Seduced By The Candidate (The Candidate, #1) Read Free Page A

if this particular gift horse was beginning to look distinctly
Trojan!
    With the coffee complete and steaming in Goulding’s favorite, ‘Lincoln Lives On’ mug, she carefully
made her way to his office with more than a little trepidation. Knocking
politely, she waited for his invitation to enter and when he bade her, “Come”
she entered.
    “You’re coffee Senator,” she said.
    At first she didn’t think that he heard her. He continued to
read the memo in front of him. Finally he sighed, put the paper down on the
desk and rubbed his eyes; every bit the man that was already feeling the weight
of the nation on his shoulders.
    “Thank you Charlotte,” he said in a tired voice. “About
earlier, I...I want to apologize.”
    “Really Sir, there’s no need, I”-
    “No Charlotte, there is. It was rude, un-called for and not
something I’m proud of.” He interrupted her with a small smile.
    This was a first, maybe buried beneath the outer-asshole was a
real human being. Although he worked exceptionally hard to make sure that the
real Goulding remained very, very well hidden!
    “I’m under all kinds of pressure at the minute, what with the
schedule, the press, the men from...” Goulding trailed off. “Anyway, I’m sorry.
You’re doing a great job here under exceptional circumstances and I want you to
know that I appreciate it. When John told me that he had found someone to
replace Madeline, I was skeptical, even after he showed me your exceptional
list of qualifications, but you have already more than justified you’re
appointment.”
    “Well, I, I...” Charlotte stammered, unable to find the right
words in the face of such an incredible compliment. “Senator Goulding,
er...thank you.”
    “Please, call me Bill.”
    Goulding took a sip of his coffee and smiled up at Charlotte
with genuine warmth and emotion. She had rarely seen her boss smile and never
before without having previously had a camera thrust at him. The transformation
was incredible and it completely changed every aspect of his face. He was a
truly exceptional looking individual and the warmth of his smile spread to
every feature. The creases at the corners of his eyes and mouth lent an air of
reality to his otherwise sculpted looks. His eyes gleamed with humor and appeal
and his perfect white teeth shone in stunning contrast to his flawless, tanned
skin.
    Charlotte felt her pulse quicken and a sensation similar to
pins and needles run from the tips of her toes, up the full length of her body
and culminated on her lips. It felt wonderfully alien and she blushed at the
thought that this rude, arrogant man could inspire feelings that no one else
ever had. She looked down, desperately trying to hide her embarrassment. When
she felt confident enough to look at Goulding again, she saw that he had
returned to his memo. Charlotte was surprised to realize that along with her
profound relief was a deep-seated sense of disappointment.
    Charlotte Turner was by no means an unattractive young woman.
In fact, she was quite the opposite. She was beautiful. It wasn’t that she
didn’t appreciate the way that she looked, it was
merely that she had never felt the need to enhance or emphasize it. For years,
her brain had done the talking and everything she had ever accomplished had
been the result of hard work, study and dedication to her scholarly pursuits.
Being such a highly intelligent woman, she had also sought similar attributes
in a potential lover and had found that the men frequenting the various
colleges to be something of a letdown.
    There had been the usual string of ‘jocks’ looking for a trophy
blonde to parade around the school and hang off their arm with a look of pure
adulation. There had also been the super intelligent nerds that had no place in
this world of ‘beautiful people’ and had found her mind stimulating, but her
good looks were incredibly intimidating. True, there had also been the middle of
the road ‘normal’ men, but who