Hunt glanced over and rolled his eyes. “Huh. Are we like in junior high now?”
“Shut up, Hunt. And you, too, Boone.” Clay held up his hand, cutting off their jibes. “In fact, I think I’ll fly up to New York tomorrow. Hunt, make sure the plane is available and Boone, if you’ll make arrangements at the Waldorf, I’d appreciate it.”
Hunt looked as if he was going to say something else, but closed his mouth and grimaced before saying, “I’ll instruct Cash to have a security team meet you.”
“Good. I’ll leave straight from home in the morning. You two can take care of the office until the winter recess.”
The SUV rolled to a stop in front of Clay’s Georgetown townhouse. The gray-painted brick building was almost obscured by the snow drifting down. The red brick sidewalk was completely covered. DC would be shut down by morning.
“Crap. Boone, email the staff and tell them to stay home tomorrow. There’s no way the streets will be plowed. And that means I’ll delay the trip to New York by a day.”
“You realize you’re running away, right?”
Hunt chimed in with chicken noises.
“Just do what I ordered.” Clay climbed out and stomped through the snow to the wrought-iron gate protecting his small yard and entrance door. The black vehicle idled at the curb while he fought the accumulated snow to get the gate open and closed. The motion detector installed with his security system lit up the interior as he approached the door, keyed in the code and entered.
He decided to ignore the juvenile antics of his cousins. This was a matter of discretion being the better part of valor. Yes, he was tempted by Georgie but she was an employee. She was also the best speechwriter on the Hill and he was not going to jeopardize that relationship to pursue one of a more intimate nature.
* * *
Georgie opened her door, shoved a large, steaming mug into the hands of the woman standing there and ushered her inside. The trip up from the second floor hadn’t taken her best friend long.
“Why are adult snow days not near as much fun as when we were kids and got to stay home from school?” Jen groused as she shuffled in on fuzzy house shoe–clad feet. She let loose with a huge yawn before sipping the hot chocolate in her mug. “Ooh. You put cinnamon in it.”
“Of course I did. Do you want breakfast?”
“What do you have?”
Wandering into her small kitchen, Georgie checked the fridge and the cabinets. “Uhm...two boiled eggs. Instant oatmeal. And coffee.”
“Put marshmallows in my next hot chocolate and we’ll call it brunch.” Jen settled on Georgie’s couch, propped her feet on the coffee table and yawned again. “So talk to me.”
Georgie topped off her coffee and curled up on the opposite end of the overstuffed couch, doing her best to seem as though she was okay. “About what?”
“Why you look so bummed out. Duh.”
“I’m not bummed.”
“Oh? Really? Coulda fooled me. What’s up with the Oklahoma Stud?”
Blushing furiously, Georgie kicked at Jen’s thigh. “Don’t call him that.”
“Then tell me what’s going on between you two.”
“Nothing.” She barely avoided a sigh. “The office went to dinner last night and he walked me to the door.”
“Did he kiss you?”
“Jen! Stop it! No. He did not. We don’t have a...a relationship like that.”
“And whose fault is that?”
Georgie stuck her fingers in her ears and sang, “La-la-la-la-la. Not listening to you.”
“You know you want him, girl.”
“He’s my boss. And...” She pushed her glasses back to the bridge of her nose. “He’s spending Christmas in New York. With Giselle Richards. And last night he told me he’d see me tomorrow...meaning today. Except he decided to leave early for New York and was going straight to the airport except...snow day.”
Jen’s face smoothed out and sympathy filled her gaze. “Well...that sucks.”
“Yeah.”
“Are they like...a thing?”
“He’s been seeing her since...Valentine’s Day.”
“Wait. Their first date was Valentine’s Day? Who does that?”
“It wasn’t a date. Exactly. She was his escort for some deal at the Western Heritage Center in Oklahoma City. They went to the same high school or something.”
“Pffft. She’s got nothin’ on you, Georgie.”
“Says my best friend who is loyal to a fault. But have you seen her? She’s a former Miss America and she won the Tony two years ago and she’s gorgeous and...and...” Georgie couldn’t swallow her sigh this time. “You know he’s putting together an exploratory committee, right?” At Jen’s nod, she continued. “Giselle is the type of woman he needs on his arm when he runs for president. She knows what to say to people. Looks amazing. Doesn’t trip and fall over her own feet. Or wear glasses.”