“Maybe. Judging by the condition of the house, things had been rough for some time. But the job thing might’ve been the final straw.”

“Nice article about Nick’s swearing in if you want to check it out. The Post did a poll in Virginia yesterday, and more than eighty percent of those surveyed approved of the governor choosing him to finish out O’Connor’s term. That’s a hell of an approval rating to start with.”

Sam reached for the front page and almost choked on her soda when she saw the huge picture of her holding the Bible as Nick took the oath of office. “Oh my God! You could’ve warned me!”

“And miss that reaction? No way.”

The caption read, “Metro Police Lieutenant Sam Holland holds the Bible as Chief Justice Byron Riley administers the oath of office to Nicholas Cappuano. A Democrat from Virginia, Cappuano will complete the last year of recently murdered Senator John O’Connor’s term. The romance between Cappuano and Holland has captured the attention of the entire capitol region over the last few weeks.”

Skip laughed. “It’s quite a picture. You look petrified.”

Sam dropped her head to the table. “Why do they care about us so much? Why?”

“You’re young and attractive, you have important jobs and people love a good romance.”

“Why can’t they just mind their own business?”

“Not gonna happen, honey. It’s probably going to get worse before they lose interest—if they lose interest.”

“Great.”

Skip’s nurse and fiancée Celia emerged from the basement carrying a laundry basket. “Hey, Sam, did you see the paper? What a wonderful picture of you and Nick!”

Skip smiled as Sam scowled.

“Yes, it’s wonderful,” Sam said.

“Sam’s not loving her moment in the spotlight,” Skip said.

“I think it’s so sweet,” Celia said with a dreamy expression. “You two are just adorable together.”

As Skip chortled with laughter, Sam banged her forehead against the table.

Detective Freddie Cruz paced the sidewalk in front of Total Fitness on Sixteenth Street. On this first day of the New Year, he was all about resolutions and none of them involved spending more time at the gym. No, this was the year he was finally going to get laid. No matter what it took, no matter what he had to do, no matter what personal ideals he had to sacrifice, he was going to have sex.

Raised a devout Christian by a single mother, he’d done his best for twenty-nine long years to make his mother proud by saving himself for marriage. But since he didn’t even have a girlfriend, let alone a potential wife, and with rampaging hormones making his life a living hell, he had decided to give in.

Nick’s aide Ginger had practically thrown herself at him at the party last night, but Freddie wasn’t interested in her.