Page 19 of The Senator

I grabbed their bags from the back of the SUV and headed toward the sliding doors of the hotel, waiting for them to catch up. Vani walked by, winking at me as she walked through the doors and headed toward the desk.

Spencer stopped next to me. “Thank you for all of this. I’m not sure how we’d have gotten through it without you.”

His low voice tickled against my ear before he followed his wife to the desk. My feelings were all over the place, and I wasn’t sure how to respond, so I nodded. There was nothing wrong with a nod, right?

Spencer returned to where I was standing, a handsome smile on his face. “This might be a little strange, but they only had two rooms. Do you mind sharing?”

I raised my eyebrows. “Sharing with?”

“With me,” the senator responded with a sexy smile.

“And why won’t you be sharing with Vani?” I asked.

Spencer smirked. “Vani and I have never shared a bedroom. You’re stuck with me.”

I wanted to protest that it wasn’t appropriate, but he looked damn vulnerable, so I simply nodded. The poor bastard had been through so much already. I didn’t want to add anything more to his plate. It seemed full already.

CHAPTER 9

SPENCER

As I walked to the desk at the hotel to hear Vani asking for two king rooms, I stopped her when the clerk walked away. “What are you doing? We can have two queens and share a room. It will be fine.”

“I’d like a room to myself, and come the fuck on, Spence. If you can look at Nash and tell me you’d rather share a room with me, then I’ll back off.” The sass in that woman made me smile.

“Vani, honey, he’s not attracted to me.” I was whispering because he was standing nearby, and I wasn’t having the discussion in the hotel lobby.

“You’re not stupid, and you’re not blind, or so I thought. Use lube. I think he’s hung.” She handed me a key card and headed toward the elevator.

“Wait, Vanessa!” I called after her. My lovely wife turned to me and smiled. “You don’t need to hide any longer, Spence. Go for it!” She disappeared down the hallway and stepped onto the elevator, laughing as the doors closed as she held her finger on the button.

I turned to see Nash standing to the side of the lobby, a concerned expression on his gorgeous face. God knew, the man was everything I ever dreamed of finding in a partner on a physical level, but under the circumstances, I wasn’t sure what to do or say to him. The fact he was so young and handsome had me feeling guilty.

“So, Senator? We gonna stand here all night?” He grabbed the key card folio from me and looked at the number written across the bottom, before heading toward the elevator, motioning for me to move. I grabbed my suitcase and pulled it behind me as I stepped onto the car with him.

Nash hit the button for the third floor, and I kept my eyes planted on the illuminated rectangle where the floor numbers were displayed. When we arrived at our destination, Nash stepped off and reached for my suitcase, pulling it with him. “Come on. We have a big bed. I’m not going to touch you.”

I wasn’t worried about him—I worried about me.

I stepped from the car, suddenly unsure whether I liked his response. Oh, I wanted him to touch me everywhere, but I had a freight train full of bullshit that went everywhere with me, and Nash didn’t deserve to have to help me pull it up hill.

Once inside the room, I felt like a virgin on prom night. I looked around, spotting a way to get a little space to organize my thoughts, so I went for it. “I, uh, I’ll get us some ice.” I grabbed the ice bucket.

There was one king bed that didn’t seem to be big enough for the two of us and a separate sitting area with a television. I needed a minute to establish a plan.

His laughter echoed in the room as I allowed the door to close behind me. Why the fuck did I feel like I was doing something wrong?

Vani and I had been open about our relationship within our trusted circle, but not with outsiders. My job didn’t afford us that luxury. Hell, she’d pushed me to share a room with him. I shouldn’t feel bad about it because nothing was going to happen between us.

I walked down the hall to the alcove where the ice machine was located. There were three vending machines, so I reached into my pocket and grabbed some change.

“You are an adult. Hell, you’re—well, you were—a United States Senator. You’ve argued with career politicians about healthcare, minority rights… He’s a guy. You can just talk to him. Yeah, that’s it. Just talk to the man.” Thankfully, nobody else needed ice because they’d have thought me insane as I stood there talking out loud to the vending machine.

“Sure, we can talk.” I was startled enough by the voice to drop the change I was holding. I turned to see Nash standing at the entrance to the ice machine alcove.

“Fuck!” I stooped to pick up the coins and felt a presence next to me, turning to see Nash right there reaching for coins next to me.

“Spence, I’m not a guy you need to worry about. I mean, if you want to pay for my services, then we can talk price and requests, but I’d bet you’ve got enough shit going on that you need a friend more than anything.”

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