Rebecca shifted in front of him, and Kyle willed himself to look into her eyes, even though he was afraid of what he might find there. She wet her lips before she spoke. “Asking us to move in together before buying a house would have been good.” She slid her hands onto his chest. “But my answer wouldn’t have been any different.” Her smile reassured him and she turned her gaze to Manny. “I say yes!”
Manny blinked a few times. “This is serious.”
“I know.”
“Are we ready for this?”
“Dude, you’ll have to answer that question for yourself, I think,” Kyle said, opening the car door. His heart felt like it had been scraped off of the sidewalk. It would either be all of them moving into that house or none of them. No way would it work any other way. Kyle was committed to both of them equally. He wanted them to live together on equal terms. If they needed to pay rent to feel like they contributed, so be it. He’d put that money toward the scholarship fund he planned on setting up with his new foundation.
Kyle shot Manny a worried glance as they settled into Holly’s black leather seats. Kyle was certain he wanted to come home every day knowing Manny and Rebecca were part of his world, with no need for good-byes or overnight bags. He wanted to find notes on the fridge and make dinner together, to know they all had their feet firmly in the same place. But for all he’d put Manny through, how could he be surprised when Manny didn’t jump headfirst into the idea?
“We’ll talk about this later, OK? After you get back from the hotel,” Manny said.
“I want you both there with me when Olivia gives her speech. You are my family. I’ll never hide from it again,” Kyle said. They’d started downtown toward Kyle’s apartment, where he still kept most of his things. “As long as you’re up for it, baby.” Kyle turned in his seat to face Rebecca. She’d been through hell that afternoon. “Would you rather not go?”
Rebecca looked down at her pink cardigan and skinny jeans. “I’m not exactly dressed for the occasion.” Then she shook her head. “But you know what? I don’t care. If there is one thing I’ve learned it’s not to worry about what other people think. God knows the batshit crazy ideas floating around in people’s heads; Wilson was proof of that.” She folded her arms. “No, I don’t give two bits about what anyone else thinks about us except for the people in this car right now.”
Kyle beamed at her. Boy, he’d needed to hear that. “I love you, Rebecca.”
He reached between the seats and grabbed her arm to pull her closer. Holly’s leather seats squeaked and complained under their awkward scramble to catch each other’s lips as Manny hooked a left turn onto 12th Avenue. How much more unromantic could this get? He’d blurted out the words he’d planned on whispering in the soft candlelight cast over their brand new bed. But Rebecca didn’t seem to mind. She held on to his wrist with both hands as the car’s motion pulled her from side to side, and she pressed her lips to his, her smile mingling with the kiss. “I love you too, Kyle.”
“You do both know that I loved her first, don’t you?” Manny said, stealing glances at them from the driver’s seat. Kyle tore his eyes from Rebecca to check his expression. Manny raised an eyebrow at him.
“From the moment you brought her to the lake, I knew you were done for.”
Manny smiled softly. “But you had the guts to tell her first.”
Rebecca shifted to his side of the car and rested her hands on Manny’s shoulders. She leaned forward and kissed him gently on the neck. “Better late than never, Manny.”
Cars honked their horns behind them with annoyance, because the light had already turned green. But Manny turned his head to catch a fleeting taste of her mouth with his tongue. “I started to fall in love with you that first day, baby. I wasn’t ready for it, but you took all the fight out of me without even trying. Now that love is a part of me, like the blood in my veins…something I could never be without.”
Tears came to Rebecca’s eyes, and she pulled him to her mouth again. Kyle watched their kiss deepen while blaring horns escalated around them. He leaned in and joined them with a sweep of his tongue into the midst. They parted their mouths for him, accepted him into a trio of wet caresses of lips and tongue. Manny let out a soft groan—a short, gasping whimper that escaped the gates of his guarded emotions. Kyle’s heart damn near exploded at the sound.
“Get a fucking room!” An irate driver yelled at them before speeding off and flipping them the finger.
Manny pulled away and accelerated, lurching all of them back into their seats. He turned to Kyle and bit his lip, a secret smile tucked away at the corners. “How about a whole house?”
Chapter Twenty-Four
With a quick peek into the Grand Plaza ballroom Rebecca took in the scene. It was all decked out in red, white, and blue glory. Balloons and banners hung from every surface, and the place was packed with supporters. Conversation buzzed above the five-piece band’s rendition of Mariah Carey’s “Make It Happen.”
Kyle sighed. “This is going to be tough on her,” he said, closing the heavy door once again, and the muted revelry hummed behind it.
Rebecca squeezed his hand. “Olivia is a strong woman. The strongest I know. She’ll be fine.”
Manny tucked his head through the blue lanyard and laid the clearance pass over his sweatshirt. Kyle had handed them each one when they walked in. He clapped Kyle on the back. “Nothing ever stops Olivia Hunter, you know that.”
Kyle took a breath and nodded. Rebecca realized this was also going to be hard on Kyle. Until the scandal of their relationship hit the news, Olivia had planned to moonwalk into another term. Since then, the election had been lost before the polls even opened. Of course he’d feel responsible.
They walked over to the elevators. Kyle got a text as they ascended the floors. “It’s Sam. She says Olivia is putting the final touches on her concession speech.”
Two state troopers stationed at the suite at the end of the hall left no doubt about which door was the right one.
Kyle straightened his tie and knocked. Sam opened the door, wearing a prim, navy suit and her blond hair in a bun. Rebecca almost didn’t recognize her. She glanced at Manny and Rebecca and then back at Kyle. A mischievous grin ignited on her lips.
“Oh boy,” she said, after a slow whistling breath. “This is going to be interesting.” She held the door open as they walked in and Kyle glared at her.
“Sam, behave yourself,” he said.
She shrugged innocently and held out her arms to hug him. Next, she had one for Manny. Rebecca was surprised when Sam pulled her into a strong familiar embrace and placed a kiss on her cheek. She winked at her and placed her lips at Rebecca’s ear. “Guess my corset bra was a hit after all.”
Rebecca couldn’t help but smile back at the young woman she considered a new friend. Maybe one day they’d even be family. “Looks like it, huh?”
Thomas met them at the archway that led into the well-appointed living space. Talking political heads chattered on two televisions beyond the sofa where Olivia and several staffers sat at the dining table, reviewing her prepared remarks.
Thomas’s eyes narrowed into slits as he blocked their entry. He folded his arms over his chest like a great Indian chief defending his village. “Kyle, I need a word with you. Now.” He glanced at Manny and Rebecca. “Alone, please.”
The venom in the campaign manager’s voice was barely disguised. Rebecca imagined that Thomas would win the world record for emotional constipation from the utter lack of feeling usually evident in his placid expressions. Today, he looked angry.
Kyle frowned. “Thomas, I don’t work for you. I don’t really care what you need.”
“Your presence with these two is entirely inappropriate here. Do you have no decency?”
Kyle pushed past him. “Actually, yes. I finally do.”
Rebecca pressed her lips together and found Manny’s hand wrapping securely around hers. Gavin appeared from the bedroom, shrugging on his suit jacket. He looked up and greeted his son with a warm smile. Rebecca was relieved to see another friendly face. She hoped he planned on casting his vote in their favor too.
“I hoped you’d make it in time.” Gavin patted his son on the back and turned to Manny, with his hand extended. “Manny. Good to see you,” he said in his formal way.
Manny took his hand firmly and nodded. “You too, Gavin.”
Rebecca noted a twinkle in his eye that seemed ill placed under the circumstances of Olivia’s impending loss. She was even more surprised when he took her hand and raised it to his lips for a small peck of her knuckles. “And Rebecca. What a pleasure.”
Rebecca smiled back at him and dipped her head, not sure what to make of his congeniality. “Thank you,” she said, cringing inwardly that nothing more seemed to come to mind.
Kyle nodded toward Olivia. “She’s in full battle mode, I see.”
Gavin guided them all to sit down. “You know your mother.”
“…and when I’m called again to serve the hallowed principles we champion in the great state of New York, I will be ready.” Olivia put down her legal pad with a definitive thump of her finger. “OK, print it and let’s get this show on the road.”
Thomas took a call on his cell phone and ducked into the corner of the room. Rebecca was happy to see him occupied and not throwing her daggers with his eyes. That just left Olivia to contend with.
Kyle stood. “Mom, how are you holding up?”
Olivia swung her attention his way. “Well, my reputation has been dragged through a sewer, I’ve lost my senate seat along with any chance of being on the presidential short list of nominees in two years—oh, and let’s not forget the charges those bastards are threatening me with.”
“I’m sorry for all of that. It was never my intention…”
Thomas raised up the phone in his hand. “That was the minority leader. He said they’re satisfied with the defeat. They won’t be pursuing the misconduct charges.”
Sam clapped. “One less thing, right, Mom?” When everyone glared at her, Sam zipped her lip. “OK, bad joke. Jeez.”
Olivia turned back to Kyle. “What made you come tonight anyway? Clearly you made your priorities known when you highjacked my exhibit at the library. Way to turn a perfectly planned PR event into the nail in my political casket.”
“First of all, that was Rebecca’s exhibit. It was her idea and her hard work. She poured her heart into it and you tried to cut her out.”
Rebecca wished she had the power to spontaneously evaporate in that moment, but Kyle was sticking up for her, the least she could do was stick up for him, no matter how scary a furious Olivia Hunter was.
“It took a lot of courage on Kyle’s part to tell the truth about us,” Rebecca said in a quiet voice.
Olivia cut into her with a laser-sharp stare. “Am I to understand that the three of you are an item now?” She laughed, as if the mere notion was ridiculous. “Is that why you’re here?”
“That’s enough, Olivia,” Gavin said in a low, firm voice. “You will not disrespect our son by desecrating his relationship with people he obviously cares about.”
“Gavin, are you serious?”
“Serious as a heart attack, Olivia. I suppose it’s a novel idea to you, but he put them before this all-consuming, succubus of a campaign. He worked his ass off for you. You know he did. Apparently he found something even more important.” Gavin raised his eyebrows and pointed his finger at her. “You could take a lesson from him.”
Olivia huffed. “I am a US senator, for Christ’s sake. You knew what the campaign would be like when I decided to run for reelection.”
“Yes. I remembered very well how we almost fell apart the first time around. That’s why I told you I didn’t want you to run for reelection. We’re not young anymore, Olivia. Our time is precious. But there was no talking to you, so I hung in there, because I love you.”
The room was silent, except for the chatter from both TVs. Olivia stood frozen in her spot, uncharacteristically speechless.
Gavin shrugged, as if shedding all guilt over his next words. “If you want to know if I’m sorry you lost, the answer is no. I’m sorry you’re disappointed. I’m sorry you feel disgraced. But I’m not sorry to have a chance at getting my wife back.”
Rebecca watched Olivia process the things Gavin had said. Her eyes regained focus, but wetness made them glassy. “I’ve got a speech to make.”
“Yes, you do.”
“And then I want to go home. Thomas, please make arrangements for a car.”
Gavin moved toward her, extending his arms, and Olivia became that woman Rebecca had seen walking hand in hand in the evening breeze with her life partner and a contented smile softening her features.
“A year off. I promise you a year off to figure out whether I’m finished with politics for good.”
“I’ll take it,” Gavin said and kissed her forehead. “That’s all I ever asked for.”
Olivia glanced around the room. “Um, would you all excuse us for a moment?”
Everyone seemed to come out of the transfixed daze they’d been swept into while watching their drama unfold. Soft grunts of acquiescence filled the room as they all moved to leave.
Rebecca let the two young staffers out before her as she waited for Kyle. It wasn’t hard to read the words “I’m sorry” on Olivia’s lips. They embraced, and Kyle pressed a kiss to her cheek.
Out in the hall, he let go of a heavy laboring sigh, his familiar smirk tickling the corner of his mouth. Rebecca thought she saw a ton of bricks lifted from his shoulders.
Manny thumbed the door behind them as they started for the elevators. “Think your dad is finally going to get laid?”
Kyle tossed a playful punch at his shoulder. “Ugh…don’t even think about putting that image in my head.”
They found Thomas on the phone as he waited for the elevator to arrive. It wasn’t difficult to miss the gist of his call. The words “free agent” and “unfortunate circumstances” were easy to translate.
Sam rolled her eyes. “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”
Thomas sneered at her and ended his call. The elevator arrived, and he stepped on, the staffers silently walking in lockstep behind them. “She’s finished in politics. I’ll be damned if I go down with her.”