Knight (Political Royalty Book 1) (18 page)

“Put the call on my schedule for tomorrow too, would you, Abby?”

Abby glanced up from her corner of the couch and smiled at him like he’d given her a present instead of a task to do.

“Of course, Senator.”

“I’ll go make sure Travis’s got everything under control in the ballroom,” said Justin, and Haven nodded.

Shep had no doubt everything was already under control, but he loved the extra care Haven took making certain. That kind of attention to detail made tonight’s finish possible.

An empty podium with a
Collins: Voice for the People
sign on it took up the bottom corner of the screen. While they were watching, the talking heads vanished and the podium filled the screen. Flanked by her family, including her grown children and grandchildren, the retired general stepped behind the microphone and raised her hand to quiet the cheering crowd.

“Thank you, New Hampshire,” she said, and the crowd went crazy again.

Walker didn’t wait to hear what she said. His staff would let him know if he needed to pay attention to something. Right now, more than anything, he wanted to thank Haven. Before the cameras got in the way and he had to play the happily married family man in front of his supporters, he wanted to spend a few minutes with the woman who’d breathed new life into his campaign. Who’d breathed new life into him.

He deliberately met her gaze and saw a flash of the same hunger he felt reflected in her eyes. He had to get out of this room and find a way to be alone with her for a few minutes, even if he had to steal them. At this point, that was the least of his sins on a list that felt much too good to be wrong. He needed an excuse but everything he came up with would rouse suspicion, and he couldn’t give Sandra that kind of ammo. In the end, Haven saved him again.

“Senator, could I steal you for a couple of minutes for a sound check? Travis, can you make sure Mrs. Walker makes it to the ballroom before we go live? I’ll text you when we’re fifteen minutes out.” She didn’t wait for his answer. Hell, she barely looked at him. She cast a glance over her shoulder to Travis and then headed out the door, certain he would follow her because there wasn’t another choice he could make.

They made it as far as the emergency stairs before he dragged her into a secluded section under the dimly lit stairwell and pulled her into his arms. She melted against him like she’d been made for him and every nerve in his body sparked at being so close to her, so close to the woman who set him on fire. Unwilling to waste a single precious moment, he slid his hand into her hair, anchoring her in place for his hungry mouth. His lips brushed hers, and she gasped at the contact, opening for him, letting him in. When his tongue met hers, the kiss erupted into molten heat and his world narrowed to the pinpoint slice of reality where his lips claimed hers.

His hands roamed over her body, tugging at her blouse, desperate to get to her. Sliding his hand over her bare rib cage, he felt the heat of her skin. He cupped her breast and her breath hitched, driving him on. Her nipple tightened to a hard point against his palm and he ached to get his lips on her. To suckle her until her back bowed and his name fell from her lips.

Nothing else mattered. Not the promises he’d made. Not the election he hoped to win. Not his family or his country. There was nothing left for him but the taste of Haven on his lips and the feel of her in his arms. He kissed her like she was the air he needed to breathe, like he’d never be able to get enough of her. It was the only thing he knew for certain anymore. No matter how any of this ended, he’d never be able to get enough of her.

Using more strength than he thought he possessed, he broke the kiss and gazed down at her, his dark eyes locked on her hazel ones. “I needed...” he said, unable to finish the thought.

“I know.” She nodded, and he didn’t doubt for a moment that she felt it too. The heat, the ache between them was a solid, palpable thing.

“You have to go,” she said, running her thumb over his bottom lip.

“Not yet.” He caught her flesh with his teeth, biting gently, and watched her gaze go dark. He touched the pad of her thumb with his tongue, and her lips parted. He hauled her against him and felt her suck in a breath, her breasts pressed against his chest. Keeping his arm locked around her waist so she couldn’t cut short their time, he kissed her again, tasting her lips, stoking the fire between them with his tongue even as she met him with her own heat.

How was he supposed to walk away from her? Stand on the makeshift stage and play happy family man in front of his supporters when what he wanted was to strip Haven naked, lay her out on his bed and taste every single inch of her?

“We’re out of time,” she said, breathless and eyes shining. “You
have
to go.”

He wanted to tell her he’d find her later, after all the obligations were met and the cameras were gone. But they both knew that would be a lie. Sandra and the girls were spending the night and they were all flying back to South Carolina together in the morning. They’d be in his home state until the primary almost two weeks away and it would be next to impossible for them to find time to be together without getting caught.

The best he could hope for was a few stolen kisses hidden in the shadows while his family waited for him. He hated himself for even thinking it and hated himself even more because he knew if he saw an opportunity to have her, he’d take it. What the fuck had happened to him?

“Lipstick,” she said, rubbing his lips with her finger.

She straightened his tie and it was as if she were binding him, caging him behind the trappings of the office he sought. It felt like a noose tightening, but he didn’t fight it. He couldn’t—not without losing everything he’d worked for, everything they’d both worked for. She wouldn’t thank him for taking that from her. He watched her smooth a hand over her hair and tuck in her blouse, making sure the buttons were closed and ran in a straight line between her breasts and over the soft planes of her stomach.

She started to turn, and he reached for her one last time, pressing his forehead to hers because he had to be close to her but couldn’t risk kissing her again.

“I’m sorry,” he said. They hadn’t done anything as crazy as assigning feelings to this thing between them, but he knew if he had to watch her play house with some guy it would drive him insane. That’s exactly what he expected her to do. Fuck, it was worse. She had to help orchestrate the whole show.

“For what?” She pulled back, a small crease forming on her forehead.

“For not taking you upstairs and making love to you the way you deserve. For pretending you don’t matter as much as you do. For everything that comes after this,” he said, marshaling the strength to walk away.

T
HEY’D BEEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA for less than a week and Haven was perilously close to losing her mind. It was damn near impossible to organize the campaign of a candidate she couldn’t get near. Who was she kidding? She could barely look at the man who somehow managed to wind his way into her dreams every night. It almost hurt to be in the same room with him, and she was sure everyone who saw them together must see the heat arcing between them. She couldn’t believe Justin hadn’t already pinned her on it, but if he realized how she felt, he hadn’t said anything about it yet.

Thank God they were in Walker’s home state. Most of the internal organization was already in place from his Senate run. They duplicated the town hall schedule from his previous run and organized things in a way that had Walker home, sleeping in his own bed every night and Haven barely sleeping at all. But it was the man, not the campaign, who was getting to her.

She could easily turn the day-to-day stuff over to Justin and Travis while she turned her attention to Nevada. Water rights were a huge issue in that state and it would take some finesse to get Walker’s platform structured in a way that would piss off the fewest number of voters.

She’d left most of the onsite stuff to her senior staff and stayed locked in her office to work on Nevada and the Super Tuesday blitz. If it meant she rarely saw Walker, she counted it as a double win. Trying to force her focus back to the map of Nevada voting precincts on her laptop, she made some notes on the direction the polls showed the race moving. South Carolina was a lock and despite the potential landmines, Nevada’s race had started to tighten. If the trend held, Walker might have his second win heading into Super Tuesday with all the momentum moving in the direction he wanted.

Polls had Jenson a distant third in the next two races, and no one else was even close. The rest of the candidates would stay in until after the Super Tuesday states, just to see if anything shook lose, but the field should shrink significantly after that. It suited her. The sooner they narrowed the field to Jenson, Walker, and Collins, the sooner the senator could prove he was the one best equipped to do the job of commander in chief.

Haven grabbed her dry erase markers and started to transfer some of her notes to the whiteboard. It was bigger than the one she’d started with, filling almost the whole wall. Walker ordered it for her and when it showed up, it had a big yellow envelope full of red felt apples taped to it. Every time she looked at it, she thought of him and smiled.

The sharp rap on her door pulled her away from her notes and she looked up to see Justin standing in her doorway, looking like his dog had been run over by a truck.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Her stomach clenched and she felt a thin ribbon of worry wind its way through her.

Abby and Travis were with the senator at a rally in the neighboring county. It was supposed to be an easy stop. Arrive, talk for a half hour, work the rope line, and back home again before dinner. What if there’d been an accident? She had a vision of the bus rolled over on the side of the road and shook her head to clear it. There was no reason to jump to worst-case scenarios, but Justin didn’t overreact and from the expression on his face, she could tell she didn’t want to hear whatever he had to say.

“I need you to come with me for a minute.” He backed out of the doorway so she could follow him, but she froze in place.

“Tell me what’s going on first. Is Walk...” She started and caught herself. “The senator okay?”

Justin’s jaw clenched, and his expression shifted to something more closely resembling fury. “He’s fine,” he said, sounding like he’d rather he wasn’t. “There’s someone I need you to meet. Now, before anyone else finds out what’s going on.”

Haven followed him past the volunteers working the calling banks and across the floor to the closet-sized room they’d designated for his office. He’d insisted he didn’t need much space because when he wasn’t on the road, he was usually with her. When he opened the door, the room felt even smaller than usual. A pregnant woman stood beside his small desk, her enormous round belly taking up most of the available space and all Haven’s available oxygen.

“Who are you?” Haven asked, closing the door behind her.

The woman gave her a calculating grin and then turned to showcase her swollen stomach. “I’m the mother of Shep’s son. Or I will be, in about a month and a half.”

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E
ND

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I
know. I know. I’m mean. Cruel. I had a student once tell me I had a cold dark heart. But the good news is, I promise I won’t make you wait too long to find out what happens between Haven, Walker and the baby momma. Rook the second book in the series will be available in August. You can find preorders for your favorite retailer at
www.williamshepherdwalker.com
Thanks so much for going on this crazy ride with me. See you next month in the Super Tuesday states!

Much love,

~
Evelyn

The Southerland Series

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Loving Bailey (Bailey and Trace)

Feels Like Family (Jude and Autumn’s Wedding Novella)

Practical Arrangement (Travis and Summer)

Riding the Pause (Rachel and Ian)

A Little Bit Closer (Blake and Samantha)

Love at the Lost & Found (Taylor and Matthew)

Laws of Attraction (Andrew and Candace)

House on Fire (Jake and Genevieve)

Someone to Love (Adam and Erica
)

Studio 1247 Erotic Romance Series

Love Unbound

Bound to Please

Bound With Love

The Forbidden Fruit Erotic Romance Series

Love Unlocked

Love Uncovered

Love Unlocked, Uncovered and Unwrapped Box Set

For the Billionaires Pleasure

Luke & Claire

Wired

Wanton

Won

Wired Wanton and Won Box Set

Eric & Julie

Wrapped Around You

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KNIGHT

A Contemporary Romance

Book One of the Political Royalty Series

by

Evelyn Adams

ISBN:
978-1-944801-03-8