Page 2 of Her Senator's Second Chance

A wave of shock jolted through his body, and he stood motionless, unable to speak or move. His heart pounded, and his words stuck in his throat.

She quickly composed herself. “I’m terribly sorry, sir.” A waitress emerged from the kitchen with a towel and began cleaning the mess.

Time stood still, and the chaos of the moment silenced as he took in Natasha’s slender form. He curled his fingers into his palms to keep them from trembling, and he forced himself to slow his breathing. Inhale. Exhale.

“It’s fine, really,” he said, looking down and swiping uselessly at the water splotches on his suit.

His first instinct was to look away from her, but he shoved it away and met her gaze head on. He was a Virginia state senator. He’d faced much tougher situations than this.

Natasha was more beautiful than he had remembered. He’d been careful to never look her up on social media, and now he could see he’d been right to avoid seeking her out. She’d been a knockout in high school, and now she was all chic refinement with long blond waves that brushed her elbows. She grabbed a towel another staff member offered her and began wiping at the water that had splattered across the starched white shirt she had tucked into a sleek black pencil skirt.

“Aubrey, please show Senator Larson and his assistant to his room and provide him with a hair dryer for his suit,” Natasha said.

Adam’s brow rose at her authoritative tone and the clear knowledge she seemed to have of Jenny’s job on his campaign team. What exactly was her role at the Whitmore House?“I—uh.” He tried to speak, but he couldn’t think of anything to say. Now he sounded like a stuttering fool. Maybe he tries to speak but can’t think of anything to say here so feels silly. Something short.

“Yes, ma’am.” A girl with red hair twisted into a ballerina bun stepped forward and ushered him to a room down the hall. He followed her numbly, glancing over his shoulder to get one last look at Natasha.

She stood in the doorway of the kitchen, poised in her heels with a single strand of pearls around her throat. And she was looking right at him. A shudder ran down his entire body as their eyes connected. She brushed off her shirt with a towel, turned on a six-inch heel and clicked back into the kitchen.

“Goodbye,” he said awkwardly over his shoulder as he followed the red head. Not looking at where he was going, he stumbled into a brass vase and knocked it over, sending a loud clanging noise echoing across the marble floor.

He reached out to set the vase back to its original position, but Jenny stopped him. “You keep going. You’ve done enough damage here. I’ll fix it.”

He followed the red head to the room, and Jenny joined him shortly. He closed the door behind her and turned to his sister. “Did you know?”

“Know what?”

“That Natasha would be here.”

“I may have been aware of that,” Jenny admitted. Jenny was well versed in Adam’s history with Natasha and the long string of women he’d dated in an attempt to move on from her.

“And you didn’t think to mention that?”

“Why? Does it bother you that she’s here?”

“I— Well, no. Of course not. What is she doing here anyway?”

“She’s the owner.”

“So you booked the venue with her directly?“

“Yes.”

Adam eyed her suspiciously for a moment. “Is that why you chose to have my dinner here?”

“I can neither confirm nor deny the validity of that accusation,” she said with a half smirk on her face.

He rolled his eyes and said, “Typical.”

He could feel his old teenage angst bubbling from his stomach to the top of his head as he contemplated the implications of what his sister had done. “Well,” he said. “I guess there’s nothing I can do about it now. I’ll just have to avoid Natasha at all costs. And don’t you get any funny ideas about how to throw us together. My wedding with Darla is in a month, and I don’t need you ruining it. Her family has already spent $10,000 and countless hours on this wedding. My feelings for Natasha are long gone. It’s called history, sis... History.”

“Yeah right. I saw the way you looked at her in the hall just now. And in that pencil skirt… All I can say is, wow. She has legs for miles and the best way I can describe her is she has, quote unquote, blossomed.” She put her fingers in the air in air quotes. “It’s a wonder she’s still single. You ought to see the heads turn as she walks down Main Street.”

“Whatever you say. I still need to put the finishing touches on my speech. And I won’t have Natasha as a distraction. I have a career to focus on.”

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