Inside, I poured us both a drink of Lou’s favorite bourbon—“It’s good,” Carrigan said, “you’ll want to sip it, like this,” and he demonstrated, as though I’d never heard of sipping—and clinked his glass in cheers. We sat together on the couch, Carrigan perched so far away from me he was nearly on the arm.

“How’s the campaign going?” I took another sip of my drink. I curled my legs under me, propping myself up higher and inching a little bit closer to him.

He looked at me over the rim of his glass, one eyebrow raised. I knew what that look meant. He didn’t trust I’d have any head for politics. “That’s what you wanted me to come inside for? To hear about my campaign?”

I thought of Tana on TV, all of her opinions on politics. “No. I asked to be nice.”

I let him lead the conversation, tilting my head as he spoke, working so hard to find him fascinating. But I had a secret weapon: every time my concentration lapsed, for even a second, I pictured Ellen’s face, and MacLeish, and the headlights pouring in through the back windshield of Klein’s car. I shivered, but I kept my attention rapt.

Carrigan finished his drink, and I could see him eyeing the door. I scooched closer to him on the couch and leaned forward, grabbing the crystal tumbler from his hand with fingers tipped Size Matters red. We were so close now we were practically breathing the same air.

“I’ll take that,” I whispered. “Thank you for your company, Mr. Carrigan.”

He had reared back into the couch, as far from me as he could possibly get, but it still wasn’t far enough. When he answered, his voice was a little breathless, too. “I told you,” he said. “That’s my father-in-law, that’s not me.”

I sat back and watched as little beads of sweat appeared on his brow. Twice now, he’d objected to me calling him that. “But it’s your name, too.”

He grimaced. “Don’t remind me.”

I wanted to push it, ask him why he’d bothered to take it if he was going to treat it like a burden—no one had made him do it. Instead, I said: “All right.” I smoothed my dress down and smiled at him shyly, a hopeful virgin on prom night. “Can I get you another drink?”

“Why? Are you trying to get me drunk?” Carrigan scowled at me.