Incumbent(39)

“Yes, sir.”

Ben’s curt tone irritated the shit out of me. I considered myself a rational man, but he was pushing my limits. He shook his head, turned, and walked away.

I glanced back to the entrance of the restaurant and found Lucy, Mason, and a few other customers on the steps staring at us. Lucy and Mason walked down the steps and came toward me.

“I’m sorry if you heard that.” I swallowed hard, embarrassed to be seen losing my temper. I glanced back, and the other customers dispersed. Show’s over, folks.

Lucy placed her hand on my bicep, which was flexed. “Is everything okay?”

I relaxed a bit. “Yes, thank you. I’m going to take off.” I kissed her cheek and shook Mason’s hand. “Enjoy the rest of your night. I really hope I didn’t ruin it for you.”

Adrenaline still flowed, making me tense. Needing to calm down, I turned to walk down the sidewalk toward the parking garage. The light wind tonight did little to cool me off. The tree-lined streets looked ominous, even though the lampposts lit them and people were milling about. Maybe it was just my dark mood.

“Drake!” Lucy ran ahead of me and turned to face me, forcing me to stop walking. “I wanted to tell you something.”

I smiled, but it was a nervous one. Possibilities of what she might say darted through my mind at rapid speed, and none of them were pleasant. “Okay. You can tell me anything.”

That cute little freckle bobbed as she smiled. “I just wanted you to know that I’m falling for you too.” She rolled up on tiptoe and gave me a swift peck on the lips. “I need to go, but call me later.”

And just like that, she hustled back to Mason. I watched until they walked around the corner and out of sight.

So she was falling for me too. It wasn’t what I would have guessed she was going to say, and I was so glad I was wrong.

? ? ?

The entire drive home, I thought about what Lucy had told me. First, that she loved Mason but wasn’t in love with him. That I held a special place in her heart, which I thought was great, but the best thing was her telling me she was falling for me. I knew the first time I laid eyes on her that she was something special, but knowing she felt the same way I did? That just turned this debacle of a night around for me.

By the time I was nearly home, I’d calmed down a bit, but was still furious with Ben.

Maybe I should fire Ben and hire Lucy as my campaign manager. She’d be great at it.

My thoughts were interrupted as the Bluetooth sounded through my car, and my brother Dane’s name flashed across the dash display screen.

“Hi, stranger.”

“Hey. Am I catching you at a bad time?”

“No. I’m driving back from Reston. What’s up?”

“I just talked to Mom. Heard you have a girlfriend; good for you. It’s about time you got your rocks off by something other than your left hand.”

He laughed, but I didn’t find his comment amusing, no matter how true it was.

“Did you call for a reason, or just to give your oldest brother a hard time?”

He cleared his throat. “Sorry, man. Anyway, I talked to Mom and told her I’m in the amateur charity tournament in North Carolina before Memorial Day.”

“Congratulations.” I paused. “Wait, we usually go to the Outer Banks that weekend.”

“Yeah, I know, and the course isn’t far from there. So I was thinking if you all wanted to come to the tournament, I’d get you tickets. If not, I’ll see you at the house on Saturday, but this tournament is three days starting on Wednesday. Mom said you have your primary coming up, so I’ll understand if you can’t make it.”

“Nope. I’ll clear my schedule. Family first, my brother, always. Can you get me two tickets? I’d like to ask Lucy to come.”

“Ah, so you are getting your rocks off. Good for you.” When I didn’t say anything, he continued. “Yes. I’ll have two tickets for you. It’ll be an event pass, so it will be good for every day.”

“Thanks for calling, Dane. Is everything else all right?”

“Yeah, you know. Some political bullshit.” He cleared his throat. “Not your politics; golfing bullshit. I’ll fill you in later.”

“Okay, thanks again. And I’m looking forward to seeing you, little brother.”

“Me too.”

I disconnected the call, eager to get home.

Once I was settled in at home, changed into shorts and a T-shirt with a beer in hand while watching SportsCenter, I decided to text Lucy.



DRAKE: Hey, pretty lady.



LUCY: Hey, gorgeous man.





I was liking this conversation already.



DRAKE: What are you doing?



LUCY: Mace just dropped me off. I was just getting ready for bed.



DRAKE: Sounds nice.





A few minutes went by without a reply, so I sent another text.



DRAKE: Lucy?



LUCY: Sorry. I was putting my PJs on. I’m back now. What are you doing?



DRAKE: Watching SportsCenter.



LUCY: Shouldn’t you be watching C-Span or something?



DRAKE: No. I’m relaxing. I like my sports and I need to check on my team.