At the Pleasure of the President (The Perfect Gentlemen 5)

Prologue

Zack and Liz

Three Years Before

Memphis, TN

As Zack Hayes looked across the linen-draped table of one of Memphis’s most exclusive restaurants at the woman in front of him, an odd contentment settled deep inside him. Some part of him he’d never known existed suddenly slid into place. He was a bit horrified that mysterious something might actually be his heart—a thing he hadn’t believed existed until now. Simply by looking at her, he could breathe more easily. Being near her felt good. Times were changing, and he was going with the flow.

Because Elizabeth Matthews was the magical, mystical unicorn he’d always believed was a fantasy. She was the one.

Only Elizabeth had made him realize there was more to life than work and the never-ending pursuit of ambition. Only falling for her had convinced him to want more than the path he’d been set on forty years ago.

And the only thing holding him back from hauling her into his arms and making her his was the little problem of his marriage—to another woman.

“Zack, I know the polling numbers aren’t what you wanted, but the election isn’t over. Anything can happen.” Liz’s clear blue eyes were so earnest and reassuring.

He smiled. Those same blue eyes could go icy as fuck, of course. And damn if that didn’t do something for him.

He took a cautious glance around the private dining room. Except for the two of them, the room was empty. Not surprising since the staff was well trained. They’d also been handsomely paid to deliver the drinks, then disappear. For the first time in forever, no one was listening in. No reporters or pundits hovered to catch a few stray sentences they could turn into the evening’s headlines. He was alone with Elizabeth, and that was the way he liked it.

“I didn’t ask you here to talk about polling numbers.” Though she was wrong about those. No one suddenly surged ahead after being four points down less than a week before election day. His race was over. Of course he would go through all the motions, do everything to appear as though he’d fought until the last minute, but he’d already written his concession speech.

And he was shockingly okay with that.

His whole life, he’d worked to sit behind that desk in the Oval Office. He’d spent every waking moment—and lots of the sleeping ones, too—preparing for his presidency. He’d carefully organized his life, right down to his calculated marriage, so that one day he would be the most powerful man in the free world. Now after all that plotting, the vision was slipping through his fingers because according to the American public he was too cold and detached, not a man of the people. They liked his platform and ideas, but the other guy was the kind they could see themselves sharing a beer with.

With the exception of letting down his best friend, Roman Calder, he wasn’t upset about losing. In fact, he felt lighter now that the weight of responsibility was mere days from being lifted off him for good. All because he had a fresh cause, something else to focus on, a new reason to care. He had Elizabeth.

Well, almost.

Last night, he and Roman had shared a shockingly expensive bottle of Scotch and planned for a future that didn’t require a Secret Service detail. They were going to put their law degrees to work and make some life choices that would likely get them used as tabloid click-bait for a while. But hey, they were Perfect Gentlemen—two among the wildest group of rich boys to ever roll through prep school and the Ivy Leagues. Sure, he and Roman had always been the most circumspect of the six, but no one would be truly surprised when he and Joy announced their divorce. There might be some eyebrows raised when he started dating his media consultant. And there would likely be outright gasps if his best friend married his ex-wife, but Zack felt sure they would weather the storm.

“Of course you didn’t ask me here strictly to talk polling numbers. I’m s

orry, Zack. I understand,” Elizabeth said with a sad smile. “I’ll clear out of the bus.”

“Why would you do that?” They still had a few days before the election. No matter what the polls indicated, he couldn’t shrug and walk away yet. “Are you quitting?”

She frowned. “No. I thought you were firing me.”

He reached across the table and tangled her fingers with his. Her eyes widened as she pulled her manicured hand away, discreetly scanning the room to see if anyone was watching.

Undeterred, Zack reached for her again, this time holding firm. “Why on earth would I fire you? And you can stop looking around. Our team and the press are both too busy prepping for tonight’s rally to come all the way across town for lunch. I reserved this private dining room for us and ensured we won’t be disturbed so we can talk freely.”

She relaxed a bit. Even better, she stopped trying to tug her hand away. “All right. I assumed you would fire me because I haven’t done a good enough job at getting your message across to the American people. But there’s still a few days left. You know as well as I do that lots of voters are undecided. Some major social influencers—senators, celebrities, newspapers—still haven’t formally endorsed anyone. Heck, if you got a nod from a Kardashian, it could totally sway the election. And you never know, an October surprise could pop up and change everything.”

He needed to quell her worries here and now. “You’ve done a fabulous job, Elizabeth. As far as I’m concerned, you’re the best in the business. The fact that I’m even within striking distance of the White House, despite being a first-term senator running against a popular VP who’s served for the last eight years, is incredible. It simply wasn’t our time. And quite frankly, the pundits are right about some things. I am too intellectual. I do come off as cold and elite at times.”

Now she squeezed his hand in support before tangling their fingers together once more. The feeling of rightness stole even deeper into his heart. He wanted—needed—to be connected with this woman. For years, he’d worked with her. During that time, he’d befriended her. He’d also slowly fallen in love with her, too. For him, she was it.

He wasn’t entirely sure how she felt about him.

“Zack, you’re none of those things,” Elizabeth swore, her tone soft. “Well, you’re intellectual, of course. You’re one of the smartest men I’ve ever met, but you’re not cold at all. Somehow, we have to convince the American public of that because you’re also incredibly generous and kind.”

“You only think so because I’ve been careful around you.” She was going to see his ruthless side very soon. “Because I’ve wanted you to think of me that way. I can be brutally ambitious.”

“Of course. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to work on your campaign.” She leaned in. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Senator Hayes, but I can be brutally ambitious, too.”

Oh, he’d noticed. Elizabeth was sweet most of the time. It was her usual Southern charm that made her effective when she let loose her inner lioness. It didn’t happen often. Usually, she delegated the nasty details to her second in command precisely to keep her perfectly manicured claws from showing until she truly needed to bare them. But when he got a rare glimpse…damn that did something for him, too.

It was also why he was so nervous about what he planned to say next. Elizabeth Matthews was determined to make a name for herself. Could she love a failed politician? Could she really tie herself to a man determined to walk away from the very world she’d set out to conquer?

“Elizabeth, I’m going to lose this election.”

She shook her head, lips firming. “You can’t think that. And if we do lose, we’ll concentrate on taking back your Senate seat when the midterms come around.”

“No.” He had to stop her there. She needed to understand that he was plotting a different course this time—his own. “I’m walking away. Roman and I have decided to open a law firm in New York. I’m leaving DC altogether.”

Manhattan was the right choice. He and Roman would be close to Mad and Gabe. Dax could visit them all easily when he was on leave from his ship. And one day, when Connor’s location was no longer classified, he would return to find his friends waiting. If Connor came home alive.

That worry sat in Zack’s gut. One of the perks of being in government was being able to keep something of an eye on his CIA operative friend. But since he wasn’t going to be commander in chief, Zack had to trust that Connor could take care of himself.

Elizabeth’s hand slid out of his. “You can’t do that. You’re too gifted to walk away.”

His stomach took a deep dive. It wouldn’t be the first time a woman had rejected him, but it would be the only time that mattered. Because Elizabeth mattered. She was everything to him...even if she didn’t know it yet.

God, he hadn’t been this nervous when he’d asked Joy to marry him. Of course, he’d known she would say yes because her father had told her to. Their marriage had been carefully orchestrated, all the way down to his proposal. And they’d agreed to the dissolution of their loveless union in a similarly thoughtful and emotionless manner.

It’s for the best, Zack. I care about Roman in a way I wouldn’t have believed possible. Let’s get through the next few days. Then we can quietly pursue the lives we want.

A genuine smile—one that reached her eyes—had stretched across Joy’s face. He hadn’t seen her look that happy in years.

So it was done. The time had come for him to be happy, too. That meant finally getting his hands on the woman across from him and making her his.

What if she didn’t want him?

“Elizabeth, my mind is made up. I’m leaving politics, moving to New York to open a law firm with Roman and”—he dragged in a bracing breath—“Joy and I are divorcing.”

She gasped, lifting her delicate hand to her mouth. “Divorcing? But…Joy hasn’t mentioned a thing. I don’t understand.”

Zack wanted to pull her into his arms. But he forced himself to stay in his seat. He couldn’t touch her until he knew where she stood.

“Yes, you do. You know my marriage is nothing but a contract between two parties, and I failed on my end. Joy was meant to be a First Lady, not a wife, not a lover. I failed to earn her the position she deserves, so we have nothing more truly between us. Joy and I made this decision together, and we’re both happy about it.”

He suspected Joy had been in love with Roman for a long time. And Roman seemed enamored, too. Oh, he tried to hide it, but Zack knew his best friend too well. If Roman eventually pursued Joy, he would be making a mistake. But Zack doubted that Roman wanted to hear, especially from him, that Joy’s placid temperament wouldn’t make his hot-headed friend the perfect wife. The way he saw it, Roman was still hung up on Augustine Spencer.

To this day, Zack didn’t understand precisely what had gone wrong between Roman and Dax’s sister. He only knew that Roman hadn’t been the same since their affair decades ago. Even now, he lit up when Gus entered a room…and not always in a good way.

Hell, who knew? Maybe Joy would bring Roman the peace he claimed he needed.

One thing Zack knew? He was damn sure seeking more than polite civility with Elizabeth.

Across the table, she wore that slightly pensive look that told him she was thinking through a problem and ticking off some list in her head. “All right, if the worst happens with the election, I’ll spin the story of your divorce to make you look more human. You and Joy can remain friendly in the press. If you don’t start immediately dating a supermodel, the gossip should die off quickly. Then if you decide to run for your Senate seat again—”

“I won’t. And since when do I date supermodels?”

She shrugged. “Your friends all do. I assumed…”

“Mad and Gabe do,” he corrected. “Look, I don’t need you to spin anything. I didn’t call you here to get your ideas on how to handle my divorce in the press.”

“Then why did you call me here?” The question ca

me out terse, as though she was getting emotional.

He knew her tells. He’d studied her for years. She was nervous and on the edge. It was a good sign.

“Elizabeth, I called you here to ask you on a date.”

Her eyes widened, and she froze, as though she was trying to process his statement. “A date?”

“Yes. A date, a real one.” He leaned closer and lowered his voice, despite the fact he knew they were alone. “I’ve cared about you for a very long time. The day I met you, I realized I’d made a mistake marrying Joy. We were never in love. We do love each other—but as friends. Neither of us ever felt any spark between us. I didn’t even believe such a thing existed…until I met you.”

She gaped. “You felt a spark? When you met me?”

What he’d felt had gone beyond mere lust, although that had certainly been present. He’d taken one look at the gorgeous blonde in the white business suit and the sky-high red Louboutins, and his world had shifted. His half-dead libido had come alive again.

“Yes, and it’s done nothing but get stronger over the course of this campaign.”

She frowned. “Zack, a campaign like this is a pressure cooker. It’s easy to feel close to someone when you’re with them twenty-four seven, when you’re forced to depend on them. But—”

“Tell me you didn’t feel something the day we met.”

He remembered that fateful introduction so clearly. Was it possible she hadn’t felt the same? Could he have mistaken her lighthearted, flirtatious nature for deeper attachment?

“Of course I did,” she admitted, meeting his gaze, eyes soft. “You must know… I’m crazy about you. I haven’t even considered dating another man because I think about you all the time.”

Relief flooded his system. She was going to be his.

A grin slid across his face. “I’m crazy about you, too. And you should know that Joy and I…we haven’t been physical in a long time.”