All Jeff could think about was who he could find to marry him. The logical choice was Dinah Carlson, special liaison to General Armstrong. He’d been sleeping with her off and on for the last year. But she only touched him when they had sex. And even then it was minimal, cursory; hardly the grasping, clutching, passionate touch a man hoped to illicit when he had sex with a woman. And truly, Jeff might have been offended, or even had his male self-esteem shaken a touch, except he knew her, and he knew Dinah cared a hell of a lot more about the prestige and salary of a high-ranking officer than she did about the sex.

Still, she knew protocol, had been to countless military and diplomatic functions on the arms of countless officers in the Pentagon. If he were to marry her, there’d be no on-the-job training. Dinah would be ready to roll as the wife of a new Brigadier General.

Yet…Yet. Jeff didn’t know if he could bring himself to marry a woman who only touched him when they had sex. Come to think of it, why did he even have sex with her at all? Yes, it was convenient, and yes, he didn’t need to worry Dinah would expect anything more than he was willing to give, but hell, when had he become so complacent he was willing to put up with mediocre sex?

“Did you just say mediocre sex?” asked his friend Teague Roberts as they stood outside the White House on a balcony overlooking the famous rose gardens. “Isn’t that an oxymoron?”

Shit. He’d said it out loud? The last thing he needed was his band of brothers, the members of the Powerplay Club, ridiculing him for his pathetic sex life.

“I said that out loud, huh?”

Teague snorted. “Yeah. And I’m not about to pretend I didn’t hear it. I’m just not that nice.”

Fucking lawyers, Jeff thought. He shook his head as Teague chuckled.

“But seriously. What the hell is mediocre sex?” Teague’s mouth pursed in thought. Then he finally shrugged. “Yeah, I got nothing. Either you did or you didn’t. If you didn’t that’d be far worse than mediocre, and maybe you need to get some of those little blue pills. If you did, well, I’m not seeing the problem.”

Jeff sighed and scowled. “You can’t tell me sex with your wife isn’t better than ordinary sex? Not all sex is the same.”

Teague chuckled. “Well, of course sex with Deanna is the best sex there is, but normal sex is normal—not mediocre. I mean, it’s sex for fuck’s sake. Sex, man!”

Jeff rolled his eyes at his friend’s enthusiasm. Since he’d gotten together with Deanna two years ago, Teague was the picture of cheerful and enthusiastic. Where he’d been driven nearly to a fault previously, he was now like an overgrown puppy. Come to think of it, all of Jeff’s married friends were like that. Constantly happy, satisfied, cheerful. It was enough to make a man regret accepting invitations to Thanksgiving at the White House.

The doors opened behind them and out walked the First Gentleman of the United States, Kamal Masri, along with another Powerplay member, Derek Ambrose. The two of them were followed by Scott Campbell, Chief of Staff to the Senate Majority Leader.

“Did I just hear you talking about sex on the balcony of the White House?” Kamal chastised.

“Hypocrite,” Derek coughed into his hand.

“Excuse me?” Kamal raised one imperious eyebrow.

“The amount of sex that’s had in this house and you’re really going to question someone talking about it?”

Jeff felt his face flush and turned away at the same time Teague choked out a laugh and Scott loudly asked where the nearest waiter had run off to. Kamal was married to the President of the United States, also known as the Commander in Chief, and Jeff’s boss. Somehow the idea of POTUS having sex was a little more than he could handle at nine p.m. on a Thursday night.

“Wait, I’ll go with you,” Jeff said as Scott began to open the doors to go back in and find the missing waiter.

“No, you don’t,” Teague said, grabbing him by the arm. “The rest of you pay attention. Something’s up with our boy here, and I want to know what it is.”

Derek and Kamal stopped their argument, Scott released the door handle, and every eye fixed on Jeff. Just fucking wonderful.

“There’s nothing up with me,” he muttered.

"Ah, I see the problem,” Kamal sympathized.

“Stop it!” Jeff interjected. “It doesn’t have anything to do with sex, and things there are working just fine, thank you.”

“So, what’s got your panties in a twist then?” Derek asked with a smirk as he took a sip from his tumbler of scotch.

“I’m not going to get the promotion to Brigadier General unless I’m married.”

Everyone glanced around the circle.

“For real,” Jeff added, sounding like a teenage girl even to his own ears.

“You do realize they can’t deny your promotion because of that, right?” Teague said.

“They sure as hell can’t if the President hears about it,” Kamal muttered.

“Let me draft a letter for you,” Teague said, pulling his phone out of his pocket and starting to tap out a note. “We’ll hit them with military personnel regulation—”

“No,” Jeff warned. Teague stopped, his expression confused. “I appreciate it, but I haven’t worked all these years only to get a promotion because I lawyered up.” He turned to Kamal. “Nor because I’m friends with the President’s husband. I’m a career soldier. Everything I’ve achieved has been on my own merits, this will be too.”

“Forgive me for pointing out the obvious,” Derek added. “But they aren’t looking at your merits if they’re judging you based on marital status.”

Jeff sighed. “Look. I’m military. We do things our way. We don’t operate like the outside world. I’ve been a part of that for fifteen years. I follow orders, I follow procedure, I follow tradition. If they want the position of second-in-command at the Pentagon to be a married soldier, then that’s what I’ll give them.”

Scott blinked at Jeff in surprise. “You’re just going to get married? For a promotion?”

“Yes,” Jeff answered. “I think I am.”

“To who?” Derek asked, a look of shock on his face.

“Whom,” Kamal corrected before Derek flipped him the bird.

“That part I don’t know,” Jeff answered, checking his watch before he continued. “But I only have thirty days left to figure it out.

* * *

Lisa watched as the soldier leaned down to talk to the group of six-year-olds. His hair was regulation short, not quite a buzz cut but nearly. The short strands looked like they’d be soft to the touch, but everything else about him was hard, from his jawline to his cut glass green eyes, to the muscles that bulged beneath the sleeves of his uniform jacket.

“He’s really hot,” Nell, the second grade teacher from across the hall, whispered as she leaned toward Lisa.

Lisa sighed in irritation. When would the world ever realize that simply putting on a uniform did not a special human being make. No, uniforms only served to hide the real person underneath. They tricked you into thinking the guy was a gem, rather than the cheating, lying deadbeat he actually was.

“He’s okay,” she conceded grudgingly.

“Okay?” Nell raised an eyebrow at her friend. “Did you get a look at that ass?” she whispered, glancing around to make sure no kids were nearby. “The Army should pin a medal on it.”

Lisa struggled not to laugh. Nell was outrageous on a good day, and today was obviously a good one.

“The most important word you just said? Army.”

Nell’s lips tightened. “You know not all soldiers are assholes like he was.”

Lisa snorted as the soldier stood and saluted a little boy who saluted him back. Jesus, it was really cute.

“Oh, good God,” Nell gasped. “How did your ovaries not just explode?”

Lisa shrugged, trying to maintain her careless demeanor. It’s possible they had, but she’d never admit it. Damn those uniforms.

“Oh thank you, sweet baby Jesus.” Nell rolled her eyes skyward in prayer. “He’s headed this way.”

“Yes, because I was in charge of the assembly, and he wants to know if he’s allowed to leave now.”

“Killjoy,” Nell muttered as the tall soldier reached them and gave a brisk nod.

“You’re Ms. Scotch?” he asked.

“Yes. Thank you so much for coming to speak to the kids today, Colonel Thibedeux.”

He watched her for a moment, those green eyes probing, making her feel like she was being stripped even though his gaze never left her face. Finally, he gave her a small smile. “It was my pleasure. Did you organize all this?”

She glanced at Nell, wondering where this was leading. “Yes—”

“Lisa is in charge of all our events,” Nell interrupted. “She’s known for it. We have some of the best assemblies and fundraisers in the district.”

The Colonel nodded his head, seeming deep in thought. Finally, he asked, “Is there anything else I can do for you?”

Lisa heard Nell make a choking sound and had to grit her teeth to keep from elbowing the other woman.

“No, Colonel. Your presentation was wonderful, and you’ve been so kind to stay after for recess. I know the kids loved the chance to talk to you in a less formal setting.”

The Colonel glanced at Nell, looking awkward for a moment. “Ms. Scotch, I’m wondering if I could speak to you alone for a moment—”

“Oh, will you look at the time!” Nell interrupted at top volume. “I need to make sure the recess bell gets rung. You’ll have to excuse me!” She turned and practically ran toward the building, leaving Lisa alone with the Colonel.

The Colonel raised his eyebrows and tried to suppress a smile.

“She’s a little high strung,” Lisa offered in explanation.

He cleared his throat. “As I was saying, I don’t know how to do this diplomatically, so I’m just going to throw it out there. Are you married? Or seeing anyone? I didn’t notice a ring, but I realize that doesn’t mean much…” His voice faded and he looked at her expectantly.

Lisa’s heart beat double time. Why was he asking this? There’s only one reason a man asks a woman something like that, her subconscious shot back, danger, danger. Warning signs flashed behind her eyes.

“Um…”

“See. I knew that was too blunt.” He scratched the back of his neck, his skin flushing slightly under the tan he was sporting even in late November in Virginia.

“I’m not seeing anyone,” she answered, silently cursing her inability to just lie. “But I don’t date soldiers. I mean, I don’t date, um, anyone. Well, not for a long time, and my ex, well, he was a soldier, and I decided that—”

“No soldiers, huh?” he asked, his head cocked to one side as he examined her with those sharp eyes again.

She swallowed uncomfortably and nodded.

“Well.” He reached out and took her hand in his. She nearly stopped breathing at the contact. He lifted it as if he was going to kiss it, but then simply gave it a gentle squeeze and a slight bow. “Thank you for having me to school today, Ms. Scotch. It was a pleasure.”

Lisa blinked at him and he gave her a smile before releasing her hand and turning on his heel, striding away, his spine erect as only a seasoned soldier’s was.

Lisa watched the spot where he’d stood, her breathing ragged and her heart thrumming like she’d run a race.

“Wow,” Nell said behind her. Lisa startled and turned to look at her friend who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. “Did I say he was sexy? What I meant was he’s sizzling, steaming, hot.”

“He was going to ask me out—I think,” Lisa added quietly.

“But you turned him down.” Nell didn’t ask, merely stated the fact.

“He’s a soldier.”

Nell simply shook her head and sighed. “Come on, let’s go finish up the day before I take you out for a drink. You’re going to need it once you realize what you just let walk away.”