could use these kinds of attitude.”

I smiled brightly and with genuine warmth for the first time since the interview started. “Thank you, Ms. Miller.”

“Well, now that we have gotten that out of the way, do you have any questions for me about the Coburn Campaign?”

“What exactly does my job consist of?” I felt stupid but campaigns were like politicians, purposefully complicated and obtuse. One was never told their responsibilities until you were thrown into the deep end.

The scowl returned to Kylie’s face as she pursed her lips. “We’ll get to that
if
you get the job. Please sign this NDS and you can be on your way. Expect a call within the next few days whether you get the job or not.”

Typical! An interview required a Non-Disclosure Agreement? Paranoid much?

“Is this just to make sure I don’t spill any secrets?” I questioned sarcastically before I scribbled my signature.

“Actually it protects both you and us. If you
do
decide to work for the Riley Presidential campaign, we will not leak this interview to her people. We record everything so we’re kind of like the National Security Agency.” Kylie stood after she snatched my NDA and filed it in a security-encoded file cabinet.

I stood up and smoothed my skirt down. “It was nice to meet you, Ms. Miller.”

“And you as well, Ms. Stewart.” She held out her hand and I shook it ever so briefly again before I turned and left her office in record timing.

My right shoulder felt heavy with the weight of my designer hobo bag while all I could think about was how I’d fucked up the interview. I would now have to make an appointment to meet with the Riley people as well and to be honest, although my father’s connections would get me an interview, it might turn out similar to this one.

I still didn’t have a low-paid campaign job and no experience in real world politics. It looked like I’d be taking the bar examination this summer after all.