Her Secret Service (Jane Roe 1) by Jason Letts (sites to read books for free TXT) 📗

The invasive investigation and the suddenly shaky grasp she had on her life after a traumatic event left her feeling naked and low, completely powerless.

Unlike the previous week, Alex Morrin arrived right on time and in a manner that was like night and day compared to before. Stepping out of the presidential limo in proper riding attire that stretched around his thick calves at the bottom and torso at the top, his smile and eager eyes were the only things shining brighter than the colors on his jersey.

Jane couldn’t help but smile admiringly. Being handsome was one thing, but on a crisp spring morning like today relishing the activity was worth just as much, and Alex prepared to ride like he was loving every second of it. If he could look like that mere days after a judge allowed his ex-wife to leave him, no matter what other awful things were going on in her life the least she could do was bring her A-game and spin her tires to the best of her ability.

“Just me and you today, Jane?” Alex asked, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye as he switched into his clipless pedal shoes.

“Dedan will be stationed on the route, sir. We will have the follow car,” she said. Alex shrugged.

“I wasn’t interested in a presidential peloton anyway. This’ll be more like the rides I used to take with a friend outside of Dayton,” he said, some of his enthusiasm dampened as mentioning his hometown seemed to strike a sour note.

“Yes, sir,” she said, the best practices of keeping conversation with a protectee brief and to the point pressing even harder against her now that she was the subject of an investigation. The president winced, looking at her full on with big brown eyes.

“Remember what we talked about last time? I know you’ve got a job to do, but you can call me Alex and actually say something back to me like we’re normal people. I’ve got enough yes men in my life and I don’t think it suits your personality,” he said, seated atop the bike with one hand on a handlebar.

Jane nodded, her mind getting lost in curiosity over what he thought he knew about her personality. It wasn’t like he’d ever run a road race with her and seen her guts showing on the final sprint, or how she was a sucker for cartoons and Sudoku and homemade tiramisu with a little too much rum in it. When Alex shook his head in dejection after she’d been absorbed in thought for a moment too long, she realized she’d made a mistake and was letting him down.

“We can talk all you want, but it’s not going to change how you’ll be eating my dust!” she said.

He grinned, clipping his shoe to the pedal and pushing off.

“Be careful you don’t eat your words!” he said, and she scrambled to get going so she didn’t have a slow start.

She knew she was making promises her legs couldn’t deliver on, and she quickly realized that without being hungover keeping up with him was going to be a challenge. At least a few days off thanks to the trip and the investigation left her feeling fresh, and she pushed the pedals as they cruised along the wooded drive lined with flowering trees. As much as she didn’t mind the view, being stuck behind Alex the entire time wasn’t living up to the companionable rides he wanted to recreate. Jane raced even with him, trying to push him to go a little faster to keep up with her, even if it ended up costing her later when fatigue set in and he’d inevitably leave her behind.

The least she could do was have a little fun and enjoy the ride while she could. There wasn’t much reason to be concerned about being replaced by a professional rider if she wasn’t even likely to still have her job by next weekend.

Alex’s breathing deepened next to her, and his bike tottered as he pushed to catch up. They flew along the loop, Jane feeling the entire time like she was riding to get away from the injustice of the investigation and the need to find a scapegoat. She knew she’d done nothing wrong and wasn’t content to get thrown out because of TSA’s mistake. There was never a moment when the president wasn’t properly covered by his detail, even now.

Maybe if she rode fast enough she could make it all disappear.

Her zeal met its match as they took on the big hill at the back end of the loop. Alex had no trouble ascending at a controlled pace, but at the really steep points she ended up wobbling a little and zigzagging, all while struggling to keep herself from gasping for breath. She was sure that by the time she reached the top she’d be completely alone and her pretense of being able to ride with someone as experienced as Alex long gone, but from the peak he’d barely drifted forward a few yards.

“You didn’t have to wait up for me,” she said, knowing she was not in a good place if she was echoing Dedan’s words, but Alex didn’t look at all put off by breaking his pace for her.

“There’s no shame in switching down to a lower gear if it keeps you moving upward. Showing off with a big gear doesn’t do much good when you’re crawling at the top.”

“I didn’t know I was showing off,” she said, suddenly self-conscious.

“You ride angry,” he said, surprising her by saying more instead of just continuing on. “The way you mash the pedals. I’ve known that feeling, when you want to stomp your way through a ride.”

Jane blinked as she was confronted with another thing she wasn’t aware she was doing. Maybe he knew more about her than she thought.

“It’s been a tough week. I’m sure it’s nothing compared to what you’ve been