“Us being married might be easier than I thought. You in that dress, standing there like that, not even trying.” I rub my chin. “You’re stealing my breath in the way only a wife can.”

* * *

Even with the heavily tinted windows of the SUV, I make out the flash of cameras from the hotel entrance that’s at least three blocks away.

“Standstill traffic for a football thing?”

I feign hurt and rub my chest. “Ouch.”

Parker slaps my knee playfully. “You know what I mean.”

“Football means a lot to a lot of people around here.”

I’m not sure if Parker notices, but during the ride to the gala, I sit closer by spreading my legs a little wider than normal. Secret Service might be here to protect her, but being driven by them has me all sorts of uneasy.

“I only care that it means a lot to you,” Parker says. “I guess you mean a lot to a lot of people.”

“We’ll turn at the next intersection and use the back entrance. That’s protocol for a large event,” the agent driving informs us.

Parker reaches forward and I jump when she pushes a button at the bottom of the front console that brings up a partition.

I feel like I can breathe. “Did you know that was there this entire time?”

Parker keeps her eye on the door beside me. Her eyes flicker and narrow with determination. “We’ll miss the red carpet if we go in the back. We should take advantage of it, don’t you think?”

At the end of it all, showing off this relationship is the furthest thing from my mind. So far, I have to remind myself that Parker thinks the publicity is important to me. “Definitely,” I say.

“Do you think they put the child locks on?”

Here we go, I think to myself. Back in high school, I probably would’ve tried to talk her out of something like this. But fuck that. I’m not bending a knee to anyone except Parker—certainly not Secret Service, and the White House.

I glance down at strappy heels she wears. “Can you run in those shoes?”

“I’ve done a double in heels higher than this, Fitzy. I’m not quite the princess you think I am.”

“Damn. The only thing that would make this better would be me carrying you.”

Parker stops me when I reach for the door handle. “Wait.”

I peek over my shoulder at her, and snicker. “Chicken.”

Throughout our lives, she rarely has been, so I enjoy this chance to tease her. But I’m not met with a heavy sigh or a roll of her eyes. Instead, Parker has a pensive look across her face, lips pursed in thought.

“Do you think we should kiss?”

That’s a pretty stupid question to ask me. I happen to think we should start kissing and never stop.