Darcy shook his head. “I don’t need anything—”
“Will.” Her eyes were dark and solemn. “That bill is so much bigger than you and me. It’s about the future of the United States—the future of the world. If we’re dating, it will pull everyone’s attention from what’s important and fuel more speculation. Maybe prompt a congressional investigation.”
“There’s nothing for them to find,” Darcy said sharply.
“That won’t stop them. The congressmen who oppose the bill will use the allegations of coercion to kill it. You can’t afford to be weakened by a scandal. If we date, it’ll keep the whole thing in everyone’s mind; if we don’t, it might blow over.” He thrust his chin out stubbornly, and she sighed. “You need all your political capital to get the American people behind your initiatives.”
The future he had envisioned was disintegrating like a sandcastle in the surf. He closed his eyes as though that could shut out reality. “Yeah, okay, things are bad now, but it’ll settle down.”
“Do you really think it’ll settle down if I’m visiting the White House regularly for sleepovers, reminding everyone how you ‘took advantage’ of me?” she asked incredulously. “If I’m around it’ll keep the whole thing in the forefront of everyone’s mind. It’ll be a huge distraction from your agenda.”
“Surely there’s a way to—”
She shook her head. “I can go on every news show and talk until I’m blue in the face about not being coerced, but your opponents can too easily use the scandal to demonize you.”
Darcy didn’t care that her arguments were almost identical to Hilliard’s. “But—”
“Dating me lowers your approval ratings nearly twenty points,” she said softly.
Darcy cursed under his breath. Bing must have told her the results of the poll they had secretly commissioned. “Bing has enough trouble with his own love life; he should stay out of mine.”
“He’s not worried about your love life,” Elizabeth said. “He’s worried about your political life—which he should be. You need to concentrate all your energy on repairing the damage that Lydia and George created. And so should I.” He opened his mouth to object, but she kept speaking. “I know you don’t hold me responsible, but I want to ameliorate the damage my family caused.”
He scowled but could not meet her eyes.
“There’s damage,” she continued doggedly. “Otherwise this rendezvous wouldn’t have required so much cloak and dagger. If I’m wrong, go ahead and tell me.”
For a moment Darcy couldn’t choke out anything past the lump in his throat. “I don’t care,” he finally said through gritted teeth.
“I do! I believe in your presidency and the things you want to accomplish.” Elizabeth waved her hands around in her enthusiasm. “I know you can make this country a better place. It’s not just the environmental bill. It’s also the refugee program and improving foreign relations—and a hundred other things. I don’t want you to be a one-term president; you have too much to do.”
Darcy closed his eyes and tipped his head against the back of the sofa. “I believe you’re exaggerating the effect that our relationship would have on my presidency.”
“Maybe.” Elizabeth bit off her words. “But can you afford to take the chance?”
Darcy couldn’t help picturing the thousands of people who had helped to get him elected. Who believed in him. The millions of voters who were counting on him to address the problems he had pledged to fix. The hundreds of government workers who had uprooted their jobs and brought their families to Washington to help Darcy build a better tomorrow. If you put them on one side of the scale and Elizabeth on the other, it was no contest. But why did he have to sacrifice her? He’d gladly give up something else. An arm or a leg. Not Elizabeth.
Turning toward her, he smoothed her hair away from her face. “Maybe in a few months this will all have died down and—”
“And we can convince them that I actually love you and that you’re not forcing me to do your evil bidding?” Her lips trembled. “How likely do you think that is? Scandals like this never die. As long as I’m around, it’ll always prompt rumors and innuendo that you have some hold over me. They’re always suggesting I’m secretly visiting the White House. That we had a clandestine wedding. That I’m pregnant. It’ll never stop.”
A tear rolled down her cheek. “Which is why”—she took a deep breath as if steeling herself—“I accepted a two-year assignment with the Red Cross in Indonesia.”
A powerful force sucked all the oxygen from Darcy’s lungs. The tiniest inhale caused a stabbing pain in his chest. No. No. No…
Now he could identify that look in her eyes. It was goodbye.
He gaped at her, not wanting to believe the truth in her words. “No!” She nodded slowly, sadly. “No. You can’t!”
“I thought you were finished with telling me what to do,” she teased gently.
Something inside his chest cracked in two. Nothing else could explain the pain. Glancing down at his shirt, he expected to see blood seeping through the front, but there was nothing. “Don’t do this…”
She managed a tremulous smile that quickly disappeared. “It’s a great opportunity. I’ll be helping people…” Evidently alarmed by what she saw in his face, she murmured, “Maybe we can be together after you leave office.”
“In six and half years?” He laughed bitterly. “If you’re not married to someone else then?” He pushed himself off the sofa and stalked to the big picture window. The bright twinkling lights of Washington D.C. mocked him. “God damn it!” He slammed his fist against the window, which vibrated in response.
Why couldn’t I have met her before I ran for office? Despite his initial reservations he knew she’d make an excellent First Lady. Pedigree was nothing compared to her compassion, her intelligence, the light she brought to his life. If the electorate had been presented with her as my wife, they would have loved her.