From the moment that she cut his monologue short in the Capitol building by kissing him, Alicia refused to let go of him. Even though several reporters spotted her and started shouting questions about how she felt, now that the FOCUS bill had passed, she refused to slow down.
"You really ought to go talk to the press," Tanner protested, as she dragged him out to her car.
"Later," she answered, giving his hand a squeeze.
Tanner opened his mouth to advise her to reconsider, but two things swayed him; first, he wasn't her campaign manager, so he didn't have any real platform to tell her how to act. And secondly, more importantly, he caught a glimpse of her round ass poking through those ridiculous slutty-secretary pencil skirts that she loved to wear, and his dick reached up to pin his tongue down in place. "Don't mess this up for me," it hissed at Tanner's brain, threatening to rip itself off and leave if he didn't keep silent.
Tanner kept silent - up until they were in Alicia's apartment, and she was attempting to climb him like a tree, her arms around him, her lips locked on his.
"Alicia, are you sure-" he began, but she leaned back, raising her eyebrows and frowning at him.
"You really want to talk, instead of having wild, crazy sex with a Senator?" she asked, pushing her chest forward to bump against him and scramble his brains even further.
Tanner's dick repeated its threat, but he still took a deep breath and held it at bay for a second. "Look, Alicia, I really do love you, even though we've been apart. I've been stuck with idiots, and all I could think was how much I screwed up by letting you go-"
She started to reach for his pants, but he had to make it through this. "I know that you probably don't trust me, but I'll do whatever it takes," he insisted, reaching down and catching her hands, pinning them inside his own. "Just tell me what you need-"
"Oh my god, and I thought that you were smart!" Alicia snapped at him.
His eyebrows shot up on his forehead. "Excuse me?"
She took a step back, planting her hands on her hips and jutting out her rack in a way that almost made Tanner go cross-eyed. "I love you too, you big, dumb idiot," she said, following this with a massive eye roll.
"Really? Your body language doesn't quite say it."
Alicia sighed, swept her hair back from her face - and then, right in front of Tanner, started peeling off her clothes, dropping each article delicately into a growing pile on the floor.
"Er, what..." He couldn't even finish the sentence, his eyes locked onto her body. How the hell had he ever let go of this one?
"You've got a choice," Alicia said, already down to just her bra and panties (a matching black lace set, Tanner couldn't stop from observing). "You can either come into my bedroom and let me show you exactly what I mean when I say that I love you and have been going crazy thinking about you, unable to get you out of my head for the last two months..."
"Or?" he managed to get out after her pause.
Alicia turned away, letting him see her fingers as they wandered up her back, found the strap to her bra, and popped it free. "Or you can keep standing out here, which seems like a clear rejection of the fact that I love you like crazy, even though you're a bit of a dense ass at times."
The bra slipped off of her crooked finger as she sauntered away from him, into the bedroom. Tanner's eyes locked onto her ass, barely concealed in those lacy black panties, lazily swinging back and forth.
He immediately made up his mind. He headed forward, chasing after her, unable to keep a wild, stupid smile from blooming on his face.
As soon as he stepped into the bedroom, he found Alicia filling his arms, warm and soft and floral, a sensory overload. She kissed at him, touched him like she couldn't get enough of his body, and helped his suddenly clumsy fingers remove the rest of his clothes.
They didn't even make it to the bed. Tanner dragged her down to the floor and she straddled him, riding him and feeling his hardness take her as she bent forward to kiss him, her breasts hanging and brushing against his muscled chest.
"And that's how much I love you," she whispered to him, after they'd both lost control, exploded, moaned and clutched at each other as they came together.
"That's all?" he cracked.
Her slow, sexy, hungry grin was all it took to encourage him to sweep her up and drop her on top of her bed. He landed astride her a second later, already kissing her first on the lips, and then using his tongue and hands to further explore her body.
Now, lying on the bed in the tangled aftermath of this second round, Tanner shifted, and felt something wobble in the bed beneath them. "We may have broken your bed," he said apologetically to Alicia.
She shrugged, the motion sending a delightful little quiver running down the length of her body. "I can get another one for next time," she replied.
After a second, Tanner propped himself up on one elbow. "And there's going to be a next time?" he asked, aware that he sounded a bit like a broken record. "You want to keep me around?"
Alicia blinked long eyelashes up at him, mesmerizing him with those blue-green eyes. He never wanted to forget this moment, never wanted it to end. "I love you," she said simply, her eyes proclaiming this honest truth. "Somehow, even though you're a total ass, you managed to get my heart. I'm yours."
Tanner bent forward and kissed her, blinking as he felt hot tears welling up in his eyes. "And I love you too, even though you're the most frustrating person I've ever encountered," he whispered back, trying to shake his head so that the tears didn't fall on her face.
They did, however, and mingled with her own. "Now you've got me crying, too, you idiot," she sobbed out, even as her arms clung to him. She pulled him close, holding onto him like a rock in a stormy sea. They both breathed deeply, trying to keep themselves under control.
They failed.
"There's tissues over there," Alicia finally sniffled out, and Tanner reached over to grab the whole box. He watched as she sat up and loudly blew her nose, smiling even as he wiped at his own cheeks.
"Well, I'm not sure that Pribus is going to give me my old job back," he said, trying to keep his fingers from reaching out to cup those incredible breasts that hung from Alicia's chest as she pitched her tissue towards the garbage.
She smiled a moment later, as his fingers curled around and gently squeezed her breasts against her ribcage. "Why's that matter?"
"Without a job, I'm probably going to be spending a lot of time living out of this apartment," he answered. "I sold my old place when I moved down to Florida. I wanted to make a clean break of things."
"Yeah, that worked out well," she snorted. "And I've got a job opportunity for you, anyway."
He leaned in behind her, kissed her neck. "What's that?"
"Well, you're the one who knows all about what I should or shouldn't be doing as an elected politician, right? Even though I hate to admit it, I could use your advice, your guidance on how to get my way with all these stuffy old men in Congress."
"This is true. So what are you suggesting?"
She turned her head so she could gaze back at him as he traced a line of kisses down her shoulder. "I think the position of Chief of Staff for my office is about to open up. What do you say?"
He paused, looking up at her. "You realize that you're suggesting that we be together practically twenty-four seven, don't you? And you're going to have a lot of arguments with me. Even though you'll eventually realize that I was right all along."
"Yeah, right," she sniffed. "But yes, I do realize what I'm asking of you."
For a long minute, Alicia watched as Tanner considered the idea. Even naked in bed with her, the gears in his head were turning, examining the offer from every angle. She loved watching his brain work like this, thinking through every possible scenario, weighing every single option.
"What's the dental plan like?" he finally asked.
Laughing, she spun around, intending to punch him. Instead, however, they ended up tangled together, flopping back down on the tortu
red bed, limbs intertwined and bodies pressed together.
"Is that a yes?" she asked, inches from his face.
He leaned in and kissed her. "Of course it is. I love you."
"I love you too," she answered, her heart singing, and she leaned in for another kiss, this one longer and deeper.
Afterwards, Tanner fought off the sheet that had somehow knotted itself around his leg, running a finger down his chest and noting the little beads of sweat that came together. "If you want any more sex out of me," he panted out, "I need to get some water into my system before I end up dying of dehydration."
"Ah, such an awful way to go," Alicia responded immediately, her eyes sparkling up at him as he fought his way out of bed. "And so instead, you're just going to leave me here alone? So naked, abandoned in this bed with no one else to help me pass the time..."
Despite all the activity of the last couple of hours, Tanner still felt his loins urge him to jump back into bed, to return for yet another round. With an effort, he pushed away that longing. Soon, he promised himself.
Duty called, first.
"Nope, you're not staying there, either," he told Alicia. "You're getting up, dressed, and then coming out to give a press conference on the success of the FOCUS bill. First task for you, as your new chief of staff, is to make sure to maximize the press attention for this."
He watched as Alicia rolled her eyes at him. The gesture made some other parts of her jiggle most appealingly, and he quickly averted his gaze before she dragged him back into bed yet again.
"Such a taskmaster," she sighed, climbing up. "I can see that we're going to have a lot of friction."
"And we'll find some way to resolve all that tension, I'm sure," Tanner murmured back, and saw Alicia blush before she turned away to get dressed.
And even as he ran through talking points in his head, mentally figuring out how to best prep Alicia for confronting the inevitable shouted questions from reporters, Tanner made sure to watch and enjoy the show as she shimmied back into her clothes.
Chapter Twenty-Six
*
"There's something different about you," Freddie said, frowning as he waggled his finger at Tanner. "I can't quite put my finger on what it is, but I know that something's off. Did you get your hair cut?"
"Try again," Alicia laughed from Tanner's other side before he could respond.
Freddie grinned briefly at her, looking past Tanner as if he wasn't even there, and then returned his attention back to his best friend. "No, I'm going to get this. Did you pick up yet another STD? I'm impressed that you haven't already caught them all."
"Okay, that's enough," Tanner groaned, as both Freddie and Alicia dissolved into giggles. "Yes, I'm out with Alicia, and the two of us are together. Officially."
"Finally," Alicia added, provoking another snort from Freddie.
Needing to change the topic, Tanner turned his attention back to Freddie. "How about you?" he asked. "You're still seeing that girl from earlier? Crystal? Christine?"
"Cristina, and sadly, I'm not," Freddie admitted glumly. "She wanted a guy who'd be out in the bars every night, and my liver threatened me, told me that I had to choose - either break up, or look for a transplant. I decided that I'd rather keep my internal organs than have a long-term girlfriend with drinking as her top interest."
Alicia sighed. "Too bad. We could have gone on some lovely double dates together."
Both of the men shared a private glance, rolling their eyes at each other. Freddie might like teasing Tanner about his new relationship status, but he knew that any sort of double date would end up with both of the women laughing and having a great time together, while both of the men just sat, drank, and waited for it to be over.
Still, Tanner's face brightened as he turned back to Alicia, loving the feel of her leaning in against him. Solid, comforting, soft and warm and supple. He couldn't wait to get her back to her apartment - although, already, the space was starting to feel a bit cramped.
He hadn't said anything to her, not yet - but Tanner had set up several alerts on property sites, waiting for something in the right neighborhood, at the right price, to pop up so he could pounce on it. A good redirection of his predatory political instincts, he figured.
Not that those instincts weren't still getting a workout, serving as Alicia's chief of staff. Tanner quickly discovered that he had the rare talent of spotting incoming attacks from political opponents before they landed - it came naturally to him, considering how he'd helped to spearhead so many of those attacks in the past. He knew just how to counter them, and the Republicans were finally starting to realize that the measures Alicia championed weren't just going to fade away from normal blocking attempts.
After the FOCUS bill's "miraculous" passage, Alicia quickly became a media darling. Her clear approach to speaking, her strong beliefs that radiated through in every speech she gave, and her quick wit and ever-present sense of humor made her an immediate favorite on talk shows, and she appeared on several national programs, including The Daily Show (a personal favorite of Tanner's, and he nearly fainted when Alicia invited him to come along and meet the host before the actual taping of the show). After the bill faded from the news, Alicia stopped receiving quite as many calls for quotes on various topics - but Tanner made sure to collect the personal contact information of many of the reporters and television show producers, gathering ammunition for the next battle that Alicia set out to fight.
And he knew that Alicia had an entire list of other social issues and important bills that she wanted to champion.
Even tonight, although Alicia was now laughing and enjoying her drink as she chatted back and forth lightly with Freddie, Tanner had been forced to practically drag her away from the review of a bill she'd been asked to consider co-sponsoring. "No more work!" he had insisted, laughing as she comically tried to clutch the sofa where she'd been sitting. "Come out and play!"
"I don't wanna!" Alicia cried back, even as tears of laughter streaked down her cheeks and she fought to keep from collapsing into giggles at how Tanner was scooping her up. "All the other kids laugh at me and try to get me blackout drunk!"
"They're laughing with you, not at you!" Tanner countered, grunting as he finally managed to get her slung up and over his shoulder, like a bag of potatoes. "Think of this as a visit to your constituents!"
"My constituents are back in Colorado, you jerk," Alicia replied, but then fell silent. A moment later, Tanner jumped as a pair of hands grabbed his ass. "Hey, look at this! I found something?"
"What did you find?"
"A cute little butt!" Another pinch from her. "And I wonder what's on the other side..."
"Stop, hey!" Tanner groaned, as she wormed around, her hands diving under his clothes. "You're going to make me drop you!"
"Worth it!" came Alicia's muffled reply, as Tanner finally sagged back down on the couch, worried that he'd drop Alicia on her head and end up having to take the Senator to the hospital. She landed on his lap, grinning up at him as her hands spread to inappropriate areas.
"Plenty of time for that afterwards - we're going to be late to meet Freddie," Tanner protested, making a half-hearted effort to stand up.
"Oh well," Alicia replied, and then unzipped his pants.
Somehow, Tanner only remembering to zip up his pants as they stepped into the bar, they managed to only arrive about fifteen minutes past the time that they'd given Freddie.
"You know," Alicia now said, peering at Freddie, "I do know a couple of other nice young women who happen to be single at the moment. I could see about getting you a date, if you wanted!"
Freddie turned anguished eyes on Tanner. "This always happens," he moaned. "Oh, I'm not single, but I happen to have a single friend! Let me set you up? Do you know how many set-up dates I've been on?"
"Forty-eight," said Tanner, who had heard this speech before.
Freddie shook his head, his eyes drooping sadly. "It's forty-nine, now. My hairdresser tried to set me up w
ith one of her friends. Her friend turned out to be forty-five and with a bee's nest of a hairdo so big that she probably had squirrels living in it."
"So what, no second date with her?"
"She offered," Freddie said with a deadpan face, "but I turned her down. She wanted to 'go out clubbing like those young folks do', and I was worried that her hair would end up devouring another victim."
"Shame," Tanner said, shaking his head.
"Well, this woman that I'm picturing for you is young, cute, and has normal sized hair," Alicia kept pressing. "Come on, maybe set-up number fifty will be the one that ends up working out!"
Freddie still looked doubtful, so Alicia changed her approach. "She also wears a size four dress, and a size D bra," she added.
Immediately, Tanner's buddy perked up. "Okay, maybe I deserve to give her a shot. After all, who am I to judge people before at least meeting them, right?"
Tanner turned and looked down at Alicia. "You're evil, you know that?" he told her. "Everyone always believes that the Republicans are evil, but I think that it's you, masterminding the whole thing."
She just smiled back at him, her blue-green eyes so full of warmth and life and love that he felt like he could happily drown in them. "Yeah, but you love me, so it's okay."
"I do love you, at that," he admitted, leaning in to kiss her.
"And I love you, so much," she whispered back after the kiss, not leaning back from his face, gazing into his eyes. "You drive me crazy, but you're also the smartest, most driven, most principled man I know. And I love you."
He kissed her again, feeling his heart sing, beating in time with hers. Even Freddie's groan was half-hearted, as if the man, despite acting like a curmudgeon, knew that he was seeing Tanner happier than he'd ever felt before.
For the first time in his life, Tanner didn't feel focused on the present, afraid to consider what might come next in the future. Until now, he'd always told himself that he needed to live in the moment, not think about where he'd be headed next, what was in store for him in the future. After all, for most politicians, there was little reason to ever look further ahead than the next election cycle.
Fixer: A Bad Boy Romance Page 17