Scandalous: The Senator's Secret Bride by Imani King

heading to the sauna. After that, I knew that he would hit the continental breakfast and take a recess in his room before the first speaking engagement of the day. I’d learned to time my work out just right so that I could hit the breakfast buffet right at 9:30 AM. By that time, all that was left were the last dregs of coffee, several nearly-stale bagels, and a few scraggly-looking pieces of bacon. But if it meant that I didn’t have to be in the room with John, I’d take my limp bacon with a side of stale bagel.  

    I had to bribe one of the young guys on the outreach team to monitor and memorize John’s schedule, but it was worth it. It was necessary . Because whenever I was alone in a room with John, my body started to twist up, heat coursing through my veins and reaching out to all the places he had touched. In all my years as a fully-grown woman, a man had never made me feel quite like that. I should have left then, after that trip to Richmond. I would have left, in fact. But it was becoming clear to me that John was one of the good ones—he had the right ideas and all of the charm necessary to win. And as any political junkie can tell you, we can’t resist the good ones.  

    So I stayed, and I made it through the week, ducking and hiding whenever John Reynolds came into sight. I had single-handedly organized all of the college outreach teams in the state, traveling during the day to meet with campus coordinators and setting up events at the major public universities. Because I was staying out of his way, I ended up out of everyone’s way, driving myself harder and harder for the sake of the campaign.  

    If I hadn’t done all that, he might not have called me aside. My scandal had its ironies. All roads led back to John, no matter how much I avoided it.

    ***

    “Wake up dear one, it’s our last day here!” I pulled the pillow over my head, hoping that Kelly would give up and move on to chat with my outreach team. After all, I’d trained them up and had them running everything out of the hotel conference rooms. Meanwhile, I could commute across the state and make sure to avoid John Gregory Reynolds as much as humanly possible. “You have to at least come to launch this morning, Sonia.” I pulled the pillow further down over my ears, groaning. Driving across the state for the past week hadn’t given me the best or most reliable sleep pattern, and it was starting to show in the dark circles beneath my eyes. On this last morning, I had high hopes for sleeping in and missing John’s morning pep talk. I heard a click, and the door opened.  

    “Dammit Kelly!” I shouted, sitting up and pulling the covers over my body. “How in the hell did you get the room keys?”

    “I have connections everywhere, darling,” Kelly said, walking over to my bed and sitting down. Her bright blue linen suit nearly blinded me, and again, I found myself wondering how exactly she had managed to put herself together before seven in the morning. “I head up the campaign. Can’t risk having any of my little chickies out of line. Not that you ever are. You’ve gotten quite a few things done, haven’t you? All without being around…” She looked at me, raising one perfectly arched eyebrow. “I’ve barely seen you. I’ve actually been wondering if you’ve gone off to meet with your mysterious lover…”

    “Exactly the opposite, Kell,” I said, hopping out of bed and pulling a wrinkled skirt from my suitcase and throwing it on the bed. I stumbled toward the bathroom and turned on the water to brush my teeth, drowning Kelly out as she prattled on about the campaign. She appeared behind me, her perfect hair glowing gold-brown behind me.

    “Greg has been asking about you. He’s been very impressed with the results you’re getting statewide. He’d like to discuss numbers and strategy with you.”

    “Can’t hear you,” I said, turning the water up and starting to brush my teeth.  

    “You’ve been avoiding