“Were you surprised to be nominated to the Court?” Sam asked, sensing they were all anxious to change the subject.

“Well, since David warned me I’d be at the top of his list the first chance he got, I can’t say I was all that surprised to get the call.”

“David did, did he?” Sam wasn’t sure where this edge to her voice was coming from. She chalked it up to the mood Nick had put her in with his odd behavior earlier.

Nick directed a raised eyebrow her way.

“I’m sorry,” she said in a more conciliatory tone. “I’m still getting used to being around people who call the president of the United States by his first name.”

“I call him Mr. President when I’m with him,” Julian clarified.

“I’ve seen your face on the front page as much as I’ve seen my own lately,” Sam said.

“We knew the nomination would generate some controversy,” Julian acknowledged.

“Protestors will be descending on this town in the next few days,” Graham added.

“We had a meeting yesterday about crowd control,” Sam said. “They’re expecting up to a million people.”

“That many?” Julian said, seeming taken aback.

“You’re surprised?” Sam asked.

Nick’s face was set in a stony, unreadable expression Sam hadn’t seen before.

“I knew there’d be some protests,” Julian said quietly. “But a million. Wow.”

“People feel very strongly about this,” Sam said. “After all, your confirmation would tip the court firmly to the left.”

“Are you opposed to that, Sam?” Laine asked. Her question seemed to contain only interest and not judgment.

“I’m a cop.”

“With no beliefs?” Graham asked, arching a white eyebrow with what might have been delight at her sauciness.

A quick glance at Nick told her he was anything but delighted.

“I have a few. Usually, I keep them to myself.”

“Please,” Nick said. “Enlighten us.”

Something in his tightly spoken words sent a trickle of discomfort through her. “I’m sure you all have other things you’d rather talk about.”

“Actually, you’ve got us riveted,” Nick replied, his eyes boring a hole in her.

Her stomach churned with anxiety. “I’d like to see the abortion issue resolved definitively,” she ventured.

“And you don’t think it was with Roe v. Wade?” Julian asked.

“If it had been, we wouldn’t still be talking about it more than thirty years later.”

“That’s a good point,” Laine said.

“So if you were Julian,” Nick said, “and a case came before the court that would overturn Roe, how would you vote?”

Sam squirmed under the heat of his gaze. “I don’t know. Don’t ask me that.”

Clearly flabbergasted, Nick stared at her. “You don’t believe in a woman’s right to choose?”

“I never said that.”