“Yeah…And uhm…Well…things started happening between us. My father ended up wanting him to be exclusively on my security detail. And we tried to keep things professional between us at first. But then, things grew into something more. Or at least I thought they did. I was wrong though. First, he claimed to have feelings for me and that he would basically be with me no matter what. But then, he abruptly changed his mind and said he wanted to keep things strictly professional between us.”
“He said that?”
“Yes. I…I was so angry. I thought that maybe he’d just been lying to me all along. Using me. That he was done with me after he managed to get what he wanted a couple times…I felt so used. So disgusted with myself for falling so hard for him. I should have known better. Guys like him are nothing but players and always will be. I don’t know why I expected him to be different. I made a fool of myself, Eden. I kept coming on to him, thinking that he privately must have felt the same way and that he was just resisting me to be noble. But now I see that he was resisting me because he was never serious about me to begin with. He just wanted to whisper sexy words in my ear until he was done with me.”
A silence stretched between us. My eyes had gone out of focus, clouded with tears, as I stared at the TV.
“Did you give him a chance to explain himself?”
“There’s nothing to explain,” I said with a sigh.
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that. Sometimes—like you said—you can’t count your chickens before they’re hatched.”
“I think those chickens hatched and ran away already,” I said. I thought I saw a secretive smirk on Eden’s face, but as I heard my father’s words drifting from the television, I didn’t have time to think any further about it. He had finished the question-and-answer segment, and was giving his final words. That meant it was time for me to report to the stage with him and put on my happy face to greet the crowd.
I stood from the couch. “Well—it’s about that time,” I said, turning toward Eden. “Hey, what are you doing tonight? Do you want to hang out?”
Again, as I looked at her, I got the feeling she was holding back on something. She tried to arrange her face back into a neutral expression, but I knew her well enough to know she was concealing a smile. I narrowed my eyes at her, confused.
“Let’s take a rain-check on that, all right? You never can know what will be going on tonight. I’ll be in town for a while though, so trust me—we will definitely get a chance to hang out again soon.”
“All right…” I said. “Text me.”
With that, I turned around and headed back toward the front, until I reached the curtain. I stood there for a moment, waiting for my cue to go out on stage. Once Dad and said his last words, music would start playing, and that would be when I went out on stage with him.
Approximately ten seconds later, that time came.
Taking a deep breath to control the nerves that always arose in me at times like this, I pushed the curtain aside and stepped out, plastering a smile onto my face.
The crowd erupted into even louder cheers at the sight of me, as they always did for some reason. My father had joked a time or two that I was popular enough to enter a career in politics myself. But I couldn’t imagine such a lifestyle; I much more preferred law.
Dad turned toward me, holding his hands out. I grabbed his hand and together, we took a bow toward the crowd. The music continued to blare and the crowd continued to cheer excitedly.
I was taken aback by the sheer volume of the crowd. It seemed that with each rally Dad gave, the turnout just kept growing bigger and bigger. This was certainly the biggest crowd he’d had to date. I glanced sideways at him, wondering if he found it as overwhelming as I did. But just as I should have expected, he was handling it all with expert poise. Still holding my hand, he headed toward the edge of the stage with me in tow, where he began leaning over to shake hands. Security guards followed behind us, and moved to the front of the crowd as well, making sure nothing got out of control.
As I shook hands, I glanced around the crowd, spotting Ms. Penson toward the front. She smiled warmly and waved at me, and I waved back at her.
I then began looking around at the various signs being held into the air. The signs were always my favorite part. Dad’s supporters were full of creativity and often came up with great slogans to show their support. I had mentioned to him before that if he secured the nomination, he should consider asking supporters to help come up with a campaign slogan.
My heart stopped at the sight of one sign though. I stared, wondering if I was seeing correctly. It wasn’t a sign for my father. Instead, it read: Natalie For My Heart.
I looked at the person holding the sign, and it was none other than Colt.
Tears welled in my eyes, and in that instant, I knew I had been stupid for all the wrong reasons.
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I knew I shouldn’t have believed it when he claimed he wanted nothing but a professional relationship with me. We had made too strong of a connection for that.
Smiling and laughing through my tears, the instant I made it across the stage and close enough for him, I dove right into his arms.
Loud cheers erupted all around us as our lips met.
CHAPTER 18
Natalie
I couldn’t have planned it better, but the last few months had been pure bliss.