Page 35 of The Senator's Secret

“I am,” he says as he unzips the side of my skirt and lets the material float to the ground around my feet, leaving me wearing nothing at all. “But you seem to have had a kind of rough day, so I didn’t want to add to that.”

And there’s the feeling of melting into a puddle of goo again. How can such a dangerous man be so sweet and thoughtful at times? I’m going to have to keep my guard up at all times.

Jake rolls up the material he carried in with him and lets it drop down over my head and around me. I slip my arms through the straps and marvel at the most beautiful black silk nightie I have ever seen. This didn’t come with me, which can only mean one thing—our fake relationship just jumped to the lingerie stage. I wonder if Logan or Mrs. Summers procured this for me to wear to please him and it wasn’t a nice thought so I try and shake it from my brain.

My breath saws in and out of my lungs and my heart thunders louder than the Clydesdales in a beer ad as Jake takes my hand and leads me to bed. He pulls the bedding back and I climb in. He follows behind me and then settles the blankets over us before turning out the light on his bedside table. The room is totally dark other than the city lights shining through the window.

This is it.

Jake is going to make his move like he warned me he would. I lie in bed and wait… and wait… and wait. And then finally, Jake rolls to his side so that he’s facing me. He rolls me too, tucking me into his big spoon, my back to his front as he wraps his arms tight around me.

“Jake?” I ask.

“Yeah?”

“What are you doing?”

“Going to sleep,” he answers.

“That’s it?” I ask and immediately wish I could call the words back. I’m not ready to be intimate with him again after everything that’s happened, and here I am, drawing attention the fact that he’s not having sex with me right now. I have obviously lost my mind.

“That’s it,” he repeats, rolling farther into me so I’m on my back and he’s got half my body pinned with his. “Did you want me to fuck you?”

“No!” I answer quickly, making Jake chuckle.

“I think the lady may protest too much,” he says, pressing his hard body further against mine..

“No, I’m good.”

“You’re not.” I feel his eyes burning my face. Jake sees everything, and I’m helpless to hide anything from him. I don’t know what to do with a man who is so attuned to me. “You’ve had a rough day, and as much as I want you—and I do want you, Grace—I’m not going to take you tonight.”

“You’re not?”

“No,” he says. “So let’s get some sleep.”

“Thank you, Jake,” I tell him sincerely as he settles us back on our sides with him wrapped around me from behind.

“We’ll see how you feel in the morning.”

And with that, I drifted off to sleep in Jake’s strong arms, not once thinking about how it was odd I hadn’t heard from the blackmailer again and really hoping that it’s not my new fake boyfriend’s dad because I could really like Jake if given half the chance.

“Could Wedding Bells be Ringing Soon?”

Chapter 10

Meet the parents

“Is it hot in here?”

Jake turns only his head to look at me. The rest of his body stays facing forward toward the front door of a house in Queens. The house I grew up in. The house my parents still live in. The house we have come to for the inquisition—I mean, so my new fake boyfriend can meet my very real parents.

I’m not prepared for this.

Jake’s face holds only a bland expression. I have no idea what’s going on behind those baby blues of his, but Goddammit I wish he would give me something. I can’t be the only one who is losing their shit here, right?

“No,” he finally responds before raising his hand to knock on the door. The door which opens rather quickly after Jake knocked, almost as if my parents had been waiting on the other side of the door.

“My baby!” my mom shouts as she pulls me into a hug before turning to usher Jake into her home. She looks so happy—happy for me. Mom is overjoyed I have finally found my person, like Dad is for her. I can see it in her eyes. She’s picking out china patterns and naming grandbabies after long-dead relatives, and that is not what this is.