Read Online Madam President by Blayne Cooper, T Novan - Free Book Online Page B

great idea."
     
    Michael turned on his heel and left in a huff, but by that time no one was paying any attention to him anyway.
     
    "You look like you're settling in," Dev commented. Actually, the room looked exactly the same as it always did, except for a few boxes sitting on the desk.
     
    Lauren glanced around the room and gave a slight nod. "I am." She extended her hand toward the sofas. "Won't you sit down?"
     
    "Absolutely." Dev flashed Lauren a smile. "You know how much I love to relax. But I believe introductions are in order first." Both women looked down to find the children on the floor with the dog, giggling as he licked their fingers.
     
    Without thinking, Lauren lifted her camera and crouched down, effortlessly snapping off several quick shots.
     
    "I'm sorry." Dev sighed. "They were supposed to wait by me and be introduced."
     
    "Please." Lauren waved a dismissive hand and chuckled, setting the camera on the coffee table. "If I were them, I'd be far more interested in Gremlin, too."
     
    Oh, I don't know about that. You seem pretty interesting to me. "Kids?" Dev raised her voice just a hair, and three sets of little eyes immediately snapped up.
     
    "Uh oh," Ashley mumbled, pushing up to her feet. Christopher and Aaron quickly followed, although the youngest boy's attention remained firmly divided between his mother and the dog.
     
    "We forgot to wait at the door, Mom," Ashley admitted honestly, her toe twisting its way into the carpet.
     
    "I know you did. We'll work on that later," Dev promised, but the words were tempered by an indulgent smile. "Kids, this is Lauren Strayer. Ms. Strayer is going to be writing a book about my time as President. We talked about how she's going to be staying with us for a while."
     
    "Nice to meet you, Ms. Strayer," Ashley said politely, hoping she could make up for her earlier mistake. Her brothers just nodded.
     
    Lauren smiled. "It's nice to meet you, too." She's a carbon copy of her mother, except for the brown eyes. She gestured toward the floor. "And you've already met Gremlin."
     
    Christopher was smiling so broadly that Dev feared he would fracture his cheeks. He unconsciously pulled at the stems of his glasses, his gaze riveted to Lauren's glasses.
     
    Lauren caught his obnoxiously pleased look and laughed gently, moving over to the children. Gray eyes twinkled. "Yours are just like mine," she needlessly informed Chris.
     
    Chris nodded, mesmerized.
     
    Lauren chuckled again and ruffled hair the same color as her own.
     
    The little boy's face turned brick red, and he suddenly ran for Devlyn, burying his head in her legs.
     
    Lauren blinked. "What did I...?"
     
    "He's just a little shy." Dev patted the boy's back. "No worries," she assured, amused by the startled look that flickered across Lauren's face. She hasn't been around children. Oh, boy. This is going to be interesting.
     
    Aaron walked over to Lauren and tugged on her pant leg, causing Lauren to drop to one knee so she was level with his bright blue eyes. "I have a very important question to ask you."
     
    Lauren swallowed, suddenly apprehensive. "You do?"
     
    He nodded solemnly. "Can we pet the dog again?"
     
    Lauren burst out laughing. "Umm..." She had barely dipped her head into a nod when the kids, including Christopher, threw themselves down to the floor to pet Gremlin. Bemused, the blonde woman stared at her pet. She stuck out a tongue at the lounging dog. "Spoiled."
     
    "I'd pay good money to any PR firm that could get me a greeting like that," Dev commented wryly.
     
    "Oh, yeah."
     
    Dev knelt down alongside Lauren. She held her hand out to the dog. "Why, hello... Jesus Christ!" She snatched her hand away when Gremlin growled unexpectedly, showing two rows of tiny, uneven teeth.
     
    "No. That name was already taken," Lauren deadpanned.
     
    Then, as though Gremlin didn't have a care in the world, he yawned widely. His mouth clicked shut, and he innocently resumed playing with the