Compromising Positions Read Free Page B

apartment. They lived upstairs, and I lived in the apartment, though I had the run of the house if I liked. It was the perfect living arrangement for me. I was never lonely for friends, but had all the privacy I wanted.
    Larry was outside shoveling snow as we walked up. Trish grinned at her husband. “Did you just shovel the entire block?”
    “I sure did.” He was quick to grab her into an embrace and kissed her. “Also cleared folks’ steps. It’s a great workout.”
    Poking his abs of steel, she said, “Well, we can’t have you going soft in the off-season.”
    “Honey, when am I ever soft around you?” he asked, in a whisper.
    “Can’t you two wait until you’re inside?” I said, rolling my eyes.
    He leaned over and pecked me on the cheek. “No problem. How was your day, Congresswoman?”
    “Long. Really long.”
    “Come on,” said Trish. “You have to tell him the story about how those two asshole Republicans thought you were a waitress at the reception.”
    “They did not!” said Larry, his jaw dropping.
    “Oh yes, they did.” I laughed and shook my head. “They weren’t assholes, though.”
    “After they apologized,” Trish said derisively. “Which they only did because that’s the kind of story that could end up in the press and bite them in the ass.”
    “You will not say anything about it. They would know I blabbed, and I want to make friends right now, not piss people off.”
    “I know. I know. We don’t want to position ourselves as too partisan from the beginning, but this is so good. The male Republicans assume the female Democrat at a reception is part of the wait staff.” She sighed regretfully. “Don’t worry though. I won’t blab.”
    “Good.” I thought back to the reception and then said offhandedly, “Besides, I liked those guys.”
    “But, they’re Republicans.” She waved her hand as if she were tossing them aside. “The old guy seemed harmless, but you just liked Grath because he’s kind of hot.”
    “Whatever,” I said with a shrug. “He was actually kind of interesting.”
    Sometimes having your best friend as your chief of staff was a pain in the ass. I tried to lie, but she caught me. Who wouldn’t be attracted to Mr. Blue Eyes? She snorted at me. “Interesting?”
    “Hey,” said Larry, clutching Trish. “Half my teammates are Republicans, and you like them.”
    “They say that, but they’re just Republicans because they became rich and hate taxes,” said Trish. “They don’t actually buy into the rest of the crap.”
    “Guys, I’m freezing,” I said. I was tired, but I was still bouncing up and down to stay warm. “I need to go inside and take a hot bath.”
    “I can cook you something. I’ll throw an extra steak on the grill,” said Larry.
    “Nah. I ate some at the reception. Thanks though.” I gave them a wink. “You two enjoy yourselves. I’ll see you in the morning.”
    As soon as I got inside, I immediately bumped up the heat. D.C. was cold compared to Tucson, and I was having a hard time adjusting. As I fiddled with the thermostat, a loud “meow” greeted me from below.
    “Hey Buddy. How are you?” I kneeled down and scratched the rough mane of my big bruiser of a Maine Coon, Severus.
    He gave me another demanding meow.
    “You wanna go outside and be predator kitty?”
    He confirmed it with more meowing, so I led him to the back door for his nightly jaunt in the yard. He slept indoors all day, but at night he enjoyed an hour prowling the neighborhood hunting gifts of birds and mice for me and looking for fights with other cats, which he was sure to win. Eventually, he’d end up at the back door again, maybe with a small animal in his mouth but never a hair out of place. Thankfully, some other animal would take care of the carcass in the middle of the night.
    After letting him out, I made a cup of tea and curled up on my sofa… first with a stack of briefing memos and then a book. My rule in the evening had always been