Loving the Senator (Capitol Affairs #1) Read Online Free

outfit I normally wore going out on the weekends. I straightened my shoulder-length red hair and wore my signature red lipstick. My new designer jeans fit my ass perfectly and I added a sweater that hugged my breasts. I topped it off with a distressed leather coat and knee-high boots, my new Tom Ford sunglasses, and the Gucci purse Beulah bought me for getting into law school. Lastly, I put on the gift Alex had given me seven years ago. I didn’t wear it the entire campaign. I didn’t want our past interfering with his election. I wanted to see if he remembered it, and what his reaction would be when he saw me wearing it.
    I walked into his familiar office building, stopping off at the restroom to freshen up. I spritzed on my perfume and reapplied my red lip stain. He always stared at my lips when they were red and glossy. I walked into his office, ready to see the man I wanted more than anything.
    “May I help you?” the receptionist asked as I approached her desk. Susan, who I used to see during the campaign, wasn’t there. It took me by surprise to see this new person. She was an older woman with a pointy nose and a sour expression on her face. I caught her eating grapes at her desk and then tried to hide them when I got close.
    “I’m here to see Senator Conrad. I’m Prudence Romaine. Is Susan out today?” I asked, smiling at her.
    “Susan is out with the flu. I’m a temp in for a couple of days. Do you have an appointment, Miss Romaine?” she asked. She adjusted her black skirt suit and then the blue scarf around her neck. Her gray hair hung in a short stylish bob just above her ears. She tapped her manicured fingers against the keyboard searching Alex’s appointments for the day.
    She was the total opposite of Susan who always smiled, liked to tell dirty jokes, and complimented me on my hair whenever I came to Alex’s office.
    “Yes, I have an eleven o’clock. I love your scarf,” I said. I hoped to make her smile.
    “Thank you. Please take a seat, and I will inform Senator Conrad that you are here,” she said. I caught a glimpse of a smile as I sat in the waiting area listening to bad elevator music. I had told Alex he needed to change the music and put in something more upbeat, but he never did.
    It wasn’t but a couple of minutes later when he came out of his office. The sight of him floored me. I almost couldn’t get up from the chair and walk. He took my breath away every time I looked at him, and to see him with bruises broke my heart.
    His eye was partially shut and had a bruise underneath them. I felt guilty knowing I was the reason he’d gotten into an accident in the first place. I wanted to take him back to his office and kiss away his pain, stroke away his anguish, and have my way with him on his desk, immediately.
    “Hold my calls while I’m with Miss Romaine, Margo,” he said. The heat crawled up my body. He just stood there and was focused on me as he spoke to this temp. I wished I could’ve read his mind.
    “Yes, Senator.” She smiled at him, but gave me a suspicious once-over as I walked back into his office.
    “Have a seat, Prudence,” he said, taking in my outfit. His look was somewhere between appreciative and shocked. I had never dressed like this when I worked on his campaign, and he seemed completely unprepared.
    I took a seat in one of the big leather chairs in front of his desk. I inhaled deeply enjoying the scent of his office, a combination of Alex’s cologne and the leather. A huge mahogany desk full of papers and books sat in the middle, facing the window and a perfect view of the city. Law books covered the cherry bookshelves along with pictures of people I assumed were his family and a giant dog. My mood changed as my eyes landed on a photo of Alex and Jade sitting on the beach. I noticed that picture before when I was in there, but this time was different. This time it gave me a sour feeling in the pit of my stomach. What was I doing there?
    “Excuse the