“Would have been a waste of breath. I spun her a tale about jello shots with White House interns in the emergency tunnels. It was quite a rager, as my son would say.”
“I bet it was.”
The catering and decorating staff were in and out of the East Room at the end of the corridor preparing for Vagabond’s birthday party that evening. Shane and Alan were working a double with so many visitors expected. When Chang and the rest of the PPD left for the West Wing, and Rafa and his siblings were shepherded into the oval Blue Room for an interview with a reporter from People.
Shane slipped in to stand just inside the door while Alan remained in the hall. The reporter had of course been cleared by security, but each of the protectees had one agent in the room.
The White House PR flacks sat off to the side on an ornate blue and gold couch, while Rafa and his brother and sister perched on matching chairs positioned in a semi-circle facing the reporter. The wooden floor was polished to a high shine, and when Shane glanced down at his feet, he could make out his faint reflection.
From where he stood off to the side, he could see Rafa’s profile. Virtue sat between her brothers, with Velocity on the far side. The reporter opened with some light banter about their brother Christian being stuck at the airport and how Mother Nature didn’t cut the first family any breaks. They all laughed on cue, and Rafa fiddled with one of his finger nails, toying with the cuticle. He glanced to his right at Shane, his lips twitching into a quick smile before he refocused on the reporter. Shane kept his expression impassive. But damn it, he wanted to smile back.
As back to normal as things were, if Shane was being honest with himself—something he hadn’t attempted much lately—this still wasn’t a normal detail. He was keeping his distance and following protocol to the letter, but Rafa was an itch under his skin that he couldn’t scratch away. It was ludicrous. Even if they were two strangers who’d met by chance, Rafa was too young for him. What the hell did they even have in common?
Yet he found himself looking at recipes online and wondering whether Rafa would like to make them. He thought about surfing every day, the memories of his youth now mixing inextricably with Rafa. As he’d tried to sleep the night before, his mind had spun as he’d imagined Rafa in a wetsuit, damp curls on his forehead as he laughed under the sun. Shane ached to see that.
Christ. He was acting like a teenager.
But he couldn’t forget the sensation of Rafa’s lips against him, and the sound of his breathy little gasp. The youthful daring of the kiss had only made it sweeter, and the knowledge that Shane was the first man Rafa had ever kissed stirred up a possessive instinct he wasn’t proud of. The thought of anyone else touching Rafa sent his blood pressure through the roof.
The Castillo siblings took turns answering the usual types of fluffy questions about life as the first family. Adriana waved her hand as the reporter asked about growing up in the White House.
“You’ll have to ask Raf about that. Chris and I escaped to college, and Matthew was only a couple of years behind. But Rafa did a great job holding down the fort.”
Rafa laughed, but Shane could tell it was half-hearted. “Yeah, they all abandoned me as soon as they could.”
The reporter didn’t seem to pick up on the tension in Rafa’s smile. “Must have been terrible to have your own movie theater and bowling alley, huh? And a chef to cook you dinner every night. What will you miss most when your father’s term is up?”
After a silence that threatened to grow awkward, Rafa managed to smile again. “The bowling alley. Definitely.”
When the reporter moved on to the subject of romance, Matthew jerked his thumb at Rafa. “Since Chris isn’t here yet, you’d better ask my little brother. He’s practically married, and Ade and I aren’t even close.”
Shane wished they’d just leave Rafa alone. He glanced at the PR staff, but they didn’t seem concerned. Rafa smiled tightly again. Could these people not see that he didn’t want to talk? Were his brother and sister just clueless, or cruel?
“Um, there’s not really much to say. I’ve got a great girlfriend,” Rafa replied. “Ashleigh’s my best friend. I’m very lucky.”
“And such a beauty!” the reporter gushed. “You must miss her this summer. How is she enjoying Paris?”
“She loves it. She’s always had a passion for the fashion world, and she’s also getting a chance to explore art and everything Paris has to offer.” He glanced at his sister. “But you should really ask Adriana about that reality TV star she’s been dating.” He leaned forward and stage whispered, “He’s a bit of a bad boy, they say.”