“Huh, well, it’s good to know that eighth-grade algebra won’t be held against me.”
“Nope, but ninth-grade algebra will be.”
“You had to go and kill my buzz. But,” he said, visibly brightening, “don’t schools like Harvard love to have presidents’ kids go there because they get all the publicity? They’ll probably let me in no matter how I do in ninth-grade algebra.”
Nick rolled his eyes. “I’ve only been president for an hour, and you’re already coattailing me.”
“What does that mean? Coattailing?”
“When you grab hold of my coattails,” Nick said, gesturing to the back of his suit coat, “and get ahead based on what I do.”
“There has to be something in this for me,” Scotty said with an impish grin. “If I gotta kiss girls in front of Secret Service agents, the least you can do is get me into Harvard.”
Nick cracked up and then gave him a gentle bop on the head. “Go to bed and shut the light off. It’s after midnight.”
“Night, Dad. I mean, Mr. President. Sir.”
“Shut it.” He left Scotty laughing and nodded to Debra, Scotty’s lead agent, who was positioned in the hallway.
“Congratulations, Mr. President.”
“Thank you, Debra. I think…”
As she laughed, he went upstairs to check in with Eli.
“Just wanted to let you know we’re back,” Nick said.
“It all went well?”
“As well as possible, I suppose.”
“I saw the video online. You guys looked great. Are you okay?”
“I’m still feeling shocked, but we’ll figure it out. Everything okay here?”
“Yeah, I checked on the twins an hour ago. They’re out cold.”
“Then I guess we’ll see you in the morning. Get some sleep.”
“You too, Mr. President.”
Nick smiled at the young man’s cheeky grin. “Not you too.”
“Sorry, I couldn’t resist.”
Amused by Eli, Nick went back downstairs and into his room, shut the door and leaned back against it.
“What’s up?” Sam asked from bed.
“Everyone calling me Mr. President. It’s very weird.”
“It’s only one word different from Mr. Vice President.”
“And yet there’s a world of difference between the two.” Nick pushed off the door and went into the closet off the master bathroom to get undressed. As he hung up the suit he’d worn to be sworn in, it occurred to him that the suit would be featured someday at the Smithsonian, or within the walls of his own presidential library. Everything about him now belonged to the public, even his clothes. Well, almost everything… A few things were private and would remain that way, primarily the relationship he enjoyed with his wife.
He brushed his teeth and headed for bed, wearing only a pair of the same Washington Feds pajama pants that Scotty had. They’d been gifts to him and Scotty from Celia and Skip for Christmas last year.
“Both our phones are going nuts,” Sam said of the phone he’d left on the dresser.
Nick went over to turn his off. “I guess the word is out.”
“Gonzo texted to say, ‘Holy fucking shit. I guess you did have something else to take care of tonight. Please tell Nick we said congratulations and… holy fucking shit.’”
Nick grunted out a laugh. “I guess that about sums it up.”
“Do you want to turn on the TV?” she asked warily.
“Absolutely not.”
“Good answer.”
He reached for her, and she snuggled up to him, bringing the lavender and vanilla scents of home with her. She had the softest, silkiest skin and curves in all the best places. Her long toffee-colored hair tickled his nose until she looked up at him with light blue eyes full of questions and concerns about the momentous events of this evening.
“How’re you doing, babe?” she asked.
“Um, fine. I guess. You?”
“Same. I guess.”
Sam snorted out a laugh. “Hell of a first couple we’re gonna be. We can’t even figure out how we are.”
“We’re going to be an awesome first couple.”
“You sound very sure about that.”
“I am very sure about it. We’ll give it all we’ve got, and that’s all we can do.”
“Well, I’m not going to give it all I have. I’ll give it what I can. First and foremost is our marriage and our children and making sure they successfully adjust to this massive change in their lives. Second is my job. Third is being first lady.”
Nick didn’t say anything to that, mostly because he still hadn’t figured out how it would be possible for her to continue to hunt down murderers while they served as president and first lady. The Secret Service would try to forbid it, and part of him hoped they did. He wanted her safe and protected from the crazies who’d try to get at him through her. But he also wanted her to be happy and was well aware that’d never be possible without the job she loved.
“You’re not saying anything.”
“I don’t know what to say. Not yet, anyway.”
“You could say, ‘Of course those are your priorities, Samantha. Why would they have to change just because I got promoted?’”
“Promoted,” he said with a chuckle. “Is that what we’re calling it?”
She sat up and faced him with the covers wrapped around her. “That’s what happened. You got promoted to a bigger job in the city where I happen to already work. We’re only moving across town. Why should anything else have to change?”
He knew neither of them would sleep until they’d had this conversation. “Is that a rhetorical question?”
“It’s not a rhetorical question, and you already know that. I’m going to need you to fight for me the same way you did when you became vice president.”
“You know if I could do anything I wanted—”
“You can! You’re the fucking president. You can do whatever you want.”
“Within reason.”
“Exactly! Don’t tell me there’s no way to make it work so I can keep my job while you’re president. I refuse to hear that.”
“Okay, then I won’t tell you that. All I’ll say is we’re going to have to think it through and find a way to make it work for both of us.”
“What does that even mean? Why does it have to work for you? You’d be the first one to say you’re not running for anything. You’re going to do these three years, finish Nelson’s term and then figure out what’s next. What do you care if they come at you about your wife working a job outside the White House?”
“I couldn’t care less if anyone ‘comes at me’ about that. What I care about, more than just about anything, is your safety. This is a whole new ball game, Sam, and you know that as well as I do.”
“So what’re you saying?”
“That I need time to think and breathe and talk it through with my team and to figure out a plan that works for both of us. I’m not going to lie to you. It’ll be an uphill battle. No one is going to approve of you keeping your current job while I’m president.”