Standing in front of the window, wearing only a pair of flannel pajama pants, he was cold, but he couldn’t bring himself to go back to bed, where he would only lie there and spin.

“Tommy,” Christina said, her voice sleepy and sweet.

“I’m here.”

“What’re you doing?”

“Looking at the snow.”

“Come back to bed.”

He’d rather stay up and pace all night, but that wouldn’t help anything, so he joined her in bed.

“You’re freezing! How long have you been up?”

“I don’t know. Awhile.”

She held out her arms to him, and he snuggled up to her.

Shivering, she said, “It’s like snuggling with a polar bear.”

“Sorry.”

“I’m not. I love snuggling with you, even when you’re freezing.”

She was trying to take his mind off his worries. He knew that, but it wasn’t working.

“You know what the worst part of all this is?” he asked.

“What?”

“All these years I’ve spent doing the right thing, chasing down criminals, taking scumbags off the street, earning promotions and commendations and getting shot in the neck and nearly dying not all that long ago. And it’s like none of that ever happened. They just automatically assume, because I’ve had a beef with her, that I must’ve killed her.”

“I know, baby.”

“They just throw my name out there like it makes no difference whatsoever that it’s untrue. That all the good stuff I’ve spent my whole career doing doesn’t matter.”

“Would you consider talking to Darren? He was good to you after the shooting.”

“That would be risky with so many people pointing the finger at me.”

“So go on the record and say you had no reason to kill her. If your goal was to keep your son, that certainly wouldn’t be the way to do it. You could also say how insulting it is to have your decorated career as a police officer swept aside in a sea of accusations and innuendo when there’s no proof whatsoever that you had anything at all to do with Lori’s death.”

“You know, sometimes it’s very convenient to be sleeping with a political operative.”

Christina released the low, sexy laugh that he adored.

He wouldn’t have expected to smile, but she always made him feel better.

“I take that to mean you like the idea?”

“Yeah, I do. I want to talk to Andy first, and make sure I won’t be making anything worse.”

“You need to talk to a criminal defense attorney, not a family law attorney. Maybe Bill Springer will take your case.”

“Ha! Very funny. Can you imagine if I called him up and asked him to represent me?”

“It would give the reporters something else to talk about.”

“No defense lawyers, for now anyway. The one thing I know for sure after all my years in Homicide is that the minute you lawyer up, everyone thinks you’ve got something to hide. I’ll see what Andy says about talking to Darren and go from there.”

“Do you feel any better?”

“Yeah,” he said, “surprisingly I do.”

“I find it always helps to have a plan.”

“I find it always helps to have you. I don’t know how I ever would’ve gotten through everything that’s happened this year without you.”

“And I couldn’t have gotten through it without you.”

He caressed her face and kissed her. “We really ought to get married one of these days.”

“Any day you want.”

“Yeah?”

“Yep.”

“You don’t want the big white deal?”

“I just want to be married to you. I couldn’t care less about the big deal.”

“Let’s get past all this, and then we’ll get serious about making that happen.”

She rubbed soothing circles on his back. “I’m very sad about Lori. I wouldn’t have wished this outcome on her, no matter how much trouble she might’ve caused for us. But we both know the truth—that we had nothing to do with it—so we can’t let it suck the life out of us, you know? It’s a challenge we have to get through, but it’s not like when you were shot, and I didn’t know if you were going to live. That was something else altogether.”

“I know, honey. And you’re right. I need to calm the hell down. All the accusations in the world don’t change the truth.”

“No, they don’t. And tomorrow you can talk to Andy and maybe Darren and set the record straight.”

“I just hope it doesn’t do more harm than good.”

“So do I.”

* * *

Sam’s day began with a call from Lindsey at six. “Are you awake?” Lindsey asked, sounding chipper.

“Mmm, yeah.”

“Sam. Wake up.”

“I’m awake.” Sam opened her eyes, looked around at the loft and realized she was alone under the comforter. “What’s up?”

“I got DNA results for the semen found in Lori Phillips’s vagina. We’ve got a match for your guy Hughes, but there was a second profile. I’m running that one now against the database. Thought you’d want to know there was a second guy.”

“She had a busy last day, that’s for sure. Booze and coke and two guys.”

“Are you getting any closer to figuring this one out?”

“We’ve got a few leads to pursue today. We should know more by the end of the day.”

“The morning papers have banner headlines, tying her to Gonzo and rehashing the custody case.”

“Fantastic,” Sam said. “That’s just what we need.”

“At least they aren’t leading with Springer versus Farnsworth today.”

“There is that. Thanks for the heads-up. I’ll check in when I get to HQ.”

“Tell your husband I said to have a good first day in the West Wing. Terry was up at four thirty because he was too excited to sleep. Thus my early arrival today.”

“I’ll tell him. See you later.” She ended the call feeling guilty that she’d almost forgotten this would be Nick’s first official day at the White House. It was probably more that she’d blocked it out. If she didn’t think about it, it wasn’t happening, right?

She’d no sooner had that thought when the vice president himself came up the stairs looking gorgeous and sexy in a dark suit with a white shirt and a red and blue striped tie. He was showered and shaved and breathtaking. A pang of fear struck her in the breastbone. Every woman in America would want him when they saw him on the news later in the day, because surely his first day would be big news.

For now, for this moment, he was all hers, and he came bearing her robe and a steaming cup of coffee. Sam sat up and let the comforter fall to her waist. She ran her fingers through her hair, straightening it. “You look good,” she said, letting her gaze roam from his face down the front of him.

“You look amazing,” he replied, his gaze fixed on her bare breasts. He sat on the edge of the lounge and leaned in to kiss her. “Morning.”

“Morning.” She took the mug of coffee from him and took a sip. “What time is it?”

He kissed her neck and made her squirm. “Six.”

“You’re leaving already?”

“Soon.” He cupped her breasts and toyed with her nipples until they tightened. “I might be enticed to going in a little later though.”

“You’re all spiffy. I wouldn’t want to mess you up.”

He cupped her cheek and ran his thumb over her lips. “I love being messed up by you.”

She offered a weak smile in return.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, why?”

“I know that look. Something is on your mind.”

She ran her hand over the silky length of his tie. “Other than the fact that every female in America is going to be lusting after my sexy husband today?”

“Stop it. They will not.”

“Nick, honey, trust me. They will.”

Bending his head, he went to work on her neck, kissing and nibbling, not hard enough to leave a mark but just enough to make her squirm. “What about all the guys who’ll be lusting after my sexy wife when she goes on TV this morning?”

“You smell so good.”

“Is that your way of dodging the question?”

She shrugged.

“Do I have anything to worry about where you’re concerned?”

“No,” she said forcefully, surprised he would ask such a thing.