Power Play

She lightly smacked his arm. “Don’t be snarky. He was my favorite back in the day—not quite the Stone Age. He still is. Hey, I like ‘California über Alles’ as well as the next person, but it’s sometimes nice to slow-dance. You don’t have to perform, and you can actually talk to your partner without shaking anything loose. Believe me, that’s a concern as you get older.”

Mom would really like Natalie. “What’s up with Old Milt, your half-brother?”

She spurted out a laugh. “He’d have you measured for concrete boots if he heard you call him old. He looks good, actually, after he got his face perked up last year, and he’s very proud of that. He said he stood ready to support me in my time of need.” A small resigned sigh escaped. “He’s fully capable of Victorian sentiments like that when it comes time to ask me for help to bankroll one of his campaigns. He really hates to delve into his own coffers or hoof it out on the streets for his contributions. He hates asking for money, always has. He’s simply no good at it, and he knows it.”

“Except you, right?”

She began tapping her fingertips on his shoulder. “He hasn’t yet. I think he’s trying to assess the damage my situation will have on him. Obviously, I speak to my parents quite often, and I know Milton has been pestering them for information about me. They listen and thank him for his visits and go about their business. Dad’s eighty-five, my mom’s nearly eighty, and both of them are still healthy and bright-eyed. Milt hates it, but they’re the ones who hold the reins, since they hold most of the assets. The truth is both of them are stronger and more competent than he is.”

She tap-tapped again on his shoulder. “Have you noticed anyone behaving not quite as they should? Anyone looking at me with burning rage in his eyes?”

“Not any rage I can see, more like rampant curiosity and speculation. No surprise there, since you’re the latest scandal inside the Beltway.”

She grinned. “I’m enjoying all the speculation about you, the looks. You’d think they’d understand why you’re with me with all that’s happened, despite what you look like.”

Davis said, “You should meet Agent Griffin Hammersmith, the newest agent in the CAU—that’s the Criminal Apprehension Unit. Women look right past me if he’s in the room. I have fielded a couple of questions about how you and I know each other. One of the ladies asked if I worked in one of the local clubs.

“Perry’s been besieged about football all night, and not just by the four-star general at the dinner table. Day Abbott doesn’t look very happy about that. I mean, they’re talking sports here, all about quarterback stats and the latest injuries, and it’s his date they’re talking to. He’s left out of it. I’d say his ego is hurting.”

Natalie paused for a moment. “Of course Perry gets all the sports questions since Brundage was a legend, as well as her father. He should be used to it. Maybe you’re right, maybe Day’s tired of her claiming the spotlight. To top it off, Day himself is a sports nut; like most guys, give him a beer and some nuts and a football game and he’s a happy camper. He followed his own father’s footsteps and attended the West Virginia School of Mines, which wasn’t a choice his mother expected, since it isn’t much of a big-time sports school.”

Davis said, “Well, if the guy wants to get anywhere with your kid, he needs to get a grip, join in the conversation instead of looking pissed off, and start treating her like the expert she is,” and then he dipped her.

She came up laughing. “You’re not bad, Davis.”

He gave her a nice twirl, slowed again. “Do you think Perry and Madame Secretary’s son are headed toward an engagement?”

She was silent for a moment, again tapping her fingertips on his shoulder. “As I told you, she resists talking to me about Day. I can still remember the screaming matches between the two of them when he was fifteen or so and she was ten or eleven, exactly like a brother and sister. Ah, the song is winding down. Why not go ask her to dance before someone else snaps her up. I’ll go stand over there, my back to the fireplace.”

Davis asked Perry to dance, smiling at Day Abbott, who didn’t look particularly happy at his showing up. Actually, he looked like he wished he had Darth Vader’s lightsaber with him. Luckily, it was another slow number they could talk over without his worrying about stepping on the toes peeking out of her black stilettos. He was beginning to like the oldies, even though he didn’t know any of the words and recognized the music mostly from elevators.