Sutton was already shaking her head as she unthinkingly reached up and brushed Charlotte’s beautiful, soft, dark hair back. “There is nowhere else I would rather be than here with you, Charlotte. And I understand that in being with you, these sorts of events are the norm. I knew that from the very beginning.”
The relief in Charlotte’s smile was palpable and blinding.
It grew as Sutton dropped her hand back down and interlocked their fingers once more. “I am honored to be by your side tonight while you charm and schmooze.”
“You are perfect. And you also said that at the best possible moment,” Charlotte muttered as her eyes focused on a woman approaching from their left, the smile she wore slipping from the warm, open, loving one for Sutton to something much more polished. It was charming nonetheless, and Sutton loved that she could tell the difference.
“Charlotte! I was so upset that you weren’t at the benefit that Martin hosted last month; I’d thought I’d see you there.” The woman leaned in, kissing the air next to Charlotte’s cheek as Charlotte reciprocated the move seamlessly.
“I was out of town that weekend, or I would have attended as always,” Charlotte said as she leaned back, re-settling against Sutton’s side.
The woman hummed in response as she focused her attention on Sutton, sliding her gaze down to take in their intertwined hands.
“Sutton, this is Harriet Gibbons. She’s the host of the fundraiser tonight. She’s done a bit of work for us at the foundation as well,” Charlotte said. “And Harriet, this is Sutton Spencer… my partner.”
Sutton’s stomach fluttered at the word as she blinked at Charlotte in surprise. But she didn’t have time to focus on that as Harriet was exuberantly offering her hand.
“So incredibly lovely to meet you, Sutton,” Harriet said, a wide smile on her face.
Sutton took her hand and shook it firmly, returning the smile. “Likewise.”
Harriet tilted her head. “Spencer…” Her eyes narrowed as she carefully looked at Sutton.
“Yes,” she confirmed the wordless question with a smile that was caught somewhere between self-deprecation and pride. “My parents are Jack and Katherine Spencer.”
“I thought so!”
Charlotte’s hand squeezed hers warmly, and Sutton returned it. And so they began.
They didn’t have a moment to themselves again for nearly two hours, after Charlotte had spoken to everyone in the room. Or it felt that way, at least.
“I’m unsurprised to find that you are Ms. Popular,” Sutton teased quietly as they walked toward the refreshment table near the entrance.
“Me?” Charlotte’s tone was the epitome of amusement. “Darling, while I can assure you I am never a wallflower during any event, it’s your presence by my side that has caused quite the stir. Not only are you the most beautiful woman in the room, but you’re an accomplished professorandthe daughter of Jack and Katherine Spencer?”
Sutton flushed at the praise, though Charlotte’s words weren’t untrue. While she maintained what she’d said—there was no denying that Charlotte was the belle of the ball—she’d garnered a fair share of commentary herself while standing at Charlotte’s side.
She found herself biting at her bottom lip as she clarified, “And… your partner?”
It had been the way Charlotte had continued to introduce her as they’d made the rounds.My partner. To everyone in this room now, she was Charlotte’spartner.
Charlotte’s cheeks flushed, and she hesitated before asking, “Is that… inaccurate? I would have simply referred to you as my girlfriend, but given that I’m over forty and the people in this room are some of the most influential people in our Congress, it felt a bit juvenile.”
Sutton was already shaking her head, the pleasure blooming in her chest making her smile so widely, her cheeks hurt with it. “No, it wasn’t inaccurate. It feels very, very accurate, actually.”
She hadn’t thought about it in exactly that way, but it was exactly how she felt about Charlotte.
They were partners. They were more serious thangirlfriendseven if they’d only been an official couple for a relatively short period of time.
The last six weeks of having an official label felt so very insignificant in the grand scheme of what she and Charlotte were to one another.
In that moment, it didn’t matter to Sutton that there were a couple hundred other people in the room with them. Right now, it felt like only her and Charlotte.
“I do take an issue withoneof your comments, though,” she spoke softly, still unable to take her eyes off Charlotte’s luminescent grin.
Charlotte arched an eyebrow in question.
“You are, by far, the most beautiful woman in the room,” Sutton informed her, her voice dipping as she said the words. “You are the most beautiful woman in every room, and you always have been.”
