Fixer: A Bad Boy Romance (9 page)

Alicia turned back to her own papers, but glanced up after a minute or two of silence. "You're not reading, Tanner."

Tanner shrugged. "No need. Look, I know all of this stuff, and I also know that poring over it isn't going to get us anywhere. Come on, I've seen your speeches as you ran for election - you know that just reciting dry facts isn't enough to win the support we need. You need energy, drive - and that doesn't come from memorizing which company helped to fund Senator Carp's last reelection."

Across the desk from him, Alicia raised one eyebrow. "And let me guess. You're suggesting that perhaps we go out for a round of golf, maybe head to a strip club where I can have a one on one talk with my constituents?"

He'd noticed her wry sense of humor before in the occasional little remark, but this was the first time she'd directed a joke at Tanner, and he laughed out loud before he could catch himself. "Don't forget to throw in the meal with a few lobbyists, where you kindly allow them to pay for the massive porterhouse steak you order," he added, and felt a little tingle of warmth as he saw Alicia's smile grow a bit wider.

"Of course, how could I forget?" She held a hand against her chest, briefly looking down. "Forgive me, Tanner, I'm still new to this."

"No need to feel too guilty," Tanner fired back, watching as Alicia stood up and stepped around her desk, over to sink down into the chair next to him.

"But I do feel guilty," she insisted, batting long eyelashes at him. She really did have nice eyes, he couldn't help noticing. "I'm just a bumpkin from the sticks, somehow elected to this position where I'm totally in over my head, and I need a wise, experienced, strong man to lean on, someone who can guide me, show me the ropes..."

It took Tanner a second to realize that Alicia was leaning forward, once again daring him to betray himself by flicking his eyes to her cleavage, those big blue-green eyes threatening to drown him. She was pulling the fake seduction card again - but this time, he recognized it, was ready for it.

"I can be that man for you, big and strong," he murmured back to her. This time, he left no illusion about the long, considering look that he aimed down her shirt, examining her chest before rising back up to her face. Really, not an unpleasant sight in the slightest, he thought to himself, nearly distracting himself from his own words. "But I'll need something in response from you. Your integrity, your self-respect - and probably that hot body of yours, too."

His smile grew as Alicia's eyes widened in surprise. "Excuse me?" she started, a flush of heat entering her cheeks.

Tanner kept leaning forward and holding her heated gaze for another second longer. "Come on, what do you say? You and me, right here on your desk, in full view of your office? That should teach them the reward for hard work. I probably won't put in my top effort, but I'm sure you won't notice, given how you're starved for sex."

He somehow kept his face straight for another second as her eyes grew even wider, her mouth slipping in slack-jawed speechlessness - and then sat back, grinning widely, feeling a bit like a schoolboy who'd just managed to sneak his first kiss. "Hey, you want to tease me, you best be prepared to get it thrown back at you."

The look of surprise on her face, her mouth dropping wide open, gratified him more than he'd anticipated.

Still, Alicia quickly pulled herself back under control. "You know, Tanner, talking to me like that is definitely enough to get you fired," she pointed out, rising to her feet. "And if I fire you, well, I just might be asked to explain to my colleagues exactly what I disliked about you, why I had to let you go." She shrugged. "You know how gossip spreads in a town like this one."

"But you can't fire me," Tanner countered, also standing up. Alicia was tall, he noted, but he still had almost two inches on her. He used that extra height to his advantage, looking down at her as he took a step forward.

"And why not?" She didn't back away, even as he loomed over her.

"Because you need me, just as much as I need to preserve my own reputation." Tanner didn't know if this was the truth, but it was the only conclusion he'd reached this morning that made sense, and it felt right to his gut intuition. "You're new here, out of your depth. Despite your attitude, this aura of competence that you project, you know that you need my help if you want this bill to have any shot in Hell of passing. If you fire me, you'll be dooming yourself."

He'd drawn closer to Alicia as he spoke, and now stood less than a foot from her. He could practically feel the heat of her body, could look down into her face and see those big, green-blue eyes moving back and forth across his own features as she tried to determine whether he was bluffing. He kept his own face clear, not giving out any hints. He'd played this game before. He knew how to hold a poker face.

She drew a deep breath. Tanner felt, rather than saw, her chest rise; even her well-tailored blouse couldn't contain the raw biology beneath it. Strangely, he felt an answering surge of warmth course through him, the heat of raw, primal attraction, but he pushed that sensation off to the side. Instead, he waited, knowing that he could outlast her.

And then, after an eternity of silence, she blinked.

"Very well," she said quietly, her tone barely above a whisper. "You're right. I do need your help. We both need each other."

"Glad to hear you admit it," Tanner answered. In the back of his mind, a little part of him noted that hearing Alicia say those words sent another little rush of warmth through him. Why? He ignored it. Probably just pent-up frustration with her, not finding any other outlet in his head except through the suggestion of sex.

Whoops. Don't think about sex. It had been at least a full week since the last time Tanner had a girl - an eternity, in his life - and he felt an uncomfortable stiffening. Push it down, don't let that come up now, he commanded himself. Think soft thoughts.

"Listen," he said to Alicia, wanting to diffuse the tension still sparking between them. "Let's go out, get some coffee, chat for a little while before your meetings start. We can talk about strategies for selling the bill, some emotional hooks that you can use, ways to really show your passion for this."

Alicia started to nod, but stopped. "No can do - my first meeting's in just a few minutes," she said, glancing down at the delicate watch on her wrist. Tanner's eyes moved along with hers, downward, and he caught another quick little glimpse down her blouse, catching the swell of her breasts. Shit. He closed his eyes, trying to think of anything non-sexual, anything neutral. Coffee. Biscuits. Milk - no, where did milk come from, that wasn't helping-

"But I'm free tonight," Alicia went on, looking back up at him. Just in time, he drew his eyes off of her breasts as they nestled together inside that tight blouse, back to her face. "Maybe we could plan out some possible speech topics over dinner?"

"Yes, that sounds good," Tanner replied quickly. He could work with dinner. What was important was that he was a part of these speeches, that he knew every step of the Stone campaign before it happened - so that he could plan out a countermove. "I'll pick the place, get us reservations. Let's say, around seven?"

"Perfect," Alicia answered. "Seven."

Tanner expected her to turn away, gather her notes and head off to her first meeting of the morning. Instead, however, he saw Alicia hesitate for a fraction of a second longer, looking up at him. Those faintly red patches of heat in her cheeks suddenly flared up again, just before she turned away.

Previously, that heat was from anger, from him countering her little verbal ploy, her fake seduction. But why did they flare up again? Tanner briefly frowned. Was she angry at even the idea of having dinner with such a slippery individual as himself?

Or - and he hesitated even to consider this option - was that heat not from anger after all? Was there something else there?

Interesting, Tanner noted to himself, turning as he watched Alicia head out of her office, stack of papers in hand. He had no guarantee that there was any sort of real attraction there - but if there was, that was something he could use.

Idly, his eyes dropped down to watch Alicia's ass, tight in that sexy little pencil skirt, as she left the office. Already, he couldn't even count how many times he'd pictured her naked, unable to talk as she moaned from him plunging himself into her, replacing all those annoying orders with moans and gasps of pleasure as he took her-

He sighed after the door closed. Judging from the hard-on in his pants, he really needed to get laid, and soon. He was so desperate, he was even finding bitchy, controlling Alicia Stone to be attractive.

Chapter Ten

*

After some consideration, Tanner placed a call to Bayou, a Cajun high-end restaurant located in the West End neighborhood. He gave his name, confirmed that he needed a table for two at seven, and ended the call after receiving the host's assurances that they'd save the best table for the Senator and himself.

The rest of the day passed quickly, Tanner looking ahead already to the evening. He needed to get Alicia to open up, let down her shields around him, he decided. He needed her to see him as a trustworthy confidante, someone with whom she felt comfortable revealing the inner workings of her plans, her next steps in pushing the education bill.

He needed, he reminded himself as he arrived five minutes early at the restaurant, to be smooth, charming, attentive - and above all else, a good listener.

Tanner strolled up to the entrance to Bayou, expecting to be the first one to arrive and planning to check in - elected politicians never arrived anywhere on time. It was like a genetic disorder with them, one he'd come to expect. But when he reached the host's station, the man smiled at him and picked up two menus.

"Ah, Mr. Tanner," the host greeted him with a smile. "If you'll follow me?"

Tanner frowned, but moved after the host as he weaved his way through the narrow wooden tables, past the booths upholstered in red leather. They headed over to Tanner's favorite table, one set just far back enough from the window to let him look out at the passing pedestrians outside, but not so close that someone might spot his face and recognize him through the window.

And there, already sitting in one of the two seats, was Senator Alicia Stone, sipping slowly on a glass of something dark with a single ice cube floating in it.

For a moment, Tanner froze, his mind going blank with surprise. Alicia was here early, getting to the table before him? He recovered quickly, his face returning to its pleasant smile with astounding rapidity, but she had to have seen that brief look of concern.

"Sorry, but I hate being that person who shows up late," Alicia said as Tanner slid into the booth across from her, not sounding sorry in the slightest.

"Well, that certainly makes you different from most of the other legislators I work with," Tanner replied, looking back at her across the table. The waiter bobbed near their table, and he ordered his usual, Laphroaig 25.

"Not bad," Alicia commented, as the waiter turned and darted away to bring him his request. "A bit overdone."

"What, my scotch choice?" Tanner replied, his eyes moving to Alicia's glass. "And here I was, taking you for a vodka and cranberry girl."

She raised her eyebrows at him, a curiously alluring taunt. "And what does that imply, exactly?"

"I have absolutely no idea," Tanner countered, keeping his face completely straight. If she wanted to exchange volleys of taunts, well, he could return just as well as serve. "I don't believe that a cocktail implies anything about the person."

Alicia chuckled. "Rich, coming from the man who orders a splash out of a four hundred dollar bottle of scotch. That's not trying to say anything?"

This time, it was Tanner's turn to raise his eyebrows. "All it implies," he said innocently as the waiter set his drink in front of him, "is that I enjoy a good scotch."

Round one ends in a draw, Tanner thought to himself as the two of them eyed each other, both taking a moment to nip at the smooth, well-aged liquor. Round two will begin momentarily.

The silence, however, persisted even after the waiter stopped by and collected their orders (Alicia went for the jambalaya, while Tanner elected to go with the crawfish étouffée). They both just watched each other across the table, waiting for the other to make a move.

As he sat there, however, Tanner's thoughts started to stray. His eyes drifted over Alicia's outfit, noting that it was quite a bit snugger than her usual work ensembles. She certainly didn't need to worry about anyone mocking her for being out of shape, he noted with a grudging flare of admiration. Those tight clothes revealed an absolute knockout of a body, tight and trim in all the right places, plump and wonderfully soft in others. If she wasn't who she was, he'd already be thinking ahead to peeling that cute little dress-up outfit off of her, bending her over his couch and moving up against her from behind-

At least, he would have done this if she wasn't who she was, he reminded himself. But who she was - a senator, a Democrat, a target - made her his enemy.

Still, he couldn't completely fight off those tempting little daydreaming images that flitted through his head, suggesting many better ways that they could spend the end of the evening together.