Free First Lady by Blayne Cooper, T Novan Page A

Lauren. Oh, fuck.
    Lauren looked at Devlyn as though seeing her for the first time. “You really said that, Devlyn?” she said, hearing the catch in her voice.
    “Well… I…” She threw her hands in the air. “It’s not what it looks like.” Christ! Dev was starting to panic and didn’t know what else to say. So like any savvy politician, she stayed quiet, carefully choosing and discarding words. In this instance, however, her silence spoke louder than her words ever could. The cold mask that dropped over Lauren’s face caused Dev’s heart to pound and she suddenly realized her error. “Lauren, please… It’s not what you think.”
    Lauren willed her hands to stop shaking. “I think I walked in here and caught you two kissing. Are you saying I saw differently?”
    Devlyn swallowed hard. “Yes. No. I mean, sort of. Shit!”
    The tension in the room skyrocketed.
    Beth dropped her face into her hands. She could hear Devlyn’s mental mantra of ‘ohshitohshitohshit’ from where she was standing.
    Sarah stood as gracefully as was possible considering her off kilter position on the sofa and waltzed across the room, offering her hand to Lauren.
    Lauren’s heartbeat was thundering in her ears, with one thought chanted mercilessly in her head. She’s gorgeous and she looks exactly like Samantha!
    When it appeared that Lauren was too stunned to acknowledge Sarah at all, Sarah addressed Beth. “Long time no see, Beth.”
    Beth ground her teeth together, giving Devlyn, who looked like a drunken deer caught in the headlights, a dirty look of her own. Then she focused on Sarah. What the hell have you done, Sarah?   “It has been a while, Sarah. I see your acne cleared up.”
    Sarah? The girl from the family pictures? Acne? Lauren marveled. Sarah looked like a fashion model. And Lauren hated her with an intensity that would melt solid steel.
    Sarah turned to Lauren. “And you are?” She knew damn well who she was.
    “That’s my—” Dev began.
    “Don’t!” Lauren interrupted, her face turning an angry red as her hurt and anger mixed. “I can speak for myself.”
    Dev’s mouth clicked closed.
    Lauren took a calming breath. “I’m Lauren Strayer.” Hard gray eyes trained themselves on Devlyn. “The President’s biographer.”
    Dev’s stomach dropped 12 stories.
    Lauren’s hands were shaking. Humiliated and torn between dissolving into tears and murder, she quickly tucked them under her arms. This has to be wrong, but I saw it with my own eyes. My own eyes! That was no sisterly kiss. “I’m going to leave now,” she ground out, feeling as though she was going to throw up.
    Devlyn panicked. “For God’s sake, Lauren! It wasn’t—”
    Lauren turned on her heels and marched out of the Oval Office on slightly wobbly legs, leaving the trio of stunned woman behind her.
    For a second Dev wasn’t sure what to do, then she bolted for the door.
    “Dev,” Beth began softly, “I wouldn’t.”
    Devlyn looked at Beth with an expression so heartbroken it brought tears to Beth’s eyes. “But I have to go and fix things.” Dev’s shout rattled the pictures on the wall, then it dropped to a whisper. “She doesn’t understand.” This is not happening. She lifted her jaw a little, daring Beth not to believe her. “It wasn’t what it looked like. I would never do that to Lauren. I’d die first.”
    Sarah closed her eyes as Dev’s words pierced her heart. Damn.
    Beth shook her head quickly. “Don’t do it, Dev. She needs to cool off or—”
    Dev’s jaw worked silently. She had no choice. “I won’t risk losing her by doing nothing.” She’ll understand once I talk to her. I know it. But memories of Lauren’s words about Judd’s infidelity haunted her. “I won’t live that way again. Ever.”
    Beth watched as Devlyn disappeared into the outer office and with a tremulous voice asked Jane which direction Lauren had headed. Then she was gone.
    Beth whirled around and pinned Sarah with a