Chapter 20

CHAPTER TWENTY

GARNER

I slept deeply for several hours. When I woke up, I was surprised to feel utter calm acceptance of the change in my relationship with Kenan.

That wasn't all I felt, of course. I also felt excitement, contentment, stark joy, and warm, eager hope.

I also felt confident that Kenan Harper was the man for me, which made the challenges inherent in our situation much easier to solve.

I wanted to be with him. Fully and permanently. The question was, how could I go about it without blowing up either of our lives or putting him in danger?

If he knew I was concerned about his safety, he'd call me out for it. He'd snap that I was the one who needed protecting, and protecting him wasn't my job.

But he was wrong.

Commander Kenan Harper might be a tough, seasoned military man who'd never been the type to back down from a challenge. He might be physically intimidating and used to walking through the world unafraid. And he might—okay, he definitely would—be able to handle anything the media threw at him.

But Kenan was precious. He was loved. He was mine .

So protecting him wasn't just my job; it was my privilege.

I showered and dressed before leaving my private quarters to meet with my press secretary and the rest of the senior staff. The agent outside of my room indicated everyone was gathered in the dining room preparing for breakfast even though it would be nearly midnight in DC when we landed in a couple of hours.

As I made my way downstairs, my body reminded me of my time in bed with Kenan. I wondered if I'd be able to be in the same room as him without making my feelings obvious. My sister had accused me of having a poker face in the past, but my feelings were so strong for Kenan Harper, no poker face on Earth would be able to hide them.

When I entered the dining room, I didn't see him. My shoulders drooped in disappointment a split second before the hairs on my neck stood up.

"Mr. President," his familiar deep murmur brushed against my ear as he moved beside me from where he'd been standing outside my line of sight.

"Commander." I turned to meet his eye and angled my shoulders so no one else in the room could see my face.

Then I smiled at him, with as much knowing and loving as I possibly could.

His own eyes widened slightly before he schooled his expression. "Sleep well?"

"Very well. Thank you ."

I turned back to greet everyone else. I felt Kenan move behind me and take a seat on the end next to the press secretary's personal assistant. Kenan tried very hard not to take up space in a gathering of senior staff, but I'd insisted early on that he be allowed to eat with me unless there was a formal reason for him not to.

As soon as I sat down, the press secretary began explaining the press coverage of the aborted coup in Cedruaze and the key points included in our official statement. I ate while noting various talking points I needed to remember for when I met with the press after breakfast. My mind was quickly directed to work, but I took a moment after finishing my meal to ask the press secretary for a private meeting the following day.

"Tell Rosa to find you a half hour on my schedule, please. I'd like your help on a private matter."

I could tell she was taken by surprise. "Of course, sir. I'll get it arranged and be available when you are."

I didn't look at Kenan, but I felt his eyes on me as I stood up and left the dining room to move to my office with Rosa to make the family condolence calls.

He might not know it yet, but he'd given me something to fight for last night.

And I was not backing down.