“Good, isn’t it? It’s nice to be wicked now and then,” he again purred.
Feeling like a mouse sitting naked in front of a hunting cat, Eli wiped the corners of his mouth and smiled, pretending not to be nervous. “That was great, thank you.”
“Oh, and that reminds me, you pay for all the meals, no matter how many are eating. You write them in a folder on the computer and send the invoice to me at the end of the month.”
Freezing, his body stiff, he swallowed, trying to think of how to tell the man he was currently broke. “Ugh, with the moving truck and everything, I’m…”
“Your salary is paid at the beginning of the month, Eli. Your account is full. If ever you need more, turn in the invoice early.”
It was crazy, but he excused himself to use the facilities, and once there, checked his account. Sure enough, there was twenty-seven thousand in the bank. Two more than he’d expected, but he wasn’t about to question it. He was learning to just accept things for a while as he got used to the job.
When he returned, the table was full of people, all vying for Lee’s attention. Not a second later, he got a text from the senator to get him out of there.
Thinking quickly, he went to Lee and whispered in his ear, “Something about a foreign delegate.”
“Not good,” he said to Eli. Eli thought he’d fucked up early on before Lee continued, “I should get to that.” To the others at the table, he quickly apologized. “Forgive me, please. The work of a senator is never done. We’ve had a nice respite, though. Franky, I’ll look into those numbers and get back to you this week. Tiffany, as always, I’m enchanted.”
When they were finally in the limo, Lee laughed and slapped Eli’s leg. “Foreign delegate?”
“I will be quicker on my feet next time. Caught me off guard.”
“You did well, though. Sure, you need to be better next time.” He was on his phone for the next ten minutes, talking fast to someone about some problem. When he was off, he told Eli, “We’re likely to get a lot of talking points in the morning. Seems one of my colleagues is joining two others in being investigated for insider trading. Silly, being we all do it.”
“You…you all do it?”
“Most of us have the brains to use LLCs and underlings to buy the stocks we’re about to make go sky high. Never wondered how some of the poorer lawmakers end up rich by the end of their time in the capitol?”
“Well, sure, everyone does, and we kinda know, but hearing it…I guess I just never knew you would admit it.”
When he was being supremely evil, he was terribly handsome, even more so than when he was just a little evil. Lee laughed heartily and reached up to grab the crystal bottle and he poured each of them two fingers in the glasses that were there, shining in the light of the limo’s backseat. Eli took his, and Lee touched his glass to Eli’s. “I know you are new to all this, but I hope to corrupt you as soon as possible.”
“Corrupt me?”
Lee swallowed all his scotch in one gulp and set his glass down, leaning over to Eli to whisper to him. “I want to do a lot of things to you, Elijah Bloom. I want you to do some things to me too.”
Lee Madison, conservative jerk of a senator, the top of the religious right…he was gay? There was no way. “Senator Madison…are you coming onto me?”
Eli saw in his eyes, how there were gold specks, and the blue was darker around those specks. He felt the man’s arousal without being near his dick and he knew without a word that Lee Madison indeed liked men.
“I come on to everyone, Eli. I find out what I need to about them and use it to my advantage.”
Eli smiled, knowing that was something he’d say to keep distance from his real sexuality.
“Well, Senator, I may be gay, but that doesn’t mean I want that from you. You’re my boss, sir.”
“I am. So, if I order you to come to my room tonight, you’d do it.”
The words moved through his mind like a stock ticker, and he saw them on in bold red lettering. Sexual harassment, sexual misconduct. Over and over, they went, but Lee didn’t seem to have that particular ticker in his own mind.
“Well?”
“You’re my boss, sir. I’m afraid that wouldn’t be right.”
Lee sat straight again and laughed like Eli had made a great joke. “You are one of those people with ethics. What are you doing in Washington?”
“I grew up not far from here, went to Georgetown as you know. I’d like to find a teaching job here.”
“I can make that happen, Eli. I can make a lot happen for you, but you need to understand your duties.”