“I take it you like my theory,” he said when he had no choice but to come up for air. He wanted her desperately, as if he had gone without for years rather than hours.

“It’s a great theory—and a great way to spend a year.” Grinning, she pressed against his erection. “But I’d hate for my favorite new senator to be caught in such a compromising position on his first day in office.”

Reluctantly, he let her slide back down. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

“We can’t leave our own party.”

“No one will notice. I guarantee it.”

Nick surprised her when he directed the cab to her father’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. After the way he’d sprinted her out of the party, she assumed he wanted to be alone with her at his place in Arlington.

“We’re going to my dad’s?” she asked.

“Nope.”

“Then where?”

“You’ll see.”

She eyed him suspiciously. “What are you up to?”

“Nothing,” he said with a smile that said her hunch was dead on.

“Tell me!”

“Patience, Samantha.”

“Not my best quality.”

“No, really?”

She tried pouting, cajoling and even a few dirty tricks, but nothing worked. Except for a couple of heated make-out sessions, he kept his mouth shut until they pulled up to the house he had bought on Ninth Street. “What’re we doing here?”

He paid the cabbie and reached for her hand. “Come on, I’ll show you.”

Puzzled, Sam followed him to the house three doors up the street from her dad’s. “Do you even own this place yet?” she asked as he used a key in the lock.

“Not yet, but the owners didn’t mind me moving in a few things early.”

“What things?”

“God, you’re such a pain in the ass!”

“Thank you.”

He turned, kissed her nose and took her coat. “You’re the only woman I know who would take that as a compliment.”

“That’s why you love me.”

Laughing, he led her into the kitchen. “What do you think?”

“Oh,” she said, taking in the large, stylish kitchen where everything was brand new. “I knew they were renovating this place, but I never imagined this.” She ran a hand over the stone countertop. The cabinets were dark wood, the appliances sleek stainless steel. Above the bar that piggybacked the kitchen and living room, teardrop lights hung from the ceiling. “I love it.”

“I hoped you would.”

She stepped into the living room and gasped at the size of it. At the far end, a marble mantel framed a large fireplace. “What the heck?”

“I take it you didn’t know he bought the place next door and knocked out the walls.”

“I had no idea! This place is huge! What’re you going to do with all this space?”

He shrugged. “Maybe raise a bunch of kids with you?”