“Nothing. Just got dizzy for a minute there.”

“Did you skip breakfast again?” Tracy asked.

“Maybe,” Angela said sheepishly. “I’ll grab something on the way to the Capitol.” Turning her attention on Sam, she added, “You look fabulous, Sam. Absolutely gorgeous.”

Sam tugged at the top button of the suit, willing it up another half inch. But the moment she let it go, it slid back down over breasts she thought were far too big. “It’s not conservative enough.”

“Well, since Nick is a flaming liberal, that shouldn’t be a problem,” Ang joked.

“Very funny,” Sam said. “The chief justice of the Supreme Court is swearing him in. He isn’t going to want to see my boobs.”

“Wanna bet?” Tracy said with a smirk.

Sam fought to swallow the lump of panic forming in her throat. “I can’t do this, you guys. I’m not cut out to be a senator’s whatever I am.”

“Love of his life?” Angela said.

The poignant simplicity of her sister’s statement nearly undid Sam.

“You look beautiful, classy and elegant.” Tracy smoothed her hands over Sam’s lapels. “Nick should be honored to have you by his side today.”

“He is,” Nick said from the doorway.

Startled, they turned, and the love Sam saw in his gaze chased away all her fears.

Tracy cleared her throat. “We’ll, ah, go get Dad and Celia and see you at the Capitol.” Grabbing Angela’s arm, she steered her younger sister out of the office.

Sam continued to fiddle with the low-cut jacket.

Nick retrieved her hand and brought it to his lips. “You’re stunning.”

“This suit is all wrong,” she said, unaccustomed to wardrobe malfunctions of this magnitude. Fashion was the one area of her life where she was usually one hundred percent confident. “I don’t know what I was thinking. It shows too much—”

He put his arms around her. “It’s beautiful, you’re beautiful and I love you. I was so proud of you in there, watching your sisters pin those gold bars on your collar.”

Touched, she worked up a smile for him. “You understand why I asked them and not you, don’t you?”

“Of course I do. They stood in your dad’s place. It was perfect.”

“Thanks,” she said, relieved that he understood—that he always seemed to understand. Tall herself, she had to tip her head back to meet his hazel eyes. At six-four, he was one of the few people in her life who towered over her. “Are you ready?”

The slight hitch in the deep breath he released was the only sign of nerves she could detect in his otherwise cool demeanor. “As ready as I’ll ever be.” He offered her his arm. “Shall we?”

Sam hesitated but only for a second. He was everything. To deny that would not only be foolish, it would be pointless. She hooked her hand through his arm. “Absolutely.”