Diplomacy

of his adult life, so why was it so hard now?
    Maria loved him, in her own no-nonsense, no-frills way. He didn’t doubt that for even a moment. She was a wonderful wife, the kind of strong woman that he needed, someone who took care of all the decisions in the relationship when Jack was tired from all the choices he had to make every minute of his working life. It was nice to come home to a warm house, to a partner who had her own life, who never nagged him for working late or forgetting to make time for her, but who was somehow always there for him.
    The only thing missing was passion. She never made his blood run faster, never made his heart skip a beat. In fact, he could probably do without sleeping with her, and if it wasn’t for her seducing him from time to time, they would probably have a nonexistent sex life.
    Then Lucas walked into his life and he was smitten. From the first moment he laid eyes on the beautiful young Brit, something had happened inside him that he couldn’t explain. He clearly remembered Lucas’s firm handshake, the bright look in his eyes, and the overt confidence that could so easily be mistaken for arrogance if it wasn’t for the disarming smile and boyish nonchalance.
    Somehow he couldn’t keep his hands off the man, and even though they had only kissed ( And what a kiss! ) he truly lusted after Lucas. Even before that exciting first contact, Jack had imagined what it would feel like to have him in his arms, to feel their naked skin touch, to make love to him…
    Jack asked his driver to close the partition between them. He wanted to call Lucas on his cell phone and that clearly required a little privacy.
    It took a few rings for the call to be picked up.
    “Hey there. Can you talk?” Jack asked in a subdued voice.
    Lucas’s voice sounded bright, but a little strange. “Mr.
    Ambassador, how nice of you to call!”

    54 | Z a h r a O w e n s

    “Lucas?” Jack asked a little taken aback. “Listen, I’ll call back if…”
    “Oh, no sir, we were just talking about how close our embassies would have to work together on the European situation and…” Jack smiled, there was clearly someone in the room with Lucas who had to be made aware of what a good job he was doing liaising with the Americans. In all likelihood, it would be Gallagher. This made him smile wider, since he knew the British second-in-command quite well from a rather traumatic year when they’d both worked for their respective Embassies in Beirut. Now Jack wanted to know how well Lucas could think on his feet.
    “Well, I was thinking about our plans for the weekend…” Jack tried, his voice soft.
    “Yes, of course sir, I was thinking about the very same thing.” He could almost see Lucas nod at his boss and fidget in his chair.
    “Were you thinking about what you were going to do to me on the two nights our women will be gone?”
    Silence. Talk to me Lucas, I want to hear your voice . Jack’s voice was soft and seductive. “Come on, Luke, show me what you’re made of.
    Can’t tell me what you want to say, eh?”
    “I would if I could… sir,” Lucas answered in a strong voice, “but it’s not British policy.”
    “Not British policy to talk about sex or not British policy to tell your boss, who’s obviously in the room with you, that you’ve gone a bit overboard liaising with the Americans?”
    Again a short silence, before, “I’m afraid, sir, I will have to discuss this with my superior before I can give you a conclusive answer on that.” Jack could almost hear Lucas smile and was glad he hadn’t taken his last comment too seriously.
    “I didn’t think we went too far on Friday, Lucas, I hope…”
    “No, sir, I agree we didn’t overdo it. I think the other party showed the appropriate response to my overture.”
    “So how do you want to play this weekend?” Jack asked, amused at how professional Lucas sounded.

    D i p l o m a c y | 55

    “I think we should up the stakes, sir. Test the waters a bit first, of course, see how the opposing faction reacts. Small steps at first, until they bite, and then I’ll reel them in. How does that sound… sir?” Oh dear, Lucas was truly good at this. Jack never realized he could get turned on by a young man calling him sir and by talk of negotiations, even though he knew that wasn’t really what the Brit was saying.
    “Why don’t you drop by the office this afternoon? With a little luck I’ll be there for the rest of the day,” Jack asked