“Mrs. Hamilton.” He starts to round the desk.
“You wouldn’t happen to know where a rather restless, very handsome young boy went? I can’t find him anywhere.”
Smiling, he shakes his head and lets his eyes fall to his desk.
Alison is suddenly behind me, her camera flashing as Matt Jr. peeks from under the desk saying, “Boo!”
“Matt, get out from under your father’s desk,” I chide.
Alison snaps a few pictures.
“But I don’t want to. It’s my special hiding place,” Matt Jr. says.
“We’ll make a tent in your room, or in the Red Room—no, the Blue Room. We’ll make you the perfect hiding place there.”
“But Dad won’t be there. It’s no fun without Dad.”
Matthew laughs and I roll my eyes. “Were you this difficult?”
“Not nearly,” he says, glancing at me, his smile fading.
He looks at my mouth, and I realize that I’m gnawing my lower lip. He leans his dark sable head to me as he brushes his thumb over my lip to make me release it. “I want to kiss that lovely lip.”
I ease back to look at him. “You’re kissing me with your eyes,” I whisper.
“To hell with it. My mouth is jealous.” He laughs.
He grabs my face and kisses me. It’s a quick, dry kiss, PG-13 rated rather than a tripleX kiss, but Matty grins and raises his arms so that we’ll scoop him up. Matt scoops him up in his arm and tells Alison, “Catch him while he’s still,” and Alison is grinning as she starts clicking.
“Jack, come here, boy.” Matt whistles to Jack, and I’m shocked to see him crawl out from under the desk too.
“Oh my goodness.” I laugh now, and as Jack sits before us, we all turn to Alison’s camera lens.
Matthew’s lips are curled in a sly grin, little Matt is smirking just like his father does, and I’m blushing—still because of this man, after all these years. No, we don’t live in a fairy-tale world, but between all the bad things, there are these moments, these people, these glimpses of who we are—good. Who we love. How hard. How true. Which is why we cling to every reminder of that good to steer us back, to find the path to where we want to go. Where we deserve to be. Happy. Free. And loved.
Dear Readers
Thanks so much for picking up my new WHITE HOUSE series. I have loved every second of Matt and Charlotte’s story, and I hope you have too. There’s a third book I have been planning for some time; it’s a standalone with new characters, but in this same world, taking place during Matt’s second term. I hope to tell you more about it as soon as I am able to. In the meantime, I’m working on something new, a sexy standalone, that I am just dying to share with you in the spring! Stay tuned!
Thank you for your support and enthusiasm for my work.
XOXO, Katy
Acknowledgments
Amy, as always, thank you for all you do. The White House series is your baby too, and I’m so happy that we could share it with the readers! Thank you for your belief in me, and in them, and thank you to the entire amazing team at the Jane Rotrosen Agency. I’m truly grateful to work with you.
I also could not have done this without my family’s love and support, and so many other people who have contributed in small and big ways to supporting my writing.
Huge, huge thank you to my editor Kelli Collins, and Sue Rohan for her expertise,
my copy editor Lisa, my proofreader Anita Saunders, and my betas Nina, Angie, Kim J., Kim K., and Monica.
To the fabulous Nina, Jenn, and the entire team at Social Butterfly PR, you ladies are truly phenomenal. Thank you for being as excited about my books as I am and for all that you do.
To Melissa, thank you for everything,
and to Gel, for all that you do for me.
Thank you to my foreign publishers for translating my stories so that they can be read across the world.
To Julie at JT Formatting and my cover designer, James at Bookfly Covers, you did an amazing job!
Bloggers, I am ever so grateful for your support and enthusiasm for reading. You always make my day when you choose to share and promote my work from among so many other amazing stories to share, read, and review. Thank you!
And to my readers. You are always in the back of my mind, every time I’m writing. I get to parts that make me smile, or do other little things to me, and I think to myself, “I wonder if they’ll feel this, just like this.” It is always my aim for you to, so I am always grateful to be given the chance to coax you into my world.
Thank you for your support and your love. Thank you to everyone who picked up, shared, and read this book.