Drew grimaced. “Better them than me.”

“Amen to that. How was your flight?”

“It was good. How are things with you and Evelyn?”

“Great. Adjusting to our crazy schedules, but, man, it’s going well. She’s busy as hell with my dad, of course, and we weren’t sure in the beginning how it was all going to work, but we find the time to be together.”

“I guess when you’re in love, you find a way to make it work.”

Gray grinned. “I guess so.”

“Where’s your dad?”

“In his home office, on the phone, of course. He and I had breakfast this morning that lasted all of twenty minutes before he was pulled away by a phone call.”

Drew leaned back in the chair and took a long swallow of beer. “Well, he is kind of a busy guy.”

“Yeah, he is. I’m happy for him, though, and for my mom. She’s thrilled to be able to push her literacy agenda at the national level, and my dad—well, he’s changed. A lot. Surprised the hell out of me, but he’s a much better man than he used to be.”

“I’m glad the two of you have found common ground.”

“Me, too. Life is pretty damned perfect right now. And how about you? You had a few shitty games. At least you started turning it around when you got back to the Garden.”

The one thing Drew could always count on from his friends was blunt honesty. Ever since college, when he, Gray, Garrett, and Trevor had roomed together and become friends, they’d always been honest with each other about their shortcomings, especially in sports. When they rocked it, they all gave each other pats on the back. When they sucked, they were the first to tell each other.

“Yeah, we had a lousy road trip. Being home always helps. Of course you wouldn’t know about that since you don’t really have a home base in auto racing.”

“True. So I have to be good everywhere.”

Drew laughed. “And humble, too.”

“You know it, buddy.”

They got up and headed into the living room to sip their beers and watch sports on television.

Gray’s dad finally came out and Drew got up to shake his hand.

“Nice to see you, Mr. Vice President.”

Mitchell Preston laughed. “You used to call me Mitchell, or Mr. Preston.”

“That was before the election, sir.”

“I’m not any different now, and I don’t expect you to treat me any differently, Drew. You’re a guest here for the holidays, so please relax.”

“I’ll try, sir.”

Gray rolled his eyes and nudged his dad. “I’m just going to call you Dad.”

“Funny. Is anyone hungry? Aideen said she was going to make chicken and fruit salad for lunch.”

Drew’s stomach grumbled. “That sounds great.”

“I’m starving,” Gray said.

They had lunch in the kitchen rather than the dining room. Drew couldn’t get past the Secret Service hanging around, but the vice president said he was so used to them now he didn’t even notice them anymore.

Still, having some dude with a gun looking over your shoulder while you were trying to eat your chicken was a little intimidating. Drew felt like if he gave the vice president the wrong look, he might be wrestled to the ground and carted off in one of those black SUVs.

Gray kept shooting him smirks, too, as if he knew exactly what Drew was thinking.

After lunch, Gray’s dad excused himself, saying he had some calls to make and they’d catch up again later.

“Afraid you were going to get shot over lunch?” Gray asked as they headed outside with their iced teas.

“Hey. You might be used to it. I’m not. No wonder you and your sister declined the protection.”

Gray shrugged as they took a seat by the pool. It was uncharacteristically warm for December, though there were outdoor heaters, so it was perfect to sit out on the patio.

“We’re both adults and it’s not like we’re minor children of the president. We didn’t need the protection, and they offered us the option. I think the Secret Service has better things to do with their time than babysit us.”

“True. Though they might enjoy going to all your races.”

Gray laughed. “I kind of doubt that. You know the nomadic lifestyle I live. They’d probably hate it. Not much action, and they told us both they didn’t consider us to be under any threat of danger, so it’s all good.”

“Glad to hear it.”

“So we’ve talked a lot about me and what’s going on with my life. Tell me about yours. Are you dating?”

This is where Drew could come out and tell Gray about him and Carolina. Not that they were dating, per se. They weren’t, really. Or maybe they were. They’d had sex a couple times, a fact that Drew was sure Gray wouldn’t want to hear about.

“Not really. Kind of busy with the start of the season, so I haven’t had any time.”

“You know, you’re not getting any younger. You might want to stop going through one woman after another and find one to settle down with.”

Drew laughed. “Oh, come on. Just because you’ve found the love of your life, now you’re going to try to get the rest of us to follow you along into a lifetime of happiness?”

Gray smiled and took a long swallow of his iced tea. “Something like that.”

“I’ll get around to it one of these days.”

“You’re only saying that because you haven’t found the right woman yet.”

Or maybe he had. He hadn’t ever given much thought to what happily ever after might look like, because for the past years he’d focused only on his career.

But now, he was at a strong place in his career, and he felt settled, at least in that respect. It was his personal life that felt unsettled.

Carolina was the catalyst for that. When she’d popped back into his life, he’d started questioning everything having to do with the “personal” part of the equation. Suddenly, he was seeing how she fit into that part of his life.

Only he knew she would never see it that way. He knew she was only focused on her career, and not on having a relationship with him.

But were the two of them even compatible?

He liked having sex with her. And she was fun to be around.

They were just beginning to get to know each other.

It was too soon to start thinking about that happily ever after.

“You never know when that right woman will walk into your life,” Drew said, staring out over the water.

“Spoken by someone who thinks they might have already found her?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“So far, you haven’t said much of anything. We used to talk about women all the time.”

Drew cocked a grin. “That was back when we thought of women as conquests. Something to brag about. I’d like to think we’ve grown up some.”

“True. So if you have someone you’re not talking about, she must be special.”

“Maybe.” He was treading treacherous waters here, and he should just shut the hell up before he drowned.

“Then I’ll respect that. Let’s go play some pool.”

Relieved to take that subject off the table, Drew stood. “Now you’re talking.”

They went into the game room and immersed themselves in pool and darts and watching TV. Even the vice president joined them in a game of pool until Aideen called them for dinner.

They had steak and shrimp with a really damn fine wine. They talked the state of the country with the vice president, along with just about every sport on the map. They probably sat at the table for a couple of hours. It was the most relaxing and fun dinner Drew had had in a long time. It was good to catch up with Gray, and it was great to see him connect and have fun with his dad.

Drew even forgot about the Secret Service guys hanging around.

“When do your Secret Service guys eat?” he asked the vice president.

Mitchell laughed. “I don’t know. Hey, Paul, when do you eat?”

“We swap off, sir. Gage and I will have dinner when we switch with Rogers and Bennington at eight p.m.”

“Ah. I see. Looking forward to Aideen’s steak and shrimp?” the vice president asked.

“Very much so, sir.”

Drew smiled. Very official. And the guy hadn’t so much as moved. He supposed that was a good thing, but he’d bet the guy noticed every movement around them.

The only time the Secret Service moved was when Mitchell did. When they finally got up and made their way into the game room to watch TV, the agents followed. By then, they had swapped out for another pair. Really, it was confusing. Just statues in black suits.

In fact, when Drew heard the front door, the agents still didn’t move. Though he assumed it was because they’d already been notified through their earpieces who was entering.

“We’re back!” Loretta Preston’s voice rang out from the entryway.

“We’re in here, Loretta,” Mitchell said, rising to go greet his wife.

Drew and Gray got up, too, and headed toward the living room, where an obscene number of packages were being laid down on the sofas.

“Holy shit, Evelyn. Did you buy out the mall?” Gray went over and put his arms around his fiancée.

“Seems that way, doesn’t it?” Evelyn kissed Gray. “My feet and back are killing me. Your mother is a world-class shopper.”

Drew zeroed in on Carolina, who looked sexy in tight jeans, knee-skimming black boots, and a long sweater. She turned and saw him, then smiled. “It’s much easier to shop when you have the Secret Service as an escort. It’s like the parting of the Red Sea. We had no trouble getting into any of the stores.”

Loretta laughed. “That’s because the boys always have to clear out the store in advance. Kind of embarrassing, really. It’s not like anyone knew we were coming.”

“Protocol, ma’am,” one of the men said.