22
Ask Not What Your Boyfriend Can Do for You
“Flirting with each other via live interviews is a brilliant idea,” Cary said, tilting back in his conference chair. He gave me an appraising look. “Kudos, Rudy. I love the drama. Really spices up the local news.”
“We weren’t flirting,” I said, jiggling my own conference chair. It seemed to be broken. I couldn’t get the seat to rise, so I was stuck with my chin only slightly higher than the conference table, like a child wheeled in to sit with the adults. I suspected Cary was behind it. It was making it hard for the other members of the campaign to take me seriously—I could see it in their eyes. Luckily, Nora had gathered a small crew this evening: just me, Logan, Cary, and a nervous woman who’d been introduced as Anita’s research assistant, Gail. Poor Gail, to have Anita as a boss. I kept shooting her sympathetic looks, despite the fact that I was the one who’d been called in to get my wrist slapped for throwing Logan under the bus on live TV. With all my transgressions, it was starting to feel like I was a rebel instead of the rule-abiding nerd I’d always been. I was surprised to find I liked it.
“Even if we were flirting,” Logan said from the head of the table, “that’s the point of our arrangement, right? Alexis and I are putting on a show. Not to be confused with real flirting, even if...” He shook his head and cleared his throat. He had an ink stain on his oxford shirt, his dark hair was fluffier and messier than normal, and he had dark circles under his eyes. The man looked frazzled. Granted, we were only six weeks out from election day, a period of time known as “The Final Countdown,” aka “Welcome to Hell,” aka “This Campaign Owns You Now,” according to the messages scrawled across the whiteboard. Yes, his stress had to be due to that, and not the fact that I’d volunteered him to star in a last-minute commercial.
Though Logan had directed his remarks at Cary and Nora, his eyes drifted to me. When he caught me studying him, he dropped his gaze quickly and clasped his hands together on the table. Under the table, I could hear his foot tapping the floor.
Yeah, on second thought, the source of his stress might be me.
“Cary may call it flirting, but I call it playing chicken with my campaign.” Nora pointed a long nail, today a stylish gray, between me and Logan. “You better be glad the two of you one-upping each other on TV is aligned with my action plan. Just take your performances down a notch, okay?”
I nodded contritely. Logan crossed his arms and kicked back in his seat. “Of course, Nora dear. Anything you say.”
“Don’t ‘Nora dear’ me in your little accent. I’m not saving you from doing the commercial. I think it’s brilliant.”
I snapped to attention. “You do?”
Logan frowned. “You do?”
“Watch.” Nora got up and sauntered like a fashion model to the whiteboard. She uncapped a marker and wrote Grew up on a farm, loves animals. Then she drew a plus sign, scribbling Donates shitload of personal money to rescues.
Huh. I’d assumed any donations Logan made to rescues like my mom’s were tied to the campaign. But it sounded like he gave to shelters quietly, not for the publicity.
Nora was still going, scribbling, Fifty-eight percent of Texans own pets, then a plus sign, Star in animal shelter video, then a big fat equal sign, ending with Huge-ass optics win. She circled that last part twice and spun to face us. “Do you follow?”
“Thanks for spelling it out,” Logan said dryly.
“Great thinking, Nora.” I tried to lean back as suavely as I could in my child’s chair. “I agree that it makes sense for Logan to help out Happy Homes. And my mom is thrilled. A win-win.”
Nora sat down at the table. “Don’t get too cocky. Logan’s not the only one with a task. You have one, too.”
“I do?”
Logan perked up.
“Yep.” Nora tapped her nails on the table. “It’s time for you to deliver Lee Stone.”
I blinked at the suddenly serious faces around the table. “Uh...dead or alive?”
“I swear.” Nora shook her head. “The fact that all of you graduated high school says all we need to know about the Texas education system.”
“Hey,” Cary complained. “All I said was I liked the flirting drama.”
“An endorsement, Alexis. We need your sister to give Logan her endorsement. It’s time. Tell her, Gail.”
Gail looked down at her iPad. “All the state reps are lining up behind candidates. If Senator Stone gives her endorsement to Governor Mane—or if she abstains from endorsing anyone—it’ll be a huge blow to us. Projections show drops in voter trust if Logan’s girlfriend’s sister won’t give him her blessing.”
“It’ll be a PR disaster,” Nora said.
“That’s going to be...difficult,” I said carefully. All four of them frowned at me. “Lee has history with Governor Mane and she’s not exactly the biggest fan of our...relationship.”
Logan tensed over the table. “She doesn’t like me?”
“I’m sorry, Logan, I promise it’s nothing personal.”
“Should I invite her over? Do a dinner with your family? Is there a cause she wants me to promote?” He frowned. “Does she like flowers?”
“Whatever you need to do, Alexis.” Nora’s face was the gravest I’d seen it. “If you care about Logan and his chances of winning, I need you to get that endorsement.”
I pulled up in front of Lee’s adorable peach-and-cream house, which was an authentic Craftsman like Logan’s. I’d always loved this house. It was beautiful and girly, a house you could show off, throw parties in—the opposite of my spinster hole. I’d fled here after Chris and I broke up and Lee had nursed me back to good spirits, then I’d lived here with her until Ben moved in. The house was a delight and a refuge.
I was terrified to knock on the front door.
But since I held Logan’s future in my hands, I pounded dutifully. No one answered. Lee’s and Ben’s cars were in the driveway, so I knew they were home. I knocked again and put my ear to the door. I heard shuffling, quick footsteps, and suddenly the door wrenched open and Lee stood in front of me, her hair falling out of an updo and lipstick smudged, wearing an honest-to-God Belle costume from Beauty and the Beast. Over Lee’s shoulder, a shirtless Ben darted out of the living room toward the bedroom, wearing a teal wig and an outfit that was vaguely familiar. “Hi, Lex!” he called, then, “Sorry!”
“Lee Stone!” I gaped at her. “Are you wearing a sex costume?”
She leaned against the door frame. “Maybe.”
“You can’t just answer your door like this. And Ben all half-naked and blue and...why is Ben blue, Lee?”
She smiled fondly. “Bet you can’t guess what Ben is.”
“On second thought, I don’t want to know.”
“He’s—”
“No.” I covered my ears.
“Captain Planet.” The words snaked in anyway.
“Ugh, Lee! You’re a state senator.”
“I’m off duty,” she said. “Besides, you’re the one playing roulette, showing up unannounced.”
I bit back my next retort, reminding myself I was here to beg for Lee’s help. Probably not the best time to lecture her about her fondness for role play. I tried a different tack. “Thank you for answering even though you’re busy.”
“You’re my little sister. No matter who or what I’m doing, I’m always going to answer. Come in. Don’t mind the living room.”
Of course, I couldn’t help but look. Was that a candlestick on the coffee table, and ladder propped against the bookshelf? What did you even do with a ladder and a candlestick... No. I shielded my eyes.
“Kitchen?” Lee asked.
“Definitely let’s go to the kitchen.”
By the time I’d settled at her kitchen table Ben was back, changed into gym shorts and a T-shirt. “Proper greeting this time,” he said, leaning over to hug me. I loved Ben hugs. I loved Ben everything, really. If he and my sister hadn’t figured out they were perfect for each other, I would’ve found a way to make him my honorary big brother.
He pulled back, grinning. “It’s good to see you, Lex. Been a while.”
I tapped my cheek. “You’ve got a little...blue.”
“Oh, sorry.” Ben rubbed the spot furiously. Unlike Lee, he had the good grace to flush with embarrassment.
“So what’s up?” Lee stood behind her breakfast counter, biting into an apple from her fruit bowl. “Good for stamina,” she explained, which I very much did not need to know.
“Um, okay. Where to start. Well, first, thank you for meeting me here.” Nope, I’d come to them. Ugh, the two of them standing there scrutinizing me was making me nervous. I felt a sympathy for their political opponents.
“I need you to endorse Logan,” I blurted. Apparently, approaching this strategically was outside my wheelhouse.
“Oh, really?” Lee cocked an eyebrow.
“Yes. Please, please, please endorse him. The campaign says if you don’t, he has no shot at voters trusting him. Because now you’re more than just another politician. You’re his girlfriend’s sister. It carries weight.”
“His fake girlfriend’s sister.”
“Well, obviously no one should know that.”
Ben leaned back against the counter and crossed his muscular arms. “I’ve been following your TV appearances. You’re putting on a hell of a performance, Lex. Really selling the couple thing.”
“Mmm-hmm,” Lee agreed. “It’s almost too convincing. But I do have to thank you for getting Logan to do Mom’s commercial. The thought of doing it was giving me hives. She’d already emailed me a fifty-six-page screenplay. Fifty-six pages, Alexis. Apparently, she took Martin Scorsese’s Master Class and she’s convinced the whole commercial should be filmed in one long continuous shot like that scene from Goodfellas. Have fun with that.”
“You’re welcome,” I said smoothly, though inside I was thinking, Oh, lord, what have I gotten Logan into? “See how nice it can be when we scratch each other’s backs?” Who was I, a gangster from Goodfellas? I backed up and tried another approach. “Anita Jones’s assistant says—”
Both Ben and Lee cracked up. “Oh, God,” Ben said, turning to Lee. “Remember Anita?”
“I forgot she went over to the Arthur campaign.” Lee shook her head. “Mane’s HR department must’ve thrown a party the day she quit. Remember the things she used to say to you?”
Ben smiled fondly. “She used to tell me she was giving me the female-in-a-male-dominated-field experience.”
Lee rolled her eyes. “Oh, yes, Anita is performing one long act of community service on behalf of women everywhere. What a brave activist.”
“Anyway,” I said, “Anita’s assistant says it’ll be a deathblow if you don’t endorse him. So I’m here to beg you. Please.”
Lee and Ben eyed each other and shared a small, secret smile. Oh, I did not like that.
“You know Ben used to work for Governor Mane,” Lee said. “And Mane’s the one who helped us pass the bill that launched my political career. And he endorsed me for state senator.”
“I know,” I said, swallowing. “But you also said you didn’t like the way he treated your boss Dakota after their affair leaked. I mean, Ben quit over it! And Logan’s politics are so in line with yours—”
“You also know I’m not a fan of this elaborate farce you two have going on. I don’t like people using my sister to further their careers.”
“He’s not using me. If anything, I’m using him to fight the education cuts. We’ve become friends—”
“You’ll have to owe me,” she interrupted.
“What?”
She leaned against the counter and crunched on the apple. “If I agree to betray Mane and endorse Logan, you’ll have to owe me one massive favor in return. Anything I want, whenever I want it.”
The last person on earth you ever wanted to make a promise like that to was Lee Stone. Honestly, I would’ve preferred a deal with the devil. There was a solid chance whatever Lee would ask me to do would be miles outside my comfort zone and possibly illegal.
But then I thought of Logan. His beautiful, tired face on the other side of the conference table. The way he’d chewed his pen and written out debate notes for hours under our shared blanket. How his eyes lit with longing whenever he talked to me. He’d been working toward this goal his whole life. Year after year of laser focus, putting aside everything—love, a personal life, even his ability to be himself in public—just for a shot.
The tenderness that flooded me left no other option. I’d do whatever Lee asked.
“Okay,” I said, taking a deep breath. “You have a deal.”