Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN

GARNER

I couldn't do this. It was an impossible situation. Being offered everything I'd ever wanted on a silver goddamned platter and knowing the minute I took it, I'd be signing my own ruin.

"I can't," I breathed, still drunk on his scent. Echoes of him referring to me as "Mr. President" sent chills racing across my skin. Why was that so hot? Because it was forbidden? Because no US president in history had been seduced by his bodyman on board Air Force One?

And why was that?

Because it was career suicide. Because I was the first out gay president. Because if anyone discovered I was sleeping with my personal aide, I would be excoriated.

"I can't," I said, this time more sure of myself. I shook off the effects of our nearness and tried to step back again. He let me go, his hands falling to his sides so quickly I nearly fell onto the bed in the center of the room. I made an embarrassing sound before catching myself and straightening back up. "It… you're…" I cleared my throat. "We both know that would be impossible."

He studied me. Something about his calm got under my skin. Nothing ruffled Kenan Harper. Nothing . It was why I'd been so affected by his emotional outburst tonight. Maybe that was the reason I'd let myself get too close.

I scratched the edge of my jaw while I waited for him to agree, to bashfully pull away with a muttered apology.

That's not what happened.

He stepped closer. Too close. The scent of him wrapped around me again, and this time, it made my skin feel raw like a too-rough scrub with salt and sand. I shuddered and clamped my teeth against the sound bubbling up in my throat.

"Tell me you don't want it," he said in a low voice. "Tell me you don't want to sink to your knees for me, Garner."

My eyes fluttered closed. Heat flooded my face. Blood surged south to my dick. I wanted it. I wanted him, so badly I could taste the salt on the back of my tongue.

I breathed a please into the air between us. If he kept coming at me like this, I wouldn't be able to say no. I wouldn't stay strong. I would bend to his will and set an entire tragedy in motion.

My legs wobbled until I locked my knees. "This… this is a mistake," I begged. "If anyone?—"

"The door is locked. No one will know. If you don't trust me to keep your secrets, Mr. President, you hired the wrong man for this job."

I opened my eyes to see him peering down at me with that same laser intensity. I was tall, but Kenan Harper was huge. He was often mistaken for Secret Service or a bodyguard of some kind. I'd often wondered how he'd managed to live on ships in the Navy without acquiring a brain injury.

He reached out and lifted my chin. "Let yourself have this, Garner. Hell… let me have this." The last part was said with a chuckle. The deep but rarely seen dimple popped next to the left edge of his lips, and I was gone.

My legs finally buckled, and I hit the carpet on my knees.