Page 49 of The Senator's Secret

“Why are you avoiding me?” he growls low in his throat.

“I’m not avoiding you,” I answer his question. I look over his shoulder and paste a smile on my face. Everyone is watching. I feel like I’m living in a fish bowl. “I’m doing my job and trying to help you win an election.”

“Really?” He raises an eyebrow. I mean, not really. I did talk to our mutual acquaintances about his campaign but really, I was just keeping a little distance between us. Still, I’m not going to admit that out loud. “Grace?”

“Oh, shut up a twirl me, Senator.” Jake throws his head back and laughs. He is so beautiful when he allows himself to be free like that. If we had the attention of the room before, now every eye in a twenty mile radius is turn to us and I couldn’t care less because as his spins and twirls me around the floor with a gracefulness that I have never expected, Jake makes me feel like we’re the only two people in the world.

• • •

WHY AM I AVOIDINGhim again? Oh right, because I love him and he doesn’t love me.

Jake has spent the evening dancing with me, making sure I have a glass of champagne when I want one, and holding me close when he has to rub elbows with the who’s who of New York. I stay quietly by his side in my role as arm candy. Every now and then, he shoots me a weird look, but I can’t decipher it. He should be happy. This is what we were supposed to do.

“I’m going to powder my nose,” I whisper in his ear. “I’ll be right back.”

“Don’t be long,” he says as he nuzzles the side of my neck.

“I won’t,” I whisper before I float off to the ladies’ room.

Jake has this way about him where he makes me feel cherished and loved. I have to remind myself of what is real and what isn’t. By the time I see to my needs and wash my hands, I have decided to just enjoy what I have while I have it. I pop open my clutch and pull out my lipstick tube. So what if he doesn’t feel the same way I do? He’s great in bed and makes me feel amazing. Jake is attentive and caring. What more could I want?

I have my mouth open in that weird O-shape women do when they apply lipstick, when a snide voice shakes me from my thoughts.

“It’ll never last,” Ashley Jeffries sneers as she steps up to the mirror beside me. I blot my lips together and drop my lipstick back in my clutch. “I mean, what could he possibly see in you?”

I don’t bother answering. Jakes former lover knows exactly how she feels about the situation, and nothing I do will change that. It’s ironic that the second I decide to settle for what he’s willing to give me during this fake engagement, she shows up and throws her real relationship with him in my face.

Maybe I should thank her for the reminder.

“Like I said—” She shrugs. “—it won’t last long, so don’t get too comfortable in my house.”

I pull my compact out of my clutch and pop it open, pulling the little pad out to blot my nose. My giant ring glints in the fluorescent lights of the restroom, and our eyes lock in the mirror when she sees it. Ashley grabs my hand and yanks hard.

“What the fuck is that?” she screeches, and I feel an awful sense of triumph that it’s my finger Jake’s ring sits on right now.

I snatch my hand back and look away as I drop my compact into my bag and snap it closed. If I was hoping to exit the ladies’ room without another word from her, I was sorely disappointed. Unfortunately for me, I know exactly the kind of woman Ashley Jeffries is.

“Like I said, don’t get too comfortable,” she repeats as she looks me up and down and clearly finds me lacking. “I’ll be fucking him by the end of the week.”

“Tell him I said hi when you do.” I wink and then walk out of the room.

By the time I make it back to Jake, I’m over this evening and my head is pounding. Maybe I should just publish the photos myself and let the chips fall where they may. Then I can walk away from this farce, and Jake can go back to Ashley and all the other women in his life who want to be in his bed regardless of who was there the night before. All I know is I can’t be one of them.

“Everything all right?” he asks softly when I make my way to his side.

“I have a headache,” I respond. “Champagne always gets to me, but I love it so.”

“Well, it was a night to celebrate. It is getting pretty late,” he says as he pulls out his phone and sends a text to his driver that we’re ready to go. “I should get you home.”

“I’d hate to turn into a pumpkin at midnight,” I try to joke, but by the look on his face, Jake isn’t buying it.

Cameras flash again as we make our way outside to the car. Fuck, I just need a minute. This is ridiculous. Panic claws up my throat at the thought of always being watched—by the media, by my blackmailer, by strangers. People I don’t even know having a vested interest in my life. How many of them will cheer like Ashley Jeffries when Jake casts me aside for another? I feel like I’m spinning out of control.

Jake helps me into the dark limo before sliding in beside me. We sit in silence as the car pulls away from the curb. When we’re finally a few blocks away, Jake turns to me.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” I shrug. “I just have a bit of a headache. It was a long night.”