Bode Bonner woke next to a naked woman who was not his wife.

His wife was out of town, so Mandy had snuck upstairs the night before. She was twenty-seven; he was forty-seven. She made him feel young.

Alive.

Vital.

Relevant.

Sex with a younger woman allowed him to forget-at least for a few short moments-that he was a middle-aged man with his best years in the rearview mirror.

It wasn't a pretty sight.

But Mandy was. Her beautiful backside was to him. He slid his hand down her smooth side and over her round hips and firm bottom and down between her legs. She stirred and groaned.

"I'm sleeping."

"Don't mind me, darlin'."

He reached over to the condom box on the nightstand and shook it, but nothing came out. Damn. He turned back to his aide and inhaled her scent. Her bare bottom beckoned to him, and his body responded. At his age, he hated to waste an erection, especially since he often required a little help from the Viagra prescription. She had said he didn't need to wear a condom, that she was on the pill and unconditionally devoted to him, politically and sexually. Aw, hell, once wouldn't be a problem. He pushed into her from behind.

"Governor, you're an animal."

He growled and bit the back of her neck.

c

TWO

The sign on the closed door read: THE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE.

Inside, Bode Bonner sat behind his desk flanked by Texas and U.S. flags on tall standards while Lupe ran the boar bristle brush through his thick blond hair then shielded his eyes and sprayed shellac until his hair could stand tall against a Texas twister. Guadalupe Sendejo was a squat, middle-aged Mexican national who had been in the Bonner family service since she was five. She now served as Bode's personal valet, ensuring that his hair was sprayed, his shirts starched, his suits pressed, and his boots polished. He had brought her over to Austin from the ranch four years before when he had won reelection and the job had taken on a more permanent feel. She held the mirror so he could examine her work, but the mirror caught Jim Bob's amused expression from the other side of the desk. Bode nodded at Lupe.