Cockney:A Stepbrother Romance(71)

     



 



Reagan's cheeks are flushed when she looks up at me; "Holy shit, I mean;  wow." She laughs nervously and then with more feeling, like she's just  shrugged a weight off her shoulders; "I should not have done that. I  mean I really should not have done that! He's probably going to try and  sue you know."



I grin; "I'm willing to bet he doesn't know that quitting before his  contract finishes voids it entirely, so fuck him; I'll have your  father's lawyers eat him alive."



She's staring at me with stars in her eyes and her whole face smiling,  and I can't help but smile right back; that's just the effect she has on  me; "Hudson, I l-"



The door bursts open and a harried and winded looking campaign intern  with a clipboard barges into the room; "Ms. Archer! You need to follow  me right now; you're on stage in three minutes!"



Well shit, hows that for perfect timing,



She nods at the kid but whirls back to me; "Will you watch it?"



"Oh, what is it we're here for? Some sort of telethon? Are you raising  money for PBS?" I grin at her as she makes a face at me; "I was actually  thinking about heading across the street to that bar and catching the  rest of the game or something."



She rolls her eyes; "Hudson, you are the most infuriati-"



"Reagan," I grab her hand and squeeze it. There's so much I want to tell  her; so much I need to tell her. But she's about to go on fucking  television for this speech, so instead I just wink at her; "Of course  I'll watch it."



And I do, and it's incredible; she's incredible.



There's none of Donald's bullshit middle of the road crap this time; she  speaks the truth and she speaks from the heart. She talks about  corruption and government kickbacks, and the lack of oversight. She  names names, and calls people out right there on television, and it's  fucking amazing. She's bold and she's fearless, and once they pull their  jaws off the ground, the people there go fucking nuts.



"Ms. Archer!" A woman with a microphone calls out from the crowd of  screaming reporters as Reagan prepares to take questions; "You really  just came out swinging in that speech, which isn't quite a side of you  we've seen yet. You're already ahead in the polls; what brought this  on?"



Reagan smiles and nods her head; "Because a dear friend recently taught  me that the things you care about are the things worth fighting to be  heard about."



There are a million more questions, but one guy towards the front is  screaming louder than the rest; "Ms. Archer! Ms. Archer! We're hearing  reports from your very own campaign manager about some sort of alleged  illicit relationship between yourself and an employee of Archer  Holdings, your primary campaign financier. Some sort of ex-Army guy?"



The screaming crowd of journalists actually goes quiet, hanging on the  silence as Reagan's face freezes, and I feel my whole heart skip a beat.  But then she's turning to look right at me in the wings off-stage, and  she's grinning that perfect smile that just slays me every time. She  nods at me, her eyes sparkling, and then she's beckoning to me, and  waving me on stage. I give her a quizzical look, but she rolls her eyes  and beckons me again before turning back to the gathered reporters again  with a smirk on her face; "He's a Marine, actually, and I wouldn't  exactly call being in love an ‘illicit affair'."



I'm staring at her like we're both crazy as I walk on the stage, right  into the limelight and the camera flashes and the screaming questions.  "You sure you know what you're doing, Archer?" I murmur as the crowd of  reporters begin to scream and hurl questions at us.



She grins; "Which part?"



"Both?"



She grabs my tie and pulls me close; "Definitely," she whispers, and  then she's pulling me into a kiss right there in front of everyone. This  is literally the polar opposite of blending in, but as I scoop her into  my arms, I feel the whole world slip away anyways, because that what  she does to me. And right there in that moment, I know I'm ready for  whatever the fuck comes next because I've got her, and for the first  time in forever, I feel whole.



We kiss for what feels like an hour but is probably more like ten  glorious seconds with the million flashbulbs going off around us, before  she pulls back and grins at me.



"Sorry, I probably should have mentioned it before that I love you."



I shrug and grin at her; "Oh, do you? Yeah I never would have picked up on tha-"



She laughs and punches my arm before I pull her right back into me; "Hey  Princess," I murmur, kissing her again; "I love you too, you know."



And right there, nothing else matter in the whole fucking universe but her.





P A S T



I take my time getting ready. As I'm pulling my pants on, or tucking in  my shirt, or tying the double windsor knot in my tie, it's like I'm  suiting up my armor to head into battle. I can feel my nerves jangling  like live-wires inside of me, my pulse skipping around like a broken  record as I finish getting ready; finish getting prepared for this.



I've had a million conversations with her over the last few years. I've  written her letters that I've burned instead of sending, had  conversations with the memory of her late into the night when I'm alone  and sleepless with my thoughts. Hell, I've played out this very meeting a  hundred different ways in my head since I decided I was going. But none  of it has me prepared to see her again. But the nervousness and the  jangling nerves is like an elevated, surreal feeling that's better than  any booze.



It was Bryce who heard about the chain store pulling funding after her  comments about raising the minimum wage, and while I've weighed how  she's going to react to this a dozen different ways since then, I know  this is the only way. I believe in her, and not just because I know  William did, but because if believing in her and her campaign is  believing in myself and maybe my ability to become normal someday.



I finger the bullet in my pocket, staring down my reflection in the  mirror. I straighten my tie once more, along with a straying bit of  hair, before I take a deep breath. This is it. It's time to go meet  Reagan Archer for the first time in five years, and for the first time  in a very long time, I'm actually excited about what might come at me  next.





P R E S E N T



Two weeks later, after the media circus has sort of died down about the  "Young Senatorial candidate and the billionaire Marine," Hudson and I  are back at my father's house, sitting on the terrace off the library;  our terrace. We're sipping iced tea, and with my hands held in his, and  he tells me everything; all of it. He tells me about the horrors of war,  and the village in Afghanistan. He tells me about addiction and demons,  and being on the run, and their stint as mercenaries in Africa. I start  to tear up when he tells me about getting shot - both times -, but it's  when he looks me straight in the eye and tells me that my father was  the best thing that ever happened to him for saving them from all of  that, that I just start to cry.



"So, that's-"



"That's why I pushed you away the first time. I'd made your father a  promise to protect you, and letting you into all that shit that was  inside of me wasn't protecting you at all."



"And now?" I bite my lip as I look up at him, at this man who's  basically gone to the very edge and somehow come back to life; this man  who makes me feel complete and alive like I've never felt before; "Is  all of that history finished now?"



He shakes his head; "No- it's not; not entirely." He slides his hand  through my hair to the back of my head as he pulls me close and grins at  me; "But for now, I think I can let a lot of that shit go." He winks at  me; "Seems I've got more important things to think about now." He leans  in and kisses me, and I lose myself in him.



"Ms. Archer?" I break shyly away from Hudson as one of my staffers pokes  her head out the door. Ok, Hudson and I are out in the open now, but  PDA still makes me blush like a schoolgirl, even if he's trying  something in public every chance he gets.



"Yes?" I say, clearing my throat.



"There's an older gentlemen here to see you."



*****



Major Lawson nods a thanks as I pour him a glass of iced tea; "So, you're going to win this thing, you know."



I smile; "Ah, well thank you for your positive thoughts!"



He shakes his head, smiling; "No I mean, I've been doing this a long  time, Ms. Archer, and you just plain have it. You are going to win this  election."



"Well, thank you, sir."



"I've got a proposition for you though." He takes a sip of tea and  smiles at me; "I want you to do your two year stint with New York, and  then I want you to quit."



My eyes dart to Hudson before I turn back to the Major; "Excuse me?" I  shake my head; "Listen, Major Lawson, if you think you can-"