'There's going to be considerable criticism because it will look like we were trying to hide our relationship,' Cam said carefully. 'We're likely to anger people on both sides of the fence.'
'Well, I'm not certain that Lucinda's suggestion that you put your relationship on hold for more than a year until the nomination is secured is particularly practical or even useful.'
Cam stiffened and had to struggle not to look at Blair. Blair hadn't mentionedthat request.
'I'm not going to do that,' Blair said, her voice calm.
'I'm not asking you to,' her father said. 'That's why I'm here. Mostly, I wanted to tell you to do whatever you chose in terms of discussing ornot discussing your private life with the press. Whatever the consequences, we'll deal with it.'
He glanced at his watch, then at Cam. 'I have a few minutes, Agent Roberts. Any chance for that coffee now?'
'Right away, sir. And by the way,' she said, extending her hand as she stood, 'it's Cam.'
Smiling, the president shook her hand. 'Andrew.'
Chapter Twenty-Six
Fifteen minutes later, after coffee and a conversation that centered on Blair's plans for a gallery showing in the fall, Blair and Cam walked the president to the door. When it closed behind him, they stood staring at one another, both slightly stunned.
'He gets to the point, doesn't he?' Cam remarked.
'He surprised me,' Blair admitted, walking to the sofa and resting her hips against the arm, her face contemplative. 'He's never asked me anything that personal before.'
'Maybe he was waiting for you to bring it up.'
'He seemed...okay, don't you think?'
Cam thought about the conversation, although it was hard to be objective when the President of the United States was inquiring about your love life. 'Yeah. He seemed...fine.' She ran a hand through her hair and grinned at Blair. 'Jesus.'
'How do you think he knew I was here?'
'Most likely someone on the White House security detail told him. If they really didn't have a very good idea of where you were, they'd have called Mac and he would have called me.' That had happened before, but she saw no reason to remind Blair that she had very little true freedom despite appearances.
Blair made a disgusted sound.
'He's the president,' Cam pointed out reasonably. 'If there's something he wants to know, it's pretty unlikely that he wouldn't be able to find out.'
Cam crossed to Blair, took her hand, and drew her around to the front of the sofa, then tugged her down beside her. With Blair's fingers laced in hers, Cam asked quietly, 'Why didn't you tell me that Lucinda Washburn doesn't want you to see me anymore?'
'If you'll recall,' Blair said pointedly, 'we were discussingother matters last evening. And then we weren'tdiscussing anything at all.'
Ignoring the evasive answer, Cam persisted. 'There was time this morning when we were talking about my problems.'
Blair said nothing, and for the briefest moment, she looked away.
'It's not just my problems and my life that we have to share,' Cam said gently. 'This isn't something you can face by yourself. It involves both of us.'
Suddenly, Blair stood and walked to the opposite side of the room. Then she turned, facing Cam across the distance. 'I wasn't sure what you would say. I was... afraid that you would agree with her. That you would...'
As Blair's voice trailed off, Cam got to her feet. 'You were afraid that I would disappear, weren't you?'
Blair nodded solemnly, the pain swimming in her eyes.
Quickly, Cam crossed the space to her and placed both hands on her shoulders. Then, she found Blair's eyes and held her gaze. 'And you're right-a few months ago, that's probably exactly what I would have considered. I don't know that I would've been able to do it-I've never been able to stay away from you. She skimmed her fingers along Blairs rigid jaw. «Never been able to stop wanting you. But I might have wanted to try.'
Blair's eyes darkened, the blue shading nearly to black. Cam felt Blair stiffen under her hand, sensed her desire to run. Holding onto her, she repeated, 'A few months ago...maybe. Not now.'
'I don't know how I would stand it.' Blairs voice wavered and she clamped down hard on the old pain. Theold painnot Cams doing, but so hard to remember that.
'No-neither do I.'
Blair wrapped her arms around Cam's waist and stepped into her embrace, the fear that had coiled around her heart since the moment her father had walked into the room loosening its hold. She pressed her lips to Cam's neck, then leaned back to look at her, her voice stronger, the anguish extinguished by the solid reassurance of Cam's body, the certainty of her words.
'That doesn't mean we've heard the end of this,' Blair noted. 'Just because my father believes that nothing can damage his reputation or hurt his political chances, that doesn't necessarily mean it's true. He is an excellent leader, but sometimes he refuses to believe he's not invincible. He forgets to watch his back.'
'I have a feeling that's what Lucinda Washburn is for,' Cam commented dryly. And she had a feeling Washburn wouldnt give up easily.
'Most definitely. I'm sure we'll be hearing from her again.'
Cam drew Blair closer and rested her cheek against her lover's. Softly, she murmured, 'Let's deal with that when we have to. For the time being, we'll carry on.'
'I love you,' Blair whispered.
'I love you.' Then Cam sighed, kissed Blair's temple, and stepped back. 'We need to call the team and make plans to go back to New York, unless you're staying down here?'
'Not for a moment longer than I have to,' Blair said adamantly. 'Although if we could stay right here...'
'We could,' Cam countered, 'but we'd still need to call the team.'
'I know,' Blair said with a sigh, taking her first real opportunity to survey Cam's apartment in daylight. As she slowly turned, admiring the clean, modern style, her eyes stopped on something familiar on the far wall and she gasped involuntarily.
Cam followed her gaze and grinned.
'When did you get those?' Blair asked, clearly astonished.
'At the gallery opening last winter.'
'Did you know?'
Cam regarded the series of charcoal nudes, finding them just as beautiful as she had the first time shed seen them. 'Yes, I knew they were yours, even though you didn't sign them with your own name.
'How?' Blairs voice was hushed.
'I'd seen the work in your loft the first time I came for a briefing. Your style is very distinctive.'
Blair stared at her. 'Why did you buy them?'
'Because they're very good.' After a beat, she added, 'And because you did them.'
Their eyes caught and held, a flame jumping between them.
'We don't have to call the team right away, do we?' Blair asked, her voice husky as he moved toward her lover.
Cam swallowed, watching the color rise in Blair's throat, tightening inside. Thickly, she replied, 'I think we might have a little bit of time.'
*****
'Do you know what I'd really like to do?'
'What?' Cam asked, looking up from where she sat on the side of the bed pulling on her socks and loafers. The whimsical note in Blair's voice made her smile, and she regarded her appreciatively. A faint blush still colored her lover's skin from their recent lovemaking and the memory of it twisted through her, making her unexpectedly catch her breath as if struck.
'I'd like to order a pizza, get two or three videos, and spend the day on the sofa watching bad science fiction
