Page 34 of The Senator: Raphael

Lola glances at him and her eyes sparkle with amusement. “Does Death follow you around everywhere?”

I turn toward Sven in time to see him struggle to hide a smile but pretending to look around.

I nod. “Yeah. Every time I walk out of the house. He’s stuck with me.”

She takes another good look at him and from the way she bites her lip, I think she’d like a ride on Sven’s carousel. I smile.

“How’s life in the political spotlight?” she smirks.

It’s my turn to roll my eyes. “Weird.”

“Oh, come on! I want details!” she pouts.

“There are no details. I live in a mansion and my life is turned upside down. I can’t do my job, but I make a lot of official appearances. No details, just massive twists and turns in my life,” I complain.

She chuckles and shakes her head. She sweeps her gaze around then lowers her voice to a murmur only I can hear. “Can we skip the part where I ask you if this engagement is real and you come up with a bunch of lies? You walked out the door one day fighting with a complete stranger and you walked in a few hours later engaged to him. I’m not a fool, Silver. I know you didn’t know him two days before your engagement.”

I feel a weight lift from my shoulders. “God, yes, please. I’m glad you brought it up.”

She nods and smiles at me. “I won’t tell anyone.”

I know that. I trust her. She never pushed me for details about my previous life and she always kept quiet when our colleagues asked about me. She’s loyal and I like her for that.

“Thank you. Are they asking about me at work?” I’m eager to know. I’m probablythegossip going around right now.

“They’re all wondering how you got your hands on the most handsome bachelor in town. They’re asking me if I knew you had a relationship with him and things like that.”

“Are they giving you a hard time about it?” My voice is small. I’m sorry for causing her all this trouble.

She turns around and raises her challenging eyebrow. “Do I look like someone who’s easily intimidated?”

I chuckle. “No.”

“So, don’t worry about me. I can handle a bit of questioning. Not a big deal.”

“Thank you.”

“How are you doing? Seriously, how is living with Mr. Handsome?” I can feel the curiosity in her voice.

“Weird. I’m not joking. It’s strange because we act like a couple, but we barely know each other.” I’ve been able to get to know him better this month, but I’m not even close to knowing the real him.

She giggles, bumping her shoulder against mine. “How is he in bed?”

“What? No! We’re not having sex,” I whisper-shout.

She studies me for a long moment, then her eyes widen when she realizes I’m serious. “Are you kidding me? You haven’t had sex with him? Is he gay or something?”

“No, he’s not gay, trust me. But we keep it professional.” Nothing is professional about what we’re doing.

“Professional? There are pictures of you making out, how is that professional?”

She has a point.

“We’re pretending, okay? We don’t cross the line and sleep together. We don’t mix the job with pleasure.” But my jobispleasure, sometimes.

“And how is that going so far? Keeping it separate, I mean,” she challenges me.

“I don’t know.” I let out a breath.

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