Bishop (Political Royalty Book 3) by Evelyn Adams Page B

keep expecting you to go off some day like those chipmunks did when the bad guy got them hopped up on sugar and caffeine.” He laughed a rich, deep sound, and she could tell he was picturing the scene in his head but with her in the place of the rats.
    “I’m not sure how to feel about that,” she said, eyeing him while he continued to laugh. “But I’m pretty sure offended has a place in there somewhere.”
    “No, I like it. It gives everything a slight edge. Like is this the final bit of sugar that will set you off kind of thing.”
    “Shut up.” She reached for the sugar dispenser to sweeten her tea and hesitated.
    When she glanced up to see if he was still watching, he arched an eyebrow at her over the rim of his thick, white coffee mug. His dark eyes crinkled at the edge with the grin he wasn’t working that hard to hide. In his gaze, she could see his kindness, his intelligence, his desire to serve. His desire for her. She loved him. It was as indisputable as the tides. It would be easier for all of them if she didn’t and if he didn’t love her back, but she could see the truth of it reflected in his eyes. Since she couldn’t say half the things she wanted to, she settled for rolling her eyes and spooning sugar into her tea.
    “I bet I could get Travis to put money on it.”
    “God, you must have been a pain in the ass as a kid.”
    “You have no idea.” He took a swallow of coffee and smiled more to himself than to her. “My brother and I were hellions. Independently, either of us was a handful, but together we were evil geniuses with an empire to rule. Drove my poor momma crazy.”
    “I don’t doubt it,” she said, taking a sip of her tea.
    It was hard to imagine Emmaline Walker having the patience to chase after two dirty, rambunctious little boys. She’d read the background research on Anderson Walker, but that had been for the campaign. She knew Walker’s younger brother had gotten in more than his fair share of trouble, but she’d been looking at him in the context of what could come crawling out of the woodwork to bite them in the ass, not as the brother of the man she loved.
    “Anderson was the worst.”
    It was her turn to arch an eyebrow.
    “He was, but he was also the baby, so he mostly got a free pass.”
    He paused as the waitress approached, waiting until she set their plates in front of them and offered to get them anything else they needed. Her expression made it clear the offer extended much farther in Walker’s direction than Haven’s. Haven took a forkful of whipped cream drizzled with chocolate syrup and popped it in her mouth, closing her eyes in pleasure as the rich sweetness melted on her tongue. It really was wrong to call something that tasted so good breakfast. Dessert at dawn made more sense. She glanced up, intending to explain it to Walker, but the heat in his expression stopped her in her place.
    “What?” she asked, taking a swallow of tea to mask the tremor in her voice.
    His gaze raked over her as demanding as a touch, and her breath hitched in anticipation. He shook his head and she saw his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed.
    “Nothing. It’s nothing.”
    Walker cut off a chunk of pancake with his fork and turned his attention to his food. The lure of chocolate chips made it easy for her to follow his lead and for a few moments, they concentrated on breakfast, ignoring the heat arcing between them.
    “Are you and Anderson still close?”
    They hadn’t played the get-to-know each other games most couples started with when they began dating. Instead, they’d skipped dating altogether and jumped straight to the skeletons in the closet conversation. The only things she knew about his family were in the context of how they related to the campaign. She wanted to know everything about him. What it was like growing up in politics. How often he saw his brother and sister. It’s not like she ever expected to be invited to a Walker family get-together, but for