More Than Rivals by Mary Whitney Page B

it would better having been a governor than being in Congress.”
    “You’re right. There are other options,” he said with a smile, though his voice seemed reluctant to agree.  

CHAPTER EIGHT

    The following afternoon in an empty dive bar, Jack took a sip of beer as he waited for his latest fundraising numbers.  
    Bill pulled the important papers out of his bag and placed them on table. “Here you go. It’s all good.”
    “Let’s see,” Jack murmured, holding the sheets up to the light. The lighting in the bar was bad, but it was still their favorite place to do business.
    “Just look at the bottom row,” said Bill, pointing to the last line.
    The large numbers jumped out at once, causing Jack to take a deep breath. “Damn. This has been a great few weeks.”
    “We’ve done really, really well.” Bill nodded with pride. “Good work.”
    “It’s your work. I just close the deal.” Jack raised his bottle to his best friend. “I couldn’t do this without you.”
    “Yeah…” Bill laughed and was cocky. “I know.”
    “Don’t let it go to your head.” Jack smiled. “This is going to be a long haul.”
    “Indeed. So tell me, how are things going? How was the trip to Mendocino?”
    “Good. Good. I … uh … I” Jack hesitated, though he knew this was the perfect opportunity to let Bill know about Lily. The first time he went on a run with Lily he didn’t tell Bill about it because he thought it might end there. The second time he saw her, Jack kept quiet about it because he thought he might not see her again. But since their run yesterday, he knew he had to let Bill in on what he was doing.
    “Jack…,” Bill said warily. “What’s going on?”
    “I went for a run with Lily,” Jack blurted out.
    “Lily? You mean Ursula Robles?”
    “Yes, Lily. I mean Ursula.” He waved his hand in frustration. “Whatever you want to call her.”
    “Why?” Bill asked, dumbfounded.
    “Because I like her. We’ve gotten to be friends.”
    “When?”
    “Over the last few weeks.”
    “Whoa.” Bill took a drink and looked around the empty bar. It was a dive in the Inner Sunset with only a few old Chinese gentlemen engrossed in a game of pai gow poker. Despite the apolitical company, Bill lowered his voice and leaned forward. “I thought you told me she turned out to be a bitch.”
    “She was … a real bitch … but then we started talking again.” Jack shrugged. “We’ve just gone on a couple of runs.”
    “Who asked who to go on a run?”
    “I asked her.”
    “Why?”
    “I wanted to get to know her better.”
    Bill’s eyes widened. “You want to sleep with her?”
    “No,” Jack said emphatically, but only seconds passed before he admitted the truth. “Well … actually yes, but you know … that’s not going to happen right now.”
    “And it better not.” Bill picked up the papers and waved them in front of Jack’s face. “You’ve got a lot of people counting on you. You see these names? These are names of people who have donated money to your congressional campaign because they believe in you. You can’t let them down just because you’ve got the hots for another candidate.”
    Jack held up his hands to calm Bill down. “I know. I promise I know. I’m not going to fuck anything up.”
    “So tell me about Lily. Is she into you? What’s the vibe?”
    “I don’t know. She’s complicated. She’s not like any other woman I’ve ever been with.”
    “How so?”
    “She’s this savvy politician and a widow and a single mother. She seems a little skeptical of me.”
    “Smart woman.”
    “But there are other times when she flirts with me. There’s this side to her when she’s just a cute girl who’s really funny.” Jack raised his eyebrows. “With a nice ass.”
    “I bet with all that running.” Bill laughed. His smile remained as he began peeling the label off his bottle. “So she’s ‘different,’ is she?”
    “Exactly.”
    “I gotta say. Different is