A sleepy smile crept onto my lips as I buried my face into his chest. “Thank you for tonight. That was the best date ever. I know I say that every week, but that beat all of the others, hands down,” I yawned.

“Yeah, I agree,” he whispered as he pulled himself up to kiss me.

The remainder of the passion from the tunnel of love ride was boiling up inside me as I pressed myself against his body. I bit my lip, fighting with myself as to whether I could beg him for sex. The week since LA had been a long one, and I missed his body and the physical intimacy terribly.

“Can we go back to the fair another time?” I asked, hoping to distract my body that was itching to take things further.

“Sure, Baby Girl, anything you want.”

I closed my eyes and smiled. I actually felt happier than I had ever felt in my life. I knew everything was down to him. He truly was an amazing guy, probably the nicest and sweetest guy in the world, and I was immensely lucky to have him. Right then and there, I decided to make the most of every single second with him because every minute took us one step closer to when he would leave me.

The following three weeks were extremely eventful and seemed to pass in a blur. That wasn’t something that was going on in my life though, that was something that was going on with my father. Election Day. The event that he had been building up to practically all of his life finally arrived. In the lead up to it, I saw him everywhere I went – in newspapers, on TV, posters on walls, magazines. I couldn’t escape it. But it all paid off in the end. He won the election by a landslide, as most predicted he would. My father would become President Spencer in just a few short weeks.

My pride was something that I hadn’t expected. I had actually burst out crying when I got the call from him moments after the results had been announced. For years, he and my mother had worked tirelessly towards his goal, and now it was paying off.

It also meant, however, that come January when he was inaugurated, I would officially be the first daughter. That thought I wasn’t as keen on, but I couldn’t begrudge my dad his dreams, so I’d plastered on a fake smile and told him how happy I was about it.

The week following the election was actually my father’s birthday, so they had organised a rather large soirée to celebrate, which would also serve as a kind of victory party for him and his staff too. Ashton and I were told we had to attend to show a united front, so we were flying over there for the weekend. Personally, I was dreading the party. No doubt, everything would change now. My life was about to spiral out of my control once again, it seemed.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

~ Ashton ~

I tried again to tie the silky material into some semblance of a bowtie, but I just didn’t have a clue. A loud groan escaped my lips. I was going to look like a first class prick at Anna’s dad’s birthday party. I was sure to embarrass Anna because I had no idea how to behave and integrate with the class of people that were sure to attend. I had even heard this week that there were going to be actual celebrities attending too, friends of Senator Spencer’s.

Giving up, I sighed and grabbed the corsage off the side that I’d bought for her, and made my way downstairs, hoping to find Dean or someone to fix my tie for me. As I got to the bottom of the stairs, Anna’s mom, Melissa, looked up.

She smiled warmly at me, and nodded at my bowtie that was hanging loosely around my neck. “Let me give you a hand with that,” she suggested,

My pride sank to a new low. “Er, that’d be great, thanks,” I replied, stepping closer to her, hating the fact that I was so out of my depth and it was probably glaringly obvious for all to see.

She laughed quietly as she fiddled with it. “Don’t be embarrassed, I just had to tie Tom’s too,” she winked at me conspiratorially. At least the future President of the United States couldn’t do it either.

“You did? Well that makes me feel better,” I admitted, laughing. “You look very nice tonight, Mrs Spencer.” She looked radiant in her gold gown; she was undoubtedly where Anna got her looks from. But Anna just had something else, an inner beauty that just burst from every pore.

“Thank you. You look exceptionally handsome in your suit. My guess is that you’ll make Annabelle swoon,” she said, grinning. I smiled, silently hoping she was right.

Senator Spencer came down the stairs then. “Melissa, are we ready to go?” he asked, smiling lovingly at his wife.

“I think so, we’re just waiting for Annabelle,” she answered, looking expectantly at the stairs. “Annabelle, are you almost ready? We need to leave, the car’s here!” she called up the stairs.

“You look nervous,” Senator Spencer observed, smiling warmly at me.

I nodded. “I am, sir. I’ve never been to an event like this.”

He laughed at my remark. “You’ll be fine, son. Just start the cutlery from the outside, and smile. If you have no idea what you’re doing, just smile and pretend you do, that’s how I get through these things,” he admitted.

“I’ll do that. Thank you, sir.”

Footsteps to the side caught my attention. “You look great, Annabelle,” Dean’s voice drifted down the stairs.

“Thanks, Dean, you look pretty good yourself. I haven’t seen you in a suit for a while,” Anna replied, her voice teasing and light.

“Yeah, it feels a bit weird to be wearing it actually. It’s been almost three months since I’ve been made to wear this uniform. Thank goodness for undercover assignments, is all I can say,” he replied, chuckling.