“And that was your plan the whole time, right? To make the run for governor in 2024?” Sutton asked. These had been clarifying questions she’d given Charlotte to start their next info session, but she couldn’t quite bring herself to sit down and dig into her papers when she had Charlotte standing right here next to her, close enough to feel her warmth.
“Yes,” Charlotte confirmed again. She shifted on her feet.
Their arms brushed.
Sutton’s stomach swooped, and she didn’t move away even though her brain told her she should. It also told her that would be silly to do.
“Close race,” she said, and her voice sounded a little hoarser to her ears than it should have been.
“Did you vote for me?” Charlotte asked, and her voice was a little quieter than it should have been.
There was a playful tone there, but there was also an underlying serious one.
Sutton’s heart beat a little faster at the truth of her answer, and despite the voice in the back of her head telling her to move away, she instead turned to look at Charlotte, who was already staring intently at her, waiting for her response. She looked, honestly, like Sutton’s answer meant a lot.
“Of course I did,” she whispered, though those words shouldn’t have been a whisper. They shouldn’t have been a confession or a secret or anything of the sort, but they felt sacred, still.
“I believe in what you stand for. In what you do. I… I’ve always believed in you and your career, Charlotte. I wanted you to be the governor for the best of the state.” She bit her lip and dug her fingers into the file she still held, feeling her heart pound in her chest. “And I wanted it for you, too.”
And that was the truth.
The truth was that she’d kept up to date on Charlotte’s career, every step, for the last thirteen years. That she was proud of Charlotte and Charlotte deserved it. She’d dedicated, truly, her life to that career.
Still, Charlotte was staring at her with that intense look. Still not saying much of anything but standing so close.
“In a way, it was the year we both got what we wanted,” Sutton added. She had to say something to take away from this moment between them. She wasn’t even sure where the moment had come from or how it had happened, but her heart was beating faster, and she felt warm, and Charlotte had spent all night in her house with her and her daughter… She shook her head softly to push out those thoughts. “I mean, I got married. You furthered your career. It was a big year.”
“Yeah,” Charlotte murmured. “It was a very big year.”
But instead of a victorious smile that matched all of those victorious photos from back in the day, the words felt empty.
Sutton squeezed her eyes closed, trying to not think about the question that she’d thought so many times back then. They were questions she’d long since stopped asking, but would Charlotte have won her seat in the House if they’d stayed together? If they’d become a true couple? Would she have been elected governor?
Would—
“Sutton,” Charlotte whispered.
She was so close. Her breath slid over Sutton’s lips, and Sutton’s skin erupted in goose bumps at the feeling.
She took as deep a breath as she could and opened her eyes.
As soon as she did, Charlotte’s hand came up to cup her jaw, thumb stroking right over her cheek, and her eyes wanted to close again.
They shouldn’t do this. They shouldn’t touch like this. They shouldn’t stand so close.
But then Charlotte rocked forward, up onto her tiptoes, and her lips touched Sutton’s. So soft and so demanding, both at once. Just like they’d always been. Charlotte kissed the same way she existed in life, coaxing but unyielding in what she wanted and how she wanted it.
And, damn, was it enticing.
Sutton sighed into the kiss, into Charlotte’s mouth, as her free hand came up to dig into Charlotte’s shoulder, tilting her head to deepen the kiss.
Charlotte groaned softly, right in the back of her throat, one of her arms snaking around Sutton’s waist to pull her in closer as the other continued to stroke Sutton’s face in light, seductive touches. Her jaw, her cheek, down her neck and back up.
God, it had been forever since she’d had this. Since she’d been kissed like someone meant it.
Like someone was kissing her because they wanted her and only her, like she was all that was on their mind. Like all they wanted was her kiss, her touch…her.
Heat pooled between Sutton’s legs as she leaned easily into Charlotte’s touch.
