The Perfect Candidate

by Sterling, Stephanie

  Ashley’s eyelashes fluttered, her brows drew together in a grimace that mimicked pain, but spoke of deep pleasure, and then she gasped and seemed to come back to herself.

  “Oh God…” she puffed. Her voice was husky with sleep, but breathless with need. “You shouldn’t- oh!” The muscles in her face scrunched up again as Michael thrust forwards.

  “Shouldn’t be doing this? Should I stop?” he whispered, giving his hips a very deliberate twist. Ashley body arched up against him. He kissed her neck, lapping at the pulse that was racing beneath her skin. “I couldn’t help myself,” he confessed gutturally. “You make me lose control.”

  “Stop talking!” Ashley moaned, reaching for him, dragging his mouth back down upon her own. Michael assumed he was forgiven for taking the liberty of helping himself to her body… fortunate really, as he intended to take that liberty again and again…

  Some time later, after Michael had taken Ashley to places she hadn’t known existed until the previous night; they lay together in a tangled mess of sheets and limbs.

  “We… shouldn’t have done that?” Ashley whispered.

  Given that she sounded like she was spitting up razor blades as she spoke those words, Michael chose to believe that she didn’t mean them, especially in light of the things she had been screaming while she was in his arms- while he was inside her body… He kissed her shoulder lightly.

  “Why not? Didn’t you enjoy yourself?” he asked smugly, knowing the answer perfectly well. The fiery blush that rose all over Ashley’s skin was all the reassurance he needed. “We’re two consenting adults having a little fun,” he murmured, lazily palming one of Ashley’s breasts.

  “Consenting?” Ashley sniffed. She glanced over her should at him, and giving him a pointed stare.

  Michael had the grace to look ashamed of his behavior. “I know, I shouldn’t have done that, it won’t happen again,” he promised apologetically.

  “Oh- well…” Ashley stammered, her blush deepening. “It wasn’t- I didn’t-” she cleared her throat. “We should get out of bed.”

  “Why?” Michael chuckled.

  “If anyone finds out what we did last night we- well you are going to be in so much trouble!” she said anxiously, chewing her bottom lip as she eased herself out of bed. She took one of the sheets with her to hide her nakedness. Michael thought it was amusing that she was suddenly so shy, and he really couldn’t help feeling a slightly potently masculine when he saw how gingerly she was moving about.

  “No one will find out,” he said, stretching. “Mores the pity,” he laughed. “It might help my reputation!”

  “It would ruin your reputation! As you well know!” Ashley called from the bathroom.

  She was right. He knew she was right, but Michael just couldn’t find it in himself to care at the moment. He was feeling far, far too good. Obviously, a night of mind-blowing sex was just what he had needed to recharge his batteries.

  “We have a little problem,” Ashley said, walking back out of the en suite bathroom, now wrapped in one of the hotel’s fluffy white robes. Michael preferred the sheet effect.

  “Another one?” he grinned.

  Ashley didn’t return the smile. “We don’t have any clean clothes.”

  “Oh dear,” Michael said, struggling to keep a straight face. “I suppose we’ll just have to stay naked then.”

  “Michael!” Ashley cried, eyes flashing dangerously at him.

  He held up his hands in surrender. “It’s fine. It won’t be a problem. I’ll get it sorted,” he promised to appease her.

  Ashley looked at him doubtfully, but decided not to question him. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know how he was going to get it sorted. Instead, she returned to the bathroom and climbed into the bath that she had been running for herself.

  The warm water felt heavenly against her skin, although it did sting a little as it sloshed between her legs, but that was such a small price to pay for the amazing night that she had just spent in Michael’s bed… She wasn’t entirely sure what was meant to happen now though- was this just another level of their ‘act’ or something else, something new? Michael had described it in very unflattering terms earlier… two consenting adults having a little fun… was that all they were doing? Having fun?

  Ashley lathered up a bar of soap between her hands and tried to think about last night rationally. She wasn’t going to be all silly and emotion about it- she wasn’t! It was only sex after all… she just hoped that he would let her have some more…

  Once Ashley had washed her body and her hair, she climbed out of the bathtub, wrapped a large, fluffy towel around herself and padded back into the bedroom. Michael was still in bed, although he was at least sitting up now! He had his cell phone pressed to his ear, and from the sound of things he seemed to be speaking to Norman.

  Ashley would have been content to just stand there and watch him, drinking in the sight of his naked chest and tussled hair, but Michael waved a hand at her when he spotted her however, and pointed to a few large boxes that were sitting just instead the door. Looking puzzled, Ashley wandered over to them and picked them up. She carried them over to the bed, placed them on the mattress and lifted off the lids.

  “Oooh!” she cooed, when she saw what was inside- an absolutely exquisite day dress- and in the other boxes she uncovered matching shoes, a coat, underwear- she gasped loudly with each new discovery, until Michael strained across the bed and prodded her with his foot. She glanced up at him in confusion.

  “No, Norm… Well it must be the TV… No! Of course, Miss Kendall isn’t in my room with me…” he said innocently.

  Ashley flushed guiltily and took her goodies away with her into the other bedroom to change. She didn’t have a clue how Michael had known what sizes to ask for- to order?- but he had managed perfectly. She chose to believe that he must have glanced in the labels of the clothes that were strewn about the room, but she had a nasty suspicion that he might just be so familiar with women and their bodies that he would simply be able to tell.

  Once she was dressed again, Ashley managed to fix her hair, but she didn’t have any make up on her… well, apart from a lipstick that she always carried in her purse. Fortunately, the night’s activities seemed to have leant a rosy glow to her cheeks, so she didn’t feel too self-conscious when she wandered back into the other room to see what Michael was doing.

  It seemed that he had finally left the bed, and was in the bathroom having a shower. Ashley noticed that there was a clean suit, tossed over the back of a chair, waiting for him when he was done. She took a closer peek, giggling to herself when she noted a definite lack of boxer shorts.

  Ashley wondered if, in all the time that she had known Michael - all the staff meetings she had been to, all conventions that the she had seen him talk at, and all the interviews that she had watched him give - he had ever been one for wearing underwear, or if he had always been gloriously naked under his pants? The thought made her feel rather hot and light-headed.

  As if she hadn’t been feeling giddy enough, Michael himself emerged from the bathroom a second later, wearing nothing but a towel, and that was very haphazardly knotted about his waist! The sight of him, all clean and freshly shaven, made Ashley want to dirty him up again… He smiled when he saw her, warmly approved her outfit and then started to rub his hair dry with the hand towel that he had been carrying.

  “I should go and turn the bed down in the other room,” Ashley said thoughtfully,hoping that this might at least buy them the appearance of having slept in different beds.

  Michael raised a doubtful eyebrow. He glanced at the bed that they had slept in… Its messy, stained sheets hardly left a lot to the imagination. He sniffed the air too, alerting Ashley to the fact that the room still smelt of sex. She shrugged her shoulders and flung open a couple of windows.

  “Hey!” Michael yelped, as he was hit by a burst of wintry cold air.

  “I’m only thinking of your reputation, Mr. Reese,” Ashley sa
id innocently, earning a growl from the man, as he watched her disappear.

  She went straight to the other bedroom and tried to make the bed look as though it had been slept in. She threw the blankets about a bit, and dented one of the pillows, but she couldn’t help thinking that it looked suspiciously like someone had just come in and tossed the blankets around and punched one of the pillows.

  “Oh well,” she sighed, hoping that she was simply being over-anxious. No maid was going to pay too much attention to the state of the beds, surely?

  Trying not to dwell on the precarious nature of their position, Ashley decided to keep herself busy while she waited for Michael to finish dressing. She didn’t imagine that it would take him long, but she took her iPad out of her purse to see what she could do about the speech in a spare five minutes.

  In the end, Ashley had over ninety minutes to work on Michael’s speech. She had heard Michael’s cell phone ring several times. He hadn’t seemed to stop talking in the other room since she had left him. Ashley wondered if he had even managed to dress? She tried to stop wondering that when she realized how distracting it was.

  Fortunately she was engrossed in her writing. There wasn’t as much work left to do as she had feared, and she managed to finish the whole thing just before she heard Michael calling her.

  “What were you doing in there?” he asked, straightening his tie and pulling on his jacket.

  Ashley held up her iPad triumphantly. “I’m sorry this isn’t ‘on your desk’, but I’m afraid you can’t have everything,” she beamed smugly.

  Michael raised an eyebrow. “The speech?” he asked, sounding impressed. “I told you not to worry about that!”

  “Well, I know, but you were right, it is my job.”

  Michael smiled, and Ashley couldn’t help it, she felt about ten feet tall. “I’ll have a glance at it over breakfast?”

  “Breakfast?” Ashley scrunched up her nose and glanced at her watch.

  “Fine, brunch?” Michael conceded, ushering her towards the door. “But I need to eat something to keep up my strength if I’m going to be spending the rest of the day around you,” he added wickedly.

  12

  Michael and Ashley ate brunch together inconspicuously enough, conscious of the need not to drawn unwanted attention to themselves. It probably wouldn’t have looked like anything more than a normal business meeting to anyone who happened to be watching. Michael read through the speech that Ashley had prepared while he drank copious amount of coffee. He made a few minor alterations to phrasing here and there, but on the whole was immensely pleased with her work.

  He was pleased with everything about Ashley, Michael reflected, on the flight back to Chicago. He couldn’t have made a better choice when it came to picking out a woman to ‘pretend’ to be his girlfriend.

  The public seemed to agree with him.

  Over the ensuing weeks, Ashley charmed the men, and connected with the woman. Norm declared that she was the key to ‘softening’ his image. Before, he had been seen as a tough war veteran, or a ruthless ladies man. Ashley was able to bring something fresh and new to the palette, and through her Michael could lay claim to a more caring, compassionate side.

  “They are lapping it up!” Norm beamed, bursting into Michael’s office late one Friday afternoon.

  “Who are lapping what up?” Michael asked distractedly. He was leaving on a two-week campaign trip the following day, and was just looking over the schedule. Every last second seemed to be crammed full. He didn’t see when he was going to be able to grab a single half an hour alone with Ashley!

  In fact, he hadn’t managed to snatch more than a couple of minutes alone with Ashley since they had got back from Washington D.C.! Michael frequently fell asleep reliving the time they had shared in the Capital. He wanted to repeat the experience and prove to himself that he hadn’t imagined the sparks that had flown that night, but there had never yet been another opportunity. He was hoping that would change on this trip, but it was looking less and less likely.

  “…don’t you think, Michael? Michael!”

  “Hrm? I’m sorry, what were you saying?” Michael asked apologetically. “Something about licking?”

  “Lapping! And that was five minutes ago!” Norm snapped. “I was talking about Ashley.”

  Michael’s attention was suddenly riveted. “What about Ashley?” he asked, trying to keep his voice causal. He got the feeling that Norm suspected that something had happened between them, particularly because it was almost always Norm who found a reason to separate them when they did manage to grab a moment alone.

  “I was telling you what a positive impact she’s had on your approval rating,” Norm sighed wearily. “Just as I predicting she would,” he couldn’t stop himself from adding smugly.

  “Great,” Michael grinned. “I never doubted you for a second, Norm,” he chuckled.

  “Hrm… anyway, I think it’s time I drew up a list of different things for her to do- visits, speeches, that kind of thing.”

  Michael nodded slowly. He wasn’t sure how Ashley would feel about that, he already got the impression she wasn’t thrilled about all the time from her ‘real job’ she was sacrificing.

  “When were you thinking of having her start?” he asked. “After we finish the campaign trip?”

  “She’s not going on the campaign trip Michael!”

  Michael’s expression darkened. “What do you mean, she’s not going on the campaign?” he growled. “You just told me she was helping my approval rating!” he barked.

  Norm raised his eyebrows at Michael reaction and shook his head. “This is precisely why Miss Kendall isn’t coming, Michael,” he said sternly. “She’s a distraction you can’t afford.”

  I’m not distracted! I’m frustrated! Michael felt like yelling, but of course, didn’t. “Norman, look-” he started to speak, while trying to regain his calm, but he was interrupted.

  “Not to mention the fact that the Vance campaign will tear you apart if you go cavorting around with a woman who is not your wife!” he said sternly.

  “There are plenty of women on the team who travel around with us, Norm,” Michael pointed out. “Hell! Ash used to travel around with us before you installed her as my girlfriend!”

  “You picked out Miss Kendall,” Norm reminded Michael. “And might I also point out that you aren’t having a ‘relationship’ with any of the other women on the team?” he added prudishly.

  Michael knew, deep down, that what Norman was saying was perfectly true. He couldn’t flaunt his relationship with Ashley. He especially couldn’t risk giving the impression that their relationship was sexual. He sighed heavily and admitted defeat.

  “Okay, Norm, you win,” Michael grunted. “You want me to go and tell Ashley what her new duties her?” he asked, eyeing the paper that Norm was holding suspiciously.

  “Well no, I think I can probably manage-” muttered the older man, backing out of the office before Michael could impose his will.

  Michael couldn’t help scowling. If Norm were twenty years younger then he would seriously consider him a rival for Ashley’s affections! Not that he was interested in her affections so to speak… he just resented any other man hovering around her like Norm tending to do.

  Michael was in a foul mood as he turned his attention back to the schedule, and so when the telephone rang half an hour later he almost bit the head off the person calling.

  “Is this a bad time?” Ashley asked.

  Michael cursed mentally. “No, of course not, Ash. What can I do for you?” he asked, already knowing the answer that he wanted to hear.

  “I’ve just been speaking to Norman-” Michael glanced at his watch and frowned again, she had been talking to Norman all this time? “-and I wanted to know what you think of me taking on a more active role in your campaign?” she asked, she sounded nervous. Michael wished that he could see her face.

  “I think you’ll do an excellent job,” he said honestly. “I can’t ima
gine trusting anyone else to do it.”

  “Well, except perhaps your real girlfriend,” Ashley pointed out dryly.

  “If I had one you mean?” Michael chuckled.

  “Well yes, there is that,” Ashley agreed. He could hear a small smile in her voice now. “Norm also mentioned that this means I’m off the campaign trip,” she added quietly.

  “Yeah, well-” Michael cleared his throat. “You can understand why it’s necessary?” he asked, not willing to admit that Norm had dropped that bombshell on him too. Frankly, Norm’s ‘orders’ were starting to piss Michael off. “But I’ll call you? And I could email?” he suggested, rather liking that idea.

  “You will?” Ashley asked, sounding doubtful.