“Did your old law firm used to have holiday parties?”

She opened the drawer where she kept all of her toiletries.

“Yeah—lots of standing around, holding a drink in one hand and a plate in the other, and trying somehow to shake hands with people. Occasionally someone would get too drunk and make a fool out of themselves, a few boring speeches, frequent low-level sexual harassment, the usual.”

Max nodded.

“It’ll be a lot like that, hopefully without that last thing. Though—incredibly—the egos will all be bigger.” He combed a dollop of gel through his hair with his fingers. “The good thing, though, is that I always get to arrive late and leave after exactly an hour. It’s amazing what you can get away with as a senator, I’m telling you.”

He gave her that cocky grin, and she couldn’t help but grin back at him. Damn, she loved this man.

As soon as they walked into the party, though, all of her fears and what-ifs from earlier in the day came back to her with the first words out of their host’s mouth.

“Senator Powell! This must be Olivia! Shouldn’t your woman be in blue, not red?”

No So nice to meet you, no Hi, Olivia, my name is Asshole, not even a Would you like something to drink? before he was calling her Max’s woman and assuming Max had decision-making power over her wardrobe.

Max ignored the last sentence, and put his hand on her back.

“Olivia, this is a very old friend of mine, Cary Thompson. Cary, this is my girlfriend, Olivia Monroe.”

Olivia forced her face into a smile and reached out to shake Cary’s hand.

“Hi, Cary, thanks for having me.” Was it petty that she refused to say Nice to meet you? Maybe, but did she care? No.

She kept the fake smile on her face as she and Max and Cary walked outside to Cary’s enormous multilevel deck.

“Jerry! Hey, great to see you, happy Fourth!” Max said to someone who came up to them. “I’d like to introduce you to my girlfriend, Olivia Monroe.”

Then it hit her. Max was introducing her to everyone tonight as his girlfriend. He’d never done that before.

She liked it.

Jerry nodded to her and shook her hand.

“Olivia, it’s lovely to meet you. You’re a lawyer, I hear? Tell me about the kind of work you do.”

What a relief that not everyone here would just see her as a Max appendage.