When Passion Flares (The Dark Horse Trilogy Book 2) Read online

  Sure enough, when Hunter found his father in the master bedroom consulting a stylist over what he should wear to the upcoming debate, Terrence expressed joy that such a young lady would come by to speak directly to him. “Tell her I’ll be down within thirty minutes. No, wait.” He turned around with his arms still extended, causing the stylist to mutter beneath her breath. “Tell her that I’ll be down in ten. Can’t keep kids waiting.”

  Hunter didn’t go down to tell the girl anything. He knew that within a few minutes his father would be ready, and wouldn’t he know it, Terrence soon changed into an unintimidating khaki pants and collared shirt.

  As they descended the stairs and walked toward the office, Terrence asked, “So what’s the little bugger’s name? She’ll be impressed if I greeted her with it.”

  “Holly. She didn’t give me a last name.”

  They stopped in the middle of the hallway, since Terrence had to turn and look at his son with a foreign look on his face. I’ve never seen him like this before. It wasn’t panic. Nor was it concern. Terrence looked like he was stuck thinking of something from long ago, as if that name rang some kind of bell in his campaign addled brain. “Holly, huh?” His brows and lips turned downward, into the sort of scowl Hunter used to get when he was a kid on the verge of trouble. “How old was she again? Be specific.”

  Hunter shrugged. “I don’t know. Twelve? Thirteen? These days she could’ve been ten for all I know. I didn’t ask.”

  “What does she look like?”

  Where is this going? Just two minutes ago Terrence couldn’t wait to meet the “little bugger,” as he put it. “So big.” Hunter gestured, indicating that Holly came up to his chest. “Curly dark hair. Honestly, I wasn’t really looking.” Why should he be interested in a little girl? His father was acting too strange.

  Now Terrence’s scowl took on new proportions. Whoa, there. “I wish you had told me this earlier,” he said in a somber voice. A few interns scuttled by, giving their greetings to their boss, but Terrence could not be swayed to speak to them. Far cry from the man usually bopping from this place to that looking for anyone to converse with.

  “What’s going on with you? She’s just a girl.”

  They continued walking the few feet it took them to get to the office. Terrence put his hand on the doorknob whilst blocking Hunter’s path. Don’t you think someone should be in there with you? “One thing you would do well to keep in mind, son,” Terrence said in his fatherly voice. “It is never ‘just a girl.’” He opened the door, slipped in, and shut it firmly behind him.

  Whatever the girl wanted with him was not disclosed that night. Hunter thought about asking later, when he saw his father laughing during dinner, but thought better of it. After all, Holly was some girl. Even though they’re never ‘just a girl.’ Hunter wondered if Kerri qualified for that statement as well.

  Kerri did not often accompany her father on his outings if she could help it. I don’t appreciate being used as a prop. She knew her parents didn’t mean it that way, but since she was a little girl Kerri had understood her role in her family – out in public, anyway.

  That particular day was different, if only because her father was attending a meet and greet at the local animal shelter. For one day Raymond Mitchell volunteered, feeding and walking dogs, grooming cats, and most of all interacting with the public at the front desk. Photo ops abounded whenever he handed a dog leash off to children too happy for words.

  Since Kerri often made a point of volunteering at animal shelters when she was in high school and college – because she wanted to, not to pander – she definitely had to go that day. It was public knowledge that the governor’s daughter “loved animals” and “always wanted a Corgi like Queen Elizabeth’s, but everyone knows her mother is allergic to pets.” The only ways Kerri could get out of going that day were by being deadly ill or off on that trip to Italy her mother kept hounding her about.

  Speaking of hounds, this one is cute. She stood behind the front desk, out of sight of most cameras. The media lined up along the back wall of the reception hall, interviewing adopters and having them sign release statements. Not to be confused with relief statements, which were made by more than one dog as they squatted in excitement by the door. At first Raymond was going to ignore it, but then his campaign manager whispered into his ear that this was a “great chance to strike one with the public.” The picture of the governor mopping up dog urine was going to be on front pages across the state.

  Brenda was notably absent due to her allergies, so Kerri had to act as her mother’s stand-in. Reporter after reporter asked her about her work in shelters, and then more than one also asked her about her father’s policies.

  “If you could have any pet in the world, which would it be and why?” asked one female reporter. It was the first one Kerri heard all day that had nothing to do with politics.

  “I love lots of animals,” that was the standard answer she was coached to give. Even such questions needed those damned standard answers. After all, she wouldn’t want to offend a voter who really hated cats.

  However, the most noteworthy thing for Kerri that afternoon was not anything her father did. It was who came wandering in an hour before closing, and thus took the media’s attention off Raymond Mitchell.

  “Good evening, Miss Mitchell,” a man in a suit said. His dark hair was recently trimmed, and his face freshly shaved. Flashes from the camera continued to spark behind him as he talked to Kerri. Raymond’s campaigners rushed to the scene, and the manager stayed behind to talk to the governor. Who is this guy? He looked vaguely familiar. It wasn’t until the man gave a pallid smile that Kerri recognized candidate Joshua Payne from his low-budget commercials. “I don’t suppose you still have some dogs back there, do you?”

  Kerri glanced once at the media brigade and tried to remember her training. Fine thing if she got in trouble this time because she was too casual with an opposing candidate. “Yes, Mr. Payne, there are still quite a few up for adoption. What brings you in?” More flashes. More murmuring from the peanut gallery.

  “I promised my sons that we could get a dog this year. They’re away at camp right now but will be home soon. I want to surprise them. Don’t want a dog that’s too big or too small. Something friendly and energetic for them to run around out in the yard with. What do you think? Any dog fit that description back there?”

  Kerri motioned to one of the regular volunteers beside her. “Martha here can help you, sir. She knows the dogs much better than I do.”

  Joshua thanked her for her help and followed the volunteer into the kennels. Kerri then excused herself before the cameras in front of her could catch her making an odd face at the situation that just occurred.

  Of course, the campaign manager showed up just as she turned the corner into the secluded break room. “You did well,” he said. Kerri could only roll her eyes. “We were totally blindsided by that guy coming in. Stay out of the way so he doesn’t catch you off guard.”

  No problem. There were better ways for Kerri to spend her time than to converse with that man anyway. Not that she had anything against him. She didn’t even know who he was, really, besides his name. That and Hunter really likes him. The few times she and her boyfriend talked about the Independent, Kerri was almost convinced. But Hunter was charismatic like that. He could even be a politician if he wanted. That was almost a scary thought. If I married him, would it be more of the same down the road? Kerri sat at the break table and drank some juice from a bottle. When she dreamed of getting married one day, she usually dreamed of a man who had nothing to do with politics. Kerri couldn’t imagine that being the rest of her life. More campaigns… more managers… becoming a politician’s wife like her mother or Ronnie Hall… Kerri heaved a sigh of frustration, and that wasn’t even her fate.

  “May I join you, Miss Mitchell?”

  Kerri looked over her shoulder to see Joshua, unaccompanied by any media somehow, standing in the
break room door. Caught off guard indeed.

  Joshua sat next to her at the table. Keep your cool. Oh, why was she so nervous around this man of all people? As far as Kerri could tell, he was harmless. “Tell me,” he began, his eyes never leaving Kerri’s frame, “what does the governor’s daughter do for fun around here? I would like to know, in case I become governor. My boys are still quite young, and I want them to have a good childhood, all things considered.”

  Nothing to do except lean back in her chair and hope someone from the campaign hopped in and stopped this nonsense. “Fun? I do what any woman does, Mr. Payne. Get a manicure and gossip about celebrities.” She hoped that he could detect her sarcasm.

  “That so? I don’t know if my boys are into that sort of thing, but I wouldn’t put it past one of them. He is always getting into his mother’s makeup and having a ball.” Something about this man’s smile was unnerving. Like he was up to something. On the contrary, he was like an old friend looking out for one’s best interests. Mine? Kerri didn’t know what those interests were. “I’m surprised that you’re not seeing anyone right now. Or so that’s what the media tells me.”

  Please don’t be coming on to me. Kerri sat up in her seat. “What business would that be of yours, Mr. Payne?”

  “It’s none of my business, at least not at present. But you seem like a nice young woman, and I would hate to see you get caught up in any sort of scandal.”

  Now that rattled a few bones inside Kerri’s body. She gaped at Joshua as if he proposed to her. “I don’t know what you’ve heard, but…”

  “I’ve heard nothing.” The man stood, hands in pockets. “And I wouldn’t want you to think I’m spreading misinformation. But these sorts of elections tend to get very heated, and people will do anything in their power to bring down one side or another. Sadly, this tends to leave some casualties along the way. I must be going now. I wish you and your family well, Miss Mitchell. Thank you for your time.”

  No one came to rescue Kerri, who remained in the break room until it was time for her to make her final appearance an hour later. By that time Joshua had chosen a medium-sized mutt to take home to his children, and the cameras descended upon him like dogs themselves. Kerri couldn’t care. She was too perturbed by what that man seemed to know.

  Chapter 4

  One day, Hunter mused, he would be able to walk around with his girlfriend like other couples did. Out in the open, holding hands and making kissy faces at each other whenever they stopped at a crosswalk.

  Today was not that day. Most likely it wouldn’t be tomorrow either. Maybe after the election they could let their fathers know. Well, Hunter might let his father know. He was somewhat disturbed by the idea of Raymond Mitchell finding out what such a young buck was doing to his daughter. I’ll have to relocate entirely. Maybe he could take Kerri with him.

  “What are you thinking about, huh?” Kerri sat across from him in a private restaurant. Private in the sense that no prying eyes could see them behind a curtain while they ate lunch and flirted with their feet beneath the table. This was as good as it got with dates. The night before, Hunter called his girlfriend and asked if she would like to go out. Of course Kerri wanted to go out. The mere thought made her so giddy that Hunter had to laugh at her high-pitched voice coming through the phone. But it was another day of sunglasses and hats. Hunter even went so far as to drop Kerri off on an empty road a few streets away from their intended destination. The fewer chances there were of someone seeing them in such intimate proximity, the better.

  “I’m thinking that I would love to go outside and hold your hand,” he said. I don’t know if it’s sad that it’s true. “Make the men jealous that you’re with me.”

  “That’s funny, because I was thinking of how many women would be jealous if they knew I was with you.” Kerri’s foot slipped out of her heel and rubbed against Hunter’s leg. “Just last night there was another spot on the news talking about how you’re the region’s most eligible bachelor. That’s funny, you know.” Her foot traveled up to Hunter’s knee and rested there. “Because last I checked you were spoken for.”

  “And what did this news report say?” Hunter heard that he was often called such a thing. His mother liked to put the articles in his face and proclaim herself the luckiest mother in the world for raising such a stud. Then she would ask me why I am single. Ronnie had a heart attack for more than one reason the other day.

  Kerri curled her toes around Hunter’s knee. Make love to me, beautiful. Today she wore a mauve silk blouse that hung on her frame like an elegant sheet. Her jeans hugged the curves of her hips and ass, and by the Lord, she was more beautiful than the radiant goddesses of old. Kerri’s understated makeup was especially lovely in the low lights of the restaurant. Hunter thought he smelled a hint of jasmine on his girlfriend’s body. New perfume. He liked it.

  “They say that you’re young, hot, and rich. Know what the best thing is?” Kerri raised one of her eyebrows. “Even if your father doesn’t win the election, that still will be true.” This time Kerri’s smile turned mischievous on her bright face. “Wanna know a secret? Well, it’s not really a secret. But I would’ve voted for your father in the last election if I lived in the right district. Good thing he didn’t need my vote.”

  “Why, that’s the most political thing you’ve ever said to me.” Hunter could not say that he ever voted for Raymond for governor. In fact he was still debating whether or not family loyalty would win out that November. Depends on how well Payne is doing in the polls.

  “Not that political. As usual, it came down to a popularity contest. It’s not that I loved your father, though. It’s that I knew his opponent through my father, of course, and that man is gross in so many ways.”

  Hunter vaguely recalled him. “How so?”

  Kerri shrugged. “So many skeletons in his closet. Not only that, but he used to flirt with me whenever my father or mother weren’t in the room. The man is forty years older than me and married! Every time I saw one of his commercials I felt ill. So I would’ve voted for your father simply because he wasn’t the other guy.”

  “Isn’t that how most elections are? Let’s face it, nobody will vote for our fathers. They’ll be voting against them.” Hunter learned that political lesson much earlier than most people. When people came to suck up to Terrence, it was usually in the guise of how much they hated the other guy, not how much they loved him. In politics, that was as good as saying “I love you.”

  “I’m okay with people voting against my father.”

  “But are you okay with them voting for mine?”

  Kerri shrugged. She always gave vague answers like that. Sometimes it annoyed Hunter. I know she has a great mind. Opinionated, too. He didn’t know if she kept mum because she had been conditioned by her parents over the years, or if because she had long given up trying to have debates about politics. As a woman, it was probably both. At least people pretend to take me seriously. Somehow Hunter doubted most of that was genuine.

  “Have you decided who you’re going to vote for?”

  Kerri snapped her foot off her boyfriend’s knee. Touché. “No. I’m trying not to think about it. I hate this time of year. I mean, I’ll vote of course, but…”

  “I’m undecided as well. I don’t know whether to vote for my father or for Joshua Payne.”

  For some reason Kerri grimaced. “That guy…”

  “What? You got stories about him too?” Hunter didn’t recall Joshua ever sharing a party with Raymond Mitchell. “Don’t break my heart, Kerri.”

  She rolled her eyes at his dramatics. “Did you see the news the other night about my father at the animal shelter?”

  “Only that he is a magnanimous human being because he wiped up dog piss. Really, give him humanitarian of the year.”

  “That’s all you saw? Why am I not surprised? Whatever channel you saw must not be a Joshua Payne fan, because he was there as well. He adopted a dog for his kids th
at day.”

  How sweet. Hunter didn’t doubt that it was a calculated move on Joshua’s part too. Though there were worse ways to get one’s face on TV whilst campaigning. “From what I’ve heard him talking about, he really loves his family.”

  “Uh huh. Well, that’s not all that he was up to. While I was taking a break, he came and talked to me. Personally.”

  “That so…”

  “Yes, and it was quite uncomfortable. He implied that he knew you and I were dating.”

  Hunter’s body went rigid, his brain scouting for memories that may have been related to mentioning Kerri in front of the other candidate. I was careful about that. He was always careful. He didn’t even bring Kerri up to his mother, although sometimes Ronnie would open her mouth and then shut it again. “What did he say, exactly?”

  Kerri told him. As she spoke, her visage contorted into a scowl, then a mere frown, and then back again into disgust. Hunter had to force himself to listen to her – it was too easy to get caught up in her beauty when she was being so expressive. “And then he left. How was I supposed to respond to that?”

  “I wouldn’t read too much into it.” That was all Hunter could think to say to keep his girlfriend placated. “He may have wanted to keep you on your toes. It’s a common tactic, sadly.” Not that he wanted to imply he condoned his favorite candidate’s behavior. That’s what makes it weird, though. Joshua didn’t seem like the type of man to pull that sort of mind game with an opponent’s daughter. He must know something. “But on the other hand… we should be even more careful.”