Madam President (37 page)

Dev took the garment and looked at it. Then she mopped her brow with it before sticking it in the pocket of her pants. "Yeah," Her voice cracked like a prepubescent boy. "Thanks."

Beth finally removed her hands from David's face. "No more naked dares! How long do you think I can hold him?"

"Well, hell, Beth, you've held onto him for nearly 15 years what's another 15 minutes? Okay, Lauren, it's your turn."

Lauren didn't go back to her seat. Instead, she sat down next to Dev who had moved to the floor. The President lifted her bottle for another drink but just as the glass touched her lips Lauren snatched it from her hand and finished it off in one long swallow. "Ahhhh..." she breathed. "Thanks. It was getting hot in here."

"I'll say!" Beth pressed her bottle against her forehead.

David frowned and mumbled petulantly, "Not like I'd know."

Dev retrieved her bottle and held it up to the light. "You stole my beer. Man, you ask a girl for her bra and you gotta give her a whole beer? For a whole beer I should get the panties too!"

This time it was Lauren who blushed.
Oh yeah. Dev's drunk. Nobody would believe I'm playing a teenager's game with the President of the United States.

"Your turn," Beth reminded Lauren.

"Okay." The very tip of Lauren's tongue appeared as she concentrated for a moment. She pushed her glasses farther up on her nose. "David..."

The red-headed man sat up straight.

"True or dare?"

"Truth."

Lauren grinned wickedly. "What's the last horribly embarrassing thing that Devlyn did that you kept out of the Press?"

"She went out with Candy Delaney."

"Hey! No fair," Lauren protested instantly. "I already knew that!"

Dev made a face at her Chief of Staff. "Besides, dumbass, that was your fault. You set me up with her. Personally, I think the fact that I got my speeches mixed up last week was pretty good. I mean, when was the last time the President started to give a speech written for The National Cattlemen's Association to the World Vegetarian League?"

Lauren sniggered. "That was embarrassing. But David really couldn't answer with that one." A beat. "Considering I read about it for two days."

"David!" Beth chastised. "You're supposed to nip that kind of thing in the bud!"

"I know you think I'm the great and powerful Oz-"

"You mean you're not?" Beth asked with devastating innocence, just as David leaned over and stole a kiss.

The tall redhead smacked his lips together happily when the kiss ended. "Okay, Dev, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

David grinned and grabbed a handful of popcorn. "How'd you break your pinkie finger, Devil?"

Dev choked on her beer and flicked the cap at David's head. "You know how I broke my finger, you prick."

"But I don't," Lauren pointed out happily. She grinned at Beth who grinned back.
Oh boy. This should be interesting.

Dev took a deep breath and then a big drink of her beer. "One night I got my hand slammed in a window..." She pretended to take another drink, hoping that would be a suitable answer.

Lauren elbowed the President. "Annnnnnnnd?"

"And it got broken when the window came down on it."

David wiped his fingers on his jeans. "The part she leaving out is that she was naked and in the throws of passion when she did it. She grabbed the bottom of the window and pulled it shut on her own hand."

Dev reached over and punched him on the shoulder. "Thanks, pal!"

Lauren burst out laughing. She reached out and grabbed Dev's pinkie finger, holding it up for examination and giving serious consideration to kissing it. "And you know this how, David?"

"Because she was running for office at the time and they called me first to tell me the window was jammed with her hand stuck in it and Samantha thought they were gonna have to call the fire department. They wanted me to keep it from hitting the papers."

Beth began to howl. God, she loved this story! She
knew
David would be cruel enough to bring it up during the game. God, she loved David!

Lauren and David joined in until Dev, who was sitting with her arms crossed over her chest, pouting, finally had enough.

"Okay, fine. Laugh it up, you rat bastards. Truth or dare, Strayer?"

Lauren jerked her thumb toward Beth. "It's her turn!"

"That's okay," Beth said. "Since no one has bothered to ask me a question, I'll be happy to let Dev take my turn. Have at it, Devlyn. And make it good."

Lauren stuck out her tongue at Beth. "Fine. I pick dare."
You're not getting me on that sex question tonight, Devlyn Marlowe.

"I'm betting good money you have a tattoo somewhere. If you do, show it."

"No way! She is not the tattoo type. A hundred says she doesn't have one," David taunted.

"You're on!" Dev leaned over and they shook hands.

Gray eyes narrowed.
Shit!
"What makes you think I have a tattoo?" Lauren's words were tinged with as much indignation as she could muster. Which wasn't much, considering she did actually have a tattoo. But David was right. She wasn't the type. It was something stupid she'd done on a dare when she was in college. Kind of like what she was doing right now.

"I know the type," Dev pronounced firmly. "Deceptively cute looking, all innocent like the girl next door. No, make that the ‘All American' girl next door." She chuckled at the appalled look on Lauren's undeniably cute face. "You girls always have a tattoo because at some point in your life you bucked the system and either got a tattoo or dated a biker." Dev took another swallow of beer. "And you don't strike me as the biker-dating type."

Shit, I hate it when Devlyn's right. And dating a biker would have been so much less permanent!
Lauren looked nervously at David and Beth who were staring back at her, waiting with bated breath for an answer. She leaned close to Dev's ear and whispered, "Ummm... assuming just for a moment that I do have a tattoo, who exactly would I have to show again? Not everybody, right?" There was a hint of pleading in her voice.

Dev looked at David and Beth, giving a vague gesture. "You'd trust me to verify it and tell the truth, right Beth?"

Beth grinned. "Absolutely, Devil." David was about to protest but his wife beat him to the punch. "And so would David. We trust you implicitly, Dev."

Dev turned her silly, truly buzzed face to Lauren and wiggled her brows. "Just me then. You only have to show me. C'mon, Lauren," she crooned, barely able to control her laughter.

Lauren blew out a breath. "Just you?"

Dev nodded. "Just me. Where is it?" Dev's smile widened, she hadn't really believed the writer would have a tattoo. Lauren was far too straight-laced for a tattoo. And someone got close to her with a needle? "You were unconscious when you got it, weren't you?"

Lauren nodded. "You know it."

The blonde woman turned to Beth and David and made a circular motion with her index finger. The McMillians turned their backs, but not before a few more mumbled protests from David. She raised an eyebrow at Dev. "Promise you won't laugh?"

"No, I won't promise that."
God if I don't kiss her again soon I'm gonna die
. "When a girl gives you her bra before you've even ever bought her dinner, she totally gives up the right not to be laughed at," Dev teased.

"Bitch," Lauren mumbled as she rose to her feet and began undoing the button to her jeans. "It's on my..." A pause. "Hip. Sort of."

Dev swallowed hard, holding up her hand. "What do you mean sort of?"
You drop your pants and I will die.

"I mean sort of. It's well, I guess I'll have to show you. There really isn't a word to describe exactly where it is. But if you'd rather I stop-"

"No, no, go ahead."
I just wish I were gonna remember this in the morning

Lauren bit her lip but nodded. "Stupid game." She positioned herself in front of Devlyn and glanced over her shoulder to find Beth and David making out on the rug and not paying the slightest attention to her and Dev.

She unbuttoned her pants with agonizing slowness, then began to slide them over her hips.

Dev felt her heart pounding so hard she was sure that it was going to burst out of her chest at any moment. She whimpered pitifully when she glimpsed panties that matched the silky, lacy bra. Her vision suddenly began to get fuzzy and she felt light-headed. Then everything went black.

Beth and David turned around at the sound of a loud thump.

Lauren pulled up her jeans and simply stared at Dev's prone body.

David jumped up. "Jesus Christ, Lauren, you killed her! Where the hell is that thing!"

Lauren pointed to Dev's body. "She's still breathing! I didn't kill her! She didn't even make it to the unveiling!"

*
 
*
 
*

Everyone retired shortly after they had carried a snoring Dev to bed, which sucked, considering her room, along with Lauren's, was upstairs. Lauren went to her room, which was connected to Dev's via a shared bathroom. David and Beth had been awarded the master bedroom downstairs because of its larger bed.

Lauren changed into a pair of soft cotton, short boxers and a threadbare T-shirt. She held her panties in her hand wondering if Dev would give her back her bra or if the set would be lost forever. Oh well, she smirked inwardly, it was sort of kinky thinking of Dev with a pair of her panties.
God, how old am I again? Besides, she probably won't remember tonight. Those beers went right to her head, poor, evil thing.

The writer placed her glasses on the nightstand and crawled into bed, sighing at wonderful feeling of clean sheets and soft bedding. "Oh, this is nice." She nuzzled the comforter and closed her eyes, still a little wound up after the silly game she and Dev had played with each other. Her head was a little foggy from the beer, but she was certain she hadn't drunk enough to warrant a hangover in the morning. Just enough to feel incredibly... relaxed.

Lauren wasn't quite sure what woke her up. It took a moment or two for the sounds to register. She squeezed her eyes shut and crammed the extra pillow against her face. "I so do not need this," she mumbled into the thick feather pillow. One particularly low moan caught her attention and made her giggle. She wasn't sure whether it was Beth or David. "Somebody is a verrrrry happy camper right now." When the sounds continued, Lauren briefly considered stuffing a blanket or towel into the air vent that was carrying the erotic sounds.

Finally, when she couldn't take it any longer, she headed for the bathroom, hoping that if David and Beth heard footsteps above them, they'd tone down their bedsports to a dull roar - in deference to those not so lucky.

She didn't turn on the light - a small night light provided more than enough illumination. Lauren used the facilities and washed her hands. She smiled into the mirror when she realized that couldn't hear them in here.
I can sleep in the shower!
It wouldn't have been the first time. But it was a stall shower, so, with an unhappy groan, she quickly gave up on the idea. This couldn't go on all night. Hell, she'd been married for three years. She could attest to that fact!