Dissident (19 page)

Jack tipped Caroline’s chin up. “How much did you have, sweetheart?”

Caroline racked her brain, which didn’t do much except make her head hurt. “I don’t remember.”

“I’m going to get you back to your bed before you pass out.” Jack turned to Bob. “Nice leadership, Mr. Speaker.”

Bob put the top back on one of the bottles. “Fuck you, McIntyre.”

Jack started to take Caroline’s hand. “Come on. Your night is over.”

Bob stood up and pushed Jack away from the table. “I’ll take her back to her room. Your services aren’t necessary.”

“Robert, lay off.” Ellen’s voice, although lazy and relaxed, was laced with warning. Caroline hadn’t even realized she was there. She put both hands on the table, the conversation of the others starting to fade in her growing haze.

“I’ll take her upstairs,” Bob repeated.

“Normally I’d agree, seeing as you made her this way,” Jack retorted. “But she’s my responsibility tonight.”

“I’m not anyone’s property,” Caroline said to them. They both looked at her in surprise. “Well, I’m not.”

“They know that.” Ellen put her hand on Caroline’s back. “You can ream them out for their paternalism tomorrow. But you’re definitely not going up to your room alone.”

“I’m taking Caroline upstairs,” Jack said to Bob.

“This isn’t your problem, John.” Bob pushed Jack back from the table, practically spitting out his name. They moved further away from Caroline and Ellen, and appeared to be exchanging words. Caroline couldn’t tell.

Ellen put her half empty glass of wine on the table next to Caroline. “How much did you have to drink?” she asked.

“I lost count after ten. Ooh, can I have some Moscato?”

Ellen moved the glass out of her reach. “No more for you.”

“You’re being paternalistic too.”

“
Maternalistic
,” Ellen corrected. “Damn it, you really are drunk if you can’t even keep your feminist lingo straight.”

“Am not.” Caroline slowly stood up. She swayed into the table, resting her hands on the wood as her elbows buckled.

Ellen steadied her. “Shit. Can you even walk?” she asked.

Caroline turned around, leaning back against her chair. “Sure.” She glanced over Ellen’s shoulder. Bob and Jack were having a heated conversation in the corner of the bar. “Go make Bob stop yelling at Jack.”

Ellen didn’t look very happy about the task Caroline had assigned her. “I’ll do my best. I had the pleasure of splitting a couple of bottles of wine with Jack, in case you hadn’t noticed. He’s completely smitten with you.”

“I don’t think Bob likes him very much.”

“Bob needs to stop acting like an ass. He gets ornery when he’s been drinking.”

“No shit.” Caroline was tempted to sit down again but if she did that she probably wouldn’t be able to get back up. “So you’ll allow Jack to take me back to my room?”

Ellen laughed. “I don’t see why not. Do you need me to hold you up, or can you hang tight while I go get your suitor?”

Caroline flattened her palms onto the table and reoriented herself. “I’m okay.”

It seemed like an eternity before she felt Jack’s hand on her shoulder. “Time to get you to bed,” he said.

Caroline put her arm around him and patted his cheek. “You’re a good boy,” she slurred, planting a wet kiss on his lips before lowering her hand to squeeze his ass.

Jack chuckled. “Oh, Caroline. Graduating to full on PDA, are we?”

“You’re cute. You can return the favor if you’d like.”

He wiped his lips. “You taste like a whiskey still. And you’re completely wasted.”

“Am not.” Caroline swayed into him.

He grabbed her purse and slung it over his shoulder. She was going to have to remember to make fun of him for that in the morning.

“Come on,” he said gently. “Let’s get you upstairs before you pass out.”

“I missed you tonight. Did you tell Ellen all our secrets?”

“No.” Jack guided her toward the elevator. “She told me a few of yours.”

“Liar.”

“Only the flattering stuff. She’s a fine woman.”

Caroline leaned into his neck. “Your cologne smells nice.”

“I’d compliment your perfume but it’s been destroyed by the booze.”

“I’m tired. I think I drank too much.”

Jack chuckled again. “What was that about not being completely wasted?”

“I don’t…what were we talking about?”

He kept an arm wrapped securely around her hips and pressed the button for the elevator. “Stop worrying about it. Give it a few minutes and we’ll be upstairs.”

“Okay.” She stumbled into the car, her head starting to spin. “But I’ll let you do most of the walking. I don’t remember where I’m supposed to go.”

“Just hold on to me,” Jack said.

“Always,” Caroline whispered, and the elevator started to move. She hoped she could stay upright until they made it to her room.

*              *              *              *              *

Jack helped Caroline shuffle into her suite and toward the bedroom. She wasn’t sure how they’d gotten there or how long it had taken but at least her head wasn’t spinning anymore.

He shook his head as she caught herself on the doorframe and almost fell back into his arms. “Oh, sweetheart. Don’t ever try to drink Robert Allen under the table. I assumed you would have figured that out years ago.”

“I could have handled more,” Caroline said.

Jack turned her around and rubbed her shoulders as she leaned back into him. “We’re lucky we don’t have to take you to the hospital.”

“They have really good socialized medicine here.”

He laughed. “Caroline, save your speeches on the advantages of single payer for another time.”

“Fine. And then I’ll win the argument.” He started to unzip her dress and she smiled. “About time you got around to that, big guy.”

“This doesn’t appear to be comfortable sleepwear,” he said. “Although it did look fantastic on you.”

“You could have spent more time with me tonight and gotten more closely acquainted with it.”

“I know. But you needed to catch up with the rest of the delegation. And I wanted to get to know Ellen better.”

“I don’t like being away from you. Maybe we need to stop sneaking around.”

“Sweetheart, be careful. You don’t want to confess all your drunken feelings.”

She tipped her head back and rubbed her cheek against his. “I’m not afraid to tell you anything.”

“I realize that,” Jack slid the dress off her shoulders. “But I’d much rather you tell me all those important things when you’re sober. And awake,” he added.

The dress fell to the floor and Caroline spun around inelegantly, grabbing his shirt. “I am going to fuck your brains out.”

“You’ll be lucky to make it to the bed before you collapse.”

“I want to give you everything,” she whispered. “Everything you want.”

Jack kissed her cheek. “You already have. But you’re drunk. Lay down.”

“Oh, good,” Caroline said. “You can fuck
my
brains out instead.”

“Nope,” he said. “I’ll keep you company but there will be no sex tonight.”

She made a face. “But I’m your
girlfriend
.”

“Yes, you are. But there are some things I don’t do. Sleeping with a woman who’s barely able to stand up is one of them.”

“I give you all my consent. Double consent, even.”

He shook his head, amused. “Now you’re just making legal concepts up.”

“I want to be with you,” Caroline said. “I want to show you how I feel about you.”

“I appreciate that,” Jack said. “But despite my reputation, I am a gentleman. And a man who wants his conquests to remember what he did to them the next morning. We aren’t going to sleep together even if you say you want it to happen. Plus I’m not entirely sure you’ll be awake for very long once you lay down, and I am definitely not into having sex with someone who’s unconscious.”

“You’re a jerk,” she mumbled.

“Probably.” He steered her into bed. “But I’m still going to stay here and keep an eye on you.”

“You just wait.” She started to sink into the sheets as he pulled off her heels. “You get in this bed and you won’t be able to stop me from ripping your clothes off.”

Jack laughed. “I’d like to see that.”

“I’ll do it,” Caroline garbled, suddenly realizing how drunk she was. She leaned into her pillow and let the alcohol take her into slumber.

*              *              *              *              *

When Caroline woke up her head was pounding. She heard the shower running and it took her a minute to remember who else could be in her room. She tried to sit up but her stomach lurched and she quickly laid back down again. A few moments later Jack came out of the bathroom, a towel around his waist.

“Well, well,” he said. “How’s our drunken princess feeling today?”

Keeping her face buried in the pillow seemed like a phenomenal idea. “Like hell.”

He starting rubbing her back. “Can I get you anything?”

“Some Advil would be nice. Is it really bright in here?”

Jack retrieved a bottle of water from the mini fridge and put it on the nightstand. “Nope, it’s just you. The lights are off.”

“What time is it?” she asked.

“You’ve got a couple of hours before you need to do anything important, if that’s what you were wondering.”

“What happened last night?”

“You want the highlights or the lowlights?”

“Aren’t they pretty much the same?”

“Pretty much. You tried to go drink for drink with the Speaker. Do you remember?”

Caroline winced. “Yes.”

“You tried rather halfheartedly to seduce me.”

“I vaguely remember that. Did it work?”

“Nope.”

“What did I do?”             

“You said you were going to fuck my brains out and then promptly lost consciousness. I was worried for a minute until I realized it was because you were so tired.”

Caroline lifted herself up until she was resting against the headboard. She grabbed the bottle of water, unscrewing the top and placing it back on the nightstand as her stomach twisted again. She wasn’t quite ready for liquids yet. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It was cute.” Jack tugged at a random string on his towel. “You called yourself my girlfriend while you were trying to work your magic on me.”

Caroline couldn’t look at him. “Aren’t I?”

“I certainly hope so. Am I your boyfriend?”

“Sure.”

“Did you think we were something else?”

“I don’t know.”

“Caroline, we’re in a relationship. We’re exclusive. Even if we’re not advertising it.”

“We seem too old to be using that terminology.”

“What other words would you like to use?”

“None of the other words seem to fit.”

“Then just go with the words you used.” Jack kissed her forehead. “You
are
my girlfriend. And a wonderful one at that.”

“Even though I practically passed out in your lap?”

“That was cute too, in an ‘I’m glad you don’t have alcohol poisoning’ kind of way.”

Caroline rubbed her eyes. “Please tell me I didn’t do anything stupid in public. Aside from grabbing your ass in the bar.”

“You did try to feel me up while you were clinging to me in the elevator.”

She flopped face first onto the bed. “Hopefully we were in there alone?”

“There’s a charming little elderly couple from Austria you may want to avoid if you see them in the lobby.”

She buried her nose in her pillow again. “Fuck.”

“You lose your inhibitions when you’ve been drinking, don’t you?”

“Sometimes. In this case, obviously yes.”

Jack started rubbing her back again. “It’s fine, sweetheart.”

“I guess I should be grateful I didn’t cause some sort of international incident,” Caroline mumbled. “Is Bob mad at me?”

“He was concerned for your welfare.” Jack hesitated. “I think he was afraid I’d take advantage of you when I brought you back upstairs. He almost stopped me.”

She remembered them arguing in the bar. “All this protectiveness is getting to be a tad smothering. I’ll talk to him.”

“No,” Jack said. “Ellen set him straight. Just pretend it didn’t happen.”

“I can’t do that. I’m getting sick of all this bullshit.” She gave him a closer look. “We really didn’t do
anything
last night?”

“We did not.” He winked at her. “Your rather adventurous virtue remained intact. For at least a few hours.”

If she had the energy, she would have smacked him. “So we’ve been sneaking around the last few days and the one night you stay here the entire time, I get nothing?”