Chapter One

      New Year’’s Eve

      Washington D.C.

      “If your mother catches you in here with me, she’s going to have you hog tied by the Secret Service and shipped off to Camp David.”

      Penelope Hart, the White House Social Secretary, watched the president’s youngest—and most troublesome—son, Kellan Ramsey, saunter across the plush carpet of the Green Room. He laughed, and a wide smile spread easily across his face. The sound of his amusement was the same low, sexy rumble that Penelope remembered from the months they’d spent together six years ago.

      No one was supposed to be in this room. Penelope had slipped away from the East Room and the chaos of the White House New Year’s Eve ball for a few moments of peace and quiet. As the glorified party planner for the administration, she rarely got to enjoy nights like this. At best, she could now breathe a sigh of relief because midnight was only a few minutes away and everything had gone precisely according to plan.

      But the night wasn’t over yet, and a major threat was strolling towards her in an Armani tuxedo. She should’ve known Kellan would follow her in here. She’d been dodging his glances all night. Hell, she’d been dodging him since he showed up at the White House on Christmas Eve to spend the holidays with his family. As much as she’d like to, she couldn’t risk even being seen speaking to the first son. It had been a long time since his college days when scandal dogged his every step, but the press needed very little encouragement to splash Kellan on the front pages again. And his mother needed little proof to think her son had captured another of her staffers in his seductive web.

      “Hello to you, too, Penny.”

      “Penelope,” she corrected. No one called her Penny anymore. Actually, no one had ever called her Penny but Kellan. Just the sound of him saying it again was enough to weaken her resolve to avoid him. It made her remember the wild, carefree days of their relationship at Georgetown. To crisp, autumn nights sitting on a park bench talking about their dreams and their future. It had been so easy then.

      The hardest part had been letting herself take the risk of being with someone like Kellan. Sitting beside him in a sociology class her sophomore year, she’d sensed there was more to him than his reputation. She’d always made the safe choice, but those blue eyes urged her to take a chance, this one time. From there, it had been easy to fall for the rebel with his own secret service detail.

      But that had been a long time ago, and thinking about the past could be dangerous to her future.

      Penelope took a step back from him and found her shoulder blades pressed against the cool marble of the fireplace mantle. With no escape, she looked up at the handsome charmer from her past. The dark-headed attorney leaned in to press his palm against the wall behind her, pinning her with his piercing blue eyes.

      “I’m not worried about my mother, Penelope.” His expression was dead serious despite his laughter of a moment ago. The passion that every inch of her body remembered was blazing in his eyes just as fiercely as the flames roaring in the fireplace beside her.

      Penelope could barely breathe when he looked at her that way. Her chest tightened, her pulse quickened, her belly clenched. The scent of his cologne swirled around her, making her head swim. She wanted so badly to reach out and brush a stray lock of dark hair from his eyes. To press her palm against the rough line of his jaw. She knew exactly how it would feel. And how it would feel to have his hands on her body. His touch had been electric. Fantastic. She could never forget it. Or resist it.