CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Reynolds
The night and morning with Nadine had made me feel like a million bucks. I whistled as I walked across the town green and headed to my office at city hall. I knew that my bliss bubble would burst as soon as I got settled in for the day.
I’d already received an ominous text from Melda saying we needed to meet as soon as I got in for the day. I read between the lines to hear the disdain dripping from her tone at my late arrival.
Whatever. I needed to spend this morning with Nadine. And I was already looking forward to tonight. I couldn’t wait to be back inside her.
Damn. I was going to be hard in about one second if I kept those thoughts up. I tried to think unsexy thoughts, but I kept picturing Nadine as she stretched after sex this morning. Her full tits were on display for me and made me want her all over again.
I sighed. I was feeling in over my head where she was concerned. I’d never had feelings like this before. I’d been content to play the field forever until I’d seen her.
I didn’t have time to think about everything going on with me and Nadine. It was too much to think about or closely examine. All I knew was that I was having trouble keeping things light and sexy. I found myself wanting to know her better.
And I knew that was a path I shouldn’t go down.
“There you are.” Melda appeared out of nowhere and scared the shit out of me.
“Jesus, Melda. What the hell? Were you lying in wait, ready to pounce?”
“Pretty much.” The look on her face was grim, and I could tell I wasn’t going to enjoy our meeting this morning. “We need to talk. Let’s go to your office.”
I followed her into the elevator. Once the doors closed, I started to say something, but she shook her head. “Wait until we get to your office.”
“Fine.” I put my hands in my pockets and rocked back and forth on my heels. We walked across the lobby to my office.
I smiled and said hello to everyone. Melda didn’t. All she did was look at my secretary and say, “Hold all calls. No interruptions.”
“Yes, ma’am,” she said. I caught her eye and rolled mine, so she knew that I wasn’t a fan of the way Melda was handling things. She smiled at me.
Melda closed the door behind me and stalked over to the window where she paced back and forth while freaking out.
“The interview was a disaster, Reynolds! I can’t believe you took another woman out in public while you’re supposedly with Whitney.
I thought we were crystal clear on your need to appear as a family man. ”
I opened my mouth to defend myself, but she held up a hand. “I don’t want to hear it. There will be no more pictures of you with random beautiful women. You have to be on the straight and narrow from now until the end of the campaign. Once you’re elected, you do you.”
“What do you suggest I do?”
“You need to be seen out with Whitney more often. Seem more lovey dovey. There’s no chemistry between the two of you. It’s obvious.”
“That’s because I can’t stand her,” I mumbled.
“Well, you had better learn to like her. She’s the only woman besides your mother you should be seen with from now on. Do you understand?”
“Was the interview really that bad?”
She held up a paper for me, and I took it from her hands. “Damn,” I said as I read my approval rating. It had dropped five points, which wasn’t as bad as it could have been. But Jasper Hill’s had risen another ten points. We were almost neck and neck now.
“Look at the bullet point that shows where you’re losing the people’s confidence.”
It wasn’t a shock. They viewed me as a cheating playboy who wasn’t tough enough on crime because I was too busy partying, apparently. Jasper Hill’s strategy was working. Or was it Thaddeus Clammett’s?
I tossed the paper on my desk and put my hands on my hips.
I had to get serious. It was just coming at a bad time.
I thought about staring into Nadine’s eyes as we fucked this morning.
I frowned. For once that word wasn’t quite right.
It had been more than just a good fuck, it had meant something.
I realized I was rubbing my chest right over my heart and dropped my hand.
I was developing feelings for Nadine. Genuine feelings. Maybe this was coming at a good time after all. Nadine was supposed to be a good time, a good fuck, and then gone. I had to bring my rules back. Not just for my campaign, but for Nadine and me, too.
Melda was right. I had to make some changes if I wanted to win in November.
I stared out the window. I was going to have to devote more time to Whitney. If I wanted to stay mayor, I had to appeal to the entire population. A steady girlfriend seemed to be one way to convince people I was serious. Seeming like a cheater wasn’t going to cut it.
But where would that leave Nadine?
Not with me. That’s where it would leave her. I’d met Nadine at the wrong time. I knew it, and I could feel a pit forming in my stomach. I had talk to her about seeing her less often.
“I understand,” I finally said. “I’ll handle it.”
“Good,” she crossed her arms over her chest. “It might feel like we’re far away from the election, but we’re not. September is right around the corner, Reynolds. We’re in the homestretch. Don’t let your constant flings mess things up for you.”
I nodded. “I get it.”
I just didn’t like it.
***
“There’s something I need to talk to you about,” I said to Nadine. She was lying on my chest, her naked breasts pressed to my own shirtless chest. We’d just experienced yet another round of fantastic sex, and I hated to mess it up with what I was about to say.
She propped herself up a bit so that she could see me. “What is it?”
I think she could tell from the tone of my voice that it would not be something she wanted to hear.
“So,” I propped myself up on the pillow behind me and quit rubbing circles on her warm back, “my numbers came back after the debate. People don’t like the way I’m treating Whitney, it seems. I will have to spend more time with her. My constituents need to see me with her as much as possible.”
“Okay.” She sat up and leaned back against her pillow. She pulled the sheet over her perfect tits, and I could tell she was feeling vulnerable. She seemed wary, but didn’t say anything.
“I have to go back to the rules I originally put in place.” I rubbed my jaw.
“I know I’m the one that has broken them all.
But I can’t do that anymore. I won’t be sleeping over anymore.
I definitely can’t be seen with you in public.
And I’ll have to stay over at Whitney’s place at times.
There’s no way she’s going to put up with going out with me night after night if I’m not going to devote some time to her at night. ”
Nadine’s face was carefully blank even though I saw hurt flash through her pretty brown eyes. She smiled at me. It was a fake smile, but it was still a smile. “That’s fine.”
I studied her face. I realized I was a bastard. I wanted more from her. I both wanted her to pitch a fit and demand to be my only woman, my girlfriend, and I wanted her to be fine with it.
I knew that was ridiculous. I couldn’t have both. I had to get on with this.
“Also, I’ll be having to attend even more black tie events.
It’s getting closer to the election, and I can’t afford to play around.
There will be several days, and nights, that we don’t see each other at all.
Possibly even weeks. Our contract isn’t up until early December, though, so I’m worried about how you’ll… ”
“I’ll be just fine,” she said a huge smile on her face. “If you don’t mind, just give me a thirty minutes heads up for whenever you’re coming over.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Why?” Did she need a heads up so that she could get rid of whatever guy she wanted to fuck before I got here?
She rolled her eyes. She knew exactly what I was thinking.
“You’re so suspicious. I have friends, Reynolds.
I’m about to start a part-time job at Salazar Real Estate.
I’m in real estate school. I’m learning to drive.
I hang out at Cinnamon House fairly often.
I’m learning yoga. There’s a lot going on for me that you know nothing about.
Carmen’s been amazing, and she’s trying to help me set up a successful life once our contract is over. ”
She stood up, dragging the sheet with her to cover her body. I hated that. She’d never done that before with me, and I wanted to rip it off her. Then I’d drag her back to bed, and we’d…
“Reynolds? Are you paying attention? I said I’ll be fine. You don’t need to worry about me.” She turned towards our bathroom to walk away from me.
‘Our’ bathroom. God. I had to stop thinking of the condo as my home with Nadine. It needed to be a place to fuck, and that was it. I had to think that way as well as act that way. It seemed I was having to convince not just Nadine but myself.
It was confusing. My head knew what I should be thinking, but my body was rebelling.
I stopped her before she could go in the bathroom. “Wait. I’m about to leave. I’ll get ready for work at my place.”
“Okay.” She looked at me like she wondered why I was telling her that.
“I just wanted to say goodbye, I guess.”
“Right. Bye.” She gave me a little wave and smiled, then closed the door.
I stared after her for a moment. I wanted to go in and join her in the shower, but that didn’t back up the message I’d just given her…
or myself. I needed to do this. I ran my hands through my hair in frustration, then stood up to get dressed and called Byron to drive around to the back, private entrance to pick me up.
I’d never worried before about being seen here.
With Nico living in the penthouse suite, I could explain it away by saying I was visiting my friend.
We rarely, if ever, saw each other at our respective residences.
We preferred to hang out at one of his clubs.
The public didn’t need to know that, though.