~~~~~~

“CJ?”

She turned from the window and the city lights and gave her assistant a blank look.

“The car’s waiting.” Skye was starting to worry about her boss. The sudden happy, gregarious disposition pre-Christmas had disappeared come January and she couldn’t remember the last time she had seen CJ smile. “The dinner.”

CJ hadn’t forgotten. She just wasn’t looking forward to going anymore. Of course Leo would be there. He was in town to support the new mayor and when she had found herself with a spare ticket it had seemed only natural to invite him. With a sigh she gave the phone one more glance, willing it to ring, and grabbed her cashmere wrap.

“Leo’s meeting me there!” It was a statement more than a question and she felt guilty for wishing it was someone else.

Her assistant nodded, wondering about a secret lover’s tiff.

In the car on the way to the hotel CJ’s thoughts once more returned to John. His rehab had dragged into December and when Christmas had passed and he hadn’t been in touch she had begun to worry. A small article in USA Today in early January had led to a brief note from her and a short call from him. His call tonight had come out of the blue after two weeks of nothing.

“You know, kiddo, a guy could think you didn’t want to see him,” Leo chuckled, opening the car door and breaking into her reverie. “What’s wrong?”

She tried to force a smile but it felt flat. “Hey Leo.”

“Now I know something’s wrong.”

CJ couldn’t tell him everything was wrong. Not least because it sounded so melodramatic. That the man she was falling in love with had basically walked away from her with little more than a phone call or that she was miserable.

Leo offered her his hand and lightly brushed his lips across her cheek as he waited for her to right herself. His eyes appraised the dress. A Vera Wang if he wasn’t mistaken, white with a beaded bodice revealing just enough skin to make “a good dog break it’s leash” as Sam was so fond of saying. Not that she would be interested in him, an old warhorse, when there were so many other men she could choose from.

“You look stunning.” He waited for some acknowledgement - for the subtle blush to redden her cheeks. When it failed to materialise he pulled her arm, intent on making her look at him. “CJ?”

“I’m fine, Leo.”

He didn’t believe her. And he had an inkling as to why. If he had learnt anything from his time in politics it was that if you wanted discretion, you didn’t go to Josh. That had been John Hoynes’ first mistake. He suspected the second was betraying CJ in some way.

Her demeanear didn’t improve much over the course of the night. She introduced him to various people, she danced, made small talk but her spirit was severely lacking.

By the time the car arrived to take them home, or rather her home and him to the hotel, he was even more worried.

******

In the early morning light her plan didn’t seem quite so rational. Not that it had seemed that rational as she had tossed and turned in the night.

Her boss was going to be pissed at her for the email he would find on his computer come nine am. She has simply stated that she was taking a short leave of absence for personal reasons. The fact she was owed vacation time she hoped would be the end of the argument. If not, well she’d deal with that when the time came.

Leo was worried about her. She’d woken him at four am to announce she needed to get away. CJ had ended the call abruptly, wanting to put distance between herself and New York before Abbey, or Toby or the whole gang phoned trying to talk her out of it.

The final thing had been to book an airline ticket and hastily pack a bag.

Now she was sitting, drinking luke warm coffee and reading the Washington Post in the airport, not so much reading as staring at the same page over and over again. She was losing her mind, chasing a man who didn’t want her. Then again if he didn’t want to be found he shouldn’t have let his daughter know where he was heading.

******

The plane touched down on the tarmac and CJ waited for the passengers to disembark before she grabbed her purse and followed. The first thing that hit her was the heat. She had left freezing conditions and snow behind in New York. In the Keys it was 60 degrees. Discarding her coat, she rolled up her sleeves and collected the rest of her luggage. Her plan was to find him. She hadn’t seen him since the night he announced he was going into rehab. They would talk and then . . . Well she hadn’t quite figured that part out yet.

CJ picked up a “guide to the Keys” and began to leaf through it. John, she knew, liked hotels that were large enough to disappear in but were modestly priced. There were plenty of those in Key West. One in particular caught her eye and she went in search of transportation.

Twenty minutes later she was unlocking her hotel room and dumping her small case onto the bed. It would have been logical to ask the desk clerk if John was a guest but she thought maybe he would be under a different name or maybe she wanted him to be surprised she wasn’t sure but she didn’t ask.

Her hands flew through the air as she contemplated what she was actually going to say to him when she saw him. Butterflies regrouped in her stomach and she wondered if she was going to throw up. Instead she wandered into the connecting bathroom and turned on the faucet. If things got bad she usually found that water helped her to think.

A plan began to form in her head as the hot water ran down her body. She would wait for him to return. If he didn’t turn up she would search the bars nearby. It would probably be a long wait but she hadn’t travelled all this way to give up.

~~~~~~

CJ watched as John entered the lobby and crossed towards the elevator. She had been waiting for over an hour, fully prepared to wait all day. She stifled a smile at the outlandish shirt and baggy shorts, he looked nothing like the politician she remembered.

Taking a deep breath she laid her paper down on the table and began to walk after him. “You know, John, if you really wanted to disappear you should have chosen somewhere a little less obvious.”

John stiffened, his heart hammering in his chest. She was the last person he had expected to see, the one person he needed if the truth be told.

“CJ?” He couldn’t disguise his surprise nor the tenderness he felt towards her. Slowly he turned towards her and took a deep breath.

He looked good, she decided, a little tired maybe but his sun kissed skin made him look rugged and toned.

“Hello, John.” The flatness in her tone she hoped masked her real feelings for him.

“What are you doing here?”

“Um. . . The sixty-four thousand dollar question. . . I needed a vacation,” she finally offered flippantly. “What are you doing here?”

John fought back a smile. He wasn’t quite sure himself. After rehab and the problems with his daughter he had wanted to run away and hide. He managed to fight the urge to get on the next plane to New York, only just. Instead he had chosen the Keys. Probably a mistake considering how easily she had found him.

They stood in silence, CJ trying to catch his eye as he stared into the distance.

John for his part was trying to come up with an answer. “I was just heading up to get cleaned up. If you’re hanging about, wanna grab dinner?”

He could have kicked himself.

CJ could have kicked him. “Okay.” She sounded disinterested or rather she tried to. He hadn’t exactly sounded very inviting, more like he was doing his obligation and she wasn‘t feeling very forgiving.

As John turned to get in the elevator, she followed him in.

“CJ?”

She pressed the button for the third floor and leaned back against the wall. “I’m staying here.”

“Oh.” He wasn’t quite sure why she managed to flummox him only that she did.

They both stepped out onto the third floor and she turned right, he turned left.

“Half an hour?”

John nodded before disappearing around the corner.

~~~~~~

They met again in the lobby, the awkwardness from before still filling the air.

John looked more as she remembered him in his dark pants and a shirt, his hair still damp from the shower. CJ’s stomach fluttered as she watched him exit the elevator and walk towards her.

“Sorry.”

CJ nodded, wondering what he was apologizing for.

“I thought we could eat here.” His hand motioned to the restaurant. “Or we could walk into the old town.”

She didn’t really care where they ate. All she really wanted was answers and for the awkwardness to disappear. “Here is fine.”

A table found and drinks ordered, they sat in silence. It took her mind back to New York and their first dinner, the uncompanionable silence that had followed as each contemplated what they were doing there.

“I saw Leo last night,” CJ mumbled.

“Oh. How is he?” It was strained but then he had no right to expect them to carry on where they left off. At least they were talking.

“Good. Busy. Working almost as much as when we were in office.”

“And Toby?” John didn’t really give a damn but it seemed natural to ask. He wasn’t ready to answer the difficult questions she no doubt wanted to ask.

Her smile lifted his spirits.

“He has a girlfriend. And you should see the photos of him and the twins.” She had spent Christmas in DC, not wanting to be alone and needing to see the boys more than ever. They’d had fun.

John nodded, asking questions about the former staffers and other inconsequential things.

The conversation fell into a pattern as their meal arrived, a familiar pattern for both of them. It was pleasant and all too soon over.

John walked her to the door of her room and stopped. “Goodnight, CJ.” He wanted to kiss her but he knew he had no right to do that.

“Night, John.” CJ opened the door and gave him the smallest of smiles before she closed the door behind her. She missed him almost immediately. Even her cheek felt cold without the lasting impression of his kiss.

~~~~~~

John threw back the sheets and swung around to put his feet on the floor. He couldn’t sleep, not that that in itself was unusual, but this time all he could think about was the woman asleep down the hall.

In Arizona he had wanted to phone her every day but he had needed to complete the program. Three weeks later he had been in Texas when his daughter had been arrested for drunk driving. Instead of getting on a plane he had spent the night in the sheriff’s office trying to get her bailed. Then had come weeks of recriminations until he had given up and phoned CJ. Telling her he wouldn’t be coming back to New York was probably the hardest thing he had ever had to do but he knew he would never be free of his baggage and she deserved better.

Except she had come looking for him.

He ran his hands through his hair as he began to pace the hotel suite. It was no good he needed to talk to her, except it was two am and she was probably asleep. The idea of phoning her was instantly dismissed. He needed to see her as much as talk to her. There was really only one thing for it.

Locating a T-shirt amongst the pile of clothes on the floor he pulled it over his head, and grabbed a pair of shorts. It was only at the last minute he remembered to grab his key card.

Standing on the carpet outside her room, John hesitated momentarily. Then he was rapping on the door.

It was a full five minutes and a lot of rapping before the door swung open and CJ appeared in the doorway.

“John?” she grumbled, tucking her hair behind her ears. “What’s wrong?”

His eyes began to drift lower, appraising the way the light through the window highlighted her body through the flimsy T-shirt she was wearing, the shirt that stopped midway up her thigh. Swallowing hard, he returned his gaze to her face. “Hi.”

CJ tugged her T-shirt down and stared at him. “What happened?” She wasn’t at her best when aroused in the middle of the night, especially when she hadn’t slept the night before. But this was John and he was standing on the threshold of her room, looking, well looking needy.

“I’m sorry. . . I shouldn’t have come.” He was about to turn and leave when he felt her hand on his arm.

“It’s the middle of the night. At least come in.” Her eyes invertantly scanned the hallway to see if anyone was there. Not that it mattered. They were in the Keys, people came to disappear, the locals kept their mouths shut. “Talk to me.”

John let her lead him into the room, making his way to the chair as she wrapped a robe around her and perched on the bed. His eyes followed her, not wanting to let her slip from his sight.

“So are you going to tell me why you’re knocking on my door at three am?” she asked after what seemed like a never-ending silence.

“Are you going to tell me why you’re here?”

CJ sighed and closed her eyes, opening them again to look at him. “Why didn’t you call me?”

“Why can’t you give me an answer?” It wasn’t the conversation he wanted but all he seemed able to do was antagonise her. Light streamed through the break in the curtains as she tucked a leg under her and looked away.

“John?” she asked wearily.

It was now or never he decided. “I came out of rehab fully intending to get on a plane to New York. Next thing is I’m getting a call from Suzanne telling me my daughter’s in jail. She’s drunk. I had to be there. It’s my fault, it’s six generations of Hoynes’ fault. So I sat and listened to her tell me I’m a bad father. I got her community service. . . .” He paused not really wanting to tell her the next bit.

CJ rose from her position on the bed and crouched down beside his chair. “John?” she asked softly, her fingers hovering above his bare knee.

He’d gone away because he wanted to be more than just a good man, he wanted to be a better man, a man who she deserved. Except he couldn’t do that. He’d failed again - lousy Vice-President, lousy husband, bad father and now he was a bad . . . Well there wasn’t even a term for what they were.

With a sharp intake of breath and a leap of faith, CJ laid her hand on his thigh and ducked her head until he was looking down at her. “I’m here because I missed you, because I got fed up of waiting for you to come back. . . Because when you run I get scared.” As she voiced her deepest thoughts to him, she moved between his legs, her free hand working it’s way up his arm to his face. “You’re not perfect, no-one is. You come with baggage, we all do. You need to trust me.”

“I came here because I needed you,” he finally admitted, losing himself in her eyes as he remembered the nights in New York. They had talked about anything and everything and leaving that night had been the hardest thing he had ever done. While his life was falling apart he wanted CJ, more than he had ever needed a drink. It was one addiction he couldn’t, wouldn’t succumb to. It seemed fate and CJ had other ideas.

It didn’t make any sense, CJ decided, but then their relationship never had. She scrunched up her face and placed her hand against his cheek. The only thing she was sure of was that she had fallen in love with him in one short week.

John leaned into her touch. There was a connection between them, an electricity that hadn‘t been there in New York but now months later and apart things suddenly fell into place. “CJ?” he breathed.

Her thumb pressed against his lips. “Ssh.” Gently she brushed her lips over his, pulling back to look into his eyes, almost immediately.

In that brief second, realization dawned on him. It wasn’t about need, he wanted her.

“You need to trust me,” CJ whispered, standing and urging him to follow.

“I wanted to sort my life out before we did this. I wanted to do this right,” he faltered as she tugged him towards the bed, no doubt in his mind about what was going to happen.

“I think we’re going to do this just fine,” she replied with confidence she didn’t feel.

Slowly she led him to the bed, her eyes never leaving his face. They stopped short of the bed and CJ wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him against her.

John let out the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding and wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her tight, wanting it to be more than just sex. “CJ?” he whispered against her shoulder, sending shivers down her spine.

“Mm?”

He wanted to tell her he was scared, more than a little embarrassed but the words wouldn’t come. Instead his lips moved their way up her partially exposed shoulder and across her collarbone. Pushing her hair to one side he kissed her throat.

CJ tried to stifle the moan deep in her throat and it came out as a whimper. She was fast losing her mind, not that it wasn’t enjoyable. It was just that she’d come for answers not for this.

“I’ve missed you,” he groaned, his lips hovering close to her ear, his breath blowing onto her silky skin.

“I need to know one thing. . . “ CJ finally managed to whisper, pulling out of his embrace and taking his hands in her own.

“What?”

“That you won’t run away again.”

All it took was a slight shaking of his head, his grey eyes locking with hers for her to pull him tumbling with her onto the bed

Things would take time, they had so much to sort out and at some point they still needed to talk but as his hands slipped beneath her T-shirt, she pushed all coherent thought from her mind.

They made love gently and with reverence, without awkwardness. As the early morning light broke between the curtains they slipped beneath the sheets holding each other tight until finally they fell asleep.

The sun was coming up over the horizon as CJ stepped onto the balcony. It was going to be another warm day but she was leaving, heading back to the frozen landscape that was New York.

John rolled over and watched from his place on the bed. He hadn’t meant it as a test but subconsciously he wondered if running was his way of discovering if she really was serious. She was willing to give him a second chance.

“You know we don’t have to leave for a few hours,” he called out, patting the mattress beside him.

CJ smiled. They had spent most of the last few days in bed and he didn’t seem to be able to get enough of her. Not that she was complaining. If anything she hoped it was a sign of things to come.

“Of course we could walk to the Southernmost Point again.” His first idea held much more appeal. Of course they’d probably miss the plane and they really did need to get back to New York. She had to go back to work and he had to find a job. That was if he was going to be staying with her.

“Well it is a beautiful morning. . .” Her gown landed in a heap on the floor as she closed the French doors and walked towards him.

As the sun continued to rise they made love once again.

The End