Zee scratched the back of his neck. “Yeah, but does Song know that?” Before he could elaborate on that unnecessary observation, his phone rang, and he excused himself. From the way his face went all fuzzy it was obviously Tanya. Rico shook his head as his friend walked away looking for a quiet corner amid the pandemonium.

As was his curse these days, Rico’s eyes sought out Ashna. As it seemed to be her curse these days, she sensed his study and met his gaze. There it was, the fire in her eyes that set off answering flames across his entire being.

Yash followed her gaze to Rico and excitedly hurried over. “Yash Raje. I hope you don’t mind me introducing myself.”

Ashna didn’t move.

“Frederico Silva. It’s a pleasure!”

“I’m such a fan!” they both said together, and a tiny smile lit Ashna’s eyes across the ten feet that separated them, even as she kept her lips pursed.

When she noticed that Rico had caught her smile, she turned to Lilly Cromwell, the soap star, whose visiting family included four daughters who looked like younger replicas of her.

Baby Rose reached out to Yash, and Yash stepped back. What was this? The most affable candidate the political scene had seen in years was afraid of babies?

“She doesn’t bite,” Rico said, suddenly an expert.

Undaunted by Yash’s skepticism, little Rose, determined thing that she was, stretched toward Yash.

Rico held her out. “Some pictures might help with the media’s issues with your being unmarried.”

Yash raised a brow, then grinned. “Did my mother and sister put you up to this?” He took the baby from Rico and cameras started clicking around them.

For someone who’d taken the baby reluctantly, the candidate looked completely comfortable with her for the cameras. He turned to Rico as Rose examined various parts of his face—which had the same fine-boned structure as Ashna’s. “The last World Cup, man, when Zia Malik crossed it to you in the box and you took it off the volley and to the back of the net. Unbelievable. And that goal in the ninetieth? And the way you spun the controversy with your teammates trashing that bar, it was something. You’re the GOAT, man, you’re the GOAT. Actually, no, you’re the game, man!”

Baby Rose reached out to Rico again and he took her back and let her crawl up his shoulder and pull at his bun. “Speaking of being the GOAT, your Calicare for All plan—it’s pure genius, mate. By removing profit-seeking private insurance, you lower premiums and eliminate costly deductibles. And by having corporations paying in for employees who opt out, you help fund it. How has no one thought of that?”