She knew instead of googling this she could just pick up the phone and call her sister, who had a seemingly encyclopedic knowledge of every California politician, and Alexa would tell her everything she needed to know. But she wasn’t quite ready to tell Alexa about the cake from Senator Powell, and especially not the note along with the cake. She’d told her about the night at the bar, because it was funny, and she knew Alexa would appreciate it more than anyone else in her life. But that she was considering going out with him? Not yet. At a minimum, not until she’d at least made up her mind about that.

However … she needed to find out how this man felt about a few key issues.

“Oh my God, who sent you that cake?”

Olivia looked up from her Senator Max Powell Black Lives Matter search to see Ellie standing at her office door.

“Do you want some? It’s really good. We need to remember the name of this bakery.”

Ellie had already picked up the knife and sliced herself a perfect wedge of cake.

“Did it say ‘Welcome to California’? How sweet—was this your sister?” She tipped the slice onto a napkin and dropped into the seat across from Olivia.

Olivia shook her head.

“No, that’s what I initially thought, too, but …” She shook her head and then looked at Ellie with a grin on her face. “Okay, I have a story for you. A few weeks ago, before I’d moved into my place, I went to grab dinner at my hotel bar after work. And, well …”

Ellie’s eyes got bigger and bigger as Olivia went on. When she finally got to the cake, Ellie snatched the note right out of her hand.

“Max Powell sent you this cake? People call him the hot senator.”

Olivia grinned.

“Yes, my Google searches have taught me that. I can’t believe I didn’t recognize him at the bar.”

Ellie popped the last bite of cake into her mouth.

“I can’t believe the hot senator sent you this cake!” She waved the note in the air. “With this note on it!”

She propped the note up against the cake box.

“What did he say when you called him? When are you going to see him again? Where does a senator take a woman out on a date, anyway?”

Olivia pursed her lips.

“I haven’t … exactly … called him yet. I’m still deciding if I’m going to do that.”

Ellie frowned at her. Olivia almost laughed—when Ellie, the woman with a perpetual smile on her face, tried to frown, she looked like a little kid playing with facial expressions.