Emily leaned back against the counter and tried to catch her breath. Her legs would not stop shaking and she was holding onto the edges of the stool to keep her balance. Shit, she thought to herself. She had promised herself that she would not end up in bed with Aaron again until they talked, and while technically they were not in bed this was not exactly what she had planned. But what had started as a sweet, almost chaste kiss had ended with Aaron taking her up against his kitchen counter. She needed to find some way to keep her cool around him, but no man had turned her on like this in well, ever if she was being completely honest with herself. She stole a glance over at him and he caught her eye. Seeing the slightly amused look on his face Emily couldn't help but laugh.
Aaron walked back over and sat down next to her. He passed her a glass of water, which only made her laugh harder. 'What? I thought you wanted water?" And that had been what drew them into the kitchen in the first place, they had just gotten a bit sidetracked. "So we were going to talk."
"Yep." Emily took a deep breath and tried to control her laughter. She straightened her skirt and tried to ignore the hot pink panties that were sitting at her feet. She could not think of a dignified way to grab them now.
"Well, I guess I'll start. I have feelings for you. And pretending that I don't hasn't worked for the last five years, so I'm ready to try something different."
"I do too. Everything just feels so complicated now."
Aaron raised his eyebrows, "as opposed to simpler times when all we had to deal with was an assassination attempt against the president and you investigating my supposed involvement in the capitol bombing?"
"Okay. Point taken. Can I ask you something?" Aaron hadn't addressed the one time that Emily had always felt like was their real missed opportunity. He nodded. "When I asked you out. When we thought Kirkman was being kicked out of office. Why did you say no?"
"Ah. Well, you and Seth had just broken up. And I let something Lyor said get in my head."
Of all the things Aaron could have said, that was the one Emily didn't expect. "Lyor? You took dating advice from Lyor?"
"Not on purpose. It was some night we had all gone out for drinks. And you and Seth left together. Lyor must have seen a look on my face, because he told me not to worry. He said in four to eight months Seth would end things with you because he'd want more then you were able to give. And that all I needed to do was be the closest warm body next time you were having a crisis. I wrote if off at the time, but then right on schedule six months later you and Seth broke up and I guess when you came to my office, asking if I ever thought about our kiss as the administration was falling down around us, it felt like you were looking for a lifeboat not for me."
"Lyor said that? I mean he's not necessarily wrong about my dating history, but damn." They sat in silence for a moment. "I'm sorry I made you feel like that. But this, us? It's always been more to me than that. Even Florida. I hate what we did that night, but you weren't just the nearest warm body."
"I'm glad." He gave her the smallest smile. "And I still owe you an apology for that night and everything that followed. I did a fucked up thing, and beyond hurting Izzy, I let myself hurt you too. I've been a shitty friend to you for the last year and I know you needed friends."
"So is that what this last year really was? Because it did seem like an overreaction to the whole Pegasus thing."
"Yeah, well mostly. There's something else I should probably tell you. Izzy had an abortion, we found out she was pregnant after the election and she thought that was the right decision." Aaron's voice was stilted as if he was reading from prepared remarks.
Emily put her head in her hand. She knew she and Aaron had made an unforgivably bad decision that night, but she'd never considered that something like this had been the consequence of it. No wonder he had been so pissed at her. "And what did you think?"
Aaron scoffed. "As I'm sure you would tell me, as the guy it doesn't really matter what I think."
"Legally no. But as your friend it matters to me."
"It hurt for a while. And I was mad. And I couldn't be mad at Izzy, so I was mad at you. But now that I have some distance from everything I think maybe it was for the best. Obviously I would have been there for my kid no matter what, but I think Izzy was probably right that cheating aside we weren't going to work out in the long term. When I took VP we didn't really stop to think through what that was asking of her. And I don't think politician's wife was really a role she saw herself in. Especially at this level where there's so little freedom."
"I'm glad you're doing better. And I really am truly sorry for the role I played in all this."
"Thanks. I have to ask you something, and I don't want you to answer it now. I really want you to take some time to think about it. Could you see yourself as a politician's wife? Or specifically First Lady one day? Because let's be realistic, it would be asking you to put your career on hold for possibly eight years."
Logically Emily knew dating Aaron made that a possibility but hearing him say it out loud was different. And it was a big ask. Her career was important to her, not just as a job, but as part of how she defined herself. "Are you announcing your 2024 presidential run?"
"For your ears only Ms. Rhodes. Nothing official yet, but I'd be crazy not to, right?"
"Yes. If only for the Shore, four rhyming options you have. I'm starting to think you've been playing some kind of long game and that's why you changed your name." He had such an irresistibly hopeful and excited look in his eyes. And while she didn't have an answer for him yet, she realized how far they had come from four years ago when they were fighting over Chief of Staff. Right now she was only feeling joy and excitement for her friend. Aaron wasn't perfect, but there was no one she thought deserved this more.
"You know me too well. But you'll think about it?"
"I will. And I have something I need you to think about as well. And I guess similarly I am not looking for an answer right now. But if I am going to be with someone right now, it needs to be someone who can love this baby as their own, and someone who's ready for a commitment. I'm not going to have my kid be in a family where they feel like second best, and I am not going to put them through an endless parade of stepdads."
"I know, and I'll think about it." She tried to read the look on his face for a clue, because while it terrified her, the thought of having a family with Aaron also thrilled her beyond belief. Frustratingly he seemed to have on a poker face for this. "Anything else? I was half expecting you to show up with a pro con list five pages long."
"There might be a draft back at home. But, no that's everything that matters to me. Everything else is details."
"Perfect. So where does this leave us for now?"
"Dating? We have some major stuff to think through, but we've never actually dated, and I think it would make sense to see what that's like. At least I'd like to."
"I was hoping you would say that." She had not seen Aaron smile like this in a long time.
"One thing though. I think we should keep this private. Everyone will assume my baby is yours if we go public with this, and that would not be a good look for you, especially if things don't work out between us. And ideally I don't want my pregnancy to be fodder for late night TV."
"That makes sense. One question though. What if I were to take my two best friends Seth and Emily out for the night?"
"You're going to force Seth to third wheel us on dates?"
"The man has been telling me to get out more for a year. I'm just following through on his advice." She shook her head at him. "So was this our first date? We did go bowling after all. That's a classic first date outing."
"You call what you did bowling? I've seen five year olds get more pins down."
"I can't believe I let Seth beat me."
"Let him? It didn't seem like you had much control over that buddy. But you know what? Yes. I think this should count as our first date. So we can immortalize the night Aaron Shore got his ass handed to him by Seth and a thirteen year old girl."
"That'll be one for the memoir for sure. So is Emily Rhodes the kind of girl who spends the night on a first date?" Aaron put his hand on her knee, and it was stupid how quickly that sent chills up her spine.
"Definitely not. Maybe a kiss if the guy is really nice."
"Hmmm, you know I'd love to believe you Emily. But, that does not explain what these are doing on my kitchen floor." Aaron reached down and grabbed her panties.
"Aaron!" She reached out to grab them from him but he held them up over her head. "You're mean." She pouted.
He smiled wickedly at her. "How about I'll give them back if you stay and watch the Cavs game with me?"
"Well, only because it's the Cavs." And then he leaned down and kissed her. And she let herself get lost in the feeling of his lips on hers and realized this was the happiest she had been in a long time.