Her Secret Service (Jane Roe 1), Jason Letts [story reading .txt] 📗

treating him like a human being and not an object with a codename was the right thing to do.

“You’re probably right. A lot of people will be watching,” she said with a faint smile, trying to be nice but reserved. He took a deep breath and looked around the area, where the buds on the trees speckled the grounds with the first hints of green.

“I don’t know what I was thinking. About last night, I mean. I can’t imagine myself doing that again. There are probably easier ways to find out you’re not twenty anymore,” he said.

Jane laughed despite herself, knowing that if she tried to recreate some of the experiences from her college days, all-nighters and such, she’d be wiped out for a week. Her bosses would be thrilled to hear that he wasn’t intending to storm D.C’s club scene anymore, but mostly Jane wondered why he was talking to her about this stuff, of all people.

“At least you had a good time,” she said. Alex’s head twitched in a moment of anguish.

“Did I? To tell you the truth it felt forced, like I was going through the motions based on what was supposed to be fun, but it never lived up to the expectations. Nothing really felt right. We just didn’t have a good vibe, if you know what I mean. I think she was overwhelmed. I doubt I’ll end up seeing her again,” he said.

“Oh,” Jane said, trying not to sound too surprised, though if she’d been riding the shock might’ve knocked her clear off onto the ground. If that was a bad date, what did a good one look like? The last thing she wanted to do was make him uncomfortable by revealing exactly how much she knew about his personal life, but it was hard not to be curious how taking her back home and sleeping with her wasn’t enough to win Leslie Hodge a second date.

Alex chuckled to himself and spun his pedals backward as he looked over at her, his eyes drifting along the length of her body.

“I’m sorry. You probably don’t care about any of this,” he said. Jane was so used to seeing unapologetic confidence verging on invincibility from the male agents she worked around and the men in the White House, and Morrin was known for being commanding and a decision-maker, that any sign of vulnerability was as rare and compelling as a blue moon.

She began to imagine that between people he worked with that were a generation older, like the vice president and the chief of staff, he didn’t have many peers that he could really share with. And it wasn’t like the president could go around venting to the interns without that turning into an apocalyptic disaster. With his wife—was it time to start calling her his ex-wife?—gone and all of his interactions consumed by his work, deep down he really may have been unambiguously lonely.

“No, I can relate,” she said, though explaining why she felt she could was a challenge. She’d made her own feelings and wants subservient to her work for so long that she’d basically forgotten what they were. It took a moment of introspection to search for them. “It can be difficult to balance doing what you need to professionally with what you need for yourself when you live your job.”

Alex laughed.

“Isn’t that the truth,” he said. Jane could hear Dedan’s huffing behind them as he approached the top of the hill, and Alex glanced over his shoulder as he noticed, before adding, “Maybe it’ll be easier after the hearing in Dayton. You’ll be coming, right? As a manager, of course.”

Jane’s eyes shifted to him, feeling put on the spot after the unexpected inquiry. What would he want her to come along for?

“Oh, logistics and staffing don’t usually go along on day trips.”

“But sometimes they do.”

Jane was at a loss for words, but conveniently Dedan crested the hill and rolled up alongside them. Sucking in air like his wide mouth was a vacuum, he looked over at them with sweat dripping down his face.

“You didn’t have to wait up for me.”

Although not nearly as fatigued as Dedan, the president was more or less done at that point as well even though he’d done less than half the mileage they’d planned. The three of them coasted around the backstretch of the loop until they returned to the starting point and got off their bikes. Jane nodded when the president thanked them for the ride before being whisked away to continue with his day under the care of Secret Service agents on the current shift.

She watched him go with a funny feeling that she’d seen a side of him that almost no one had gotten to see. As for her and the rest of her weekend, it wasn’t anything special that anyone would care to see. Feeling like she’d gotten a pass on her first ride, she now had another week to train to be ready for what would doubtlessly be the real thing.

Sunday morning she spent three hours on the roads south of D.C. along the eastern side of the Potomac. She felt like she was growing stronger, and it didn’t hurt that the sustained effort and the calories burned provided for some guilt-free treats. Even after shoveling down a bowl of her favorite butter pecan ice cream with whipped cream and sprinkles, she couldn’t help but feel content with how she looked when she glanced at herself in the mirror.

Now if only she could do something about her driver’s license photo that looked like she’d just gotten out of prison.

When it was back to work on Monday, there was the other after-effect of her ride that occupied her attention. Once she had a free moment, she found herself drifting toward Chief Harold Vale’s office not exactly sure what she was doing or how she was going to say this. With his door open, it was easy to stick her head in and