Page 14 of The Senator's Secret

“It was cold,” I say, looking away from him as my cheeks turn pink. I don’t want to give him any possible indication I might want him like he says he wants me. But I have a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that not much gets by Jake Chancellor.

“And there was that pretty pink blush,” he explains as he points to his own cheeks. “Here.” And then he points to the base of his neck. “And here. I can’t help but wonder if you blush like that all over.”

“Jacob.” My voice is rough, and my eyes close as I try to shut out his words. I can’t let them affect me like they do.

“You can call me Jake,” he tells me. “Everyone else does.”

“I think I prefer Jacob,” I answer, and in that moment, he looks like he does too.

“What will you call me late at night?” he asks me after a moment, and his voice is husky and sultry. I know instinctively that this is howhesounds late at night, in bed after hours with a woman.

“Jacob.”

“And what will you call me in bed?” he furthers.

“Jacob,” I breathe, and I can feel myself giving in to him. He knows it, and so do I, but still… “I haven’t agreed yet.”

“But you will,” he predicts. “What other choice do you have? Besides, imagine what you could do to change the world as First Lady.”

“That is alarmingly tempting,” I concede, but if I take up his offer to make me his First Lady, I will be doing it for all the wrong reasons. I could change the world, yes; we both know that I’m capable of anything. But without love, would it even matter? “Somehow, I bet you could tempt the devil himself.”

“I don’t want to tempt the devil. I just want to tempt you.”

I look back at him, because his words, spoken quietly and without a hidden agenda, ring truer than anything else said tonight between us.

“And I like that you call me Jacob.”

“And what happens when someone else sells a story from your bed when you’re supposed to be hopelessly in love with me?” I ask, and I can’t help but feel like a fool for looking more than a little vulnerable as I speak the question. I can’t believe I let it slip that his affairs would bother me so much. I can only hope he reads my reluctance as worry over our image and not that his extramarital affairs would cut me deep when we’re not even in a relationship to begin with. It all sounds so silly.

“There won’t be any other women in my bed.” His voice is strong and sure. He sounds so confident in himself and his ability to be faithful to a marriage with no love or intimacy.

“Why?” I blurt out before I can stop myself. I really should be more mindful of my words, but around Jacob Chancellor, I just can’t seem to help myself.

“Becauseyou’llbe in my bed.”

“You can’t mean—” I start. I open and close my mouth a few times, but that seems to be all I can get out. He has me totally stunned.

“I do,” he answers me calmly. It feels like he’s thought about all of this before, but that can’t be. He couldn’t have known about the blackmail pictures before today. I know he’s wanted me in his bed for a while now, but I had always assumed he wanted me there for a night or two, not installed in it for the rest of my life.

“But why?”

“Because I want you,” he explains. “And because we’re going to be a couple. When I marry you, there won’t be anyone else in our marriage but us, regardless of how it came to be.”

“Are you ready to order now?” the waiter asks.

“Grace?” Jacob prompts.

“How is the hummus basket?” I ask after clearing my throat.

“Freaking fantastic,” he answers, making the waiter smile.

“And the buffalo wings?”

“Also amazing.”

“Care to split them with me?” I need carbs and junk food in order to process the drastic left turn my life seems to have just taken.

“I’d love to.” He smiles back at me before turning to the waiter. “The wings sampler and the hummus basket please.”