Chapter 1

Was it just her imagination or was he moving closer to her? Olivia glanced to her left quickly. Yeah, he was definitely inching closer to her. But maybe he was just one of those people who couldn't stand still and had to move all the time. Yes, she figured, calming herself. That's got to be the reason. But when she looked out the corner of her eye and saw him take his hand out of his pocket, Olivia's heart started to race. And when that same hand brushed the side of her thigh, it became harder for her to breathe. She turned her body into his and when she finally looked up to meet his eyes, she was astonished at what she saw there. His eyes were smoldering as he looked down at her face, and he made a decision then and there. He stepped away, turning around.

As he turned away from her, Olivia felt a moment of relief followed by a surprising level of…dare she say it…disappointment. She looked down only to find her whole body jolted as the elevator came to a sudden stop. She looked up at Fitz only to realize he hadn't moved away because he thought they were being inappropriate or because he'd changed his mind. He'd just wanted to push the emergency stop on the elevator. Olivia barely had time to register what he'd done when he'd backed her up to the wall, invading her personal space and destroying her peace of mind.

"Governor Grant," she began, choosing to ignore how breathless her voice sounded.

"Liv," he said. "I think we're way past 'governor'. Please, Livy. Say my name."

She looked up, astonished at how close his mouth was to hers. She had every intention of telling him to back off and start the elevator back up again but her words caught in her throat at the look he was giving her and the fact that he'd given his hands permission to freely explore her waist and backside.

He leaned in impossibly closer and whispered, "Say it."

Instead, she closed the distance between them to lightly brush her lips across his. Later, she would swear to herself never to get in an elevator with him alone again. She would also later chalk up her behavior to a combination of a lack of sleep, stress, and temporary insanity. But at the moment, all she could think of was how soft his lips were and how big his hands felt as they took liberties that she had silently granted him. She'd decided that for the next sixty seconds she would indulge in her desire for him and tuck the memory away for later, when she was alone and more vulnerable, cherishing it as a breath of fresh air in a stale climate.

He'd pressed himself into her and she'd taken the opportunity to shove both of her shaking hands into his curly brown hair, bringing him down even closer to her. She breathed his name in between kisses and dragged his lower lip into her mouth, tugging gently.

Groaning, he reached down and caught the back of her knee and she instinctively knew what he wanted her to do. Tensing, she leaped as Fitz hoisted her up. He pressed her into the wall with both of her legs wrapped tightly around his waist. Their kiss grew more frantic and she knew she had to stop them before they reached the point of no return. Snatching her mouth away, she dragged in much needed air. They were both breathing heavily but he just continued to kiss down the column of her throat.

"Fitz, we have to stop," she said, without conviction.

"Why?" he murmured.

"Umm," she said, forgetting the reason momentarily as he started unbuttoning her blouse.

Before she could reply the intercom on the elevator buzzed.

"Hello, this is the Head of Security in the hotel. Is everything alright in there? Is everyone okay?" he asked.

As Liv tried to catch her breath, Fitz said, "Yes, we are fine. I bumped into the emergency stop but I wasn't sure how to turn it back on," he said, resting his head low on her exposed chest.

As soon as the intercom came on, Liv realized that those sixty seconds had come and gone a long time ago. She immediately tried to compose herself, inside and out. As she lifted her hands to button her blouse, Fitz knocked her hands away, doing up the buttons himself. Slowly.

"That's quite alright sir," the security man said. "We can remote-start the elevator from here. Have a good night," he said.

As the intercom shut off the elevator started back up again and Liv started to unwrap her legs from his waist but his hands tightened on her thighs, stopping her. She stroked his face, saying, "Fitz, you have to let go. These doors will open in less than a minute and all those people from the campaign will see us," she said.

Fitz couldn't help himself.

He stole one more brief, but passionate kiss from her before reluctantly pulling away. She wiped her lipstick from his mouth with her thumb. Then she combed her fingers through his hair, straightening it, as well as his tie. He slowly released her legs and let her slide down his body.

"Liv," he said. "I—"

Before he could finish, the elevator doors opened and Cyrus turned, saying, "There's the man!" Everyone in the hallway started cheering for Fitz and he put on his 'politician' smile for them. Stepping out of the elevator and away from Liv, he turned back to look at Liv once more and saw her to be just as composed and calm as she always was.

But he wouldn't be fooled by it again, for he saw the passion she held for him right beneath the surface and he felt how much she wanted him through her lips. He knew he would have to get her alone if he was ever going to see her real feelings again, but he was determined to try. As those doors closed and she was taken from his view, Fitz felt anticipation heat his bloodstream. He was more excited about what he was about to do than he was about the speeches he gave on the campaign trail and everything he'd been doing for his career the past year. He would chase her, he promised himself. And he would claim her.