Breathe You In (Sweet Torment 1)

“I’m excited to hear about the headway you’ve made, Amy.” She smiled, approaching me and Silas.

Marcy was nice, supportive, and one of the best bosses I could have asked for. She was in her early forties, and had been at New Beginnings for twenty years.

With a nervous smile, I nodded. She was excited to hear about the headway I’d made? A cold sweat broke out on my forehead as I recalled exactly what I had accomplished lately. Did a make out session with the governor of New York, followed by a proposed verbal agreement to play the role of his small-town girlfriend, count as headway?

“Looking squeamish there, Indiana.” Silas smirked. “Something you wanna share?”

“Wait for the meeting,” Marcy said, patting my shoulder before continuing her walk around the office.

Last week, I had made some pretty big promises on the topic of funding for this new center. Of course, that had been when Paige had just told me she’d be able to sneak me in: I’d been riding high on the idea of face time with important people who had a say over the state budget. Speculation was a bitch, and it was about to slap me in the face.

Damn it. I just wanted this center, my life, the governor…all of it, to just work out.

“See you in there, Indiana.” Silas winked. “Hope you have something up your sleeve.” Ugh. It was barely past nine a.m. and I was already annoyed, edgy, and ready to snap—likely at Silas.

My phone buzzed again. I grabbed it quickly and read the newest text message from Paige:

Girls Night Out 7 PM! Be prepared to spill the details about last night.

Chapter Four

You’re going to see him again?” Paige asked from across the small, square table. Running one hand along the stressed wood, I palmed my sweating drink in the other. “Like another meeting? Or another date?”

Hazel’s eyes went wide at Paige’s question and she took a sip of her martini. The bar was loud, and I considered pretending I hadn’t heard her question. But I had already made up my mind, and it was time to stick to my decision.

“Like another date,” I admitted and took a swallow of liquor.

Paige leaned back in her chair. Her white blouse was slightly wrinkled from the twelve-hour day she had put in. Obviously, she had come straight from the office. Though the bar was dim, lit mostly by neon beer signs, I could tell Paige was tired.

Several people lined the bar, leaning over the counter to watch the football game currently playing on all three televisions, while others huddled around a few scattered tables, laughing and cheering. The smell of draft beer and jalapeno poppers drifted around us. With my back to the front door, a fresh dose of cold evening air and cigarette smoke burst against my shoulders every time more people came in.

“Amy, that’s awesome!” Hazel smiled. “It’s about time you started dating again.” While Hazel did look genuinely happy for me, Paige looked like she had swallowed a thumbtack.

“Are you mad?” I asked.

“No,” she said slowly, and frowned. Shaking her head slightly, she looked back at me with a smile. “I’m just surprised. I never expected that one event would lead to you dating my boss. Well, my boss’s boss.”

I nodded. This wasn’t the most comfortable situation, but Paige had always been supportive. She was an amazing friend that way. Even right then, when I could tell that this was awkward for her.

From the beginning, she had helped me in every way possible in my mission to fund the rehab center. This surprising turn of events was still a shock to my system, let alone Paige’s.

“This won’t affect your job at all,” I assured her. Actually, agreeing to Roman’s arrangement was saving Paige’s job—a tiny factoid I could never tell her. All I had to do now was to get in touch with Roman and let him know my answer.

“Um, actually I’m pretty sure it will.” She smiled and took a sip of her beer. “It’s election season, and it looks like the governor just got a new squeeze.” She tipped her head in my direction. Paige was trying hard to be calm and cool about this, but I could hear the worry in her voice. As assistant to the communications officer, Paige’s main job was what she called “media damage control.”

“This won’t be an issue for you, will it?” The last thing I wanted was to bring Paige more stress. She loved her job, which was why agreeing to the governor’s proposal was important—so she could keep it.

“Now is the time for bold moves,” she said in the analytical voice she used when mentally sorting out a problem. “But only if they ensure a win. The governor’s personal life is already on display. As long as your relationship maintains an even keel, and no incriminating information comes out, this could be a good thing. It all depends on what occurs and how it gets spun.”

I took a deep breath. Hopefully there would be no negative repercussions. As for skeletons in the closet, I kept all mine back home in Indiana, which was where I intended them to stay. The unflattering events of my past weren’t documented or mainstream accessible. My sister’s death was public record, but the details behind it, like me driving her home instead of to the hospital, weren’t. That was a detail very few people knew about.

I swallowed the knot rising in my throat. I had never doubted that Paige was smart and good at her job. She had special X-ray vision that saw straight through bullshit. But I couldn’t tell her the whole truth regarding my relationship with the governor. If I did, the job that she was so good at would disappear, and all the help and support she’d given me to get this center up and running would have been for nothing. Roman had made that quite clear.

“Not everything is a calculated move, Paige,” Hazel said. “He obviously likes her and you like him, right, Amy?”

For some reason, my mouth refused to produce words. Being less than totally honest with my friends was incredibly difficult, and the question hit a chord deep in my gut. I thought of Roman’s hands on me, the way he had pulled me to his body, his strong mouth working mine. Every encounter with him was taking me further from sanity. In his presence, I felt desperate and aggressive, small and feminine, all at the same time.

“Yes,” I whispered. “I like him.”