But he kissed me! Her outrage whimpered. He humiliated me in front of these men! And in front of Winston!
The general nodded in her direction.
“Ms. Banks Bailey, you deserve an apology for that behavior,” he said. “But I suspect this soldier isn’t going to give it to you. So I will. I am very sorry. He’s acting like a savage.”
“That’s why we need Chessey,” Winston said.
Need me? Chessey sat on the oak captain’s chair beside Winston. He handed her a briefing folder. The aide behind the desk passed her a calendar covered with pencil scribbles.
“Soldier, you’re going out there for one reason and only one reason,” the general said.
“And just what is that reason?”
“Because the enlisted men need you,” the general said evenly. “The enlisted men need to know that officers like you will lead them out of harm’s way and that officers like you won’t leave a man behind.”
“They already know that, just because we’re out of there,” he said. “I’m leaving.”
He stood up.
“Get the President on the phone.”
Derek uttered an oath.
“Give him the schedule.”
Winston handed McKenna the appointment calendar, which matched Chessey’s.
“We can play around with the dates so that you begin in three days,” Winston said. “And Chessey will be with you. You’ve already introduced yourself. Next time you want to introduce yourself to a woman, try shaking hands.”
Chessey endured McKenna’s frankly hostile gaze. It was hard to believe that moments before, they had been locked in an intimate embrace.
“Why do I have to take her with me?”
“She’s an assistant protocol specialist,” Winston said. “You need to be housebroken. She’s the best, like Mary Poppins without an umbrella and that silly hat. Trained the entire delegation to Zanzibar last month on how Zanzibarian table customs work.”
Chessey squelched a smile at the praise.
But Mary Poppins?
“And she’s a member of the Banks Bailey family,” Winston continued. “Can’t get a better pedigree than that. If there’s a right way to do it, the Banks Bailey family knows how—whether it’s tea parties, formal dinners, receptions or meeting a Queen.”
“I don’t need her,” McKenna said, gazing at Chessey levelly. “On my farm, she won’t do me any good milkin’ cows or driving a tractor. And even if I were to go off on your little tour of America, I’d prefer a woman who looks a little less wholesome than this Girl Scout.”
The gathering stared at Chessey, seeming to expect her to suddenly make a fire out of two sticks or sprout a green sash. Chessey felt a crimson blush flare on her cheeks.
“If Lieutenant McKenna needs a party girl to accompany him,” she said, “I am certainly not the appropriate choice.”
“Party girls he can get anywhere,” the general snorted. “He needs to be returned to a civilized state—being in that Baghdad prison must have warped him.”
“Or maybe he was always this primitive,” Winston observed. “In which case, Chessey, you’ve got a lot of work to do.”
“I won’t disappoint you.”
“I don’t want this woman,” McKenna said, looking at her. “Even if I was going on your tour, I wouldn’t take her.”
“Soldier, we know you’re not going to embarrass us with a cross-country display of your soda chugging and peanut tossing abilities,” the general said. “And I can only hope that you’re not going to kiss every single female in your path. But the schedule does present some very different experiences for you. Different social stratas.”
“Excuse me, General,” Chessey said, looking up from the folder. “My assignment is to go on the road, alone, with him?”
“Think of yourself as an animal trainer,” Winston said.
The general chuckled. “My guess is that if you succeed at housebreaking this hero, you can pretty much pick your job here at the State Department,” he said. “Am I right?”
“Absolutely,” Winston agreed. “All he needs is a dress uniform, a stump speech you can toss off in a minute, and a quick, but thorough, course in manners.”
She stared at McKenna bluntly.
Definitely the manners. He needed the manners.
“I can have any job?” she asked.
Winston started to mumble about civil service requirements.
“I think the fine state of Arizona would be delighted to have you on board in its congressional offices,” the congressman from Arizona said. “How about New York?”
The New York congressman bobbed his head.
“If you pull this one off, you can have my job,” added the general.
“Chessey,” Winston said, in a voice soft as suede. “I’m counting on you.”
“You are?”
“Absolutely,” he said, and he took off his glasses. When his big brown eyes gazed into hers, Chessey felt as if he were seeing her—really seeing her—for the very first time. “Chessey, your country... I mean, I really need you.”
She looked down modestly but then did a one-eighty, boldly meeting his gaze.
Such a nice man, her grandmother had said once, when Chessey had described her job.
“The Fairchilds don’t have money,” her grandmother had added wistfully. “But they have more than made up for it in good breeding.”
“That settles it,” Chessey said. She looked at her charge boldly, determined to make sure the balance of power was established early. He hadn’t had the luxury of the good breeding of the Fairchild family, but he could learn. And she could teach him. “Lieutenant, we will start with lesson one. You are never to kiss me again.”
And she swept out of the room.
Not quickly enough to avoid hearing his reply.
“All right, all right, I’ll wait till you ask me.”
Chapter Two
“We’ll start with the uniform,” Chessey said, leafing through the schedule folder as she led him down the linoleum-tiled hall. Her sensible but stylish heels clicked smartly. “I know a tailor three blocks away who can have your dress uniform ready in one day. After your fitting, we’ll compose a five-minute speech that you can use for your first three appearances. That speech will be your new best friend. It will become as familiar to you as the pledge of allegiance, and you won’t need to use note cards. You’re going to want to keep eye contact with your audience.”
She could barely contain her delight—any job in the State Department! Offers from Congress! The top general of the country guaranteeing her future! She might end up with an office above ground and, maybe-just-maybe-oh-maybe, a window! She had no doubt that this was the kind of moment that came just once in a career. It certainly had never happened before.
The excitement of the assignment accounted for her skittering heartbeat and quickened breath.
She was so thrilled with her good fortune and so touched by his plight that she had nearly—but not quite—forgiven him for his boorish behavior. Probably had gotten flustered at the sight of a female—although his kiss had all the confidence of a conqueror taking his due.
Flustered,