Fixer: A Bad Boy Romance (6 page)

Good. Served him right, for what he just attempted to do.

Duecent, Alicia's campaign manager when she ran for office, now serving as her interim chief of staff, had simply told Alicia that she had a meeting with Keegan Tanner the next morning.

"And who is this Mr. Tanner?" Alicia asked, frowning at the little bulldog of a man as he hesitated in the entrance to her office, wavering as if not sure whether he should invite himself in or duck and bow like a proper servant.

In response, Duecent just shrugged. "Comes recommended by Aaron Perkins, from Senator Reed's office," he answered. "I guess he's got a lot of connections around here, senior fellow, and he wants to try and help you out. Given that you're new here, and all."

"Well, that's very kind of Mr. Tanner," Alicia murmured, her bullshit detector buzzing at high alert. "Did you find out anything else about him?"

All she got back was another shrug. Duecent had been a great campaign manager, Alicia considered as she watched the man finally decide to leave the threshold of her office and head off to do... something, but he wasn't exactly cut out to be a great Chief of Staff for her office. Perhaps this Tanner fellow could help out on that front.

But instead of leaving the matter there, Alicia grabbed her computer and typed Keegan Tanner's name into the search bar on Google. She clicked over to the images tab for a moment, looking at the top pictures that came up.

The top dozen hits were all for the same man, and Alicia decided that this must be Mr. Tanner. He was quite attractive, she thought, and younger than she'd expected. Something about his expression, however - the smile that spoke of hours practicing in front of the mirror, the perfectly groomed hair, the broad shoulders that had been built in a gym, not out in a field - gave her the impression of a shark. Keegan Tanner looked ready to take a bite out of any juicy target that he could find.

Next, Alicia moved over to the list of returned results, and began reading. She moved quickly and methodically through the list of links, ferreting out all the information that she could uncover.

Research. Alicia had always prided herself on it. It sounded like a cold and solitary pursuit, she admitted readily enough, but ever since she was a little girl, she'd loved packing her head full of facts, arming herself with weapons of knowledge, wrapping herself in the armor of education. Her dad used to joke that, when he came home from work, he was more likely to find Alicia in the family's little library, curled up around a book, than in her room playing with her toys.

Despite his jokes, however, both Alicia's mother and father encouraged her to learn. Instead of insisting that she should be playing dress-up with her Barbies and throwing tea parties with the stuffed animals that well-meaning relatives kept on sending her for birthday presents, they put up with her twice-a-month visits to the local public library. Most of the time, Alicia staggered out of the library with both hands wrapped around a stack of books that reached nearly all the way up to her chin. The librarians chuckled - up until she came back two weeks later, returning them all and exchanging them for a fresh stack.

The lessons of research stuck with Alicia, and she always made an effort to know as much as possible about any meeting or debate that she entered. When it came time for her weekly call home to her parents, updating them on their girl's progress in the big world of politics, she often had to drag herself away from an open book to pick up the phone. Occasionally, she'd lose track of time as she stayed up late, reading up on points for a debate, only to glance up at the clock and realize that it was nearly three in the morning.

Fortunately, she didn't have a significant other to annoy with her odd hours - or, at least, that's what she told herself. A couple of times, she'd considered adopting a cat or a dog, some sort of companion to keep her company on those late nights, but the pollsters told her that she'd look less appealing if she chose a pet. "Speaks of desperation," they'd said.

Alicia didn't like hearing that the desire to own an animal companion made her desperate, but she did want to win. So she held off on adopting a cat or dog, and ended up sweeping the election by a landslide.

Reading through the links that Google returned on Keegan Tanner, Alicia found her nose prickling - the sure sign of bullshit being slathered on thickly. The man didn't seem to have any official title, but he popped up at plenty of political events and in the news, often quoted as simply "a Washington insider." For someone who didn't appear to have a formal job title, however, he certainly seemed to have a lot of inside connections.

That sounded dangerous to Alicia - why would he show any interest in a freshman Senator like herself? However, it also offered some possibility - if she could get him on her side, she desperately needed that expertise...

So when Keegan Tanner walked into her office a little later that morning, Alicia immediately sized him up, trying to guess his intentions.

He wore a slightly ill-fitting suit, with a couple of imperfectly cleaned coffee stains. That would suggest someone who wasn't too focused on their appearance - except that Alicia had seen the online pictures of Mr. Tanner, and knew that he loved his five thousand dollar suits. This, then, was all an act, a ruse to get close to her.

Well, two could play that game.

She turned up the charm, and to her surprise, she found the man falling for it! She did have to admit that he was quite attractive, objectively speaking, and she didn't need to try quite as hard to smile at him, batting her lashes, as she expected. Careful, Alicia, she warned herself. Don't get snared by him.

But then, Tanner eagerly charged forward, clearly doing his best to seduce her right here in this office, and Alicia reformed her defenses. She led him on, closer and closer to what he perceived as his target, getting a feel for him. Yes, he definitely had experience at this. She could tell from the buzzwords that he slipped carefully into the conversation that he knew how to play with people. If she hadn't known better, she might have even fallen for some of his lines.

As if Alicia would ever go for a man like this.

Running as a single woman... that had been a persistent thorn in her side, she had to admit. As much as she hated the idea of having to fight an uphill battle due to sexism (this was the twenty-first century! Sexism was supposed to be dead!), it turned out to be the reality of her campaign. She worked hard to establish herself as strong and independent, in order to court the female vote, while still making sure that she came off as attractive and fit, in order to appeal to the older, sexist men that formed an unfortunately large voting bloc.

A couple of times while on the campaign trail, Alicia even considered getting into a relationship, maybe even something serious, just so that she could drop this tired mantra of being a "strong and independent woman". There were a couple of cute reporters in the press corps that followed her around; maybe one of them would prove to be marriage material...

Alicia quickly squashed these thoughts whenever they emerged, and made sure that no trace of them slipped into her weekly talks with her parents. Privately, however, she did have to admit to herself that she was getting older, that she was getting tired of doing it all alone. Not that she'd give up her career for a husband; he'd have to be ready to handle her ambition and passion. But still, it would be nice to come home to someone, to curl up with another warm body on the couch and tell them all about her day, to have someone to complain to about the ridiculous comments made by fellow Senators and other Congressmen.

Tanner, however, despite his remarkably even and handsome features, that rugged set to his jaw, the strong body that couldn't be disguised by his ill-fitting suit, wasn't going to be that man.

He was, however, useful. Alicia just needed to apply the right pressure to guarantee that she saw results.

So she led him on - and then, just as he leaned forward, utterly confident that he had her eating out of the palm of his hand, she struck, both physically and verbally.

Her hand shot forward and grabbed his tie, dragging him down - that's right, Mr. Tanner, no using your height and male size to intimidate this lady! - and she stared into her eye. No more batting her eyes, no more sultry glances. She gave him her best icy, cold, emotionless stare, and she saw him swallow, his Adam's apple having a little trouble as his tie pulled tight around his neck.

Good.

Now, she just had to steer him in the right direction. All of that knowledge, all those connections in Tanner's head - those were the real value, here. Alicia knew that she needed that information. She couldn't do research on her fellow Senators, not in order to dig up the little nuggets of gossip and buried truth that would really do the most damage to them, would advance her cause the furthest. No, all those tempting little secrets were instead hidden in the heads of those "connected Washington insiders," men like Keegan Tanner.

But Tanner had to have visited her for a reason, something more than because he wanted to get his dick wet by taking advantage of a young and inexperienced new elected official. Alicia didn't know what his mission might be - maybe just fact-finding for the Republicans, maybe something more sinister - but right now, she'd have to keep that concern on the back burner.

She needed to maintain perfect control of the situation.

For the moment, Tanner was thrown off his mark, confused - but he would quickly recover. Alicia needed to keep him guessing, keep him off balance. If she never gave him the chance to figure out her plans, figure out her real goals, she could lead him to the path of least resistance.

So, still holding onto his tie, still perched on the chair beside him where she'd moved so that she could flirt more heavily, Alicia forced herself to relax. Shoulders back, don't hunch. Give him a little glimpse of the girls as you stretch your chest. Keep your legs crossed, letting that pencil skirt ride up just a tiny little bit, just enough to let him catch the quickest little glimpse of leg without seeming totally improper.

Watch as his eyes take the bait, darting to your chest, your legs, and then guiltily back up to your face.

Got you, Keegan Tanner. You're mine now.

All I need to do is reel you in.

Alicia's smile broadened, and this time she didn't need to make any effort for it to appear genuine. She muted it - no need to appear too eager - but inside her own head, she felt herself smiling like a cat, with a mouse trapped, helpless, in front of it.

She had Keegan Tanner right where she wanted him. She would convince him that he should take her side, would realize that she could see through all his bullshit. Of course, she suspected that this wouldn't be enough, on its own, to crush whatever was on his hidden agenda - but Alicia had faith that she'd be able to figure that out, too, and kill it before he could bring her down.

"Oh, Keegan," Alicia sighed, confident in having outmaneuvered her opponent. "Did you really think that it would be so easy to bring me down?"

Chapter Seven

*

Sitting in Senator Alicia Stone's office, Tanner felt the blood in his veins turn to ice as he realized, a little too late, that he'd made a horrible miscalculation.

He couldn't sit up, couldn't pull his head back, not with Alicia's grip on his tie threatening to strangle him. "What?" he managed weakly, thoughts still reeling.

Next to him, her legs still prettily crossed, Alicia shook her head. "Oh, Keegan," she said. "Did you really think that it would be so easy to bring me down? You thought that I was a rube, straight out of the sticks, someone that you could sweep off to bed with your big city charm and a few glasses of appropriately expensive wine? You could just steer me, young and malleable little me, in whatever direction your bosses wanted?"

"No, that's not..." Tanner trailed off, not even sure what to say. She'd outmaneuvered him, completely and horribly. He didn't even have a response, couldn't see a way to dig himself out of this trap.

He was screwed.

After giving it one last tug, Alicia finally released her grip on his tie. Tanner quickly sat up, tugging the tie out of her reach as he slid one finger in between his neck and shirt to loosen it back up. Looking over at Alicia, he saw the same little smile playing about her lips that he'd spotted before.

This time, however, that smile wasn't sexy. That was the smile of a tiger, watching the final struggles of its helpless prey.

Alicia just sat there, watching him. Again, Tanner sensed that she was toying with him. He ran quickly through his options, but came up empty. He didn't have any other cards to play, no other smokescreens to hide behind. His shoulders slumped as the realization hit him.

"Fine." The word was soft, barely audible as it slipped out of his lips. "I'll get out of your office."

He started to stand - but again, fast as a striking cobra, Alicia's hand flew out and closed on his tie. Using it like a damn leash, she pulled him back down into the chair again.

"Hold on, no need to go rushing off," she replied, her smile widening. "After all, I still haven't told you if I'm hiring you or not."

Confused, Tanner sank back down into his chair once again. "What? But you just told me that you knew-" he began.

Alicia held up a finger. To his own amazement, Tanner felt his mouth snap shut halfway through his sentence. This woman seeing through his ruse had totally thrown him off balance. "I said that I know what you are, who sent you," she said. "But that doesn't mean that you're not still useful to me."