Maddy knew he wasn’t talking about the coffee.
She looked at him, less than a foot of counter space between them, and she had the sudden overwhelming longing to reach out and cradle that head against her, to kiss that bitter mouth that could smile so sweetly at her. She looked at him and fell in love, with all the passion a shy sixteen-year-old possessed. She smiled up at him dizzily. “You’re welcome,” she murmured.
He must have known. Those hazel eyes of John Thomas Murphy could see through any frail human emotion, and a sixteen-going-on-seventeen-year-old wasn’t adept at hiding the sudden onrush of fragile passion. Buthe smiled back at her, a sweet, secret smile between the two of them, and Maddy told herself a bond was sealed. She had met her fate, and if he didn’t quite recognize it yet, he would sooner or later. And suddenly the campaign summer seemed quite glorious to look forward to.
CHAPTER FIVE
“You wish any coffee, lady?” Was it Ramon with the soulful eyes and the killer T-shirt, or Luis? She could only guess.
“No, thank you, Ramon,” she said with a shake of her head, and was rewarded with a beatific smile that revealed shattered front teeth. When the time came he might very well prove an ally. He was young and innocent enough not to like what Jake Murphy was doing to her.
His next words confirmed that impression. “Don’t worry about Murphy. He is a fair man. He will take you to El Patrón when he thinks the time is right. You can trust him,
señorita.”
Why was everyone telling her to trust him? She had little choice in the matter, but if she had it would be the last thing she would do. “Ramon, I need to see my father,” she said softly, urgently.
“Don’t let the
gringa
talk you into anything,
amigo,”
Luis of the Mickey Mouse T-shirt snarled from across the room. “You know what Murphy would say if you went against his orders. And she wouldn’t care. All shecares about is herself.” Luis spat to emphasize his point. It would make little difference on the filthy floor.
A wary look came into Ramon’s deep brown eyes, and the concerned smile wavered. “All in good time,
señorita,”
he said, moving away. “All in good time.”
Everyone had known of Maddy’s adolescent passion for her father’s Secret Service man. There was no way she could hide it. When it came to a choice between being circumspect and being in Jake’s mesmerizing company, she had to pick the latter, despite her mother’s caustic comments.
“If I’d known Jake Murphy was all it would take to get you interested in your father’s campaign, I would have done something about it long ago,” Helen had drawled. Of course she had chosen a small cocktail party, with Jake in hearing range, to make that particular announcement, and Maddy had fled to her room in mortified tears.
But even that embarrassment and her mother’s subsequent attempts at ridiculing humor didn’t stop her starry-eyed crush. Jake’s gentle forbearance only served to encourage her, so that by August every waking moment and most dreaming ones were completely absorbed in Jake. He’d always known just how to treat her—a combination of little sister, innocent young girl, his boss’s daughter, and a trace of something dangerously flattering. It had done wonders for her self-esteem, and for the first time in her life that she could remember she was truly happy. Until that hideous night of her birthday, when all her dreams went crashing down and the even tenor of her life was shattered.
It was only a few days before the convention, the convention that everyone said held the keys to Samuel Eddison Lambert’s presidential ambitions. He stood morethan a good chance against his opponent, a conservative younger man with a good record on domestic issues, and he held up even better against the opposite party’s choice of July. Sam Lambert was only a few steps away from the White House, and the tension in the house in McLean was
She looked at him, less than a foot of counter space between them, and she had the sudden overwhelming longing to reach out and cradle that head against her, to kiss that bitter mouth that could smile so sweetly at her. She looked at him and fell in love, with all the passion a shy sixteen-year-old possessed. She smiled up at him dizzily. “You’re welcome,” she murmured.
He must have known. Those hazel eyes of John Thomas Murphy could see through any frail human emotion, and a sixteen-going-on-seventeen-year-old wasn’t adept at hiding the sudden onrush of fragile passion. Buthe smiled back at her, a sweet, secret smile between the two of them, and Maddy told herself a bond was sealed. She had met her fate, and if he didn’t quite recognize it yet, he would sooner or later. And suddenly the campaign summer seemed quite glorious to look forward to.
CHAPTER FIVE
“You wish any coffee, lady?” Was it Ramon with the soulful eyes and the killer T-shirt, or Luis? She could only guess.
“No, thank you, Ramon,” she said with a shake of her head, and was rewarded with a beatific smile that revealed shattered front teeth. When the time came he might very well prove an ally. He was young and innocent enough not to like what Jake Murphy was doing to her.
His next words confirmed that impression. “Don’t worry about Murphy. He is a fair man. He will take you to El Patrón when he thinks the time is right. You can trust him,
señorita.”
Why was everyone telling her to trust him? She had little choice in the matter, but if she had it would be the last thing she would do. “Ramon, I need to see my father,” she said softly, urgently.
“Don’t let the
gringa
talk you into anything,
amigo,”
Luis of the Mickey Mouse T-shirt snarled from across the room. “You know what Murphy would say if you went against his orders. And she wouldn’t care. All shecares about is herself.” Luis spat to emphasize his point. It would make little difference on the filthy floor.
A wary look came into Ramon’s deep brown eyes, and the concerned smile wavered. “All in good time,
señorita,”
he said, moving away. “All in good time.”
Everyone had known of Maddy’s adolescent passion for her father’s Secret Service man. There was no way she could hide it. When it came to a choice between being circumspect and being in Jake’s mesmerizing company, she had to pick the latter, despite her mother’s caustic comments.
“If I’d known Jake Murphy was all it would take to get you interested in your father’s campaign, I would have done something about it long ago,” Helen had drawled. Of course she had chosen a small cocktail party, with Jake in hearing range, to make that particular announcement, and Maddy had fled to her room in mortified tears.
But even that embarrassment and her mother’s subsequent attempts at ridiculing humor didn’t stop her starry-eyed crush. Jake’s gentle forbearance only served to encourage her, so that by August every waking moment and most dreaming ones were completely absorbed in Jake. He’d always known just how to treat her—a combination of little sister, innocent young girl, his boss’s daughter, and a trace of something dangerously flattering. It had done wonders for her self-esteem, and for the first time in her life that she could remember she was truly happy. Until that hideous night of her birthday, when all her dreams went crashing down and the even tenor of her life was shattered.
It was only a few days before the convention, the convention that everyone said held the keys to Samuel Eddison Lambert’s presidential ambitions. He stood morethan a good chance against his opponent, a conservative younger man with a good record on domestic issues, and he held up even better against the opposite party’s choice of July. Sam Lambert was only a few steps away from the White House, and the tension in the house in McLean was
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