Page 27 of The Senator's Secret

“Good girl,” he murmurs from beside me as we climb the last of the steps and head for the elevator. I just roll my eyes.

I reach for the button for the twenty-first floor and stand back as we ride the elevator with a Secret Service agent standing in front of us.

“I’ve always wondered about people with an elevator kink,” he says. “Until now. I can totally see the fascination standing here with you.”

“We’re not alone,” I say, clearing my throat and nodding in the direction of his agent.

“Gus won’t say anything.”

“I’m sure Gus is a charming individual and exemplary at his job, but I’m not having sex in an elevator in front of him,” I reply sharply, making both men chuckle. “And to be honest, this is the kind of idiotic bullshit behavior that will lose you the election if you’re not careful.”

“If you want to be technical,” Jake says. “It would be behind him.”

“I like her, sir,” Gus says, never turning to look at us. He keeps his eyes on his post.

“Me too,” Jake agrees.

“I stand corrected. You’re both morons,” I grumble while rolling my eyes.

“See?” Jake says to me. “I told you Gus was a good guy, even if he was a Marine and not a sailor.”

“Oorah.”

Men are so weird.

The doors to the elevator open on a ding. Gus is alert and ready for anything, including startling Carter, who is apparently here early, probably to get all the dirt he can. After Carter lets out an undignified squawk, he holds a hand to his chest.

“Jesus Christ. You scared me.”

“It serves you right,” I reply, giving him a knowing eye as I skirt around Gus and Jake.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Carter says as he plays the part of the affronted.

“I think you do.” The effect falls flat when he knows we both know he’s full of it.

“Fine,” he sighs. “You got me. What do you need this morning?”

“The Open Arms Project and the Conners file,” I answer with a smile. “Thank you, Carter.”

“On it, boss,” He salutes before heading down the hall in the opposite direction from my office that sits at the other end.

I take a step toward my office, and I barely lift my foot off of the ground before a strong hand wraps around my upper arm and pulls me back.

“Oh no you don’t,” Jacob growls from behind me, but after the culmination of last night and this morning, I am not in the mood for any more of his bullshit. I shoot him a blistering glare over my shoulder, but it’s no use. He just proceeds to blister my ears. “Do not ever step around Gus again.”

“But it was Carter,” I try to explain.

“No,” he says firmly. “Never again.”

“But—”

“I said no,” he practically growls. “It’s his job to take a bullet for you, and you will let him do it if he needs to.”

“No,” I argue. “It’s his job to take a bullet foryou.Now, whether or not you deserve it is another matter.”

“Yes, it’s his job to take a bullet for me,” he says. “And also for you.”

I look from him to Gus. I want to argue that Jake is wrong and he has to let me live my life and do so the way I have always done, but he shakes his head, and it’s a jerky side-to-side movement, letting me know I should abandon ship; all hope is lost.