Trusting Danger (Danger, #2)(6)

Fred was available this morning only because her parents were away on a ten-day campaign swing through their home state of Massachusetts, appearing at town hall meetings, giving interviews, and meeting with donors. Normally Fred was with her father all day, either in DC or in Boston, but this trip was a bus tour, so Fred had stayed in DC.

Claire rushed into the bathroom after she ended the call, zipping through her shower in three minutes flat. Charlie whined as she hurried past him to get dressed, and she promised to take him outside in a few minutes. Disgruntled, he flopped to the hardwood floor and laid his head on his paws, his eyebrows twitching as his gaze followed her movements.

Now all she needed to do was get dressed and take Charlie out and feed him. Verna was set to pick him up at noon to take him home with her, and Fred would be here any minute. With that in mind, Claire hurriedly put on a pot of coffee to brew, and then made a mad dash into her closet.

Putting away the pantsuit she’d taken out the night before to wear to the jail, she yanked a sundress from its hanger and slipped it on, then tugged on a pair of heeled sandals. She did her hair and makeup in record time, and then grabbed Charlie’s leash. By the time she reached him, he was dancing back and forth in front of the door.

She’d just finished Charlie’s walk and set out his food when the doorbell rang. When she opened the door, Fred gave her a big smile, picking up her suitcase and tote as Claire knelt to stroke Charlie’s fur.

“You be good for Verna, okay? I love you and I’ll see you on Sunday.”

Charlie’s butt wiggles and enthusiastic attempts to lick her face told her all was forgiven.

“You sweet boy,” she said, grasping his ears to kiss his furry forehead.

If only everyone else in my life were so easy to please.

With her purse strung over her shoulder, Claire picked up the go-cups of coffee she’d made.

“Thought you’d be in too much of a hurry for that this morning,” Fred said with a grin.

“Never too busy for you,” she said. “Americano, two sugars, one cream.”

She carried the coffee and followed Fred as he hurried to the car and placed her bags in the trunk. He opened the back door of the car and gratefully accepted his coffee cup.

“Just how I like it,” he said with a happy sigh.

Once she was settled in the town car, Claire closed her eyes in relief. At least the frenetic pace of the last twenty minutes had come to an end. As Fred drove toward Reagan National Airport, she sipped at her coffee as her thoughts drifted.

Whether it was a political event with her father or a function that benefited Gabe’s investment fund, she never felt fully comfortable in the role of hostess. The events she helped with always felt like a performance, something forced.

The same could be said about law school; it too felt forced. Yes, it had been the next logical step after college—the path her parents had expected—but that alone said it all. Raised as an only child, Claire had always been burdened by an oppressive sense of duty that prevented her from pursuing anything other than what was expected.

She shook her head. Why was she letting her thoughts run wild? She’d committed to helping Gabe this weekend, and that was exactly what she would do. As soon as she returned to DC, she’d work extra hard to make up things at school. Her biggest priority was winning Chris’s case. He was relying on Leah and Claire, and they weren’t going to let him down.

As Fred inched the car in heavy traffic toward the airport’s departures lane, Claire asked, “Are you driving anyone else today? I hope I didn’t make you late.”

“Nick.” Fred caught her eye in the rearview mirror. “But don’t worry. I let him know I wasn’t available this morning.”

“Was he upset?”

“If he was, he didn’t say anything.”

Claire nodded before turning her gaze back to the window. Nick Papadakos, her father’s press secretary, had asked Claire out last year. She’d told him she wasn’t dating because she was too busy, focused on law school. Then just a few weeks later, she’d started seeing Gabe, and she sensed that hadn’t set well with Nick. He’d been a little curt with her ever since.

In his mid-thirties, Nick was ten years older than her, but that wasn’t what bothered Claire. After all, Gabe was seven years older, so it wasn’t an age issue. There was just something about Nick she didn’t feel comfortable with, something about the way he always watched her with a hungry gleam in his eye. It seemed juvenile, but the man simply gave her the creeps.

Since Nick wasn’t just an employee but was also a friend of her father’s—they often went hunting together—she hadn’t mentioned her misgivings to anyone. Her father was aware Nick had asked her out, but that was all.

This being a campaign year, her father needed his press secretary more than ever, and Nick was excellent at what he did.

At least, that’s what her father’s chief of staff always said, and she trusted Peter Cooley’s advice as much as her father did. Peter had been in their lives for nearly twenty years now, a trusted advisor to her father since his mayoral days in Massachusetts. The man had been such a big part of their lives, he was practically a part of the family.

Just because she didn’t like Nick didn’t mean he wasn’t an asset to her father, so she’d keep her mouth shut about him. It didn’t matter how awkward it was whenever they were at events together.