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“I was stupid, and selfish, and scared, and I said what I said out of those feelings, not because they were in any way true. You were right. I shouldn’t have thrown the party. I should have told everyone the truth, I should have believed in myself. But we only have a few minutes before our session starts—can I tell you about why I brought you here, and apologize later? I promise to grovel extensively when there’s time.”
She pressed her lips together. “Fine. What do you want?” she said shortly. An apology would be nice, but it wouldn’t heal the hole in her heart, and no matter what he said it was obvious from the fact that she was standing here that he only wanted to use her to get his bill through Parliament.
“There are two versions of my bill up to be voted on today,” Eric explained. “One involves cuts to Danovar’s poorest populations, and if it passes, a lot of sick and poor people won’t be covered the way I want them to be. I plan to argue in front of Parliament against that version today, and hopefully convince them to vote against it.” He took a breath. “The other version includes cuts to the palace’s funding of medical research and introduces more red tape and fees for scientists who want to carry out their studies in Danovar. If you want, I think you would be the best person to argue against that version. You have the knowledge and the firsthand experience, and I’m hoping you can convince them to put together another option for the bill that won’t limit you and your peers so much.”
She stared at him, taken aback. “Oh,” she said, not quite sure how to answer. Danovar’s beneficial medical-research laws were something she was passionate about and would happily defend to anyone who asked. Without them, her research would’ve taken much longer in America and might have gotten undercut by some big pharmaceutical company who would only be interested in how much money they could make from it. But she’d come here today expecting that Eric was asking her to help him argue for his bill, not against a version of it. “Are you sure?” she said finally.
“Absolutely,” he said. He half-reached for her before he stopped himself, and she ached at how lost he looked for a moment. Then he cleared his throat. “Anyway, would you do it?”
“Yes,” she said decisively, trying to focus. “Danovian regulations are responsible for some of the biggest recent advances in medicine. Closing them off will do nothing but hurt the people of Danovar as well as the medical community. I’ll do it for those people as well as for my own research.”
He lifted a hand and let it fall, then gave her a weak smile. “Actually,” he said, “and I know I’m being selfish here, but I’m going to ask it anyway—I’d like for you to do it for me, too.”
She went still. “What do you mean?”
“I love you,” he said, and everything in her was caught up in those words, so much that she almost didn’t hear what he said next. “And I was wrong. I should’ve been honest with Parliament about the timeframe for the research, and I should’ve asked you to be honest about our relationship instead of hiding it when the tabloids found out. Every time we’ve tried to keep things secret for our own reasons, everything has failed. I think maybe presenting an honest, united front might be the way to go.” He folded his hands, probably to keep himself standing still and not reaching for her until she decided what she wanted to do.
She marveled at him. How much had it cost him, to offer her this? Not only the opportunity to argue against his bill, which might result in it failing entirely if Parliament couldn’t agree on where to make the cuts, but to be selfish, to ask her to testify for his sake? Eric was a giver. He’d always been a giver, a charmer, someone uncomfortable with asking for things for himself. She thought that maybe, deep down, he wasn’t sure he was worth it. But here he was, believing in himself enough to risk sabotaging his own bill in front of everyone, laying everything out on the table for her.
Her eyes filled again, but this time it was from a much more precious and beautiful emotion. She stepped forward, stood on her tiptoes, and lifted her mouth to his. “Yes,” she whispered against his lips. “I’ll do it for you, too.”
He wrapped his arms around her and returned the kiss. “Thank God,” he murmured, “because honestly, Anna, I think you may have ruined me for all other women.”
She laughed softly, reveling in the feel of his arms wrapped around her again. This was where she was meant to be. “I better have,” she replied.
His hand wandered up her side, played with the zipper at the back of her dress. “Do you think we have a few minutes before they call us in?” he said wistfully.
Just as her blood started to heat up and she pressed herself into him, someone coughed politely from the door that led to the Parliament hall. Simon stood in the doorframe, blocking the view of the other members, one eyebrow raised sardonically as he fought a smile. “Your turn to talk, lovebirds,” he called.
Anna sighed, then moved her mouth to Eric’s ear. “Let’s go save a healthcare bill,” she whispered, “and then maybe you can give me a few more seduction lessons.”
Eric leaned back, grinning, and buttoned his suit jacket. “You’re on,” he replied.
And then, hand in hand, they went to show the world who they really were.
Epilogue
The lab was decked out in streamers, banners, and even a disco ball in the corner. Eric had had the budget to go full lobster-and-expensive-booze on the party he and Anna were throwing tonight, but they’d thought something a little more low-key and fun would probably be appreciated by the patients, who were, after all, the whole reason for the celebration. These fifty test subjects had gone into remission thanks to the drug that Anna’s study had proven effective. Soon, thanks to Eric’s healthcare bill—a version of which had been passed months before with no cuts to either poor populations or medical research laws—the drug could be widely available to the whole of Danovar.
“Hello, handsome!” called a woman’s voice from across the room as one of their favorite patients entered: Mrs. Grady, the older woman who’d told Anna when their nerd date had shown up in the tabloids.
“Good evening, beautiful!” Eric called back. She strode over to him, collecting Anderson on the way—those two were thick as thieves. “How are you doing lately?” Eric asked when she arrived.
“Wonderful, thanks to you and Dr. Fernstone,” she answered.
“Oh, all I did was throw money at her, Anna really is the only reason any of this works at all,” Eric replied.
“The two of you do make a pretty great team.” The woman smiled coyly, elbowing Anderson. “On that note, we were wondering,” she said, “when you were plannin
g to pop the question? Anderson and I have a bet going, y’see. He says another few months, I say six weeks tops.”
Eric’s mouth dropped. “Um,” he said, trying to collect his thoughts. “Well, I—we, that is…”
Seeing his distress, Anna swooped in to rescue him with her newfound powers of small talk. “Hey, girl!” she greeted the other woman warmly. “It’s so good to see you again. I heard you had a new grandbaby. Pictures, or it didn’t happen!”
Happily distracted, the woman pulled out her phone, and Anna and Eric shared a secret smile. He was so proud of how far she’d come, and how comfortable and relaxed she was now in social situations. Not to mention how much she’d learned from all their seduction lessons. As he’d predicted, he never did tire of watching her try new things. She’d even done some additional research and expanded his own repertoire a bit.
And, even better than that, they had a secret. No one else knew yet that Eric had actually proposed during a Grand Nerd Tour of the Danovian countryside last week. They were keeping it hush-hush for now, enjoying their quiet alone time.
