Fixer: A Bad Boy Romance by Samantha Westlake Read Free Book Online Page A

intentions.
    He wore a slightly ill-fitting suit, with a couple of imperfectly cleaned coffee stains. That would suggest someone who wasn't too focused on their appearance - except that Alicia had seen the online pictures of Mr. Tanner, and knew that he loved his five thousand dollar suits. This, then, was all an act, a ruse to get close to her.
    Well, two could play that game.
    She turned up the charm, and to her surprise, she found the man falling for it! She did have to admit that he was quite attractive, objectively speaking, and she didn't need to try quite as hard to smile at him, batting her lashes, as she expected. Careful, Alicia, she warned herself. Don't get snared by him.
    But then, Tanner eagerly charged forward, clearly doing his best to seduce her right here in this office, and Alicia reformed her defenses. She led him on, closer and closer to what he perceived as his target, getting a feel for him. Yes, he definitely had experience at this. She could tell from the buzzwords that he slipped carefully into the conversation that he knew how to play with people. If she hadn't known better, she might have even fallen for some of his lines.
    As if Alicia would ever go for a man like this.
    Running as a single woman... that had been a persistent thorn in her side, she had to admit. As much as she hated the idea of having to fight an uphill battle due to sexism (this was the twenty-first century! Sexism was supposed to be dead!), it turned out to be the reality of her campaign. She worked hard to establish herself as strong and independent, in order to court the female vote, while still making sure that she came off as attractive and fit, in order to appeal to the older, sexist men that formed an unfortunately large voting bloc.
    A couple of times while on the campaign trail, Alicia even considered getting into a relationship, maybe even something serious, just so that she could drop this tired mantra of being a "strong and independent woman". There were a couple of cute reporters in the press corps that followed her around; maybe one of them would prove to be marriage material...
    Alicia quickly squashed these thoughts whenever they emerged, and made sure that no trace of them slipped into her weekly talks with her parents. Privately, however, she did have to admit to herself that she was getting older, that she was getting tired of doing it all alone. Not that she'd give up her career for a husband; he'd have to be ready to handle her ambition and passion. But still, it would be nice to come home to someone, to curl up with another warm body on the couch and tell them all about her day, to have someone to complain to about the ridiculous comments made by fellow Senators and other Congressmen.
    Tanner, however, despite his remarkably even and handsome features, that rugged set to his jaw, the strong body that couldn't be disguised by his ill-fitting suit, wasn't going to be that man.
    He was, however, useful. Alicia just needed to apply the right pressure to guarantee that she saw results.
    So she led him on - and then, just as he leaned forward, utterly confident that he had her eating out of the palm of his hand, she struck, both physically and verbally.
    Her hand shot forward and grabbed his tie, dragging him down - that's right, Mr. Tanner, no using your height and male size to intimidate this lady! - and she stared into her eye. No more batting her eyes, no more sultry glances. She gave him her best icy, cold, emotionless stare, and she saw him swallow, his Adam's apple having a little trouble as his tie pulled tight around his neck.
    Good.
    Now, she just had to steer him in the right direction. All of that knowledge, all those connections in Tanner's head - those were the real value, here. Alicia knew that she needed that information. She couldn't do research on her fellow Senators, not in order to dig up the little nuggets of gossip and buried truth that would really do the most damage to them, would advance