Free Forbidden by Pat Warren

he
     had trouble staying away from her, that he was angry that he wanted her.
    He’d been pursuing her for months, but quietly, discreetly. He’d bring a bag of Chinese food to her apartment after a meeting
     or intercept her leaving his campaign headquartersand drive her to a pizza joint off the beaten path, where they’d indulge in a huge double cheese and mushrooms. Or they’d
     walk on the beach arm in arm. And they’d talk for hours on end. But they never attended public functions together. She wasn’t
     quite certain if that was by accident or design.
    She
was
certain she didn’t like it. Neither of them was married or seriously involved with someone else. So why couldn’t they date
     publicly and be seen together? Why was Adam keeping her under wraps, as if he were ashamed of her? She doubted that he was.
     She felt instead that it had more to do with Adam fighting his attraction, still hoping that he’d get over her, like a bad
     head cold.
    Meanwhile Liz knew she’d fallen in love—hopelessly, blindly, passionately in love. She also knew she dared not let him know.
    “I didn’t plan this, either, Adam. You came after me, remember?”
    “I remember. You’re like an addiction with me, like a disease I can’t fight.”
    She shifted from him, frowning. “I think I just stopped being flattered.”
    He pulled her back to him, took her mouth in a bruising kiss fueled by his frustration. He was no better than his father,
     Adam admitted to himself. He’d fallen so hard for a woman that she was clouding his vision, interfering with his plans. He’d
     have to do something about that.
    Tomorrow. Tonight he needed her desperately. He rose, picked her up, and carried her into her bedroom.
    Liz closed her eyes on a wave of pain. She had become increasingly aware that Adam was trying to pull away from her, that
     he was feeling trapped by his emotions. Little did he know that she would let him go without a struggle. She loved him, but
     she didn’t want a man torn between his ambition and her. She wanted a whole man.
    Elections were in another month. She had a feeling hewould think of a way to ease out of their relationship by then. She would do nothing to stop him. Until then she’d take it
     one day at a time. There would be plenty of time to mourn later. For tonight she had him here, to love and to cherish.
    As he set her on her feet next to her bed and bent to kiss her, Adam didn’t notice the lone tear that trailed down her cheek.
    Diane Cramer narrowed her eyes and scanned the television monitor above the stage in the Del Coronado ballroom. She needed
     glasses but was too vain to wear them. Perhaps she’d try contacts, if she could scrape up the cash. After she paid off the
     little Dior suit she hadn’t been able to resist at the resale shop. The owner claimed it had been worn only once.
    The numbers shifted, and she saw that Adam was maintaining a healthy lead over his opponent. The crowd, consisting of volunteers
     and aides and supporters gathered for the November election returns, cheered and applauded. Diane swung her gaze to where
     Adam was conferring with Fitz and the party chairman in the corner, seemingly unaware of the chaos surrounding them.
    God, but Adam looked good, Diane thought. And he was good. Too damn good for politics, probably. What he needed was a woman
     by his side, to protect him, to guide him. And she was that woman. If only the fool would recognize that fact.
    Diane had been born on the wrong side of the tracks in a small backwater town in Mississippi. Despite an alcoholic father
     and a mother who consistently forgave his frequent beatings, both she and her brother, Harlan, had worked their way through
     college. After graduation Diane had turned her back on Mississippi and rid herself of her poor beginnings with greater success
     than she had had erasing her southern accent, something she was still working on.
    Slowly but surely she’d insinuated herself more and more